Today’s average home has a plethora of connected devices. And all smart home products, such as laptops, smartphones, TVs, electronic door locks, and thermostats, require a solid, reliable networking infrastructure to function at their full potential. Most home networks today are usually comprised of an Internet connection to the house, which links to a wireless […]
Get the Guidesmart home devices
MyQ Garage Smart Garage Door Opener Review: Protecting the Internet of Things in Your Garage
The MyQ Garage is an easy-to-install and smart device that brings home automation to the garage.
A few years ago I wrote an article about how nice it would be if I had a way of checking on the status of my garage door when I was away from home. The reason, of course, was that I came home from a weekend away and found that I’d left the garage door […]
Get the GuidePhilips Hue Lights to be Apple Homekit Compatible
The Philips Hue smart LED light system will get a Homekit boost, but it may cost you extra.
Philips Hue is the most attention-getting, and probably the most popular, smart lighting product on the market. Philips Hue lights change color (well, most of them) and can be controlled with the Hue app and lots of other apps, and can also be integrated into DIY and professionally installed smart home automation systems. Today the […]
Get the GuideDoorBird Provides Remote Control Over Door-Based Home Security Systems
The product adds features of home security systems to your front door, such as remote AV and remote locking.
The product adds features of home security systems to your front door, such as remote AV and remote locking.
Get the GuideRTI Home Automation T3x Handheld Remote Now Available
New T3x remote from RTI: Home automation in the palm of your hand.
The T3x ($999) universal remote and home automation controller from RTI home automation has finally arrived after it appeared for the first time at CEDIA Expo 2013. Normally, when we get a press release that a product demonstrated two years ago is now shipping, we relegate it to a blurb in our “Product Briefs.” But […]
Get the GuideHow Secure is Your Smart Home System?
Smart home system security is critical whether you have a whole DIY home automation system or just a couple of Internet-of-Things devices.
Smart home automation and home security systems are supposed to keep our homes and families safer, right? Every day we recommend the use of sensors, wireless security cameras, Wi-Fi thermostats, smart door locks and more to make our lives safer and more convenient. What happens when the very technology we bring into our homes to […]
Get the GuideProtecting your Smart Home Devices from Hackers and other Internet Threats
Internet Security
A healthy debate is taking place over the security features, or lack thereof, in today’s connected home products. From cameras to thermostats to home automation hubs, significant vulnerabilities have been found across the board. The potential threats these vulnerabilities present run the gamut in terms of significance. A hacker who gains access to your smart […]
Get the GuideHelping Smart Devices Play Well Together in an Automated Home
If you have a router in your house, you’re familiar with Wi-Fi, the communications protocol that enables your smartphone to stream music from the backyard and your laptop to access email from the living room couch—or wherever you happen to be in your house. This wireless networking standard has untethered us from cabling for our communications needs, and has become so pervasive in American homes that manufacturers have implemented the technology into all kinds of devices. With a Wi-Fi chip embedded in it, a light switch can be controlled from an app on your smartphone, for example. But as most people have likely experienced, Wi-Fi can be finicky. Connections can drop unexpectedly, products located far away from the router might lose signal, and as more and more devices join a Wi-Fi network, the communications highway becomes increasingly congested and slow.
Get the GuideA Pound of Ham and a Home Automation System
When Insteon, the Irvine, Calif.-based developer of hundreds of automation and control products, announced recently that it would be selling many of its smart home devices at Meijer, I couldn’t help but think about deli meat. At the time, I needed a pound of shaved honey ham to make sandwiches for my kids’ school lunches. Oh, and we were also almost out of coffee. Then there were the track spikes my son needed for his running shoes and a birthday card for my brother. Meijer, which moved into my neck of the woods a few years ago, has become a convenient spot to pick up miscellaneous items, including groceries, on the fly.
Get the GuideHow Can Smart Home Systems Save Energy?
New smart home systems and gadgets take advantage of the Internet of Things to help you save energy.
Saving energy, whether the fuel for heating your house or electricity that powers your lights, is an increasingly important issue these days. While it seems obvious that the simplest way to save energy is just to use less, in practical terms it can be a lot more difficult. Smart home systems and devices can help […]
Get the Guide