We’ve all got internet and Wi-Fi in our homes but what does it mean to have an ‘internet-run home’? Have you ever wondered how automation within a household works? Well, there’s a technology behind it, one that would require the installation of wiring and some renovations here and there. But it’s not always like that.
Fast forward to today, there are certain devices that support home automation using the Internet. That’s right, they connect to the home Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity and provide remote access to homeowners.
This may still sound vague so let us break this down for you.
An Internet-Run Home Is a Smart Home
If you haven’t heard of the term smart home before then let us tell you what it is. A smart home is one where there are multiple smart devices under one roof, providing home automation with remote and wireless control.
So basically an internet-run home has a name, they’re called smart homes. Smart homes consist of multiple devices – smart devices and technology. These devices connect to the home internet, and their associated mobile apps can be controlled through our smartphones, tablets, and even through voice-enabled control with some compatible voice assistants.
Remote and Wireless Control
Now when you’re using devices like smart ones, you can control them from practically anywhere and at any time. When these devices are connected to the Wi-Fi in your home, they’re accessible to you from wherever you are. You could be at work or even out of the city and still control that smart sprinkler controller of yours.
It’s the convenience here that makes a smart home so much more enticing. And why not? When you can switch off the lights from your smartphone when you’re already in bed, or lock the front door as you pull out of the driveway, who wouldn’t want to install such devices at home?
Energy Conservation
There are a lot of features of smart devices that can contribute to energy saving and in turn reduce your electric, as well as heating and cooling bills. For one, the remote and wireless access is one feature that enables homeowners to be able to control their devices from wherever. That means no room for carelessness.
Similarly, another common feature in a lot of smart devices like smart lights and smart thermostats, for instance, is that there’s an option to set a schedule or timer for the devices to follow through. So that they may automatically turn themselves on and off. Some devices even feature built-in motion sensors which can switch the devices off when they notice no movement.
But of course, all of this is possible only if the device is connected to the internet.
Home Security
Connected to the internet at home means live access to the smart devices back home. And that’s ideal for when you have smart cameras or video doorbells or even smart locks installed at home.
Smart cameras are just surveillance cameras, only that they’re a hundred times better than the regular ones. Their video quality is in HD, colored, supports night vision, and get this – two-way audio! If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically that you don’t just have sound with the video feed, you can actually converse from both ends of the camera!
Similarly, video doorbells also send real-time notifications whenever the bell rings or if any movement is detected by the door. And smart locks follow suit, functioning in real time by locking and unlocking doors remotely and wirelessly.
While All This Is True…
Sure it sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Smart devices installed around the house, doing the basic functions like automating the home lighting system, and wireless and voice-enabled control of others like smart thermostats, smart TVs, smart blinds, smart kitchen appliances, etc. But what’s the catch here really?
Internet Connectivity Around The Clock
That’s basically it. The only catch here to sustaining an internet-run home is the fact that you need around-the-clock internet connectivity. Any disruptions in internet connectivity can cause these devices to lag behind their performance. So your door may not lock, and your lights may not switch on, simply because of bad internet connectivity.
For that reason, we’d recommend that you go over your internet plan and speeds. Certain plans can’t sustain more than regular internet usage like streaming, gaming, etc. Smart devices require internet connectivity 24/7, subscribe to an internet plan that can support the usage of smart devices alongside the usual.
Click here to browse through some internet plans that could potentially be suitable to your smart home’s needs. Or reach out to customer representatives to find out what internet services and plans are available in your area.