Courtesy of Nest
In our September issue, we tackled testing a ton of connected home devices, and found helpful products for controlling thermostats, lighting, and much more from the palm of your hand. The future really is now for managing your home, but before you buy up every smart device you can spot, there are few questions you should ask yourself.
1. Is my Internet fast enough?
This is the most important thing to check before you buy a connected home device. Without a reliable Internet connection with fast uploading and downloading speeds, you are going to run into problems. To put speed in perspective consider this: The FCC recommends a minimum download speed of 4 megabits per second for adequate HD movie streaming and video conferencing. However, you’ll need that number to be higher if you’re connecting a lot of devices. The more you have, the slower your Internet speed will be.
You’ll also need to check your home for Wi-Fi dead spots. Use sites like speedof.me or speedtest.net to test your home’s Internet speed.
During our test of smart garage door openers, we found that the Internet connection in the garage was weak (which slowed our connection speeds). We couldn’t get some devices to connect at all. To fix this issue, try a Wi-Fi range extender. We haven’t tested them, but companies like Belkin and D-Link have extenders that simply plug into the wall.
2. What exactly do I want to control?
In our review of connected home devices, we focused on four major categories (thermostats, lighting, security cameras, and garage door openers). But there are many more connected home categories in the market today.
You can get smart locks for your door, connected plugs and wall switches, connected speakers, and even a connected slow cooker. Before you buy any product, weigh how much control you really want.
For instance, in shopping for smart lighting options, do you want to be able to control the lights’ color? Then, try Philips Hue or the LIFX bulbs. If you just want to control the on-off capabilities, then TCP connected lighting, the Insteon LED bulb, or the Philips Hue Lux are cheaper options.
With connected video cameras, if you want to record and save video, then consider products that have SD card slot, such as the Samsung Smartcam, the D-link Cloud Cam 5000, and the Foscam FI9826W. If you want to be able to have a two-way conversation, look into cameras with a built-in speaker, like the Piper or the Dropcam Pro.
3. Do I want to manage many devices from one control?
Once you buy your first device and start to see how it helps you around the house, you may be eager to add more. But of course, more products mean more apps and controls for managing them, which could get confusing and complicated.
The solution? A centralized hub to control multiple devices. There are many to choose from, but not all connected home devices work on all hubs. For instance, the Revolv hub works with a wide range of products, like the Nest thermostat, Philips Hue bulb, and Insteon LED bulb. Honeywell thermostats can also communicate with the Revolv, but not the Wi-Fi smart thermostat we tested.
Also, many hubs operate almost exclusively with products from the same company, like the Iris line from Lowes, or the products from Insteon. Sometimes these brands will play ball with others: Iris will connect to Schlage locks, among other things, and the Insteon hub can connect to the Nest thermostat, as well as its own. However, you won’t be able to connect an Insteon thermostat to an Iris hub, or vice-versa. So, before buying any device, it’s smart to think ahead about which other ones you might add to your collection in the future.
Arne Bostrom is a test engineer in the Consumer Electronics lab of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.
Article Source: 3 Questions to Ask Before You “Smartify” Your Home
Related Article: Home Burglary Prevention Tips
Aricle source here: 3 Questions to Ask Before You “Smartify” Your Home
