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Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
5 questions you need to ask yourself when building a smart home
Transforming your house or apartment into a smart home can be a fun and rewarding project but it can also be a real headache if you don't approach things the right way. From devices that aren't compatible with one another to poor Wi-Fi slowing everything down, there are plenty of issues you can encounter along the way. Fortunately though, with the right planning and by taking certain things into consideration ahead of time, you can go from a boring old home to a smart home you can control with your phone or your voice really easily. When it comes to outfitting your space with the best smart home devices, there are a few key questions you're going to want to answer first. That way, you won't run into any hiccups or major issues once you've committed to upgrading to a smart home. Here are 5 questions you need to consider before you start adding things to your cart as they'll make the whole process of planning out the layout for your new smart home a whole lot easier. Verizon Home Device Protect: Building a smart home isn't just about where the devices will go but how long they'll last. Verizon Home Device Protect offers free professional setup and installation for Verizon Home Internet customers while protecting the tech in your home, from smart TVs to laptops. It also provides coverage of a second residence and 24/7 tech guidance, in case you're ready to stop being your parents' "computer wiz." Though you can go all out and add smart home devices to every room of your house and even out in the backyard, you can also start small and build out your smart home from there. Your budget and how much you're willing to spend will play a big role in which approach you decide to take and there are pros and cons to each of them. The good thing about buying everything at once is that you can set up all of these new devices at the same time and ensure they all work well together. If something doesn't work as it should or isn't compatible with your other smart home devices, you'll have enough time to return it. However, not only is this approach more expensive since you won't be able to take advantage of any deals, adjusting to living in a smart home may be more difficult for yourself and everyone else in your household. If you have a limited budget or decide to start small, you can start your smart home transformation off with a single room and then work from there. For instance, you might want to add one of the best smart speakers and a few smart lights to your living room for movie nights. If you like the experience, then you can start thinking about how you want to transform the other rooms in your home. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. The decision is up to you but one thing I've learned from building out my own smart home is that you want to ensure you have extra room in your budget for additional devices. You never know when one upgrade or another will help tie all of your smart devices together in a way that makes using your smart home a lot easier. From smart TVs to smartphones, laptops and tablets, chances are you already have a lot of devices vying for bandwidth on your home network. By turning your house into a smart home, you're going to be adding a lot more connected devices to your network. If your Wi-Fi router isn't ready or doesn't have the right range, things can get frustrating real fast. Remember what I said about having extra room in your budget? Having to upgrade to one of the best Wi-Fi routers or switching to a more expensive plan with faster internet speeds are exactly where this extra budget can come in handy. Newer routers are designed to handle more devices simultaneously and this is especially true if you decide to upgrade to one with Wi-Fi 7 support. As your smart home can span all the way from the garage to the backyard, you may also want to consider spending slightly more on one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems. Unlike a traditional router, a mesh Wi-Fi kit is made up of multiple devices that you place strategically throughout your home. Not only does this give your home network more range, it also helps ensure that there won't be any Wi-Fi dead zones. One of the best Wi-Fi extenders might seem like a good idea at first but if you're turning a large living space into a smart home, you're going to want to invest in a mesh router from the start. There are thousands of different smart home brands but for the most part, you'll be using one of three ecosystems to add, configure and control all of your smart devices. If you have an iPhone and other Apple devices, then Apple Home will make the most sense whereas Android users will want to go with Google Home instead. Finally, there's Alexa which makes sense if you use other Amazon devices or have an active Amazon Prime subscription. Sure, there are definitely other ecosystems to consider but these three support the most devices overall and are the easiest to get started with. If you live by yourself, this will be an easier decision to make. However, if you have a large household, you're definitely going to want to take everyone else's preferred devices into consideration first. You aren't stuck with one ecosystem either and you can use Google Home or Apple Home and Alexa at the same time. However, this does make things more complicated and you may have to set up the same device multiple times if you want to use it across smart home ecosystems. For those who are just getting started with their smart home transformation, I'd suggest sticking with one first and then you can always switch or add another ecosystem once you get the hang of things. Regardless of which devices you end up adding to your new smart home, you're going to be able to control them via your phone by default. If you want to use a tablet or even your desktop to control them too, this is something you want to take into consideration when choosing one smart light brand over another for instance. If you're trying to limit your screen time or want a hands-free way to control your smart home, then you definitely want to take a look at the best smart speakers, even if you don't plan on using them to listen to music. While they're one of the more affordable smart gadgets you can buy, smart speakers are also one of the most useful. From turning off your smart lights from your bed to using automated routines to control several devices at once, smart speakers can often act like the glue that holds your whole smart home together. Once again, you're going to need to consider which smart home ecosystem is right for you before you start buying a smart speaker for all of the main areas of your home. Amazon's Echo smart speakers come in a wide variety of form factors and are often heavily discounted while Apple's HomePods are known for their excellent audio quality. Meanwhile, Google's Nest smart speakers are great for getting answers to the sorts of questions you'd normally type into your browser. Besides your phone or a smart speaker, some smart home brands also offer physical controllers that let you turn your smart devices on and off. These are great for those who prefer being able to press a button but they also can be useful for guests or younger children. Just like with everything else smart home-related, you can absolutely use a single control method or combine multiple ones to fit your needs and lifestyle. It's really up to you and you might find that while one method worked for a while, it doesn't anymore. Being flexible will certainly help you adjust to the smart home lifestyle. isn't the case with all of them. It's easy to find a spare outlet or add one of the best surge protectors to accommodate indoor smart home devices but the same can't be said for outdoor ones. For instance, with both the best video doorbells and the best outdoor security cameras, you have the option to get hardwired versions that require a power source or wireless ones that rely on a battery for power. There are upsides and downsides to both though. If you go with battery-powered cameras or a doorbell, you're going to need to take them down to charge periodically. This can get annoying but it can also leave you with blind spots around the exterior of your home. For those that want the freedom of battery-powered smart home devices without the hassle, look into solar-powered ones which typically need to be fully charged once and then a solar panel on top or next to them will top off their battery from there. Hardwired devices are either powered like a ceiling lamp using wires inside your wall or they can even get power and send data at the same time using a technology called Power over Ethernet. With the former, you may not have to have an electrician run additional wires but with the latter, chances are you will likely have to go up in your attic and run Ethernet cables to where you want your cameras to go since most homes aren't pre-wired for internet. The good thing is that you can mix and match here too with battery-powered devices on the edge of your property and hardwired ones on the exterior of your home. My advice though, start with the interior of your smart home first and then work out to your front yard and backyard.
Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Tom's Guide
The Hidden Costs of Smart Homes (and How to Avoid Them)
When purchasing devices to set up your smart home, you might think that after you buy a product and set it up, that's the end of it. However, there are a lot of potential hidden costs that could add up to a big monthly bill, if you end up subscribing to a lot of services. Here, we'll show you five of the most common hidden costs with smart homes, and how to avoid them. Some of the most popular smart home devices are home security cameras and video doorbells. After smart lights and locks, these all-seeing cameras help you keep tabs on your property, your front door, and your packages. However, a majority of the best home security cameras require you to pay for a monthly subscription in order to save video — and the same goes for the best video doorbells too. So, if you want to look back at who came to your door, or if there were animals running around your back yard, you'll might need to spend a little extra each month. Security camera storage subscriptions start at around $3 per month for a single camera, but can escalate quickly if you have multiple cameras on your property. However, a few companies — most notably Eufy — allow you to save footage locally without having to pay for a subscription. While the upfront cost for the cameras is a little more expensive, you'll save money over the long run. Verizon Home Device Protect: It can be easy to overlook or underestimate hidden costs when it comes to tech. That's why Verizon Home Device Protect can be a lifesaver. As a protective layer against unexpected out-of-pocket costs, it covers virtually all home tech, from laptops to smart vacuums, for your house and one additional. It also comes with 24/7 tech support, saving you hassle over time. The best DIY home security systems let you monitor everything that's going on around your home; more than just cameras, these systems also have door and window sensors as well as motion detectors, so you'll know if someone's trying to get in. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. But, if you want the authorities to respond to your home without you calling them first, you'll need to subscribe to a professional monitoring service, most of which cost around $19 per month. We're not saying you shouldn't get professional monitoring, but know upfront that it's a bit of an investment. One of the best mesh routers is an essential part of any smart home; you need good Wi-Fi coverage throughout your house in order for all those devices to be able to connect reliably to the cloud. In recent years, some of the leading router companies have started offering subscription services to protect all of your connected devices from such things as viruses, data breaches, and more. These plans can also cost as much as $100 per year, so it's worth comparing their features to what the best antivirus programs offer, to see which best fits your needs. Often, there's a good amount of overlap between the services. We might not think of the best streaming services as part of a smart home, but when using a streaming stick or smart TV, it's all connected. And, if you're subscribing to multiple streaming services, those bills can add up fast. Each month, it's worth looking at what's coming up on the services you subscribe to, and deciding whether or not you should cancel it. There's no sense paying for something you're not using. You should also look for deals — often around Black Friday and other events, many services will offer a special one-year subscription rate that's much lower. Another way to save money is to look at the different subscription tiers; many services now have a premium tier, but then also one that's much lower. You'll just have to sit through ads. Like traditional devices in your home — think lightbulbs and refrigerators — smart home devices also have a lifespan, but the timeframes might be a bit different. Let's start with smart lightbulbs. While they use less energy and have a claimed lifespan much longer than incandescent bulbs, LED bulbs are still a somewhat newer technology. As a result, they may not last as long as advertised. A bigger issue with smart home devices, though, is that at some point, they become obsolete as technologies change, and the companies that make them no longer support them. So, while a security camera that you bought 10 years ago may still work well, it may no longer get updates from the company, which may leave it more vulnerable to hacking. In other cases, a company might turn off features for smart home products — or worse, the company might go out of business entirely. Our advice: Look to buy smart home devices from more well-established companies, but be prepared that you will have to replace things eventually.
