Smart homes have become quite popular in Perth; it makes your life easier and more efficient. You may remotely control your home lighting and other home essentials. If you want to make your home smart, read the blog, and get to know the What Do You Need To Make Your Home Smart?
To make your home SMART or SMART- READY, you only need 2 things:
1. A good WiFi system.
2. Neutral wires to your switches. There are solutions for homes without Neutral wires, although with Neutral wires, the costs are lower, switches are more stable and options are simpler.
WHAT IS A GOOD WIFI SYSTEM?
A good WiFi system is one which will give you good WiFi coverage throughout your entire home and even outside areas where Smart products may be needed.
It also needs to be quick and allow sufficient devices to be connected. This will prevent the slow functioning of Smart devices and, even more importantly, prevent them from disconnecting and not functioning at all.
A standard home Router is NOT designed to manage a Smart Home. The signal will not be strong, and generally the maximum number of 2.4GHz devices it can connect to will be 12. In addition, it does not manage the signal optimally between devices but will divide the bandwidth 12 times and be extremely slow.
There are many devices available, I can only recommend what works the best from experience, and this is the UBIQUITI range. UBIQUITI U6-LR is a single device that can control a complete home. I use one carefully positioned device to control a double-storey home inside and outside. However, a second Ubiquiti or even a simple WiFi booster can assist in ensuring stronger signals for larger homes or areas further from the Extender.
These devices are designed to be positioned under the ceiling, centrally in a home, and connect to the Router with a data cable using POE (power over ethernet). This data cable must be allowed for when building a new home, or multiple data points for larger or double-storey homes.
When installing a WiFi Extender, it is important to select separate 2.4Ghz and 5GHz networks and passwords that can be remembered correctly. If you choose the same name and password as your original Router, once the WiFi Extender is connected to the data cable, disable the WiFi on the original Router. All your devices will continue to work without resetting them and will work better.
SELECTING THE SMART PLATFORM: Many suppliers will propose various systems with exorbitant costs and, even worse, discontinued or outdated systems that will not be supported in the future. In fact, it’s quite simple and not expensive. There are a number of proprietary systems on the market, even from good companies, but this does not necessarily make them the best solution. The three leading platforms are Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home Kit. These integrate with most Smart products; however, Tuya has become the leader and will completely dominate the Smart market moving forward.
The factory App, “Tuya” or “Smart Life,” is free. What makes this the most extensive Smart system in the world is that Tuya manufactures the Smart chips in bulk and supplies these to any manufacturing company with the IP and instructions. This ensures the best Smart system in the world and the most competitive. Other companies cannot compete and will likely close, resulting in discontinued systems and no ongoing support. Many companies will be selling Tuya products under their own name, and all of these will work together on one App.
SELECTING THE PRODUCT: Buying Tuya products, however, does not guarantee that the product quality is good. It is just as important to purchase good quality products from reputable companies with good warranties and backup which comply with all Australian Electrical certification standards. Many products that use Tuya Chips and promise Smart functions need to be compared as important distinctions exist. This will make the difference between the Smart system working and frustration.
Smart Systems use either WiFi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee
- WiFi is the cheapest and will connect directly to your home or office Router.
- Bluetooth is the quickest and more stable, working directly with your device, but it requires a Gateway to link it to the Router.
- Zigbee is the most expensive and uses the least power consumption, making it suitable for small devices running off batteries.
Tuya works with all three systems; all can be linked and work together to create the most optimal solution with the widest range of products. Most Greenhse products will have a combination of WiFi and Bluetooth to assist with stability and ease of installation. Once you decide to use the Tuya or Smart Life system, your home needs 2 things:
- A good WiFi system.
- Neutral wires to your switches. There are solutions for homes without Neutral wires, although with Neutral wires, the costs are lower, switches are more stable, and options are simpler.
