If you are reading this, you are probably considering automating your home. You’re in the right place. Building a smart home is an exciting adventure as you get to modernise your home to how it suits you. A smart switch, a TV that also acts as art, voice automated lights – it all sounds fascinating. However, there are things that should be considered before having a smart home of your own. Here are 5 of the most important.

Choose Your Ecosystem

Before buying any device, consider what ecosystem works for you. There are 3 main ecosystems: Apple, Google Nest & Amazon Alexa. It is best to purchase devices from a specific manufacturer to make them more seamless to integrate.

Consider the Cost

As time has gone by, smart home devices have become significantly cheaper. Now you require little money to start up or upgrade devices like smart switches, smart hubs or smart locks yourself to save money. There is no better time than now to build a smart home at a fraction of the cost. This does not mean that you naturally cheap out on the upgrades, if your budget allows, you can get more expensive devices.

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You Need Strong WiFi

In this day and age, most of our devices are wireless which means you need strong WiFi. Now with smart kitchen appliances, TVs, smoke alarms, security, and much more, your Wi-Fi is even more stressed than ever before.  To have multiple devices communicating with each other, you will need high data rates, high capacity to support multiple simultaneous users, and a good range.

Setting Up The Smart Home Device

Some smart home brands offer easy compatibility with the major ecosystems eg. Philips Hue Bulbs. However, this is not the case with many devices. They normally require that you download a third-party app for the initial setup at the very least, and possibly also for configuration and control. The setup guide may require you to download the companion app then possibly allow you to integrate it into your ecosystem. If this is not the case, you can try and link the device manually to your ecosystem.

Privacy & Security

Smart home devices might have microphones and cameras in them, which can be a factor when it comes to privacy. There’s always a risk that your information and data can be accessed which can expose personal information or recordings stored in the cloud. Always read the privacy policy of the devices that you purchase and make sure you’re comfortable with how they use your data. You can also research online and check if the manufacturer has been a part of recent hacks or issues.