![]() ![]() Home automation is one of several areas of the IOT (internet of things), and is often called Home IOT. What is Home Automation? Internet of Things vs Home Automation If you are thinking about adding smart devices to your home then this guide to home automation will give you a good basic understanding of how smart devices are connected, and the systems and protocols used to control them. But just importantly, you want to pay attention to how they interact.Although not many people can see the need for having their smart fridge connected to the Internet, most people will find the ability to control lights, access security cameras and other home appliances very useful. So if you’ve already settled on a particular light bulb brand when you add motion sensors, you need to doublecheck that they communicate with your bulbs. Thankfully, device manufacturers understand this and usually try to work with as many different services as possible. If you prefer to talk to your home to control it, but your light doesn’t work with Alexa, then it may as well not be a smart light. Knowing that your smart device communicates with something (a hub, a server, etc.) is essential because smarthomes work best when everything works together. RELATED: Alexa, Siri, and Google Don’t Understand a Word You Say More Brains Means More Gadgets, More Complication, and Maybe Lag sdecoret/Shutterstock Philips Hue bulbs can work with a SmartThings hub, for instance, but they still use the Philips Hub in the process. But you may still need to involve other company servers and hubs for interaction between all your devices. Some manufacturers design devices to communicate with universal hubs, like Z-wave devices that connect to a SmartThings or Hubitat hub. They provide routines, facial recognition, automations, voice control, and more. And those servers and hubs enable extra abilities beyond on and off. Not in the gadgets themselves, and not in the apps or physical remotes you use to interact with them. Think of the servers or hubs (and sometimes both) as the brains of your smarthome. That hub then communicates with your Hue bulbs to turn them off. When you press the off button in the Philips Hue app, that signal goes from your smartphone to your wireless router, to the Philips hub. Before your smart doorbell video reaches your phone, it travels through the doorbell manufacturer’s servers. The truth is, nearly all (if not all) your smart gadgets work similarly. Without that process, voice assistants don’t understand a word you say. ![]() Z-Wave: Choosing Between Two Big Smarthome Standards Your Smarthome Requires a Brain, Sometimes More Than One This picture contains five “brains” for smarthome communication.īy now, you should know when you talk to your Echo or Google Home devices they transmit your voice to Amazon and Google servers for interpretation. And even in cases where it is, like Bluetooth, that’s always the end of the story. Almost all your smart devices communicate with an intermediary, the brains of your smarthome if you will. You might think that your devices communicate directly with your phone or tablet and vice-versa, but that’s usually not true. Whether it’s Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Bluetooth, or proprietary, the big difference between your smart device and a non-smart version is a radio.īut that radio doesn’t give your bulbs, plugs, and doorbell any intelligence. When it comes to the devices that power your smarthome, they all have something in common: a radio. ![]()
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