Building a smart home?

[Anonymous]

We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

[Anonymous]

There are companies which can pre-wire houses during construction and then install components for you, e.g., Audio Buys: https://audiobuysinc.com/

Apart from that approach, you can and likely will end up with a variety of separate and independent "smart" features and apps to deal with: washer/dryer, oven/fridge, security cameras, alarm system, connected thermostats, wi-fi, motorized blinds, smart locks, connected garage doors, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

[Anonymous]

At a minimum you should run ethernet cable and ideally fiber optic cable in every room. Fiber optic cable supports faster speeds while ethernet cable supports power and data. You should also have someone do an audit and make sure there are no WiFi dead spots

If you are going to go with a whole home automation system, I suggest staying away from Alexa and Ring and any other device that requires the uploading your data to the cloud. There are alternatives that are just as easy to use that keep your data under your control (e.g., Zoneminder for cameras, Mycroft for voice assistant).

[Anonymous]

Someone once advised running conduit so you could replace wires as the technology changed. That seems sensible but I haven't done it.

The only smart features we use are certain lights, and garage door. I could see having one keypad entry, and maybe a sound system. But I don't see the point of smart fridges, microwaves, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Hackers want data, large companies’ financial mostly, or individual money accounts, and would have zero interest in spending the time to break into your system to control your lights on and off.

[Anonymous]

We built our house a few years ago and added a ton of smart features. There’s basically two ways to do it: hire one company to put in a master system that controls everything (Control4, etc) or use a bunch of off the shelf products that can maybe work together, or you use several different apps to control each aspect, and also connect it to HomeKit, Alexa or GoogleHome for one app control.

The whole home solutions like Control4 require a specialized contractor that will cost tens of thousands. And they’ll have the system locked down if you want to make any programming changes, they have to do it.

Instead, we did it separately. Lutron Caseta (you can also do RA3 which is slightly better but needs a dealer) for lighting, Sonos for built in speakers, a smart garage door opener, August locks, Lutron smart shades, ModernForms ceiling fans, and Ring cameras. Basically we can control it all seamlessly from HomeKit and add scenes, automation, etc. we love it.

[Anonymous]

You mean a dumb home.

Anyone who willfully installs all of this 'smart' crap in their homes is nuts and deserves to get hacked into oblivion.

Caveat emptor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Hackers want data, large companies’ financial mostly, or individual money accounts, and would have zero interest in spending the time to break into your system to control your lights on and off.

You are woefully naive.

There are hackers who simply like to do mischief. The thrill is simply hacking just to hack. Imagine going on vacation and coming back to a $2000 heating bill because a hacker thought it'd be funny to run your AC at 55 degrees for weeks on end. Then there were creepy hackers who hack into all of the cameras people setup in their homes. They simpy live stream peoples' homes to the Internet because there are many people out there who enjoy voyeurism. They even streamed cameras from people who had them in their childrens' rooms.

IoT in your home and smart everything is the dumbest idea ever..

[Anonymous]

The prior post is great.

Avoid Control4 unless you want to pay a company tens of thousands over the next 10 years. You have to pay them $$$ to add, upgrade, or change any device, since everything is locked down and only they can change it. I initially went with Control4, before doing sufficient research, and it was perhaps the worst investment I’ve ever made, in time and money.

I would suggest Alexa or Apple Homekit, or better yet, devices that are compatible with both. Run CAT6 cabling to all rooms and for small smartwall panels / displays like the Echo Hub (https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Hub/dp/B0BCR7M9KX). Then buy Alexa compatible doorbells and cameras (Ring brand), locks (many), electric blinds and shades (many options), lighting (many options), and speakers (many options). Whenever anyone rings the door, their photo will appear on all your wall panels and your phones, and you’ll have a button on the screen to talk to them or unlock the door remotely. And you’ll be able to control all the nights and music in your house from those panels as well as your phones. It’s seamless and inexpensive.

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP. Ignore the poster above mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Hackers want data, large companies’ financial mostly, or individual money accounts, and would have zero interest in spending the time to break into your system to control your lights on and off.

You are woefully naive.

There are hackers who simply like to do mischief. The thrill is simply hacking just to hack. Imagine going on vacation and coming back to a $2000 heating bill because a hacker thought it'd be funny to run your AC at 55 degrees for weeks on end. Then there were creepy hackers who hack into all of the cameras people setup in their homes. They simpy live stream peoples' homes to the Internet because there are many people out there who enjoy voyeurism. They even streamed cameras from people who had them in their childrens' rooms.

IoT in your home and smart everything is the dumbest idea ever..

This isn't really a thing. I'm sorry you have to worry so much about things that will never happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Hackers want data, large companies’ financial mostly, or individual money accounts, and would have zero interest in spending the time to break into your system to control your lights on and off.

You are woefully naive.

There are hackers who simply like to do mischief. The thrill is simply hacking just to hack. Imagine going on vacation and coming back to a $2000 heating bill because a hacker thought it'd be funny to run your AC at 55 degrees for weeks on end. Then there were creepy hackers who hack into all of the cameras people setup in their homes. They simpy live stream peoples' homes to the Internet because there are many people out there who enjoy voyeurism. They even streamed cameras from people who had them in their childrens' rooms.

IoT in your home and smart everything is the dumbest idea ever..

This isn't really a thing. I'm sorry you have to worry so much about things that will never happen.

Keep sticking your head in the sand with your smart dumb homes:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/website-live-streaming-security-cameras-private-1.6083168

https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/02/08/security-camera-privacy-hacking/

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/05/rings-privacy-failures-led-spying-and-harassment-through-home-security-cameras

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/Hacked-ring-home-security-cameras.html

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nest-spying-hack,news-19290.html

https://www.pcmag.com/news/turning-a-nest-smart-thermostat-into-a-data-stealing-spy-in-15-seconds

https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/hacker-compromised-family-s-wi-fi-taunted-family-with-thermostat-camera-for-24-hours

https://www.wired.com/story/kalay-iot-bug-video-feeds/


By all means 'upgrade' (i.e..more like downgrade) your home with all of the smart crap and IoT. You deserve to have your entire life exposed and all of your data put on the Internet for being woefully naive.


How did humans ever live before their microwaves, dishwashers, and laundry machines could connect to the Internet!!???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are talking about starting the building process in the next year. We have several items in our house that have been added in recent years with "smart" functions but have little experience beyond Alexa, Schlage locks, ring cameras. I would love to have smart features if we build, but where do we even start? Are there whole house systems and where would you recommend to begin researching them? Is this something the builder will know or are there separate "smart home" consultants?

Start with a list of features that you want to be "smart" in your house i.e. lights to be turned on/off using apps, door lock, garage, appliances, etc. Do you want all of them to be centralized smart in one place or you want them individually smart with their own app? Ask builder to what level of smart that they are aware of and what can they do? Thing is they will outsource this to a sub who can do this, it's part of your building cost, so make sure you're on top of what you want and be knowledgeable about them.

Our home was built "smart" and we turned the whole system off and don't use them. The idea of the system is hacked and controlled by hacker scares us. And your behavior data is collected and used for AI. It's beyond anything we can comprehend.

I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Hackers want data, large companies’ financial mostly, or individual money accounts, and would have zero interest in spending the time to break into your system to control your lights on and off.

You are woefully naive.

There are hackers who simply like to do mischief. The thrill is simply hacking just to hack. Imagine going on vacation and coming back to a $2000 heating bill because a hacker thought it'd be funny to run your AC at 55 degrees for weeks on end. Then there were creepy hackers who hack into all of the cameras people setup in their homes. They simpy live stream peoples' homes to the Internet because there are many people out there who enjoy voyeurism. They even streamed cameras from people who had them in their childrens' rooms.

IoT in your home and smart everything is the dumbest idea ever..

This isn't really a thing. I'm sorry you have to worry so much about things that will never happen.

Keep sticking your head in the sand with your smart dumb homes:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/website-live-streaming-security-cameras-private-1.6083168

https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/02/08/security-camera-privacy-hacking/

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/05/rings-privacy-failures-led-spying-and-harassment-through-home-security-cameras

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/Hacked-ring-home-security-cameras.html

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nest-spying-hack,news-19290.html

https://www.pcmag.com/news/turning-a-nest-smart-thermostat-into-a-data-stealing-spy-in-15-seconds

https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/hacker-compromised-family-s-wi-fi-taunted-family-with-thermostat-camera-for-24-hours

https://www.wired.com/story/kalay-iot-bug-video-feeds/


By all means 'upgrade' (i.e..more like downgrade) your home with all of the smart crap and IoT. You deserve to have your entire life exposed and all of your data put on the Internet for being woefully naive.


How did humans ever live before their microwaves, dishwashers, and laundry machines could connect to the Internet!!???

Don't put cameras inside your house. Why would you even need that for security? (Baby cams are a different story).

The Nest thermostat required physical access to hack, not over the internet.

[Anonymous]

The more gadgets, the more to repair.