How going overboard with smart home can cause headaches

Creating a smart home with bulbs, switches, appliances, sensors, and more is a great way to improve your daily life, but it can come at a cost when you add too much to your home network. Without proper planning and investment into the backend, you can end up causing some serious headaches. If you’re considering the purchase of a device or a few, here are some things to consider when planning out your new smart home.

3 Too many IoT devices can congest the Wi-Fi

IoT devices require a compatible bridge or network connection to communicate with other hardware and online services. The former is great for keeping equipment isolated but you could be using proprietary hardware. Relying on your Wi-Fi is standard across brands but can make it difficult to maintain solid connections for everything else. More and more products are equipped with the necessary hardware to connect to home wireless networks, which can bog down even the more expensive routers should enough clients be online simultaneously.

2 It can be less convenient than “dumb” devices

Depending on how many devices you add to your smart home deployment and how you connect them, using smart bulbs, switches, and other devices can become less convenient than their “dumb” counterparts. Linus Tech Tips did a video on precisely this, attempting to switch (pun most definitely intended) between wall switches with sensors and radar. Things were already messy with a busy wireless infrastructure, but it’s easy to compound the issues if you’re not careful.

When buying your first smart home product, being sucked into the rabbit hole can be easy. It’s best to exercise restraint and careful planning to ensure you’re not making things worse. It’s one thing for those who love technology to troubleshoot issues and deal with inefficiencies, but it’s a different ball game for everyone else in the house or less tech-savvy visitors.

1 Increased risk of security vulnerabilities

The more smart home products you have installed and running, the more likely you are susceptible to an outside attack. Like running a home lab server, the more services you open up to the outside world, the more exposed your network becomes. Using products from different vendors compounds the risk especially when juggling multiple apps. Although it’s wise to avoid clogging up the Wi-Fi, using bridges and other means to connect IoT devices can open your home to attack in other ways.

Related

6 tips for securely adding IoT devices to your home network

Smart home devices can be a huge vulnerability. Here’s how to change that

Treat building a smart home like a marathon

Like any home improvement, it’s best to take your time with smart home equipment. Even if it’s a simple batch of Philips Hue bulbs, it’s important to plan everything out and ensure you’re not going overboard with your deployment before getting everything in place. Treat smart home hardware like you would home lab equipment and you should be able to get the balance just right. Remember that some things are better left untouched.