After six months in temporary housing, we’ve finally moved into a new home. And one of my top priorities as part of the move is making sure the home is well equipped with smart features to make it easy to live in. In this article, I’ll share the decision-making process I went through when deciding which smart features to add to our home. As always, these are my choices, based on my family’s needs and preferences; your choices might be different, but you’ll no doubt go through a similar analytical process along the way. Also: Best smart hub: Control your home and your day-to-day functions Making things smart means keeping them connected over a reliable network, so let’s start there.
Also worth considering
So, what smart devices are up next on my home improvement list? I’ve chosen the items shown here based on their compatibility with the Google Home platform. If your smart home speaks Alexa or HomeKit, you’ll want to check compatibility carefully before you order. Many devices support multiple platforms out of the box, but in a few cases you might need to order a different model to get the support you need. The Google Fiber lines run right past our new home, too. Unfortunately, they don’t extend inside the building, which means we’re back in Xfinity’s clutches. I signed up for the Gigabit Extra plan (download speeds up to 1200Mbps, with uploads limited to 35Mbps); the hardware was delivered to my door on moving day, and I was up and running within minutes. The latest Xfinity box, the xFi Gateway 3rd Generation (aka XB7), is compact, good-looking, and full-featured, with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 6 support, and a surprisingly usable app to control it all. I’m also willing to pay the $14 monthly rent for this device. Purchasing my own certified DOCSIS 3.1 modem with W-Fi 6 support (like the Netgear Nighthawk CAX80) would cost $360 or so, a payback period of more than two years. And if anything goes wrong with it, Xfinity support would tell me it’s not their responsibility. Thanks, but no. I’ll miss two things about Google Fiber. It was convenient having the ability to upload files at gigabit speeds, a feature Xfinity doesn’t currently offer. That might change soon, though, with the arrival of a next generation gateway called the XB8, which promises “symmetrical gigabit speeds,” along with support for Wi-Fi 6E. Or maybe I can talk Google Fiber into hooking up our building. One thing Xfinity barely mentions in its documentation is that one of the four ports on the back of the XB7 (the port with a faint reddish-orange line next to it) is capable of delivering up to 2.5Gbps. For $30, I added a Plugable 2.5G USB adapter and connected it to my main workstation using that high-speed port. I am now getting download speeds that are consistently at or above the rated 1200Mbps I’m paying for. (Upload speeds are, unfortunately, stuck at a pokey 40Mbps.) Fast forward a decade or two and there’s no need for those customizations, not when the bulbs that go into those fixtures are now smart enough to dim themselves on command. They can even adjust white tones from warm to cool and add spots of color. We’ve standardized on Philips Hue lighting products, which work with every smart home platform and can be controlled by voice commands or an app. It’s incredibly convenient to tap one button to adjust all the lights for watching TV, cooking dinner, or sitting at the dining room table. Of course, sometimes a smartphone isn’t handy, and it can be frustrating to remember exactly which incantation will convince Alexa or Google to unlock a particular lighting combination. So I’ve added Lutron Aurora switches in key locations. These little gizmos snap over an existing switch to offer old school hardware dimming options in addition to apps and voice commands. Alas, the HVAC system in our new home won’t work with Nest hardware. It uses Honeywell Redlink technology to manage communication between the roof-mounted heat pump and a programmable wall thermostat. Connecting a Redlink internet gateway ($95) to the network gives me full access to the system through the Total Connect Comfort app on my mobile devices. Regardless of the technology, having a smart thermostat means big savings on energy bills, along with the option to control the system remotely. That comes in handy for hot summer days, when we can give the AC a break while we’re gone for the day, then turn it on remotely when we’re on our way home, so temperatures are cool and comfortable when we arrive. I could make do with Wi-Fi at my desk, but that’s not my preferred solution. For starters, even under the best of circumstances, the maximum download speed over a Wi-Fi 6 connection using my hardware is about 600 Mbps, and for video calls and other latency-sensitive tasks, a wired connection is much more stable. Fortunately, there’s a coaxial cable drop in the office, which offers an elegant solution thanks to MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) technology. The latest revision, MoCA 2.5, supports speeds up to 2.5 Gbps. After turning on MoCA support in the Xfinity gateway, I connected the coax port on a Trendnet TMO-312C Ethernet Over Coax MoCA 2.5 Adapter to the cable outlet in the office and then plugged a four-port switch into the RJ-45 Gigabit LAN port on the MoCA adapter. The result is a stable, fast, low-latency wired network that runs at Gigabit Ethernet speeds. The setup was easy to configure – literally plug and play. Because my internet gateway already supports MoCA, I only needed a single adapter. Suppose your internet connection doesn’t have MoCA support built-in. In that case, you’ll need to install a pair of MoCA adapters, with one adapter connected via Ethernet to the gateway so that both ends can send and receive data at full speed. We’ve gone all-in on the Google Home platform, which can be controlled using the Google Home app on a mobile device or with voice commands using the Google Assistant. We’ve got smart speakers in every room capable of understanding those voice commands for controlling lights, setting the thermostat, and managing connected devices like TVs. Eventually, we’ll add more smart stuff, with smart locks and perhaps a robot vacuum cleaner. The Google Assistant reportedly works with more than 50,000 devices from 10,000 brands, including a long list of smart home products, so we have plenty of options. One thing we’re not likely to do anytime soon is to upgrade our appliances. Yes, it would probably be convenient to have the dryer notify me when the towels are ready to fold, and I’m sure it would be useful to have the refrigerator remind me to pick up a quart of milk while I’m at the grocery store. At several thousand dollars a pop, though, those aren’t casual upgrades. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go unpack another box. I still haven’t found a smart device to handle that task. Baggucor Wi-Fi Smart Plug (2-pack) - $20 at Walmart There are gazillions of smart plugs out there that can turn anything on or off remotely; this one tracks energy usage as well. Ring Smart Doorbell - $60 at Ring If you’ve already got a wired doorbell, this model can replace it easily. As tempting as any smart home device might seem on paper, it’s worth investigating how it functions when its connected environment is unavailable. And if you’re really curious, try disconnecting your gateway to see exactly what happens, so you can anticipate problems before they occur. All of the security mitigations you’ve learned in computing environments apply to smart devices. Use strong, hard-to-guess passwords and turn on two-factor authentication if it’s available. Change administrative credentials from their defaults. Apply firmware and software updates promptly. And be extra cautious with any device that has a camera or microphone. Even under the best of circumstances, getting smart products to work together can be a challenge. Staying in a single ecosystem can minimize headaches.
