Smart Home

A smart home describes a home in which many appliances and devices in the home are internet-enabled and networked with each other. The smart devices in your home can include smart fridges, speakers, TVs, lights, home security and more. Smart homes can be set up in a wide variety of ways depending on the devices in your home as well as your personal tastes and preferences. In general, smart home devices can be used via apps, smart assistants like Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa, or automatically by other devices in your smart home network. For example, you could have your smartphone or smartwatch paired with your air conditioner and smart speaker so that you can automatically be greeting with cool air and your favourite songs when you get home.

Devices with smart assistants can be controlled with voice commands and will respond with their own voice. They are great for managing your schedule, answering quick questions, and controlling other smart devices in your home.

With multiple devices in your home connected and controlled via the internet, you run the risk of getting hacked or exposing other devices in your network. It is important that you create unique, strong passwords for each of your devices, accounts and log ins. These should me mixed case and include numbers and symbols. If you have trouble remembering multiple passwords you may consider using password management software to help create and store all of your unique passwords. Make sure you change the default Wi-Fi name and password as well.

Your internet router is the primary intermediary between your devices and the wider internet, so you should make sure that your router’s firmware is updated regularly to maximise security. You can also create a separate network for your smart home devices (using features like guest access on your router) that will isolate your smart home devices from other devices such as your smartphone or computer, which are likely to contain more sensitive data.

Many smart devices in your home are compatible with digital assistants that can help you control a range of other networked smart devices in your home. Rather than juggling multiple apps and remotes, you can create a unified control environment across devices of different brands or manufacturers. For example, a smart speaker with a built-in smart assistant like Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri, can be used to control other smart devices in the home (like TVs, lights, aircon, etc.) as well as the speaker itself.

Most brands will support Google, Alexa or both – even if they have their own proprietary digital assistants built-in as well. Both assistants are great for managing your smart home setup and deciding between the two will largely come down to personal preferences and your other devices. Google assistant is found more commonly in devices and tends to be more accurate, whereas Amazon controls a larger portion of the smart speaker market with a diverse line-up of smart home tech.

When it comes to setting up a smart home, it’s worth considering what you want to be able to do and tailor your setup to suit your needs, tastes and preferences. Smart home setups provide accessibility options for people with disabilities.

For most people a smart home will start out being geared towards entertainment. Smart speakers include digital voice assistants and can be networked to other Wi-Fi speaker systems and entertainment technology like your TV. Some TVs include smart home features directly, whilst others can be controlled by other smart devices via Wi-Fi.

Smart lights, smart air conditioners and smart thermostats are great features for maintaining a comfortable and well-lit home. Smart lights can be turned on/off, dimmed, and brightened, switched between warm and cool tones, and even have their colour changed via an app or smart assistant.

Smart home appliances such as fridges and ovens can be used to put together shopping lists or send a notification when food is cooked.