Most ecosystems now allow anyone in the household to create their own profile, and some assistants can even recognize who is speaking in the household for a more tailored experience. Whatever solution you decide on, you should demonstrate how to use it so your family, roommates, and guests are satisfied with how it works.
Almost all smart home devices require a reliable Wi-Fi connection. All you need to know are the two most commonly used frequencies: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Most smart home devices operate on the 2.4 GHz frequency, although this is starting to change. It has a longer range, but the 5 GHz frequency offers faster speeds.
A relatively new Wi-Fi protocol called Wi-Fi 6E supports 6 GHz, which may be even faster (Wi-Fi 7 will also use the 6 GHz band). Wi-Fi 6E can handle more devices, use less power, and be more secure, but all your gadgets need to support Wi-Fi 6E, including your mesh network system or router, and it has a range even greater than 5 GHz is shorter. While more and more Wi-Fi 6E devices are hitting the market, it’s mostly future-proof stuff you want to think about now.
Congestion with Wi-Fi signals interfering with each other can be a problem, especially for people who live in apartments. You can use an app to check how busy your Wi-Fi channel is and possibly switch to a different one, although most routers should handle this automatically. Another consideration is router limitations. Most modern routers support a theoretical maximum of 250 devices, but performance may suffer long before you hit that limit.
Make sure to choose a suitable location for your router, and remember that there are many ways to make your Wi-Fi faster. If you have a basic router or an older model from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), upgrading to a new router may be of great benefit. Larger properties or homes with Wi-Fi dead spots may benefit from a mesh system.
To stay safe, it’s best to choose a long password for your Wi-Fi that mixes lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters. Consider connecting smart home devices to a separate network (some router manufacturers have IoT network options), and always setting up a guest network for guests to use (this is now a standard router option).
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a smart hub?
Some smart home devices offer the option to connect via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or special smart hubs such as Philips Hue bulbs. Bluetooth is much slower and less reliable than Wi-Fi, and while Wi-Fi may seem like the easiest solution, a dedicated smart hub can help reduce congestion, provide more stability, and make connected devices more responsive.
Hubs usually use different technologies to connect devices, namely low-power, low-bandwidth, and long-distance technologies. Thread, Zigbee, LoRa, Z-Wave… the list of technologies goes on. While some hubs are specialized standalone devices, it’s becoming more common for manufacturers to integrate technologies like Thread into smart speakers, displays, routers and other devices. The tradeoff is that the hub needs power and sometimes a free Ethernet port in the router to plug it in.
Verify Smart Home Support
To see if a smart home product will work with your chosen ecosystem, look for the logo on the box or web page. At least, you want to see one of these:
