Building a smart home has many benefits. There are many convenience and safety features that a smart home makes possible. A smart home opens up many opportunities- while sleeping, you can turn on the overhead fan without getting up with your voice, set a smart door to lock automatically at a certain time, open or close your garage door while you're away, automate comfort settings and lights when you come home from work, set the ambiance when you turn on the TV, etc. A smart home is incredible; however, building one can be difficult, and the costs can quickly add up if not done correctly.

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Smart Home Ecosystems

There are some important considerations before implementing a smart home. First, you need to pick your primary ecosystem. A smart home has three major ecosystems: Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.

Apple HomeKit

Apple HomeKit is likely your best bet if you already have an iPhone. Siri is the main weakness in the HomeKit ecosystem. That said, Apple is investing a lot of resources into Siri and is not far behind the Google Home Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

HomeKit limits your choice of different devices. However, HomeKit supports the majority of the most popular smart devices. HomeKit devices must be thoroughly tested and certified by Apple and are generally straightforward to implement. This quality and ease of use comes at a price- HomeKit smart devices typically are more expensive than those found on either Alexa or Google.

Apple is the best ecosystem if you're concerned about privacy issues. Apple uses a random identifier to store queries, and this random identifier cannot be tied to or associated with an individual. Apple HomeKit is also the only ecosystem that does not collect data for marketing or sell any collected data to third parties.

Google Home

Google Home has the best personal assistant. You can interact with Google using conversational communication; it is the only voice assistant that can handle multiple requests. For example, you can ask Google, 'What is the weather like, and what time is sunset?' and it will answer both questions. This is not possible with either Siri or Alexa. Google Assistant generally can answer your queries with high-quality answers that leverage Google Search.

While Google does not support as many third-party devices as Alexa does, it still supports thousands of devices, and its Nest products serve a wide variety of niches and are known to be high quality. However, Google is notorious for privacy issues and often listens to private conversations. Google also builds marketing data from your searches to third parties.

Amazon Alexa

Alexa supports most third-party integrations and devices. Alexa supports over 100,000 devices, nearly twice as many as Google. The Alexa assistant has a few tricks up its sleeve- it can detect the speaker's mood, respond to you in a whisper, order take-out food, and even track Amazon packages. The Alexa ecosystem is tightly integrated into Amazon; however, Alexa will also prompt you with advertisements.

Alexa is even worse than Google Home in terms of privacy. Alexa has been accused of saving children's conversations indefinitely unless a parent asks Amazon to delete them. Amazon also shares conversations with dozens of third-party affiliates. 

Final Note About Smart Home Ecosystems Privacy

If you're concerned with security, Google Home and Amazon Alexa have much to be desired. That said, if you're using Andriod, the cat is already out of the bag regarding privacy. You carry your phone everywhere, and the Android phone is more invasive than any Google or Amazon smart device.

Even if you're using an Apple iPhone or a Google application, such as Gmail- Google will use the contents of your searches and email to build and sell marketing profiles. Amazon, of course, has its own privacy issues. Amazon knows your consumption patterns and is now moving into health markets. If privacy is a big issue, you may want to consider using an iPhone, skip Amazon and Gmail- and use an alternate email provider.

Smart Devices

Devices Should Be Compatible With Multiple Ecosystems 

Eventually, you will need to sell or rent your home. Your devices should work with multiple ecosystems to appeal to a broad group of buyers. Multi-system compatible devices will also allow you to support other family members or guests with different mobile devices.

Matter is a new industry standard protocol that allows devices to communicate with each other regardless of the platform. Devices with a "matter" logo will support Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings. Matter-enabled devices can communicate using multiple protocols like Ethernet, WIFI, and threads. This creates several advantages- your devices are less likely to clog WIFI and remain available even if your network goes down. Later versions of Google Nest, Apple HomePod, Apple TV 4K, and Samsung Smarthings Hub are matter-enabled and can serve as a hub for all matter-enabled devices.

Ecobee (thermostats), Arlo (cameras and smart doorbells), Phillips Hue (light bulbs), Lutron (switches), Hunter (fans), and Schlage (door locks) are also generally compatible across a wide variety of platforms.

Smart Switches

Smart switches replace conventional light switches and are critical elements in a smart-enabled home. These switches allow you to use your voice and automations to control lights and other appliances. Hard-wired smart switches are ultra-reliable and will continue to work when the network connection is down. Additionally, several smart switches may use hubs that use a specific radio frequency instead of WIFI, which will reduce WIFI clutter and continue to work without an internet connection. Using a dedicated hub for your smart switches is highly recommended, as it is vital to defer as much WIFI traffic as possible to minimize potential interruptions. Smart Hubs also centralize the control of your devices and simplify configuration. Generally, you pair the switches to the hub; no extra configuration is necessary.

Use Caution With Smart Light Bulbs

There are many different types of smart devices, and many don't work together.

For example, smart switches, such as the Lutron Casetta, will not work effectively with most smart light bulbs—smart light bulbs require constant power and will not function properly with smart switches that do not deliver steady and consistent power. Every time you lose power, you may have to pair your smart light bulbs to your system again, which can get tedious. This occurs even when unplugging the lamp that your smart light bulb is plugged into. If having colored lights is essential, then you must have light switches or smart switches that provide constant power.

Also, smart Wi-Fi light bulbs are not that reliable. Even in a small or modest home, you may have scores of smart bulbs that will consume network bandwidth and resources. Every new Wi-Fi device you add increases network noise, which further causes additional connectivity issues. If your network connection is disabled, your bulbs will not function. Hard-wired smart switches are far more reliable.

You may be able to improve the reliability of the WIFI smart bulbs by locking in a dedicated IP address for every device. If you must be able to change the color of the bulbs, you should consider using smart bulbs that can use a dedicated smart hub provided by the smart bulb provider or a matter-enabled hub that uses threads to conserve WIFI bandwidth. Additionally, smart light bulbs can be quite expensive. I would only recommend a few bulbs if you are trying to add color to an entertainment room or have no other option.

A Reliable Router is Essential

Your router is the most critical component in your smart home. It allows the devices to communicate with each other and is the gateway to your smart home. You also must have a strong WIFI connection to all devices in your home, and you should strongly consider having a mesh router.

Mesh routers are generally slower than traditional routers as they focus on distributing the WIFI connection over a wide area. A mesh network will have one or more nodes placed through your home that act as secondary routers. Each node will receive and retransmit a new wireless WIFI connection that is half the strength of the original signal.

However, most devices, such as smart switches or light bulbs, don't necessarily need a blazing-fast connection, but they do require a stable connection without interruption. Mesh networks are also more complex to configure; however, in medium to large-sized homes, the reliability of the signal to all areas of your home is crucial. Your devices will not work without a reliable WIFI connection. 

I have had significant issues using an Asus ZenWifi XT8 router. It was intermittent, and network connectivity was lost nearly daily. After researching to find a fix, I discovered that many others had similar issues. Various sites highly reviewed this router, but unfortunately- it did not work for me. 

After spending a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to fix the problem, I finally purchased a TP-Link Deco mesh router from Costco, which works flawlessly. However, since writing this article, the US government is considering banning TP-Link products made in China due to potential security concerns.

If you're considering purchasing an expensive router (and you should), I recommend buying one from a reputable source where you can return or exchange it if it does not work. Also, make sure to read the 1-star reviews before purchasing.