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Smarthomes areconvenient and powerful.
From self-locking doors andautomatedlights to video doorbells and voice control, there’s so much to love.
But, sometimes, owning a smarthome is an incredibly frustrating experience.
Here are a few reasons why.
Take it from me.
Work done on the house brought a few rooms up to code, but it’s inconsistent at best.
If your house isn’t up to code, getting it there means calling an electrician.
you’ve got the option to usesmart bulbs instead, but they’re expensive.
Doorbell wiring is even trickier since you’re dealing with similar problems and multiple points of failure.
If your doorbell’s transformer needs replacing, good luck finding it.
In that scenario, if you wantsmart doorbell, it must bebattery powered.
Older Homes With Thicker Walls Add Signal Problems
Do you have trouble with Wi-Fi in your home?
You’re going to run into similar issues with smarthome technology.
The very bestEero systemtops outat $500for instance.
Even if you pull back, it’s not uncommon to spend $300 on mesh systems.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
We’ve reported the deaths of theLowe’s IrisandStringifyplatforms in recent months.
Wink isn’t looking too healthy either lately—we can’t recommend it anymore.
Before that, theRevolv hubwas discontinued.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
Even when a company is stable, it may break your smarthome by accident asLogitech did with Harmony hubs.
We’ve yet to find a cloudless smart hub as simple to put together as Wink.
Worst of all, even when the company isn’t the problem your devices themselves may fail.
Even if the members of your household accept the smart components, your extended family and guests might not.
That, in turn, might make them feel less at home.
Smarthomes are tremendous and fantastic when everything works right.
