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I recently read an article on Wired by Simon Hill (dated 11 June 2022, really recent). The article mentioned about how Simon and his family lived in a smart home and the experience turned out differently. For all you smart home owners wannabe, these will be issues you will face in reality. Sadly most home owners will only face these issues after purchasing the devices/System Integrator's beautiful dream. Let's review some of the rants by the smart home gatekeeper of the Hill family and see if there are any solutions to these inherent issues.

1. IoT App Fatigue - Multiple apps

But the reality falls woefully short of that vision. “Dad! The light isn’t turning on!” “Simon! Google won’t open the curtains again!” “How do I get YouTube on your TV?” “Which app is it for the garden lights again?” Invite smart bulbs, robot vacuums, smart speakers, and other wondrous devices into your house, and you will soon see the cracks.

Then there are the apps. So many apps. Every device has its own app. The more smart home gadgets you add, the more cluttered your phone becomes. Keeping track of which app controls which device is tricky enough. But you must also install them for everyone else and train them, or accept your role as the gatekeeper of settings for the household.

You will need to leverage on all-in-one rule engine solution. Note that this is not about an all-in-one application as having a single rule engine will assist you in having all your devices in a single rule-engine hence in a single application.

Home-A-Genius is able to do so as we link to various smart devices directly to our application, allowing for rules to be setup in the admin page. There is no need to set up secondary rules in Google Home. Once the rules are set up in the admin page, all the rules/rooms/scenes will be synced downstream allowing for the user interfaces to be updated.

2. Change Wi-Fi system means to re-setup the smart home all over?!

When things are running perfectly, you can catch a glimpse of comfort and convenience. But when issues crop up—which they frequently do—problem-solving falls on us. If you've ever lost a morning trying to set up a security camera; sacrificed an afternoon connecting your light panels to your new Wi-Fi mesh system.

This is the hard truth for everyone. If there is a need to change the router, the best you can do is to change the SSID to be the same as your previous one. Change of router is often the most tedious steps for all smart home as most smart home devices require a static IP to be assigned to them to ensure stability during connection.

While the solutions are limited, Home-A-Genius has a few strong men to assist in the change in router. Usually a change in router will result in smart home system downtime, but we are able to assist with a small fee. So Home-A-Genius users, fret not! Team Home-A-Genius is all ready to assist when the day comes!

3. Smart Lights that aren't really that smart

Take smart lighting, for example. For it to work, you have to remind everyone in your family to leave the old switches alone. Fail, and your meticulously arranged remote control, voice commands, and scheduling are gone.

Smart Lights had been problematic since the beginning of time. When Team Home-A-Genius implemented smart lights solution, we faced a few concerns from clients. The main one being the smart light won't function if the switch is powered off - as described by Simon. Another being the smart lights are too dim. Home owners would prefer to have brighter lights, prefabaly 13W and above for each bulb.

That was when Home-A-Genius came up with our Smarter light solution. The Smarter Light solution aimed to solve the number 1 issue faced by everyone including Simon. The Smarter Light comes with a toggle button, allowing for less-savvy users to continue pressing the switch, but that will not cut off the power supply to the smart lights. While the savvy users enjoy the automation/routines painstakingly set up by them.

4. Serious Lag time

Even when things do work, it can take a few seconds for your chosen assistant to turn the light off. I feel faintly ridiculous telling my wife not to touch the switch or close the curtains by hand as I repeat a voice command or tap away at my phone screen. “Is this more convenient?” she asks with a bemused look.

When we first did up Home-A-Genius, that was one of the pain points we had to endure when testing the system. That was when we hooked up with Google and embarked on our Local SDK journey with Google Assistant. With Local SDK within the eco-system, we saw voice commands dropped from 3-5s to a mere 1s (sometimes on good days even less than 1s).

5. Google not being able to translate what you mean

I can barely keep this stuff straight. Little wonder the rest of my family struggles. Sometimes I feel like I’m asking Hal to open the pod bay doors. As Google Assistant keeps telling me, “Something has gone wrong.”

I have to admit, we get this quite often from Google too. However the best workaround to this is to use simple voice command. Pod Bay Doors sound too chim in my opinion. Cutting it short to Bay Doors might have easily resolved it.

6. The Matter Dream

Matter, the new smart-home standard, is due any minute now and will tackle some of these problems. ....... But don’t get too excited. As Michele Turner, director of Google's Smart Home Ecosystem, told me recently, it will provide a robust and reliable foundation to build on, but the individual devices themselves still need a lot of work.

Yes, don't get too excited! I have yet seen any framework on Matter as of now much less to say how long it will take for all other device to develop itself on the framework. The same goes for Zigbee 3.0. As much as I'd love to believe the beautiful lie of a fully integrated solution, the current IoT situation is a far cry from a standardised protocol. I'm sorry, but Home-A-Genius has no solution to this yet.

Too many platforms, too many choices...

Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Tuya, Home-A-Genius, etc. these are the platforms that you've probably heard of when you are looking to do up a smart home ecosystem.

Google Home & Amazon Alexa works on pretty much the same basics - software developers build services/skills to allow their applications to link up to Google Home & Amazon Alexa. To allow these services/skills on their platform, massive tests were done to ensure usability of services/skills.

Tuya platform pretty much allows for any distributor who've paid for the microchip to link up to their platform; disallowing integration with other ecosystems, unless linking up with Google Home/Amazon Alexa.

Let's skip the boring parts here and move on to more important topics. As we all know Smart home platforms comes in 2 different forms: Cloud-based and Local Area Network (LAN). Simple, one runs on cloud (requires internet) one runs on your local network (don't need internet). Google Home/Amazon Alexa and Tuya are all cloud-based.

Getting a System Integrator vs DIY

The role of system integrators (SI) involves being a consultant during the smart home setup, pre-setup and also after the setup is completed. While the role of SI may sound simple, it involves a full suite of services from developing the solution, building and R&D on new solutions, communicating with the ID/electrician, setting up the system, training users on how to use the system and lastly, off-site and on-site maintainence of the system. As you can see the scope of work of an SI is pretty hefty, hence you can never be able to justify the pricetag against a smart home system that is built via DIY.

DIY solutions are readily available in the market, with suppliers providing solutions online. While it may look as easy on the e-commerce paltform, IoT solutions are not as simple as it seems.

Do you know that Wi-Fi connected devices consume more electricity than Zigbee devices even though there is no need for an additional hub?

While the solution may seem more afforable at the start, the running cost to maintain the system will cost more overtime. Information as such will not be displayed on the e-commerce platform, hence it is up to the client's knowledge to decide on the device.

Single Application - A promise from a System Integrator

The difficulty of the IoT ecosystem now is being able to sync all of the various devices together. Usually, consumers would have 1 application for their security cameras, another application for their doorbell, another application for their lights, and so on. The confusion always starts when users do not know which application to use. i.e. the app provided by the system integrator or the Google Home app.

The backstory to this is that once you hop onto Google Home, or an alternative secondary app that allows for full integration, the promises on the application on the system integrator (Local Area Connection, single app control) would be nullified. Use of multiple applications will also contribute to confusion, leading to bad user experience.

Being able to link up to a device/application is not easy - various API linkages are required. Massive programming +maintenance works required along the way. Building an application to link up to various devices is not as simple as it looks. On top of that, users have to use that application on a daily basis. The app has to be lightweight, secure and also user friendly at the same time.

Single Rules Engine - Single Maintainence work

An all-in-one application promises one thing. Easy maintainence. What it means is that you need not use multiple applications just to setup rules.

Example: Switches belong to a proprietary application (App P). App P is unable to link up with other smart appliances proivded in Singapore. e.g. Dyson fan, Sonos sound system and LG/Sony/Android TV. The only way to link up these devices in your living room is via Google Home.

What does this mean to a user?

Multiple Rule engine used, resulting in multiple rooms/scene setup. More complex debugging if needed.

• Firstly, you need to link the devices in App P, group them in an dummy room e.g. Resting Room. Note you cannot use the same name in Google Home as this will confuse the system.
• Next, you will need to sync the rooms and scenes to Google Home App.
• Link smart appliances (Dyson, Sonos sound system and LG/Sony/Android TV) to Google Home App, and setup another new room in Google Home App. This time you can use the correct room name "Living Room" as this will be the actual name used in your Google Command.
• Thereafter, you will need to add the devices into Living Room. Your Living Room is setup!
• That is not all, the above steps only allow you to use the voice command. To use the Siri Widgets, you will need to create shortcuts in the shortcuts app.

Notice the number of rules engines used in this scenario and the number of times the user needs to setup a room. Much less to mention if the additional device needs to be added after your SI has left the house. Maintainence will be a nightmare.

In Home-A-Genius, we have a single rule engine, single admin page and a single action of setting up the rules will sync up with all downstream user interfaces: Smarter switch, Home-A-Genius Widget and the Google Home app. Furthermore, this eliminates the need to use dummy room names hence lesser confusion just to reference the rooms/scenes in-between applications.

Leave it to us!

Home-A-Genius specializes in developing smart home platform and also comes with a strong team that assist with your smart home setup. Leave the work to us while you enjoy the movie mode!

Planning a smart home starts way back to pre-renovation stage. This is the golden stage any smart home consultants get most flexibility to achieve the optimal smart home solution for their clients. During this stage, 2 main agenda will be covered to ensure that the smart home works at its best - networking & electrical wiring.

Networking Solutions: First, look at the location of your Distributor box (DB). This is where most of your data points terminate. New BTO/Condo units will have a network switch, the OpenNet port and the Internet Service Provider (ISP) modem located in the DB. In short, the DB is like the networking HQ of your home. This is also where most of your router will be placed.

The issue lies here - the DB in most new BTO/Condo units are located in an isolated area of the home. This means that most homes in Singapore will have WiFi deadspots if the networking solution is not planned carefully. In this case, no matter how many smart devices your home is equipped with, the lack of connectivity will dampen the performance of the smart home.

How to solve this?

Networking itself is a module in University and it is a subject students are afraid of. With the speed at how technology is evolving, networking cannot be mastered overnight. My advice, get an expert's opinion, it only makes your life (and your partner's) a lot easier with a stable WiFi within your new home.

If you are really keen on D.I.Y, plan your networking solution such that the router is situated at the center of your home. Do note that all the other devices (connected via LAN) will have to be connected to the same router.

Next, do take note of the number of walls your router have to penetrate to reach the end of the home. Weaker routers may not be able to reach the far end of your home due interferences.

Lastly, plan your networking solution with Access Points (AP) i.e. connect your LAN cables directly. AP solutions are (for sure) more stable and reliable compared to wireless mesh solutions. Situtate the AP within your home that covers greatest traffic. This will ensure your WiFi connected devices to be within areas of WiFi network coverage.

Electrical wiring: Do I need a neutral wire for my switches? Our recommendation is always to go with a YES. Neutral wire not only stabilizes the circuit within the home, it also allows for a more efficient smart switch protcol within the home.

BTO/Condo will already have ready made switches. Note that these switches may not come with a neutral wire. You may speak to your electricians on how to pull the extra neutral wire to your switch. Alternatively, you may look into getting Non-Neutral wire switches.

It is never too late to start. Just that post-reno implementation of smart home will not garner as much flexibility as pre-reno. This means that implementing a smart home post-reno may cost you even more than planning your smart home pre-reno, due to many limitations:

Networking Solution: You may be limited to mesh router options, where WiFi signal are interlinked wirelessly. Compared to the AP option, mesh routers are pricier and may result loss of network speed down the node.

Lack of Neutral wire: this means that neutral wire smart switches may be out of reach. This leaves you to only Smart Lights, universal IR or RF blasters for ceiling fans. The option of Smart Lights are often costlier and less optimal than installing smart switches.

Let's take a look at these 2 scenarios.

Post-Reno: Philips HUE smart lights are $99/downlight. Assuming you are looking to furnish your living room with 8 smart downlights. The item cost will be $792, not to forget the HUE bridge, which is $89 each, amounting the full sum to automate your living room lights to $881.

Pre-Reno: Electrical fees to pull the neutral wire (without hacking) range between $100 to $160. Let's take the fees to add the blue wire to be $120. The cost of a 2G touch panel smart switch is $99. The total amount to smarten your living room is only $220.

The smart home hub you are looking not only reduces its communication protocol to only 1x smart switch from the above 8x smart lights, optimizing your smart home system as much as possible.

Disclaimer: Of cause, HUE lights have their pros. If you are looking for lights that change colors and can dim/brighten, HUE lights are our top light choice. Lights linked to switches can only on/of or dim. Color changing is not possible with smart switches.

Always budget for smart home during renovation. Prices of Smart home solutions can range drastically, depending on the features and lifestyle you are looking at. Always seek expert's advises as Smart Home Technology is constantly evolving and small, intricate details have to be considered when planning for a smart home.

Not sure where to start? Speak to us!