What Is Smart Home Monitoring and When It Makes Sense

Smart home monitoring gives you a better awareness of what’s going on at your home. Whether you want to see who’s at your front door or be notified of a water leak, smart home technology can help you cover your bases.

However, having a smart home monitoring system doesn’t mean you need to have every gadget under the sun. Read on to learn what smart home monitoring is and when it makes sense for your property.

What Is Smart Home Monitoring?

Smart home monitoring brings connected home devices together to provide homeowners with greater visibility into activity and conditions around their property. For instance, you could set up to receive notifications when someone comes to your front door, or you can have multiple smart home devices working together to monitor various things around your home. From home security cameras to video doorbells, smart locks, motion detectors, smart thermostats and more, you can monitor different parts of your home using this technology.

You also don’t need to have every smart home device that exists. If you just want to know when your packages arrive, then a video doorbell may be enough. If you’re worried about water damage, then water leak sensors may be a good option.

How Smart Home Monitoring Systems Work

Smart home monitoring systems work by allowing a device to detect an event and send that information to you through a network. Let’s say you have a motion detector set up. The motion detector will sense motion and communicate over your network to let you know that motion was detected. You could then have your camera set up to show you a video replay of what happened.

There are multiple aspects involved in smart home monitoring. You’ll need WiFi, an internet connection from a reliable ISP, and possibly a cloud service and mobile app. Depending on your smart home devices, you may also need a smart home hub. While you don’t need to understand all of this to use a smart home monitoring system, you will need to have the proper connectivity in place.

What Can You Monitor With Smart Home Technology?

Smart home security can combine cameras, video doorbells, smart home sensors, and other connected devices to help homeowners stay aware of what’s happening around their property.

There are many things you can do with smart home technology. Here are some examples:

• Detect motion around your home: By having motion detection alerts and cameras set up, you can be notified if there’s any movement around your home, whether it’s at your front door, garage, driveway, or side door.
• Know when someone is at your front door: A video doorbell can notify you when someone comes to your door and allows you to see or speak to that person. If you’re upstairs or away from home, this can be very useful.
• Packages arriving: With some smart home devices, you can receive notifications when a delivery is made. You can also view video of what may have occurred around your home if your package goes missing.
• Smart locks: With smart door locks you can be notified if your door is locked or unlocked. Some smart locks allow you to lock and unlock your door from your phone as well.
• Temperature: Using a smart thermostat allows you to monitor and adjust your home’s temperature. This is particularly useful when you’re away from your home for an extended period of time.
• Water leaks: If you have water leak sensors, you can be notified if there is a water leak occurring. These should be placed near appliances or pipes that may leak.
• Other smart home devices: Devices exist to monitor smoke and carbon monoxide.

With smart home monitoring, you can enable remote home monitoring from your phone. Whether it’s viewing a camera, locking your door, or adjusting your thermostat, you can easily do these tasks and more.

When Does Smart Home Monitoring Make Sense?

Smart home notifications are ideal when you want to know more about what’s going on at your home. Here are some situations where having a smart home monitoring system may benefit you.

When You Travel or Spend Long Periods Away From Home

If you’re away from home for a few days or even weeks, then having smart home monitoring can help. Smart home devices can monitor basement floods, someone knocking at your door and sudden drops in your home temperature.

When Deliveries and Visitors Are Common

A video doorbell or camera can be helpful if you receive a lot of packages or visitors coming to your home. Smart home notifications will be sent when there’s motion at your front door so you can see who is there and even talk to them.

When You Have a Larger Property or Areas That Are Hard to See

If you have a large home or property, then there may be areas that you cannot see from inside your home, such as a detached garage. But with a large property comes thinking about your WiFi.

A device that’s located in your garage may be further from your WiFi than a device that’s inside your home, so you want to make sure that you have a strong connection to all of your devices.

When Household Members Benefit From Remote Access

Whether it’s your spouse, a friend, or a family member, they can check on your home for you. They can check to see if your door is locked, adjust your temperature, or receive notifications from your smart home.

Smart home monitoring is not a substitute for having someone watch over your home or for emergency services. But it can give you that extra peace of mind that your home is secure.

When Smart Home Monitoring May Not Be Worth It

If you’re at home most of the time and don’t feel like you need to monitor your home, then smart home monitoring may not be right for you. In addition, there are some downsides to having too many smart home devices:

• Cost: Smart home devices can be costly. Some devices also require a monthly subscription to get certain features. Plus, if you have too many devices sending you notifications, it can become frustrating.
• Compatibility: You’ll want to make sure that you have the proper smart home device compatibility. If you have devices from different manufacturers, you may end up with many apps and accounts to keep track of.

Start with one thing that you want to monitor and build from there. If you want to know when your packages arrive, then start with a video doorbell. If you’re worried about water leaks, then start with water leak sensors. You can always add more devices to your smart home later.

What to Consider Before Setting Up Smart Home Monitoring

When you’re setting up your smart home monitoring system there are a few things you may want to keep in mind:

WiFi Coverage Throughout the Home

As we mentioned earlier, you’ll want to ensure that your home has good WiFi coverage. You don’t want to buy a device and realize that you can’t get a strong enough signal where you want to place it.

When considering WiFi for smart home devices, consider whether your wireless signal can reliably reach every location where you plan to install a connected device. If it doesn’t, you may need to upgrade your internet to get a better signal throughout your home.

Internet Reliability and Available Bandwidth

Many of these devices will need to be connected to your internet at all times. If you’re streaming shows, playing video games, or doing other activities that use the internet, then you’ll want to make sure that you have enough bandwidth.

Not every smart home device will require the same amount of internet speed, so always research what your devices need before purchasing an internet plan.

Read More: Fiber Internet: The Backbone of Smart Homes

Device and Platform Compatibility

Make sure the smart home devices you plan to buy are compatible with your phone. It’s best to avoid having a bunch of devices with different apps and accounts. With smart home device compatibility, you can keep everything in one place and make it easier to manage.

Privacy and Account Security

Smart home privacy is always something you want to keep in mind. Make sure you have a strong password on your account and enable multi-factor authentication if you can. Also keep your devices updated and be aware of where your cameras are pointed.

Subscription Costs and Cloud Storage

Some smart home devices will require you to have a subscription in order to get certain features. Before you purchase a device, make sure you know what you’re signing up for, since you don’t want to pay a high monthly subscription and not get everything you need.

A few questions you may want to consider before purchasing a device include: How long will your video be saved? What type of notifications will you receive?

Power and Internet Outages

If you have a power or internet outage, then your smart home devices may not work. This is when you may need to look into battery backed devices, which would be an additional cost.

Read More: Can Fiber Internet Work Without Electricity? Understanding Backup Solutions

How Many Smart Home Monitoring Devices Do You Actually Need?

This number depends on what you want to monitor and what works for you. If you just want to know when your packages arrive, then you may only need one device. If you want to monitor your whole home, then you will need more devices.

Once you have your initial devices set up, you can always add more to your smart home.

Why Reliable Internet and WiFi Matter for Smart Home Monitoring

When you’re setting up your smart home, you’ll need to have a good internet connection and WiFi coverage in order to function properly. You’ll want to make sure that you have a fast internet speed and your WiFi reaches all areas of your home.

Reliable internet for smart home devices helps cameras, doorbells, sensors, and other connected equipment communicate with apps and deliver alerts when you need them.

To learn more about how to get reliable internet for your smart home, contact 24-7 & West Wisconsin Telcom. We have different residential internet plans to choose from.

We also offer information on smart home monitoring and how to set it up in your home. And if you need help with your WiFi coverage, we offer smart home WiFi solutions as well.

Smart home monitoring can be a great way to keep an eye on your home and give you peace of mind. Contact us today to learn more.