How to Design a Solid Network for Smart Homes

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Home Network

Gone are the days when consumers needed just a simple router and switch to connect a few computers and smart TVs to the Internet. With 4K video, high resolution audio, and scores of IoT devices in today’s smart home – plus hackers galore outside the home -- integrators need a solid home-network design that considers security, quality of service, reliability and scale.

Yet so many home-tech pros fail to comprehend the gravity of a rich home network. Either that, or they simply don’t implement best practices because they don’t know how to do it, or simple they don’t know how to sell it.

What to Avoid

If you are hiring a Home Automation company be sure that they are using your money in a professional way. These are several mistakes and challenges that integrators have on home networks:

• -No master design, no roadmap
• -Undersizing the network and components
• -Frankensteining systems – this and that from different manufacturers
• -No futureproofing
• -Not capturing all the requirements of customer
• -Weak or no security
• -Poor wireless planning
• -Over-reliance on wireless
• -Interference
• -Poor coverage
• -Poor device placement
• -Improper topology – can’t handle load, weak link, can take down network, redundancy, scalability
• -Improper equipment specifications for the job
• -No reliability in the design
• -No protection/redundancy in case of failures
• -Not enough power in the electrical service
• -Overlooking single-point failure scenarios on critical components
• -No design for ongoing serviceability and maintenance (remote access, backups, recovery, update plans, etc.)
• -Not enough PoE to drive devices, so nearby AC outlets must be used
• -Unstable/unreliable - Not enough overhead to support at peak loads, or high bandwidth applications/services

Those are some of the most common issues that you need to avoid. Remember, if you help, I am always a click away.

Ignacio Maurino @Showtime Audio & Video.