SMART HOME STARTER KIT - February 21, 2019 By Neil Schmidt

SMART HOME STARTER
        KIT
     February 21, 2019
      By Neil Schmidt

DO YOU HAVE A SMARTHOME?

Do you have:
 Amazon Alexa Dot or Echo ?
 Ring Video Doorbell?
 Home video camera?
 Any other controllable “IoT” device in your home?
 If yes, you have some form of smart­home

MY PRESENTATION

Some “Smart­Home” basics
Devices available
First steps
Expanding/building
Conclusions

SOME BASICS

A smart-home is a house that is equipped with
lighting, heating, and other “IoT” devices that can
be remotely controlled
It can be controlled by smartphones, mobile touch
screens, voice assistants and/or automation
A smart­home can provide comfort, security,
energy efficiency and convenience

SMART HOME ADVANTAGES

�   Convenience by managing all devices from one place
�   Flexibility, i.e., ability to seamlessly integrate new
    devices
�   Home Security with alerts to problems in your home
�   Remotely Control home functions away from home
�   Increased Energy Efficiency through energy
    management
�   Home Management Insights by analyzing habits &
    behaviors

SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
Cameras can track your home's exterior even if it's pitch­black outside
Thermostats can be controlled from your bed, the airport, anywhere your
smartphone has a signal
LED lights let you program color and brightness from your phone.
Motion sensors can send an alert when motion around your house, and
can even tell the difference between pets and burglars
Smartphone integration lets you turn lights and appliances on or off from
your mobile device or smart hub
Door locks and garage doors can opened remotely or automatically as
you approach
Auto alerts from your security system will immediately go to your
smartphone, so you instantly know if there's a problem at home.

COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS
Many commercial smart home systems available:
    ADT
    Protect Your Home
    LifeSHIELD
    ProtectAmerica
    Frontpoint
    Vivint
Commercial systems are expensive with monthly fees
You can now easily Do­It­Yourself (DIY) with no monthly
fees

SMART HOME
             COMMUNICATION
Smart home devices use several different communication
techniques (protocols)
    X-10 – Granddaddy of home automation protocols via
    PLC (1970’s)
    Insteon – Improved communication via PLC & wireless
    (2005)
�    Wi-Fi – Primary smart home communication protocol
�    BLE – Bluetooth Low Energy
�    Z-Wave – Low power mesh network
�    ZigBee – Low power mesh network (similar to Z­Wave)

IMPORTANCE OF WIFI

Smart homes use Wi­Fi for basic communication
and control
“Wi­Fi is crappy in most homes and crappy Wi­Fi
means crappy performance for smart home
gadgets.” (Amazon after purchasing Eero)
Before you consider setting up a smart home, make
sure your Wi­Fi is rock solid, i.e., doesn’t lock­up

SOME SMART HOME
    DEVICES

HUBS & BRIDGES
Most smart home systems primarily use Wi­Fi for
communication
Several smart devices, especially sensors and actuators,
can’t communicate directly with your Wi­Fi (they use
one of the other protocols)
“Hub” or “Bridge” act as a translator between different
protocols.
Why is this important?
   When buying devices, you need to check if a hub is
    required (Another item to purchase, i.e., ~$45)

SMART HOME DEVICES
          Light Bulbs
       Philips Hue:    White ($12)
                       Color ($45)
                       Bridge ($43)
       Kasa Smart LED: White ($20)

              Plugs
       Koogeek:          ($25)
   �   iDevices Switch   ($29)

SMART HOME DEVICES
     Motion Detectors
    Philips Hue Motion ($28)

      Wired Switches
    Koogeek WiFi Wall Switch ($47)

     Wireless Switches
    Philips Hue Smart Dimmer ($25)

SMART HOME DEVICES
         Thermostats
   ecobee3 lite Smart Thermostat ($169)

         Smart Locks
   August Smart Lock Pro ($195)

     Garage Door Openers
    MyQ Smart Garage Door Opener ($80)
    MyQ Home Bridge ($87) Total: $167

SMART SPEAKERS
    Amazon (Alexa)
 Dot ($30)
 Echo ($75)
 Echo Plus­2nd Gen ($150)
   Google (Assistant)
 Google Mini ($29)
 Google Home Smart Speaker ($89)
        Apple (Siri)
  iPhone, iPad
  Apple HomePod ($250)

SMART HOME DISPLAYS
           Amazon
    Echo Spot ($100)
    Echo Show ($230)

            Google
    Google Home Hub ($99)

            Apple
    iPad Mini ($146)
    iPad ($299), iPhone ...

SMART HUBS
        Amazon
Samsung SmartThings ($63)
Wink Hub 2 ($116)
         Google
Samsung SmartThings ($63)
Wink Hub 2 ($116)

          Apple
AppleTV ($149)
HomePod ($250), iPad in home

SECURITY & PRIVACY

Security: Todays smart home systems are pretty
good (probably no worse than when you connect
your phone or PC to your network)
  Note: It’s important that you have a strong
  network password and change it every once in a
  while
Privacy: Can be questionable with Google &
Amazon because they collect and use your data

FIRST STEPS

STARTING SMALL

Start small...
    Buy a single type or brand of smart devices
      Light bulbs
      Plugs
      Camera
    Use device’s smartphone app to turn on/off or
    view status
To expand, you need an integrated ecosystem

WHICH ECOSYSTEM?

�   You need to select a smart home system that can
    integrate (control and monitor) all your devices
    Primary choices are:
        Amazon Echo
        Google Home
        Apple HomeKit

AMAZON ECHO

�   Uses Amazon Echo devices as base station
�   Voice control via “Alexa” (great voice recognition)
�   Lots of automated functions via “skills”
�   Many home automation devices available
�   Privacy is poor (captures & uses your data)
�   Generally only basic smart­home control, i.e., on/off
    vs. automation
�   Best system if you already have Echo & Alexa
    controllable devices

TOP 10 LIST WITH ECHO
1. Make phone calls
2. Get cooking ideas and tips
3. Get the news
4. Entertain your kids for hours
5. Learn about more features
6. Get fit (or try to)
7. Control your TV
8. Use Spotify or Pandora to play music
9. Control your smart home
10. Train Alexa to do practically anything else (IFTTT)

GOOGLE HOME

�   Started late but rapidly catching up
�   Uses “Google Home” device as base station
�   Voice control via “Google Assistant”
�   Lots of home automation devices available
�   Many automated functions (fewer than Amazon &
    Apple)
�   Terrible privacy (Google, Google, Google,...)
�   Best if you have Android phone and/or Google for
    email, calendar, maps, Nest devices and more

APPLE HOMEKIT
Controllable via iPhone, iPad, AppleTV & HomePod
Away from home control (AppleTV, HomePod)
Can use your iPhone’s GPS location for actions
Voice control via “Siri”
“Home” app is simple & the best automation
Maximum security with end­to­end encryption
Fewer home smart devices available (doesn’t work
with Google’s Nest or Amazon’s Ring devices)
Best if already vested in Apple ecosystem

MY DECISION PROCESS

Amazon Echo
   I have an Echo and an Echo Dot
   Great at answering questions (personal assistant)
   Can turn Bose Radio on/off, change stations
   Can turn TV on/off, change stations
   Good at voice control (primarily on/off)
   Poor automation capability
   Not selected
Google Home
   Except for Gmail, not vested in Google stuff
   Not selected

MY DECISION PROCESS

What I want in a smart home system
   More than just turn things on/off via voice
   Automation (automatic control) such as:
        Accessory control (Ex. “When a light turns on”)
        Sensor detection (Ex. “Motion detected”)
        Location change (Ex. “Everyone has left home)
   Maximum security and privacy
Already vested in Apple products (iPhone, iPad, AppleTV)
Apple HomeKit was selected

MY SMART HOME HISTORY
1980­: Plug­in mechanical timer
1980’s: X10 Devices (PLC)
          Plug­in modules: Lights
          Remote controller
2000’s: Insteon Devices (PLC)
           Plug­in, lights, locks, appliance modules
           PC programable (ISY)
           Smart mobile device control (Mobilinc)
2018:   HomeKit (WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee & Z­Wave)

HOMEKIT

BUILDING A SYSTEM

My HomeKit experience used as an example on
how to setup a smart home system
Setup for Amazon or Google is somewhat similar
    General concept is the same
    Many devices work on multiple systems
There are though some differences in both security
and functionality

BUILDING A SYSTEM

For HomeKit:
 You need to have Apple hardware (iPhone or iPad)
 To get the most out of your system, you also need
 either an Apple TV, HomePod, or a dedicated iPad
 You need smart home gadgets that work with
 HomeKit

HOMEKIT TERMINOLOGY

    Home: Standard built­in iOS app (2016)
        App is used to view & manage smart home
        devices or accessories
    Rooms: Specifying where devices are located
      � Example: Living Room, Family Room, etc.

�   Zones: A bunch of rooms grouped together
      � Example: Upstairs, Downstairs

    Scenes: A group of actions all triggered at the same
    time

HOMEKIT TERMINOLOGY

Automations: Control things without intervention
using various triggers
    Examples: Time of Day, When sensor detects
    something, etc.
Home Hub: Allows controls of your home when you
are not there
    Need Apple TV, ApplePod, or dedicated iPad

HOMEKIT CONTROL
HomeKit setup is done via “Home” app on iPhone/iPad
Manually control devices via “Home” app or Siri
Siri recognizes your rooms, scenes, and automations
Some Siri examples:
      “Turn off the lights in the family room”
      “Set living room light to 50 percent”
      “Set the temperature to 68 degrees”
      “I’m home”
      “Did I lock the front door?”
      “Is the garage door open?”
Security measure: Some accessories don’t work with Siri
unless phone is unlocked, i.e., front door, garage door

LETS START BUILDING!

ADD AN ACCESSARY

“Home” App   Add Accessory   Scan code

SPECIFYING THE ROOM

 ID the “Room”   Change the “Room”

AUTOMATION

Program how device(s) will automatically act:
  A Time of Day Occurs
  An Accessory is Controlled
  People Arrive or Leave (geofence)
  A Sensor Detects Something

TIME AUTOMATION

ACCESSARY AUTOMATION

SENSOR AUTOMATION

GEOFENCE AUTOMATION

HOUSEHOLD SHARING

You can invite others iOS owners to access your
HomeKit control (spouse, child, etc.)

For security, make sure they have a password &
two­factor authentication on their iCloud account

They will have full access to all your devices (You
cannot share a single device)

“HOME” APP ON IPHONE

  “Home” App   Change Settings

“HOME” APP ON IPAD

NOTIFICATIONS
You can get notifications sent to your iOS device(s)
My notifications are:
    When someone approaches front door
    When someone opens front door
    When someone opens the garage door
    When there is motion detected in house and
    we’re not home
    When someone rings the front door (Ring
    Doorbell)

MY “AUTOMATION”
Morning: Turn up heat to day­time temp
Each day: Turn­on garden fountain
Sunset: Turn­on entryway/sidewalk lights
Evening: Turn­on hall lights on movement
Any time: Turn­on computer room lights on movement
Late evening: Turn down heat, lock front door, close garage
door
Night time: Turn on front lights on motion in front
When I leave: Lower heat 2°, lock front door, close garage
door
When I arrive: Turn up heat, turn­on family room light (night
only)
More motion sensor “automation” being planned

RELIABILITY

Most smart home devices work flawlessly but...
   Do some research before buying devices
   Avoid devices with reported communication
   issues
   Minimize the number of different brands used
Smart home systems don’t work if:
   Loose power to your house
   Wi­Fi locks­up (Get it up to snuff before
   starting)

SETUP CHALANGES
When buying, make sure devices work with your system
(HomeKit, Amazon, Google Home)
Check to see if a “hub” is also needed for a device
Setting up devices is relatively easy
Often use device’s app for startup steps (No written
instructions)
My linking issues experience:
     Apple TV: Reset iCloud (Google)
     August Lock: Unlock gear mechanism (Google)
     MyQ Garage Opener: Hub & Bridge (Tech.)
     Lutron Bridge: Reset (Tech.)

CONCLUSION

A Smart Home system is fun to use
Sometimes a challenge to setup
Can be a bit expensive
Adds comfort, convenience and security to your
home
Moves you & your home into the modern age