Do I Need a Hub to Automate My House?
Do I Need a Hub to Automate My House?
Embracing a smart lifestyle can feel like such a relief in the time of chaotic living. It’s true, what a pleasant feeling to have your tea and toast ready without any labor on a lazy day. In a smart home, all devices are synchronized together to perform efficiently, and the possibilities are endless.
For instance, a high presence of carbon concentration will open your windows automatically as sensors in the windows will read the signals from an air monitor. In order to decrease the amount of carbon, your windows will open to allow fresh air into the room.
But what brings all of these devices together?
For most homeowners, this is a personal choice that may or may not require a hub to manage and control these devices from a single point of access.
In this article, we answer the question “Do I need a hub to automate my house?"
Taking a Closer Look at the Different Types of Home Automation
If you are not a tech expert, you might be wondering about the best way to automate your house. Simply put, there are three methods that can bring a smart living lifestyle into reality.
- Single Device Method
In this method, no hub is required, and you can manage all of your smart appliances separately through apps. In short, this is the best home automation method for beginners and here are just a few advantages:
- You can design your smart home in gradual steps.
- Separate control of each of the device
- Cost efficient
- Easy to manage
Think about it, you can buy and install an air monitor for your smart home.
Through an app, you can then monitor the performance of your new fixture. Once you are comfortable with your first smart home product, you can add more devices. Most of the smart devices have a built-in Wi-Fi bridge which lets you control them directly via a designated app.
- Let a Digital Assistant Take Charge of Your Gadgets
A few years ago, digital assistants made their way into the consumer market. Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant changed the perception of a smart home. Digital assistants allow you to set the scheduled activities in smart home products and no hub is required if you deploy a decent digital assistant. When you connect your smart devices to Alexa, Siri or Google and your digital assistant will take care of the rest.
- Home Automation by a Centralized Hub
A hub is a component of a home automation network which controls your smart home products. It paves a smooth communication medium between smart devices. You can check and manage your devices with this hub. In simple words, the hub acts as a device manager for smart home products and there are many examples such as Samsung SmartThings which is one of the most popular choices.
Do I need a Hub for My Smart Home Products?
So back to the question; do you need a hub for your smart home products?
A hub works as a communicator between different components of a smart home. It provides a communication pathway between indoor devices, security systems, and household appliances. In the early phase of smart homes, people used to rely on the hubs entirely. Nowadays, many voice assistants are available in the market. Voice assistants like Alexa and Amazon Echo run most of the smart home products nicely without a hub. Providers such as Smart Home Products provide a suite of home automation device that bypass the need for a hub, as all devices can be controlled through one centralized app. Let's look at the pros and cons of a hub for house automation.
Pros of a Hub
Single device manager - A hub lets you operate your appliances through a separate app. It's easy and hassle-free to have a single platform for smart home management.
Device Compatibility - Some devices use protocols to connect with other components of a smart home system. A hub acts as a mediator between these devices.
Ease of Use – A hub is easy to use and access all the devices through a single platform in your cellphone
Cons of a Hub
Virtual assistants can do the job of a hub - Digital assistants changed the trends and demands in the home automation industry, instead of running a hub. One of the most impressive benefits to using a virtual assistant is the regular updates that come from the manufacturer. Have you ever heard of a hub getting a feature update from its manufacturers? No, you must buy a new hub to get new features.
Wi-Fi-based smart devices are available in the market - Devices like Amazon Echo Input and Philips Hue use Wi-Fi network to connect with other components in a smart system. For example, you can set a condition though IFTTT for your Philips bulbs to switch off after midnight in the night.
Collapsed home automation system due to single command center - Setting all of your devices on a single source is not a good idea at first. Hubs use a single bandwidth to control all the devices. So, if any issue arises with a hub, you will not be able to run any of a smart device. A hub failure can put you in a state of a collapsed smart home.
Slow processing speed - A hub works as a sole device manager for a smart system. A large number of connected devices to a single hub can affect the performance of the devices. A delayed response from any of the devices can be a cause of worry for you.
Security threats due to a centralized command center - how a hub can be a security threat for a modern smart home? I don't want to scare you, but all of your smart devices depend on a single module. If anyone manages to break the security barriers of your hub, he will have full control of your smart home.
Additional Costs - The transformation from living space to smart home can result in unexpected costs. A long list of gadgets and devices are required to assemble a smart home. With this in mind, why would you want to spend more on a hub? If the devices have built-in Wi-Fi, your virtual assistant can help you.
Final Thoughts
Home-tech products are going through a revolutionary phase. Now and then, an impressive home-tech gadget is introduced in the market and at one time, a smart hub was one of these gadgets. However, with the arrival of apps and virtual assistants, there is no longer any need for a hub in the modern smart home.
For more information on do I need a hub to automate my house, check out: https://smarthomeproducts.us/
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