• About Us
    • — About Digitized House
    • — Advertise
    • — Editorial Guidelines
  • Policies
    • — Ad Policy
    • — Privacy Policy
    • — Cookie Policy (US)
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
No Result
View All Result
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
No Result
View All Result
Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
No Result
View All Result
Home Connected Home

Building a Smart Home to Stand the Passage of Time: Part 1

Eddie Estelles by Eddie Estelles
8 October 2018
in Connected Home, Energy Conservation
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Will your smart home platform be relevant years down the road? Image: Machinon.

Will your smart home platform be relevant years down the road? Image: Machinon.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When the concept of a smart home is mentioned, we tend to visualize a household where all appliances and accessories are connected through a Wi-Fi network and managed automatically with smartphone apps. However, wireless communication is not necessarily mandatory for a smart home, and wired devices can bring many benefits. Wireless networks are typically viewed as the superior option, but each configuration has advantages and limitations.


Looking for the next installment in this series? Read Building a Smart Home to Stand the Passage of Time: Part 2 on Digitized House.


A key challenge in home automation is integrating many devices together, hence the importance of a centralized smart platform. When you have separate and incompatible apps for every device, managing your connected home appliances can become tedious and confusing—this defeats the purpose of home automation in the first place, which is making your appliances smarter.

More Original Content FromDigitized House

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

Smart Housing’s Promise for Rural Development

Healthier Smart Home Air Filtration: Aura Air Review

Smart Tech Helping Build Sustainable Homes

Getting the Most Out of Your Smart Home Upgrades

A glimpse at the Machinon home automation platform. Currently at the prototype stage, a Kickstarter campaign is planned for later in 2018. Image: Machinon.
A glimpse at the Machinon home automation platform. Currently at the prototype stage, a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is planned for later in 2018. Image: Machinon.

Another important aspect in smart home applications is deciding between commercial solutions and a do-it-yourself projects. Although the DIY approach is viable, it is important to design an interface that can be understood by any user, and not only by the designer.

Comparing Wireless and Wired Smart Home Systems

The main advantage of a wireless smart home system is ease of installation. Everything can be connected through a conventional Wi-Fi network, or dedicated protocols such as EnOcean, Z-Wave, and ZigBee to mention a few. Installing physical connections can be a time-consuming process, often requiring a disruption of walls and ceilings to install conduit and raceways.

However, a wireless configuration also has its limitations. Although there are many ways to increase the security of a wireless network, wired devices will always be much less vulnerable to hacking. By the time you access the “wire” you are already in.

Wireless networks are characterised by their flexibility, but that can also be a weakness under some circumstances. For example, if you change your internet service provider or Wi-Fi password, your smart home appliances that rely on Wi-Fi stop working and must be reconfigured.

Another challenge can be network bandwidth and many wireless networks share the same frequency spectrum. For example, both Wi-Fi and ZigBee use the 2.4 Ghz frequency, and this can result in data packet collision and therefore lower performance on applications that may be much more important for the user, such as video streaming.

There’s then the recent news about privacy and hacking. When you buy a Wi-Fi device from a vendor, you are granting them full access to your network. These devices tend to “check-in” often with their vendor’s servers and sometimes do not use the most secure methods, potentially leaving open doors for intruders.

Although a wired smart home system is more complex to install, it is also a more permanent configuration. Wired appliances continue working properly regardless of how many times you change your internet provider or password.

Planning for the Future

The Floorplan view of the forthcoming Machinon smart home interface. Image: Machinon.
The Floorplan app view of the forthcoming Machinon smart home controller. Image: Machinon.

A wired system will also better withstand the passage of time. For example, if you change your smart home solution with a new hub or technology, all the hard work has already been done, without being locked into a single vendor.

In addition, if you decide to sell or rent your home, a wired system can be much more portable for the new residents, adding value to the property versus the scenario with having a few battery-operated devices.

The main point to consider here is that a home is often an investment for the long term. So if you decide to embark on home automation, make sure your selected approach is there to last. Otherwise it may well become an expensive hobby.

The prototype of the Machinon hardware interface. Image: Machinon.
The prototype of the Machinon hardware interface. Image: Machinon.

In the next article in this series, Building a Smart Home to Stand the Passage of Time: Part 2, we delve into the wireless network alternatives for building a smart home.


Editor’s Note:

Author Eddie Estelles is the driving force behind the forthcoming Machinon, a connected home automation controller designed around an open systems approach. At its core, Machinon is a hardware-independent smart extension board for the Raspberry Pi platform, resulting in an advanced smart home and building management system controller. With the objective to be compatible with preeminent open source home automation software, Machinon will employ the Domoticz home automation software stack.

Estelles is hoping to launch a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign early in 2019 to move Machinon from the current prototype stage to a commercially viable product. Stay tuned to Digitized House for more info.

More About This Topic:

  • More from Digitized House | Guide to the Connected Home
  • Sign Up for Digitized House Emails
  • Machinon website
  • Building a Smart Home to Stand the Passage of Time: Part 2
  • Are Smart Homes Normalizing Energy-Efficient Living?
  • Automating your window shades in the connected home era: Part 1
Tags: 001connected homeconnected livingdomestic technologyDomoticzenergygear & gadgetshome automationInternet of ThingsMachinonnetworksOpen SourceOpen SystemsRaspberry Pismart home
Previous Post

Google Home Mini Speaker Turns Blue with Aqua Version

Next Post

Smart Coffee Makers to Energize You and Your Home

Eddie Estelles

Eddie Estelles

Eduardo (Eddie) Estelles is an electronics engineer specialised in IoT for the energy sector. He founded Logic Energy in 2007, a firm specialising in supporting new energies technologies. More recently, his work has been focused on integrating IoT with demand response for energy networks within the domestic, small, and medium enterprise sector using smart home technology. Today, Eddie is bringing industrial-grade technology to the end consumer for the home automation sector with the Machinon platform. His vision is to bring open, sustainable, and tie-free solutions to the building and control automation sector, taking his experience from the industrial sector to design long-term supported systems.

Related Posts

The Google Nest Hub displaying home energy data for a Reliant Energy customer. Image: Digitized House.
Sustainable Home

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

18 April 2022

Most people try to do their part to cut down on carbon and help save the planet. From recycling to...

A sunset in rural America, specifically in Driftwood, Texas. Image: Digitized House Media.
Connected Home

Smart Housing’s Promise for Rural Development

7 March 2022

Although we are living in the great age of technology, the so-called digital divide is very real, and it continues...

Healthy Home

Healthier Smart Home Air Filtration: Aura Air Review

18 February 2022

What is the current air quality in your living space? Chances are you don't have any idea. Aura Air, a...

Next Post
Ready to find your inner barista? The Saeco GranBaristo Avanti is a thoroughbred among coffee makers. Image: Saeco.

Smart Coffee Makers to Energize You and Your Home

From the new line of hardware from Facebook, the Portal+ features smart two-way video capability on a 15-in. screen. Image: Facebook.

Facebook Bets on Smart Video Calling with Portal Displays

Google Home Hub aims to be the central command center for your connected home. Image: Google.

Google Home Hub Embraces the Hybrid Connected Home

As an Amazon Associate, Digitized House may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links, ads, or buttons on this page. See our full Affiliate Link, Sponsorship, and Ad Policy.

About Us

Digitized House is the Guide to the Connected Home.

We help global consumers make their 
Connected Homes smarter, healthier, safer, and 
more sustainable through streams of original content. You can see our story here.

Like what you see on this website? You can also read us on our Apple News App Channel.

More Info

  • About Us
    • — About Digitized House
    • — Advertise
    • — Editorial Guidelines
  • Policies
    • — Ad Policy
    • — Privacy Policy
    • — Cookie Policy (US)

Affiliate Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, Digitized House may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links, ads, or buttons on this page. See our full Affiliate Link, Sponsorship, and Ad Policy.

Recent Content

How Smart Tech Drives Sustainable Home Decisions

6 Steps to Furnishing Your Space Sustainably Without Compromising Aesthetics 

Smart Housing’s Promise for Rural Development

Healthier Smart Home Air Filtration: Aura Air Review

Smart Tech Helping Build Sustainable Homes

7 Tech-Focused Tips For Stress-Free Apartment Hunting

© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Connect Your Home
    • Deals
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
    • Window Coverings
    • Connected Home and Gadget Resources
  • Ecosystems
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Apple HomeKit
    • Google Assistant
    • SmartThings
    • Open Systems
  • Design Your Home
    • Architecture
    • Healthy Home
    • Home Design
    • How-To
    • Green Building
    • Real Estate
    • Sustainable Home
  • About Us + Policies
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Ad Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy (US)

© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional cookies Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}