Smart Bulbs Vs Smart Switches, Which One You Should Use

Updated on 14th Oct 2020 17:06 in General, Smart

If you were to ask a smart home enthusiast whether you should use a smart switch or a smart bulb, the answer is almost certain to be different with each person you ask. The debate is as old as the smart home industry its self, so why is it so difficult to get a straight answer? The short answer is that there is no one size fits all answer and that each specific situation needs to be assessed to determine which option is the best. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, here we will discuss each one to guide you towards a sound decision.

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5 Reasons Home Automation is so Expensive

Updated on 10th Oct 2020 17:38 in General, Smart

Automation is great. It can help save precious time in your day by making repetitive, mundane tasks automatic. Going from having no smart functionality in your home to fully equipping every area can be intimidating. If you've ever done this or are trying to, you may have wondered why home automation is so expensive. There is, unfortunately, no simple answer, but there are a few factors that will come into play to make your particular situation more expensive.

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The Top 3 Best Smart Home Servers For DIY

Updated on 8th Oct 2020 23:55 in DIY, General, Smart

Smart home servers are perhaps one of the most important aspects of any given smart home. Despite that, they are often ignored or disguised using other terms such as "smart hub" or "controller". Understandably, this can cause quite a bit of confusion leading to many users simply purchasing whatever the most convenient option is. Depending on what you are doing, this can be a bad thing as there are many options to choose from, and it is easy to pick something underpowered or too expensive.

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How to Access Home Assistant From Any Where For Free

Updated on 6th Oct 2020 17:38 in DIY, Home Assistant, Tutorial

Home Assistant is a popular DIY platform for building a smart home. It allows the use of almost any smart device in the world via the integrations that are either part of the core software or released by the community. Unlike many of the other smart home controllers, there is no cloud-based solution allowing remote access provided out of the box. That's why we are going to be walking through the process of setting up remote access in Home Assistant, step by step.

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How to Easily Use a Raspberry Pi as a Homekit Hub

Updated on 4th Oct 2020 17:05 in DIY, Home Assistant, Tutorial

HomeKit is great. It allows anyone to effortlessly set up a smart home entirely offline without the usual hassle of finding a hub that uses an offline protocol and operates without connecting to the cloud. These benefits are typically reserved for those with a HomeKit hub such as a HomePod or an Apple TV. However, there is a way to use a Raspberry Pi as a hub allowing the use of compatible devices without needing an official HomeKit hub. 

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