Everyone’s talking about it, but what actually is a ‘smart home’? The term is used to describe a house that contains a communication network that connects different appliances over Wi-FI and allows them communicate with each other. Connecting the tech in your home to your Wi-Fi network (and each other) has many benefits, says Paul Routledge, Country Manager at D-Link.
Two of the biggest benefits are control and convenience. You can control everything in real time either from an app on your smartphone or tablet, or through a voice-controlled smart speaker such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Secondly, smart home gadgets can give you easily accessible data on things like security – i.e access to a history of smart security camera feeds. Or perhaps, energy – smart meters and energy monitors tell you (and your utility provider) how much electricity and gas you’re getting through.
Third is automation. If you don’t want to manually control your home gadgets all the time you can go one further and set up scenarios, routines and rules. You can set up certain scenarios to happen that are triggered by actions, like entering or leaving the house/flat will activate recording in your cameras.
Get started with the smart home 
Where to start on a smart home depends on three things: your budget, time and enthusiasm. You could just buy one connected home gadget and get going with the individual brand’s app then work any additions out later. For the past five years or so that’s what plenty of people have been doing.
How to build your smart home system
Once you have chosen your smart home hub or controller, what’s next? A good way to think about building your system is to pick a home category then look around for products that work with the ecosystem you’ve chosen.
The most popular categories in the smart home right now are plugs, baby monitors, cameras, doorbells, garden, lighting, networking, security systems, speakers and thermostats. So a good move is to dig into one of those, see what looks like a good fit and get started! D-Link have been a global leader in connectivity and are a great brand to start with with a wide range of new smart home products that are great value for money and look the business.
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