If you're a homeowner interested in the latest and greatest home technology, you might have wondered, "do I need a smart home hub?" While the answer might be different for everyone, there are some prime advantages to using smart home devices with a central hub.
Smart home hubs are the modern version of a universal remote. A dedicated smart home hub connects all your devices together, so you can use them from a single app. If you have more than three smart home devices in your home, it might be a good idea to use a hub to control them all in a more efficient way.
Not all hubs are created equal. Some hubs have additional functionality to help enhance other home necessities like Wi-Fi. A hub combined with a wireless mesh network, for example, allows for equal signal strength everywhere in the home. This eliminates "dead zones" and also makes it easier to protect your network with guest access protocols and more.
Your need for a smart home system hub is dependent on many factors. These would be the size of your home, the number of devices and your comfort level dealing with multiple apps. Once your smart hub is set up with your smart devices, you'll have a much simpler time controlling the technological ecosystem of your home.
However, one reason to caution against using smart hubs would be that if the hub fails, your devices might become unusable until you resolve the problem. Many smart devices work independently regardless, but it's crucial to research the functionality of each piece of equipment you plan to use.
Smart home technology can make our lives easier, but it's important not to go overboard! Managing numerous smart devices can be confusing, but the best smart home hubs will help you enjoy your technology in a more efficient and effective way.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
