Are you intrigued by the smart home concept but worried about having so many devices in your home connected to the internet? If so, you are not alone. There is no shortage of consumers who currently avoid the smart home concept because they don’t like the idea of their homes constantly being online.
Here is the thing: going online is not mandatory. Although it takes work, it is possible to build a fully functional smart home system that is locally confined. Neither the system nor its devices ever connect to the internet unless you purposely make them do so.
The Hub Is the Backbone
The backbone of any smart home system is the hub that controls all the devices. Google, Amazon, and Apple smart speakers all function as hubs. Companies like Vivint Smart Home sell compatible hubs with their prepackaged home automation systems. The problem with all these hubs is that they require internet access to work.
Building a locally confined smart home system requires a hub that doesn’t need internet access. There aren’t many out there. But there is one particular software hub that works extremely well. It is called Home Assistant.
Home Assistant is free and open-source software that can be installed on virtually any low power computer. Install it on an old laptop or invest in an inexpensive Raspberry Pi. Once installed, you can access Home Assistant with your computer or smartphone.
It Uses Local Wireless Connections
Home Assistant relies on local wireless connections to control devices. Wi-Fi and Zigbee are the two big ones. The hub can communicate with all your smart home devices using the local network only. In addition, the device on which you installed Home Assistant crunches all the data that sends out the commands to control devices. The internet is never involved.
One of the best things about Home Assistant is that it supports thousands of mainstream smart home devices. It also supports some of the biggest brands in smart home tech. And because it is maintained by an active community of smart home enthusiasts, Home Assistant continues to get better.
There Is a Learning Curve
Whether you were to choose Home Assistant or one of the other open-source smart home hubs, there would be a learning curve involved. Actually setting up the hub is the easy part. The challenging part is learning how to use the hub to program devices.
In my opinion, anyone who knows his or her way around mobile apps and Wi-Fi networks should be able to learn how to set up smart home devices on an open-source hub. Modern hub interfaces are very intuitive. They work a lot like mobile apps.
Why People Are Doing It
At this point you might be wondering why people would go to the trouble of setting up their own locally confined smart home systems. There are multiple reasons, beginning with privacy concerns. Some home automation enthusiasts simply do not like the idea of Big Tech companies monitoring every aspect of their lives through home automation.
Another reason is not wanting to depend on home automation brands and their ability to stay in business. More than one brand has gone under, leaving its devices unusable to consumers who had already purchased them. By building a locally confined system using an open source hub, devices will work even if the brand goes bankrupt.
It is possible to enjoy all the benefits of home automation without ever going online. If you’re willing to learn and put in the effort, a locally confined smart home system is within reach.
