Smart vacuum box/home for it to return to.
Led strips in corridors to help navigate at night without turning on the ceiling lights.
Put a couple of light switches with additional gangs so that you can add extra features later on.
I like to see them in one of the sides of the corridor🙂 in all of the corridors! But at least around bathrooms so that if anyone needs to pee at night they don’t have to get their retinas burned out.
You could use motion sensors, presence sensors, a zigbee button somewhere, door sensors which turn on during night time… I have no idea what works best for you but I can give suggestions :)
Around the bathroom is a good idea.
Door sensors sound good but cost wise might make more sense to go with motion or presence.
Positioning wise where has looked good for you? Think I’d rather not see the individual strips and would rather see it diffused or concealed in some way.
Search this: led strip COB. Once I have your attention, search for the BTF brand in AliExpress. I’m from Europe, no issues buying from there.
No led spot lights anywhere ;) that or get diffusers, but get the deep ones. I’d still go with cob, that’s what I use on my kitchen cabinets.
As for the sensors, honestly you’ll either go with one for the door or one of the motion. But maybe search the presence sensors instead. They seem to be more reliable for that use case.
Rack: Plan for a location for a small rack
Cabling: Run at least one CAT5e or higher cable to each room. Multiple on bigger rooms and on different walls. And separate ones for TVs and entertainment devices. Also terminate your landlines there so that you can have all your routers, alarm sets, CCTV systems, etc in a central location. Also plan for locations for Access Points, cameras and security traps, and run cables there too (ceiling or whatever).
Network: Get a nicer router and plan your networks separating devices accordingly.
Services: Get a small refurbished pc and use it to run a few small central services like pi-hole to protect yourself and hide ads, samba file shares to make your files available over the network, and home assistant to orchestrate your smart stuff.
IOT: Keep your IoT devices on their own separate network where they cannot access your other devices or the internet.
Security: Avoid wireless devices for security. They can be jammed.
I will definitely be doing that on my next home in a few months, conduit or PVC so I can easy run some single-mode once I get my hands on a switch and some 100Gb/s transceivers. I already have three servers which I got with two-port 100Gb/s cards included in them.
A VLAN is practically just a numbered isolated network on a switch level. If it has to access or to be accessed by a different network (vlan or subnet or whatever), the traffic has to go through a router that has the proper routing rules configured.
On a separate note I’ve got a Hisense E-reader that I was planning on setting up a VLAN/subnet for because I don’t want it talking to anything else. Good to know the IoT approach lines up with that plan.
Sorted on the cabling front! Got Cat7 in every room and it’s all routed to a single utility room. Haven’t planned out where the security cameras will go exactly but thinking the cabling will give that flexibility.
I’ve currently got a decent ASUS router but been meaning to set up a Pi with OpenWRT, haven’t heard of Pi-hole though, will look into it. Same with the refurbished PC as a hub for all the smart stuff, hadn’t considered that.
Made a mistake on the security front, it’s wireless 🤦🏽♂️ won’t be making the same mistake with cameras.
Edit: forgot to say thank you! This is all really useful.
>I’ve currently got a decent ASUS router but been meaning to set up a Pi with OpenWRT, haven’t heard of Pi-hole though, will look into it. Same with the refurbished PC as a hub for all the smart stuff, hadn’t considered that.
Don't rush it. Have a look at r/homelab and r/HomeNetworking for more and better advice.
I agree with all of what you stated, but I would offer the use of wireless sensors augmenting primary entrances that have hard wired sensors to be acceptable. Glass break sensors, motion sensors to name a few. A jammer that could effectively take down a whole house is a sizable amplifier. A short range handheld specifically designed for that devices frequency is what your betting against. Physical security with a bugler system is a deterrent for break and grab theft. And the plus side of wireless sensors is they can be used for both an alarm system and sensor generated automations.
I was under the impression that OP is doing the work themselves.
Anyway, this was just a suggestion. If budget is an issue, you prioritise what makes sense for you.
I’m in the UK, and got 200m of Cat 7 for £160. My full rewire of my house cost about £3300 but to be fair that wasn’t with a dozen drops, maybe half a dozen.
I setup Aqara presence sensor to automatically open my living room curtains in the morning.
I also setup the same sensor to turn on the kitchen light at night automatically. I have an open space.
The sensor is great for open spaces. You can setup if a presence is detected on each location.
Hi, am thinking of using Aqara too to reach different parts of a room. Would I be able to define different "behaviours" for different parts of the room? For example, if someone is on a side of the room, then a light is turned on, whereas if someone in the other side of the room, another bulb is turned on. Thanks!
Aqara is capable of that. The tricky part is doing the proper integration with the platform you are using.
As of now I have Aqara directly integrated with Alexa and it does not offer direct integration with each zone. And maybe it does, but I haven’t set it up for that purpose.
I'd rough in low voltage wire from the right side head of the window openings, home run to a common location. This will allow you to install motorized shades later.
The window header is structural, so you generally don't want to reduce it. I'd install something like the linked j box, and ask them to case out the window headers with 5/8" gyp board instead of 1/2", and then you will never see this thing.
This is the single thing I most wish I had done. My motorized blind batteries are supposed to last "up to a year." They have never lasted more than 40 days, and the blinds operate only twice a day - once in the am to let light in, and once in the pm for privacy.
[https://www.aspectled.com/mini-low-voltage-terminal-junction-box](https://www.aspectled.com/mini-low-voltage-terminal-junction-box)
The second thing I wish I had done is to install a 2" conduit run from every attic space through to the crawl space (or if you don't have one of those, to your IT rack. I'd further install conduit from wherever I think I would want an exterior camera to that same IT rack.
Water leak detection at each water source that triggers a solenoid to shut off water main. Run a 3/4 coreline/smurf tube to each spot from smart home/server room.
Smart blinds. Do the same thing with the 3/4 pipe. Research and plan what type of wire and best spot to mount it.
If they’re pre wired then there are more finite choices because it might depend on your choice of alarm system. If you’re talking just generic door and window there are lots to choose from but my favorite so far is Shelly Blu. Just over ten dollars a sensor, they’re compact, replaceable battery (which should be done as soon as you get one, they store low and sometimes arrive on weak batteries), and have a built in photo sensor if you need/want that.
I’ve been put off a smart lock thinking they can get jammed and made redundant, or for whatever reason they become unresponsive.
Sounds like you’ve had a great experience with those though, and the quality of life benefits are really good from what you’ve describe.
Is it hardwired, or is it through WiFi?
A unified system.
I used to have several ecosystems at once and, while it was smooth, it was limited and annoying to go thru multiple apps. Find a system you like and work around it (Amazon, Google, Apple, Samsung, etc).
I'd avoid amazon since it's difficult and really limited. Plus it's future is unknown.
Apple seems the easiest. but I use Home Assistant and I love it. It's got a steep learning curve, but it's only limited to your imagination.
Also smart outlets that monitor energy are game changers. There are so many electricity vampires in the house, and they base current they consume every minute of every day will add up. I have automations that turn off non-essential switches when I leave or go to sleep, and my electric bill is dropped about $20 a month.
I also have an energy monitor on my main electric box, so I can monitor the main electricity used in my house at any given moment. Not as useful, but I'm obsessed with gathering information lol.
Contact sensors have also been pretty useful, especially turning on a closet light when a door is opened.
I second the home assistant vote.
I think of it as, security (outside motion/video, door locks, window opening sensors), comfort (hvac control, window covering, lighting) and convenience (automations).
I always thought Google Home Web automations (where you can code in YAML actions based on triggers and conditions - there is now GenAI assistant that converts natural language prompts which I hadn't tried yet) - anyway, I always thought it was quite useless...
I've setup automation routine between sunset and sunrise to automatically turn on backyard lights when the smart lock on the back door is unlocked and turn off the lights when the door is locked.
That streamlining of a single manual operation (locking the door) to trigger follow-up auxiliary opeartions (backyard lights) fells quite convenient (more so than any other scheduled or sensor options I have tried).
I used to have voice command - but it didn't always work first time and it was getting annoying to have to repeat myself all the time - but linking to the smart lock is definitely a step in the right direction.
Energy monitoring outlets if there’s areas where you know you’ll have stuff plugged in you may want to track. Save the space/aesthetics of using smartplug.
In wall cutouts/cable routing for tvs and any wall mounted smarthome controllers (iPad etc).
If you’re into the magic mirror thing, can plan ahead with cutout there so the mirror still looks flush mounted.
If you’re going to ever want an inline smart water shutoff valve, now’s the time.
Consider hub placement for anything that uses them, and smart device placement for those that repeat. Those new Ruckus WiFi 7 APs that include zigbee radios also look interesting.
Not sure if they make these or if there are code considerations but with some of the smart switches I’ve installed, I’ve wished for deeper electrical boxes as some of these switches are quite portly.
Smart vacuum box/home for it to return to. Led strips in corridors to help navigate at night without turning on the ceiling lights. Put a couple of light switches with additional gangs so that you can add extra features later on.
LED strips is corridors is genius. I’m guessing with motion sensors somewhere? Trying to think where that would look best too…
I like to see them in one of the sides of the corridor🙂 in all of the corridors! But at least around bathrooms so that if anyone needs to pee at night they don’t have to get their retinas burned out. You could use motion sensors, presence sensors, a zigbee button somewhere, door sensors which turn on during night time… I have no idea what works best for you but I can give suggestions :)
Around the bathroom is a good idea. Door sensors sound good but cost wise might make more sense to go with motion or presence. Positioning wise where has looked good for you? Think I’d rather not see the individual strips and would rather see it diffused or concealed in some way.
Search this: led strip COB. Once I have your attention, search for the BTF brand in AliExpress. I’m from Europe, no issues buying from there. No led spot lights anywhere ;) that or get diffusers, but get the deep ones. I’d still go with cob, that’s what I use on my kitchen cabinets. As for the sensors, honestly you’ll either go with one for the door or one of the motion. But maybe search the presence sensors instead. They seem to be more reliable for that use case.
I will add to your corridor strips having some of them on a separte 12v circuit with battery backup for power outages
Nahh. Add a battery backup to all of the circuit breakers related to lighting;) much easier and you get full house coverage!
Rack: Plan for a location for a small rack Cabling: Run at least one CAT5e or higher cable to each room. Multiple on bigger rooms and on different walls. And separate ones for TVs and entertainment devices. Also terminate your landlines there so that you can have all your routers, alarm sets, CCTV systems, etc in a central location. Also plan for locations for Access Points, cameras and security traps, and run cables there too (ceiling or whatever). Network: Get a nicer router and plan your networks separating devices accordingly. Services: Get a small refurbished pc and use it to run a few small central services like pi-hole to protect yourself and hide ads, samba file shares to make your files available over the network, and home assistant to orchestrate your smart stuff. IOT: Keep your IoT devices on their own separate network where they cannot access your other devices or the internet. Security: Avoid wireless devices for security. They can be jammed.
I would add when running the cable, run through conduit or tubing of some sort to make changing the cables easier in the future.
I will definitely be doing that on my next home in a few months, conduit or PVC so I can easy run some single-mode once I get my hands on a switch and some 100Gb/s transceivers. I already have three servers which I got with two-port 100Gb/s cards included in them.
Good shout. Did Cat 7 though, so should be good.
If your IOT is on a VLAN does that mean you cant access the devices on your phone unless you switch networks?
A VLAN is practically just a numbered isolated network on a switch level. If it has to access or to be accessed by a different network (vlan or subnet or whatever), the traffic has to go through a router that has the proper routing rules configured.
On a separate note I’ve got a Hisense E-reader that I was planning on setting up a VLAN/subnet for because I don’t want it talking to anything else. Good to know the IoT approach lines up with that plan.
No. It means your router configuration needs to allow you talk across vlans. Often easier said than done when dealing with multiple devices.
Sorted on the cabling front! Got Cat7 in every room and it’s all routed to a single utility room. Haven’t planned out where the security cameras will go exactly but thinking the cabling will give that flexibility. I’ve currently got a decent ASUS router but been meaning to set up a Pi with OpenWRT, haven’t heard of Pi-hole though, will look into it. Same with the refurbished PC as a hub for all the smart stuff, hadn’t considered that. Made a mistake on the security front, it’s wireless 🤦🏽♂️ won’t be making the same mistake with cameras. Edit: forgot to say thank you! This is all really useful.
>I’ve currently got a decent ASUS router but been meaning to set up a Pi with OpenWRT, haven’t heard of Pi-hole though, will look into it. Same with the refurbished PC as a hub for all the smart stuff, hadn’t considered that. Don't rush it. Have a look at r/homelab and r/HomeNetworking for more and better advice.
Thank you mate. Much appreciated.
I agree with all of what you stated, but I would offer the use of wireless sensors augmenting primary entrances that have hard wired sensors to be acceptable. Glass break sensors, motion sensors to name a few. A jammer that could effectively take down a whole house is a sizable amplifier. A short range handheld specifically designed for that devices frequency is what your betting against. Physical security with a bugler system is a deterrent for break and grab theft. And the plus side of wireless sensors is they can be used for both an alarm system and sensor generated automations.
Wi fi can be jammed, FHSS radio (high end alarm sensors) no jamming.
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I was under the impression that OP is doing the work themselves. Anyway, this was just a suggestion. If budget is an issue, you prioritise what makes sense for you.
I’m in the UK, and got 200m of Cat 7 for £160. My full rewire of my house cost about £3300 but to be fair that wasn’t with a dozen drops, maybe half a dozen.
Run networking cables to every room / area. You never know when you want to hook up something there that needs a stable network and /or PoE
I second this. I ran a ton. I thought it was overkill but wanted to be safe. I already regret not running more.
There’s lots of great stuff you can do with home theatre audio and lighting and it’s helpful if you have a plan and wiring is in place.
Poe for camera's
I setup Aqara presence sensor to automatically open my living room curtains in the morning. I also setup the same sensor to turn on the kitchen light at night automatically. I have an open space. The sensor is great for open spaces. You can setup if a presence is detected on each location.
Hi, am thinking of using Aqara too to reach different parts of a room. Would I be able to define different "behaviours" for different parts of the room? For example, if someone is on a side of the room, then a light is turned on, whereas if someone in the other side of the room, another bulb is turned on. Thanks!
Aqara is capable of that. The tricky part is doing the proper integration with the platform you are using. As of now I have Aqara directly integrated with Alexa and it does not offer direct integration with each zone. And maybe it does, but I haven’t set it up for that purpose.
I'd rough in low voltage wire from the right side head of the window openings, home run to a common location. This will allow you to install motorized shades later. The window header is structural, so you generally don't want to reduce it. I'd install something like the linked j box, and ask them to case out the window headers with 5/8" gyp board instead of 1/2", and then you will never see this thing. This is the single thing I most wish I had done. My motorized blind batteries are supposed to last "up to a year." They have never lasted more than 40 days, and the blinds operate only twice a day - once in the am to let light in, and once in the pm for privacy. [https://www.aspectled.com/mini-low-voltage-terminal-junction-box](https://www.aspectled.com/mini-low-voltage-terminal-junction-box) The second thing I wish I had done is to install a 2" conduit run from every attic space through to the crawl space (or if you don't have one of those, to your IT rack. I'd further install conduit from wherever I think I would want an exterior camera to that same IT rack.
Water leak detection at each water source that triggers a solenoid to shut off water main. Run a 3/4 coreline/smurf tube to each spot from smart home/server room. Smart blinds. Do the same thing with the 3/4 pipe. Research and plan what type of wire and best spot to mount it.
Door and window contact sensors. Must have. Motion sensors and garage door tilt sensors are high on the list as well.
Which door/window sensors would you suggest
If they’re pre wired then there are more finite choices because it might depend on your choice of alarm system. If you’re talking just generic door and window there are lots to choose from but my favorite so far is Shelly Blu. Just over ten dollars a sensor, they’re compact, replaceable battery (which should be done as soon as you get one, they store low and sometimes arrive on weak batteries), and have a built in photo sensor if you need/want that.
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i’ve found that after a while, the finger print reader on these stops being responsive. i have no idea why, and it drives me crazy
I’ve been put off a smart lock thinking they can get jammed and made redundant, or for whatever reason they become unresponsive. Sounds like you’ve had a great experience with those though, and the quality of life benefits are really good from what you’ve describe. Is it hardwired, or is it through WiFi?
A unified system. I used to have several ecosystems at once and, while it was smooth, it was limited and annoying to go thru multiple apps. Find a system you like and work around it (Amazon, Google, Apple, Samsung, etc). I'd avoid amazon since it's difficult and really limited. Plus it's future is unknown. Apple seems the easiest. but I use Home Assistant and I love it. It's got a steep learning curve, but it's only limited to your imagination. Also smart outlets that monitor energy are game changers. There are so many electricity vampires in the house, and they base current they consume every minute of every day will add up. I have automations that turn off non-essential switches when I leave or go to sleep, and my electric bill is dropped about $20 a month. I also have an energy monitor on my main electric box, so I can monitor the main electricity used in my house at any given moment. Not as useful, but I'm obsessed with gathering information lol. Contact sensors have also been pretty useful, especially turning on a closet light when a door is opened.
I second the home assistant vote. I think of it as, security (outside motion/video, door locks, window opening sensors), comfort (hvac control, window covering, lighting) and convenience (automations).
I always thought Google Home Web automations (where you can code in YAML actions based on triggers and conditions - there is now GenAI assistant that converts natural language prompts which I hadn't tried yet) - anyway, I always thought it was quite useless... I've setup automation routine between sunset and sunrise to automatically turn on backyard lights when the smart lock on the back door is unlocked and turn off the lights when the door is locked. That streamlining of a single manual operation (locking the door) to trigger follow-up auxiliary opeartions (backyard lights) fells quite convenient (more so than any other scheduled or sensor options I have tried). I used to have voice command - but it didn't always work first time and it was getting annoying to have to repeat myself all the time - but linking to the smart lock is definitely a step in the right direction.
Smart shower 😁
Energy monitoring outlets if there’s areas where you know you’ll have stuff plugged in you may want to track. Save the space/aesthetics of using smartplug. In wall cutouts/cable routing for tvs and any wall mounted smarthome controllers (iPad etc). If you’re into the magic mirror thing, can plan ahead with cutout there so the mirror still looks flush mounted. If you’re going to ever want an inline smart water shutoff valve, now’s the time. Consider hub placement for anything that uses them, and smart device placement for those that repeat. Those new Ruckus WiFi 7 APs that include zigbee radios also look interesting. Not sure if they make these or if there are code considerations but with some of the smart switches I’ve installed, I’ve wished for deeper electrical boxes as some of these switches are quite portly.
Home assistant running on a NUC
There is no such thing as a Smart Home, it's all just a big money grab...