The options cover an incredibly long list of options. This seems to have a limitless growth potential and everyday someone adds something new. That said, this reflects a process used to get things done without breaking the bank. Thus the process can have several iterations which cover a few weeks, months or years

  • What do we want to accomplish?
    e.g. Setup smart devices to make life easier, like the lights, audio, video, heating/cooling security and any other smart appliances. Control them from a smart phone & by voice control.
  • Determine how much can we spend? (Budget)
    This seems so obvious, but rarely gets done, and even more rare does anyone stick to it. That said, several categories of solutions.
    • Full Integration = Professional installation, Control the Doors, lights, Home Theater, TVs, stereo, security, Smoke & Fire, Alarms and lighting
      Extremely complex to wire and setup
      Extremely expensive
      Functionality that gets used rarely to never
    • Partial Integration – Some, most or all of the above, Although the level of integration will vary based on the devices selected. Previously this had a real impact, but with IFTTT and the voice activated controllers, thing become easier and move integrated every day.
      Easy (easier) to install & setup
      Significantly less expensive
      Functionality, only setup what you want to use.
    • Almost no integration aka. Get up and push the button/switch, or turn the knob
      Already setup, no configuration necessary
      Extremely cost effective
      Only use what you are willing to get up to use, save the TV Remote
  • Where to set limits on automation?y
  • How do we find the right solution ?
    Trial and error while sometimes a bit costly, works. Get sage advise from others can work, but you need to have similar likes and dislikes as your adviser. Taking from both of the above has lots of advantages.
  • Set the criteria from the follow starter list:
    • Ease of setup
    • Ease of use
    • Ease of maintenance
    • Complete cost of ownership
    • Control Center
  • Contact switches
  • Motion detectors
  • Video
  • VPN – Virtual Private Network provides security and blocks tracking for browsing and other internet activities. Essential for any plan to cut the cord for TV/Video as internet providers typically offer some version of cable TV and limit access to their competition, especially any free services.
  • PoE – Power on Ethernet provides network devices with power and date on the ethernet cable. This requires a PoE enabled switch. This then eliminates the need for a 110V outlet for the network device. Great for WAPs, cameras and the like.
  • MNS – Managed Network Switch provides the same connectivity as an unmanaged switch so you can transfer data between devices on the network and then adds the following features
    • QoS – Quality of Service allows you to prioritize your network traffic by assigning a higher priority to critical traffic. This helps ensure consistent network performance and can support delay-sensitive data such as real-time voice. For instance, if I know I have voice packets traveling over my network, I want to make sure they have the highest priority so that these voice packets don’t get dropped or delayed and mangle the phone conversation.
    • VLAN – Virtual Local Area Network – allows a switch to logically group devices together to isolate traffic between these groups even when the traffic is passing over the same physical switch. This segmentation and isolation of network traffic help reduce unnecessary traffic. For instance, you can segment traffic to video and non-video devices so critical video data can flow without delay to the TV & DVR not get bogged down by your browser search traffic. This allows better network performance and in many cases offers options for an additional level of security.
    • STP – Spanning Tree Protocol provides a path redundancy in the network. Using the spanning-tree algorithm, STP provides
  • UA – Unauthorized Access – unauthorized devices cannot connect to the network, thus preventing malicious threats.
  • Gigabit PoE/Poe+ Managed Switch (8 or more ports)
    • EnGenius EWS2908P Neutron EWS Managed Gigabit 802.3af Compliant 55W PoE 8 Port Network Switch – $119 on Newegg
    • EnGenius 8 Gigabit 802.3at/af PoE+ Port Full Power Layer 2 Managed Switch, 2 SFP & 2 Uplink Ports, 130W PoE Budget with Centralized Network Management

(EWS5912FP) $188.90 on Amazon EnGenius 8 Gigabit 802.3af PoE Port Layer 2 Managed Switch, 2 SFP Ports, 61.6W PoE Budget with Centralized Network Management [managed up to 50 EnGenius APs] (EWS2910P) – $129 on Amazon Ubiquiti Networks Edge Switch 24 250W (ES-24-250W) Managed PoE+ Gigabit Switch with SFP – $387 on Amazon Router

  • Toll Brothers supplied – M&M requested
  • Quantity = 1
  • Includes PoE
  • Managed – level TBD
  • VPN – TBD
  • QoS – TBD
  • VLAN – TBD
  • STP – TBD
  • SNMP – TBD
  • UA – TBD

DVR – Digital Video Recorder

  • The Amazon Fire TV Recast
    $129 (2 tuner 500gb)
    $179 (4 tuner 1tb)
  • Other – TBD

Firewire


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Wireless

Features
  • High security
  • Multiple SSIDs
  • QOS enabled
Hardware
  • WAP – Wireless Access Point
    • Tri-band  (need confirmation)
    • Toll Brothers supplied – M&M requested
    • Quantity = 3
  • Smart Switch – Single Pole
  • Smart Dimmer Switch – Single Pole
  • Smart Switch – 3-Pole
  • Smart Dimmer Switch – 3-Pole
  • Thermostat
  • Doorbell – Ring
  • Doorbell Extender – Ring
  • Camera – Wi-Fi
  • Camera – Wired
  • Rain Gauge
Audio
  • Alexa
  • Alexa Dot
  • Sonos

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