Just like our phones, our home are becoming smart. To make them smart they are being fitted with:

• smart switches
• smart lights
• smart Locks
• etc

These once normal household devices are being made smart by connecting them together over a network, and then to the Internet.

Because most Homes built today aren’t smart they will be made smart incrementally,by adding smart devices to solve present day problems

Perhaps you might need to install a security system, so you install a smart security system.

Later you want to integrate it with your lights so you install a smart lighting system.

In order to do this you will need a basic understanding of networking and how, or if, they can be connected to each other.

About This Site

The aim of this site is to help you :

• Learn and understand Home Networking basics
• Understand how these smart devices connect to each other and how they work.
• Understand the technology and protocols found in a smart home.
• Solve common home networking and home automation problems

Getting Started

In order to build a smart home you will need to understanding how to setup a home network and how it works. – See Smart Home Networking

Recommended Reading

• Beginners guide to home Automation
• Internal and External IP Addresses
• What is Dynamic DNS (DDNS)? -and Why Use It?

Questions

If you have any questions please ask

Best Regards Steve

Zigbee2MQTT is a nodejs Gateway application that connects Zigbee networks to MQTT networks.

It is run from the command line but can also be started as a service on startup.

Because it is written in nodejs it will run on Windows and Linux (Raspberry Pi). (more…)

Tasmota devices can be controlled by both HTTP and MQTT. If you don’t have an MQTT broker or don’t want to use one then you can still control your Tasmota devices using node-red.

To do this we will use the http request node which is one of the core nodes.

The  http request node can be used for. (more…)

HTTP is currently probably the most widely used control protocol on home networks.

To troubleshoot control problems, and to develop your own a control Dashboards and control applications you will need a basic knowledge of HTTP. (more…)

A home typical home network consists of many different components, such as:

• Wi-Fi Router
• Wi-Fi Extenders
• Homeplug adapters
• Ethernet cards
• Wi-Fi Cards
• Ethernet Switches.

There are many different ways that these components can be connected together, and each of these components will have an impact on the overall speed on your home network. (more…)

Today all children have access to the Internet either via a smart TV, computer or Smart phone.

It is often desirable to restrict access to certain content on the Internet and also when they can access the Internet.

There are two ways of applying restrictions (so called parental controls) they are:

• At the ISP centre
• On the home network router.

(more…)