Shouldn't Smart Homes Have Smart Infrastructure?
- Nik Stoltzfus
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
In today’s connected homes—where Smart TVs, home hubs, IoT gadgets, and Wi-Fi-enabled everything are the norm—there’s a quiet race happening behind the scenes. The dream? A single, unified hub to control it all. The reality? More often than not: 20 different controllers to rule most of them (insert obligatory XKCD panel here).
Over the past two decades, the proliferation of devices that can be accessed by and controlled over the Internet has exploded, thanks in part to several competing (and complementary) wireless technologies: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and Zigbee. These protocols have made it easy for consumers to install connected devices themselves and control them through web apps and/or smartphone apps, and in general, they work pretty well.
But they all suffer from the same limitation. They rely on data sent over radio frequencies through air. While this type of data communication has proven to be commercially successful, this has primarily been a factor of its ease of deployment and not due to its speed or reliability. Think about it: Would the modern telecom industry have taken off if we still had to rely on hardwired lines for every transmission? Of course not. Wireless is fast and flexible, which makes it perfect for mobile environments.
But in a home—a permanent, controllable structure—do limitations on writing really exist? Are these limitations just failures to plan appropriately? There’s no good reason not to install low voltage wiring—or at least leave room for it through conduit systems—in new construction homes. It’s relatively inexpensive, it’s easy to plan for during early stages, and the benefits are significant.
The Case for Wired: Speed, Reliability, and Future-Proofing
Wired devices benefit from a robustness and speed of signal that shames even advanced wireless devices. When we discuss wired signal speeds, we are referring to speeds in the Mbps or Gbps (megabits to gigabits) range.
While only Wi-Fi can boast speeds in the Mbps (megabit) range, the remaining three technologies--in practical applications--generally see speeds in the Kbps (kilobits) range. We are talking about wired speeds that are thousands of times faster than their wireless approximates. Furthermore, data loss over wireless signals creates latency that can degrade the device usage experience, often to a point where the device is unusable (ask anyone who has mounted a Wi-Fi camera on the exterior of a brick building—yes, that is a setup for failure, but what other options does your average homeowner have?)
What Builders Could—and Should—Be Doing
Production homes built from similar specs could easily add a standard, low-voltage infrastructure. Imagine homes pre-wired (or at least conduit-ready) for:
Ethernet connections to every room for Smart TVs and workstations
Camera-ready receptacle boxes at common mounting points
Low-voltage sensor wiring for doors, windows, and motion sensors
A centralized panel for routers, switches, hubs, and power management
This would dramatically improve the homeowner experience when installing and using connected devices. It would also decrease the technological waste we suffer from as a society by creating environments where devices work as intended, instead of getting tossed out because of signal issues or latency problems.
In summary, smart homes aren’t going anywhere. But if we want them to be more than just “cool gadgets,” we need to build the right infrastructure from the start. Low voltage wiring may not be glamorous, but it’s foundational. And it’s time it became standard—regardless of the home's price tag.