Smart homes without Wi-Fi: Huge possibilities or roadblocks? | Digital Trends

  • 📰 DigitalTrends
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 84 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 37%
  • Publisher: 65%

Technology Technology Headlines News

Technology Technology Latest News,Technology Technology Headlines

Our wireless networks are the building blocks of our smarthome ecosystems, but should every automation require an Internet connection? Here's what we think.

When it comes to smart home automations, there really isn’t much that can’t be done these days. From the moment you wake in the morning to the final minutes before bed, by issuance of a few simple voice commands, you can check your daily schedule, raise and lower blinds, fire up a pot of coffee, stream news radio, lock and unlock doors, initiate a video call, and so much more.

Famously compatible with thousands of third-party devices, Amazon’s Echo speaker can use Alexa to control everything from smart locks and cameras to lights and refrigerators. For a command like “Alexa, lower the lights by 50%,” the Echo Dot communicates with your smart lights in order to dim down the living room.

Additionally, product developers are always rolling out changes and improvements to web-connected devices through firmware and software updates. These updates rely on a web connection in order to manually or automatically download the update itself. While we’re aware that other wireless standards like Bluetooth are used alongside Wi-Fi, a web connection is the dominant gateway between your smart device and everything it can do.

Hacking is a significant issue for any and all web-connected devices, with the most skilled intruders possessing the ability to access personal data, photos, videos, documents, and even live camera feeds. And even with some of the toughest web encryptions in place, an ultra-dedicated hacker will inevitably find a way in.

The same goes for those bloated community networks that you’ll sometimes find at RV campgrounds. Considering the amount of families that are tethered to those often password-less connections, you’ll be lucky to get an Echo Dot to even tell you the time of day. And consider the security risk of wide-open Wi-Fi!

Well, the first thing it would probably do is try and somehow make Amazon Sidewalk as far-reaching and comprehensive as possible. What if these extra abilities could be accessed using exclusively Bluetooth, or a new type of wireless standard altogether?

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 95. in TECHNOLOGY

Technology Technology Latest News, Technology Technology Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

ReSpec: A column about the confusing, glorious tech behind PC gaming | Digital TrendsReSpec is a new biweekly column on Digital Trends covering the latest PC gaming hardware and technologies so you can better navigate the games you play.
Source: DigitalTrends - 🏆 95. / 65 Read more »