Is your home safe?
Most of you might say “YES” as long as they don’t sense any danger or experience the one.
Here comes the next question—your house is safe for how long?
We cannot take the safety of our living spaces for granted. You never know when a burglar can break into your house or fire guts down your valuable belongings, especially when you are not home. That’s why it is important to ensure the safety of your home and your beloved ones consult with home security system installation experts.
Enter smart home security devices.
From smart cameras, video doorbells to smoke alarms, these devices not only let you monitor your home but also give you time to respond to the event.
Here we have rounded up such important smart home security devices.
Smart Security Camera:
Want to keep a tab on the activities in and around your home even when you’re not around? All you need to install a smart security camera. A smart security camera lets you see what’s going on from your smartphone when you are away. Most of them also come with built-in sensors to detect sound and motion and will notify you when those sensors are activated.
You can usually customize the motion sensitivity of the camera to avoid getting false alarms triggered by pet activity or passing cars if the camera is placed near a window. You can also set a schedule that turns the sensors off and on during certain hours of the day.
Some expensive smart security cameras have humidity and temperature sensors and can be integrated with other connected home devices such as smart lighting systems and thermostats.
If you’re budget-conscious homeowners, prefer a camera with an SD card sloth that lets you record video when motion or sound is detected but make sure to save your recordings every so often before they are replaced by other footage. Or it is better to choose a camera that comes with a cloud storage plan.
Video Doorbell:
With a video doorbell installed on your doorway, you can see who is at the door without having to get up to open the door. These devices are connected to your Wi-Fi network and will notify you when someone moves to your doorway.
A video doorbell records video when the doorbell is used or when motion is detected, and generally lets you speak with the visitor via your phone.
While most video doorbells can be installed using your existing doorbell wiring, some battery-powered models are easier to install. Some can be integrated with other smart devices such as sirens, door locks, and Alexa voice commands.
Go for a model that can offer a high resolution (1080p), and night vision up to 25 feet as well as cloud storage for recorded video.
Smart Lock:
A smart lock refers to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-enabled smart home device that lets you leave your house keys behind, unlocking and locking doors with a voice command or tapping on the app. Moreover, they let you unlock a door for the guests or share the unlocking PIN with them when you are not around.
Smart locks can be installed on the pre-drilled holes. Some products even use the existing keyed cylinder and deadbolt mechanism and can be attached to the inside of the door, while others might need you to remove the existing exterior and interior hardware.
Apart from the basic functions, look for other features such as geo-fencing that uses the phone’s location services to lock and unlock the door, voice assistant using Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Siri, and integration for other smart home gadgets such as outdoor cameras, video doorbells, smoke alarms, thermostats, and connected lighting.
You can choose from keyless no-touch locks, touch screen locks, combination keypads, and touchpad locks, and biometric-enabled locks.
Smoke Detectors:
A smoke detector, as the name implies, senses smoke. This way, they provide you an early warning of a potential fire breakout and could reduce the risk. Smoke alarms can be connected easily to your wiring system. Or you can use the one being operated by the battery or a combination of both.
CAUTION: SMART HOME SECURITY SYSTEMS CAN BE HACKED!!!
Smart home security systems also come with downsides. Like any internet-enabled or Wi-Fi-enabled device, they are prone to hacking. A threat actor can intercept wireless signals coming from the system that lets them suppress alarms and disable sensors. They can also generate radio noise that can block the signals between the sensors and the hub.
That’s why you need to be careful while using smart home security systems.
First of all, your password should be a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, and make sure to change it frequently. Choose the highest level of encryption for your router which is WPA2 or WPA3. Check if your router can create a separate network for other devices or those used by your guests to safeguard your main network.
Also, check your camera logs constantly to see when they have been accessed. Getting a camera activity at odd hours or at times when you don’t use the camera may be a hint that your system security has been compromised. Last but not least—keep the software of all connected devices updated.
