The Internet-Enabled Home

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The Internet is a standard in today’s home. It’s hard to imagine a house without it. In addition to the escape it provides from real world stresses, the Internet is being leveraged in more ways by the home’s subsystems, appliances and plugged-in products to enable remote access, integrated automation, smart energy savings and whole-home entertainment that outshines the overpriced experience at the local movie theater. High-Speed Highway In 2007, the U.S. topped the world in number of broadband Internet subscribers, coming in at over 66 million or nearly a quarter of the population. Median download speeds are up to 2.3 Mbps (megabits per second), and fiber roll-outs by companies like Verizon FiOS are bringing fiber-to-the-premise service to thousands more customers every year. With up 50 Mbps download speeds, FiOS customers enjoy blink-of-the-eye movie downloads and abundant bandwidth to meet their Internet-specific needs. In addition to fiber, homeowners can get the Internet through the cable or phone line, via satellite, wirelessly to the computer and, in some cities, through municipal wireless service. Once in the home, advanced wireless routers using the latest 802.11g and 802.11n wireless technologies bring greater range, reliability and performance than ever. Safe and Sound Today’s homeowner wants to know that the home is secure, whether it’s occupied or not. Older security systems featured 24-hour monitoring centers that could respond to a tripped alarm like a smashed window or broken-down front door. Those crisis situations are still of concern, but what of non-emergency events like the activities of the kids home alone after school or an elderly parent now living with you, a guest at the front door or comings and goings of a hired contractor? New systems enable secure remote access via the Internet, allowing homeowners to monitor activity in the home, grant temporary access for one-time guests and check in on live feeds from security cameras set up inside and outside the house. Yesterday’s home security system put a homeowner’s safety in the hands of a 24-hour monitoring center. Today’s systems put the power back into the hands of the homeowner. Sure, authorities will still be notified when an alarm trips, but all the non-emergency concerns of the absent homeowner can now be addressed remotely and affordably. Smarter security systems understand the homeowner’s schedule, can send SMS (text message) alerts when the kids arrive home and assume additional responsibilities such as home control and energy savings. Home Automation, Inc.’s automated HVAC devices integrate with the home’s security system, and can respond to a fire by switching off the home’s AC to keep smoke from spreading. New moisture and water sensors can detect leaks and automatically turn off the water to save homeowners on thousands in water damage. For the wire-weary, wireless systems offered by Alarm.com are inexpensive and easy to install. They cater to the existing home and the homeowner reluctant to run new wiring throughout the house and walls. That’s Entertainment The end of analog broadcast TV underlines an accepted reality: It’s a digital world, and the home is the frontline of the revolution. Slimmer, higher-resolution television sets, powerful receivers and wireless surround sound, and easy-to-install whole-home audio packages bring entertainment solutions to every room of the house. For viewing pleasure, wafer-thin, flat-panel plasma HDTVs can be wall-mounted and offer industry-leading 1080p resolution at an affordable price. Deeper blacks, greater color accuracy and effective video processing are just a few of the technological gains made in the modern television. Multiple HDMI inputs, PC inputs and the usual cast of red, white and yellow inputs and outputs round out the “jack pack” to accommodate even the most accessorized of home entertainment systems.

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