A Robust Home Network is More than Just a Good Wireless Signal

The number of smart devices that are being connected to home networks is exploding every year. We dare say that you won't likely remember how many devices are connected to your home's network. Smart lights, cameras, speakers, thermostats, appliances, streaming devices, and TVs all need reliable networking for proper operation. When the network is faltering, you’ll likely notice.

If you stream high definition and 4K video from services like Netflix, your show may annoyingly stutter, pause to buffer or fail to play at all. Your smart thermostat may not keep the temperature settings you wanted. Beyond annoyances, more severe issues can happen if a spotty network doesn't inform you of an alarm from a water sensor or suspicious activity captured by a security camera.

Networking is a very technical area of computing. Features that are familiar to networking professionals like port forwarding, VLANs, and WPA2 security are practically meaningless to the average homeowner. Consumers rely on the wireless router option supplied by their Internet Service Provider (ISP), and in many cases, they do not even know how to change the default password that lets one manage the router – which is a security hole left wide open for hacking.

If you have a smaller property or perhaps can tolerate the occasional network hiccup because you don't entirely depend on it, maybe you can get by without professionally installed and optimized networking equipment.

But if you want to run a smart home with many devices, you rely on your network for security features and essential automation that has dependencies on many things working in tandem, and you need high bandwidth for work and entertainment at home, you should consider professional home network installation services and equipment for your home in the Guilford, Connecticut area.

 

SEE ALSO: Three Reasons You Need a Network Installation

What Do You Get with a Professional Home Network Installation?

First, we start by understanding your needs. Do you do significant work from home that requires high bandwidth? Do you stream 4K or other high-bandwidth videos on TVs and many devices at the same time? Do you have – or want – sophisticated home automation technologies like smart lighting systems and motorized window treatments that will be used repeatedly? Are you going to use intelligent security features like motion and sound-sensing cameras throughout your property? Do you need high-speed wireless access outdoors? There are many other questions on our list that are essential for understanding what your ultimate network requirements will be.

The next step is professional design. Understanding how and where you need network access is critical to designing a network with the right capacity and performance capabilities. C&T systems works with Access Networks, a company known for providing high-performance, enterprise-class networking solutions for the most complex residences. What do we mean by enterprise-class? In part, it means using equipment that has been tested and is actually used in businesses. It involves equipment with well-documented longevity characteristics (known as Mean Time Between Failure or MTBF), and it also means using design techniques that are used to build out scalable networking in large commercial installations. What it doesn't mean, for example, is merely installing a network access point in an area with a weak Wi-Fi signal – because that may not solve the problem at all. We’ll provide an enterprise-grade solution customized to maximize network performance for your home.

How Much Does It Cost?

If you think that this sounds like it will cost more than your average home network, you'd be right. But a high-performance, robust, reliable system is critical for the proper operation of your smart home. You should not be surprised if the cost of the networking infrastructure for your project runs between 8-to-12 percent of the total. Why? Because just like the construction of your house, if it’s built on an improperly engineered foundation, you will suffer serious consequences and costs – more than the foundation – with everything that is built on top of it.

When your home network is configured correctly, you benefit in the long term. We live in a connected world, and keeping up with a fast network and internet connectivity is essential as ever-more functions in the home gain intelligence from being connected to the "Internet of Things." If you have the right network infrastructure in place, adding new capabilities to your home is easy.

Let C&T Systems show you the benefits of a professional home network design and installation for your home in the Guilford area. Get in touch by calling (860) 875-2876 or fill out a short form on the page linked below. We look forward to assisting you!

Ask us about home networking here!