Smart Home Archives - Terry White's Tech Blog

November 13, 2023March 8, 2024

From Tap to Pure Delight: The Device That Makes Water Crystal Clear and Delicious

If you say, “All water tastes the same.” You can stop reading this and go on about your day. There’s nothing I can do or say to help you. All jokes aside, I’m pretty picky regarding the taste of water. I’m originally from Detroit, and I believe Detroit has some of the best-tasting tap water in the country. When I moved to Atlanta, I could definitely tell the difference. Atlanta’s water is OK, but nowhere near as good as Detroit’s water.

All tap water has stuff in it that should be filtered out. Depending on the location, the pipes and plumbing have manganese, copper, and lead, which can corrode over time and leach different metals into your drinking water. Acidic water (i.e., water with a pH below 7) causes pipes to corrode quickly, giving the water a sour, tangy, or metallic taste.

Bottled Water

I had become more reliant on bottled water; even different bottled water brands have different tastes. I’m about to list some brands; some of you will agree, while others will disagree, and that’s fine. It just proves my point that water definitely has a taste, and because of these different tastes, different brands will appeal to some while completely turning others off. It’s usually the purity and mineral count that affect the taste:

My favorite brands of water:

October 24, 2023March 8, 2024

I Switched to Unifi Protect and Dumped my Google Nest Cams

Unifi Protect G5 Bullet POE Camera under my front awning.

I’m a fan of having security cameras around my property that allow me to look at my surroundings at any time, day or night, and best of all, when I’m traveling. I’ve used various cameras/brands over the years, and at one point, I had cameras from Ring, Google, Logitech, and Eufy simultaneously. While I had each camera for a different reason and feature set, it was really a mess. Of course, each camera had its own app, and the only thing that made this setup bearable was that I could bring them all into Apple Home to see them all simultaneously.

In My Experience, Event-based Cameras Suck!

The first cameras to get booted were the Logitech Circle View cameras. While these cameras tend to work well most of the time, they were the flakiest when it came to staying connected to WiFi. They required regular reboots because of regular WiFi disconnects. The second problem is that while they worked natively with Apple’s Home and HomeKit Secure Video, this means that they only recorded if they thought an event was taking place. This sounds reasonable. If something triggers the motion sensor, it should start recording. The problem with “event-based cameras” is that sometimes they miss events. In other words, when you go back to look at the footage at a time when you know something happened, the clip is nowhere to be found because it didn’t record.

A prime example of this was when a very large package arrived at my house by mistake, and it was for a neighbor. I informed my neighbor that their package was next to my garage and that they could pick it up anytime. While my neighborhood is relatively safe, I still wanted confirmation that the right person took the package. When I went to review the footage from the Ring cam, the package was there one second, and the next, it was gone. There was no recording of the package actually being taken. This package was so big that it would have taken two people to carry it. So it’s not like it didn’t record the event because it was grabbed quickly. This is when I realized just how much event-based recording sucks! They are hit-and-miss.

Cameras that record 24/7 are better!

June 19, 2023June 24, 2023

My 2023 Smart Home: New Additions and Recent Evictions!

Dedicated Apple Home iPad Pro in the kitchen

Ever since I ventured into the realm of smart homes in 2016, upon moving into my newly constructed abode, I’ve been managing a variety of gadgets such as thermostats, garage door openers, security cameras, alarm systems, and more, all via the Apple Home app on my mobile devices and Mac.

My smart home journey has been a constant evolution. Over the years, some devices have proved their worth and remained constant companions, like my trusty Lutron Caseta products. Others have given way to innovation, like my August WiFi smart locks, which have since been replaced with the more advanced Schlage Encode Plus locks.

Back in 2021, I shared my first smart home tour video. I skipped the 2022 tour, but I’m excited to announce that I’ve returned with an upgraded Smart Home Tour Video for 2023!

In this new video, I didn’t get into every single device I use. Instead, I focused on showcasing the new additions to my home automation ecosystem and the devices I’ve phased out. Nonetheless, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a comprehensive list of all my smart home devices right here:

February 27, 2023July 21, 2024

How I Solved My WiFi Nightmare

I have 1GB Internet (1200Mbps down/35Mbps up), and when everything went downhill, this was the **AWFUL WiFi speed** I started getting.

I’m not an IT guy. I have had to learn about networking out of necessity, not out of desire or fascination. I view a home network as something that should just work, and you shouldn’t have to think about it day-to-day, just like your refrigerator. You open it and expect things to be cold. You close it and forget about it. You don’t spend hours trying to optimize it. You don’t look for Facebook groups looking for support because it either works or doesn’t. There isn’t much in-between. If it doesn’t work, you get it repaired, replace it, and then forget about it again. In my opinion, a WiFi network should be the same way. You never know how much you depend on your WiFi and internet until it dies!

One day my WiFi just went to hell

January 16, 2023January 15, 2023

I put two of the newest smart locks to the test

I went from being apprehensive about adding a smart lock to my smart home to having one on every entry door. I’ve tried a few different models and just finished comparing two of the latest and best, especially if you have an Apple HomeKit smart home.

Level Lock+ vs. Schlage Encode Plus

These two locks have the latest and greatest technologies in them. Rather than write it all here, I put together this short video review/comparison. Watch til the end to see which one I choose as the best smart lock available today. Check it out:

The Bottom Line

Smart locks have come a long way over the years, and 2023 promises to be a great year for smart homes in general as the new Matter standard starts to bear fruit.

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

Solar + Battery Storage = Power Grid Independence

Two Enphase IQ 10 Batteries were installed in my garage

Those of you who have been around me or this blog for the past few years know that I’m a fan of tech, green energy, electric vehicles, and of course solar power. At the end of 2019, I went solar and documented it here. My electric bill dropped by more than half and I’ve been very happy with my system. No complaints. It just works! However, there was something that I knew I would ultimately want to complete the system and I mentioned it back then. battery storage!

A solar system without battery storage will only go so far

Solar only, no battery storage. Excess power is going back to the grid

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021

It’s Not Too Late to Automate Your Outdoor Holiday Lights

Most people that know me, know that I love smart home tech. I’ve been building my ultimate smart home since 2016. One of the things that I hadn’t done yet was to make my outdoor holiday lights smarter. I had been using a simple outdoor plug that turns on at dusk and off at dawn. However, If I wanted to turn them on or off at any other time I’d actually have to go outside and do it manually.

This year my lights got smarter thanks to the Lutron Caseta Outdoor Smart Plug

I got one of these when it first came out earlier in the year to automate the lights on my back patio. I knew then I’d want another one for the winter holiday season for the front lights.

What makes this one special?

May 10, 2021May 12, 2021

23 Products That Make Up My Ultimate Smart Home

I’ve been building out my smart home since 2016. I use all three leading smart home platforms: Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Google Home and while each one has its advantages, Apple HomeKit is my platform of choice as it does the most. While just about any device can be controlled via an app, what makes a smart home really smart is when you can control multiple devices with a single voice command, scene or automation. With HomeKit I have automations setup like “Going Upstairs” which locks the entry doors, turns off the patio fans, turns off the family room lights and fan, turns on the hallway lights, changes colors of the Hue lights in the bedroom, makes sure the garage doors are closed, arms the alarm “home”, closes the blinds and turns off the TV downstairs. There is no other platform besides HomeKit that would let me do all of those things using devices from so many different manufacturers, with one command.

I wanted to create this video last year and then the pandemic hit and I decided to postpone it. I finally sat down to create it and here it is:

Although I put the links to everything in the video description, there is a character limit and I couldn’t go into much detail. Therefore I’ve also put the descriptions and links to each product below:

WiFi Router

December 18, 2020December 17, 2020

3 New Additions to My Smart Home

I recently added three new items to my smart home. The first one is one I’ve been waiting for the longest. When my home was built in 2016 I went with a Ring Pro doorbell. It was a good choice at the time and has worked well for me. However, my smart home platform of choice is Apple’s HomeKit and Ring is not native to HomeKit. While I was able to integrate it through unofficial HomeBridge support, HomeBridge doesn’t give it all the available features of HomeKit and now HomeKit Secure Video. While there have been a couple of entries into the HomeKit video doorbell market, one is extremely expensive and the other one doesn’t yet support HomeKit Secure Video. That all changed last week with the introduction of Logitech’s Circle View Wired Doorbell.

Logitech Circle View Wired Doorbell

Logitech is no stranger to HomeKit. Their Logitech Circle cameras are in use and loved by many, but this is their first entry into the video doorbell market. Sometimes it’s better not to be first. By taking their time they got many things right out of the gate that others still struggle with. First and foremost this doorbell not only supports HomeKit but also supports HomeKit Secure Video which is Apple’s locally encrypted video stored in iCloud. Most others promise this feature in an upcoming software update or not at all. Logitech built it in from the start. They also did a great job including everything you would need including a choice of mounting brackets.

Here’s my video review:

July 3, 2020July 3, 2020

I went solar!

I have always been fascinated by solar since I was a child. The thought that there is this giant fusion reactor in the sky that can provide power freely to the entire planet is amazing. When Tesla rolled out their NEW Solar Roof (actual solar tiles that replace traditional shingles) I was like WOAH! The only problem is that my house is fairly new. It was built in May 2016 and therefore the roof is too new to simply rip off, throw away and start over. I wasn’t willing to take that loss. I went the next best route. I had solar panels installed instead.

I had a solar system installed at the end of 2019

I wanted to take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit which for 2019 was 30%. That takes a sizable chunk off the cost of the system and resulted in a tax refund.