Smart Home Hubs Work
A smart hub is the mission control center — the brain, if you will — of a home or apartment building’s smart devices. It ties together every lamp, light bulb, smart lock, doorbell, and playlist, so that residents can command, control, and schedule them all from one central (usually touchscreen) interface. Smart hubs are also where the fun starts: users can design creative chains of automated tasks to suit their habits and personalities. The best smart hubs do all of this with one intuitive app or other interface, making them easy for anyone to use, no training needed.
Most smart home hub require their own apps to communicate with each other, or with Wi-Fi. This can cause a real headache if you mix and match brands, or have multiple devices from the same brand that don’t communicate well. But a good smart hub, like the Alexa-powered Echo (4th Gen) and Echo Show 10, is compatible with several wireless protocols, including Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Bluetooth, which lets them serve as a sort of hub for your entire smart home.
The smartest hubs can even act as a sort of universal gateway, supporting devices from a wide range of brands and connecting them to each other. This can save you money if you’re planning on buying new products and replacing older ones in the future, or if you just want to avoid the hassle of switching between different hubs if you decide to change your device lineup.
How Do Smart Home Hubs Work?
Smart hubs can also break down the standard catalogs that some manufacturers have created by creating their own ecosystems of compatibility. For instance, the Ring security system and Philips Hue lighting equipment can connect to each other through a dedicated hub, but not if you shop for a Samsung washer/dryer or Sonos speaker. But a smart hub can serve as a virtual United Nations, breaking down the dialect barriers between different manufacturers and letting you shop for whatever you need.
In addition to their basic functionality, many smart hubs have utility software that allows users to group devices into nuanced experiences or “scenes.” For instance, a homeowner could set up a scene for Saturday date night to dim the living room lights, start playing a romantic Motown playlist, and turn on the front door security camera.
Smart home hubs are still fairly rare, but the tech is gaining popularity. The major device makers, such as Amazon and Apple, have built their smart speakers and displays to work with a wide range of protocols, and are working on bringing their own smart home systems to the hub market. And third-party companies, such as SmartThings and the open-source platform Homey, have been designing their own hubs with broad support for a variety of popular gadgets. As more and more consumers invest in smart devices, smart hubs will continue to play a critical role.
