Home automation is increasingly widespread in our day to day. We have a wide variety of devices, such as light bulbs, plugs and other devices. We can control them remotely and decide when to turn them on, for example. But for this we will have several options. One of them is to use a home automation controller or home automation center. We are going to talk about how they work and if they are really useful or not to have in your home.
home automation controllers
A home automation controller is a device to which you can connect other devices. For example security cameras, smart bulbs, plugs and many others. They work using Z-Wave, which is a technology that allows wireless interconnection between home automation devices. It is similar to Bluetooth.
Its function is to allow access to remote control of certain devices that cannot be controlled directly through the mobile application. For example, a bulb that does not have Wi-Fi and does have Z-Wave. That bulb, or any other compatible device, will be connected to the home automation center. The controller in turn connects to the router and you will be able to control it through a mobile application to access the rest of the devices.
We can say that they are very useful to have a Z-Wave network at home. A series of devices that use this protocol to connect with each other. If you do not have light bulbs or plugs with Wi-Fi and they do use this technology, it is a good idea to be able to manage them correctly.
You should keep in mind that not all home automation controllers are the same. You will find many options on the market and you will see differences such as the number of devices that you can have connected, the compatibility or the ability to also use other technologies such as Bluetooth, in addition to Z-Wave.
These are some examples:
why are they useful
Beyond being the only option to remotely control devices that do not have Wi-Fi, it is also interesting to have a home automation controller for other reasons. For example to be able to connect many devices without problems. If you were to connect dozens of devices to your Wi-Fi router, that could cause problems. It will also depend on the router you have, but when you connect many things it could start to go wrong.
To prevent this from happening, a home automation controller is a good solution. There are models that allow you to connect up to 200 devices and be able to control them without fear of the Wi-Fi network being saturated. In addition, some models allow you to connect very different devices that use different technologies to communicate with each other.
But they are not always devices that are really going to be useful. If in your case you have a home that is automated and you have light bulbs with Wi-Fi, plugs and other devices, which you can control from your own application, you really do not need a home automation controller. You will be able to use the mobile to program the power on or off, configure them or make any changes without anything additional.
In short, as you can see, having a home automation center may be necessary and even advisable on occasions. However, in many circumstances you will not really need it and you will be able to connect these devices directly to the router and manage them remotely from its own application. For example a smart bulb, socket, etc.
