By Bob Gatton
One of the most common questions I'm asked by home-automation integrators is whether they should specify wired or wireless systems. My answer is always, "It depends."
I know that's not much help, but it's true. The decision about wired or wireless depends on what applications the system will have. So as a builder, you should start out with a conversation with your integrator to determine what kind of applications the home automation system for your project will have. Here are some tips:
It takes much less information to dim a light or change the temperature setting on a thermostat than it takes to send high-definition video with multi-channel audio from one part of the house to another. Commands to change a light or thermostat setting are very small, low-bandwidth streams of information, while video, even compressed, is a very large, high-bandwidth signal.
Furthermore, the nature of the two signals is different. If a wireless command is sent and it is not received, a few technologies will continue to send the command until it receives feedback that yes, the command has been received and the light has been dimmed or the garage door has been closed. But with audio or video, if the signal is not properly received on a wireless system, the sound and picture will be lost.
For sending and receiving commands, I have had great results with both wireless and wired systems, but for sending audio or video throughout the house, I always use a wired system. While there are several wireless technologies that can send AV signals to different parts of the home, I have not found any that I consider to be reliable enough. This will probably change in the near future, though, as wireless technologies evolve.
The benefits of using wire and wireless are:
Wired
- More reliable
- Best for new construction or major renovations
- Can accommodate more information—especially important when distributing audio and video
Wireless
- More reliable than they used to be. Use multiple wireless devices in the home to repeat and confirm the command, forming a mesh network. (See Z-Wave of the Future is Here (Almost) for more information.)
- Much easier installation for existing homes. Retrofitting a home with wire can be very difficult and time consuming. Expanding or changing a wireless system at a later date is usually much easier
For Internet access I use both wired and wireless. Wire is run to most rooms in the home, but we also install a wireless router (and sometimes repeaters if the home is large) so that notebook computers can access the Internet anywhere in or around the home.
Once again, work with the subcontractor who is responsible for the project, starting in the earliest planning stages. The size of the house, the budget and objective usually point in one direction or the other for a particular part of the project. Many projects end up being a combination of technologies. And several companies, including Vantage and Lutron, offer both wired and wireless solutions.
As the builder, you know what your customers want; the integrator knows how to provide it. Together, you'll figure out the perfect solution.
Bob Gatton is a Knoxville, Tenn.-based home-theater and -electronics consultant and writer.
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