What router to choose to connect smart devices?
With the development of digitization, the miniaturization of electronics and their cheapness (at least until recently), the popularization of the idea of IoT (the. Internet of Things), home automation controllers have arrived in our homes. It's been a long time since we've used a remote control to turn on a light, open a gate, or activate devices connected to a smart outlet. However, we often buy individual components (often of different brands) on an ad hoc basis, so that each component is controlled separately and independently of other components. What if a single, coherent system could be planned in which individual smart devices could work together? In such an arrangement, a central element would be needed to manage the entire system. At this point, good news for users of FRITZ routers! - you already own it! Any reasonably contemporary FRITZ!Box (e.g. FRITZ!Box 7490, 7590, 7530, 6850 LTE/5G, 4060 or 6890 LTE) is an advanced smart home control panel out of the box (also calledesmart home , Smart Home, smart home, etc.).
Intelligent home under the sign of FRITZ!
The idea behind the smart home system, built on FRITZ products! presupposes precisely the existence of a control panel for managing the system, which is the FRITZ router!Box with built-in DECT base. To it logs various adapters, whose role is to perform functions, according to the scenarios programmed in the router. With this architecture, the system is integrated and individual smart devices are not separate islands, but work together and can exchange information. E.g. fRITZ smart thermostat!The DECT 302 can regulate the temperature based not only on the readings of its own built-in temperature measurement, but can also use the measurement of any FRITZ smart plug!DECT 200, FRITZ!DECT 210 or FRITZ button!DECT 440 placed elsewhere in the house, where the indication is more averaged and therefore authoritative in terms of the comfort of the residents (the temperature under the windowsill, where the radiator is located, may be fundamentally different from the temperature experienced at the table, in the middle of the living room, where the household members are).
DECT - a solid foundation for the smart home
FRITZ Smart Home System! is not airtight, i.e. some smart home devices of other brands can also be logged into it, provided they are based on DECT wireless technology. FRITZ smart home components! communicate with the router precisely using this radio protocol proven in telephony applications. DECT has a number of advantages, giving it an edge over other popular Smart Home terminal communication technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. One of them is the far greater range, which reaches several hundred meters in open space, and up to about 50 meters indoors. This is due, among other things, to the fact that DECT uses the 1900 MHz band, which is less susceptible to interference and does not have to compete for access to the radio medium with, for example, Wi-Fi networks operating in the same location.
Rich range of applications
The number and type of functions that make up a smart home depend on the devices used. In the case of the FRITZ system! we can use up to 30 different home automation controllers, performing many useful tasks in daily life, for example:
- Switching on and off devices, powered through a smart outlet (FRITZ!DECT 200), controlled by a pre-programmed schedule or depending on events in the environment (change of sound intensity - clap, whistle, etc.).).
- Management of the degree of opening of the central heating radiator valve (regardless of the heat source) through the FRITZ smart thermostat!DECT 301 and 302, based on the schedule and/or temperature measurement set in the router, etc.
- Turning lighting on and off, what the FRITZ Intelligent Light Bulb is for!DECT 500, which additionally has adjustable brightness, allows you to change the color of the light (not just the color temperature), etc.
Comfortable control even for the less advanced
Despite its technological sophistication, the smart home system is not complicated to use. On the contrary. As a solution "for the people," i.e. our householders, it must be very user-friendly. This is exactly the idea that the FRITZ system is following! A smart home system built on FRITZ devices! is controlled via the user interface of the FRITZ router!Box, i.e. using a web browser, via an app or buttons. A clear web interface presents all connected devices, their status, informs about possible problems (e.g. depleting battery, in the case of terminals powered in this way) and allows easy configuration of individual components.
Similar possibilities, and with increased convenience, also give us, the free FRITZ application! Smart Home, available for Android and iOS. The important thing is that it works both locally, when we are at home, and remotely, thanks to a secure VPN connection to the router.
However, if you want to control the Smart Home system directly, locally, you can either use buttons on individual devices for this purpose or use programmable, multifunctional buttons (e.g. FRITZ!DECT 400 or FRITZ!DECT 440 ), which connect to the router wirelessly via DECT technology.
