Get started with… Smart security
Protect your home the clever way — and use security functions for convenience too
How to cleverly protect your home with tech, adding more convenience through security features.
Your home is a sanctuary. It’s where everything important happens, and yet, valuable gear is smaller, lighter, and easier to dispose of than ever. Cars, now secured by advanced immobilization, aren’t hotwired away any more — thieves would sooner dart into your house, take the keys, and be gone with your vehicle in seconds. If you happen to be targeted you’ll want to know about it fast, employ the most secure methods you can to fortify your home, and — if worst comes to worst — have the evidence you need to catch the culprit.
Investing in home security gear is about far more than defense in the long run. There’s a big layer of convenience to it, a large dash of self–assurance and, mixed with the rest of your smart gear, a vast extension of the bounds of your smart home. So let’s start with the more frivolous side of security. We like the idea of Bluetooth — or even Wi–Fi– enabled locks, which are just starting to reach maturity. They can be released or secured based on proximity or the touch of a cell phone button. Some perceive these devices as insecure but that’s not always the case — a smart lock can be more difficult to crack than the pickable manual variety.
Yale’s Nest × Yale lock, to give one example, is a quick replacement for an existing deadlock, offering up a keypad into which you can program (and quickly revoke) up to 20 access codes. You can open it by tapping a smart key if your hands are full, or lock it (if not automatically) via the Nest app. There are many more electronic locks with smart functionality, but, as ever, we’d recommend avoiding the cheaper end of the market.
Sound the alarm
Of course, what is security without an alarm? It’s very easy to see why the new crop of smart alarm systems is leagues ahead of the classic sensor–and– siren combination. Old methods have many merits, but it’s awkward to install — generally not a DIY job — and once it’s in, you’re pretty much stuck to the network of sensors you’ve installed. A smart alarm can be iterated upon from the ground up; you can add sensors later, you can (if you pick the correct options) tweak the sensors to ignore pets or indeed raise their sensitivity, and in most cases you’ll be able to arm or disarm your security system, or specific zones of it, from an app or web–based interface.
It’s also worth noting that sirens have become so ubiquitous, they now tend to be ignored. Consider: when was the last time you actually investigated an alarm, rather than just being annoyed by it? With a smart alarm, or even something as straightforward as a cheap door or window sensor, you can be alerted to unexpected incursions straight away — and silently, if you so choose. That notification can come directly to your phone or to your email in an instant. And really, anything can be turned into an alarm when used cleverly. The outdoor cameras opposite all feature motion sensing, often within a specific region of the picture, so you won’t be alerted to every car driving past, providing you don't mind a few more false positives. Better to be safe than sorry though, right?
Creating combos
Smart systems are advancing the convenience of security and they're also advancing its connectivity. You don’t have to be the only one alerted if you smartly collaborate with your neighbors or friends. Security devices can be repurposed easily for other things while still doing their intended job — triggering lights with the same motion sensors you’re using to monitor your front door, for example, or switching off your heating when a sensor shows a window has been opened. A smart lock doesn’t just secure your front door — it is able to tell you who’s opened it and when. This is perfect if teenagers are slipping in and out at all hours.
Smart tech also gives us access to more sensitive and proactive devices beyond the standard sensors. Samsung’s SmartThings Multi Sensor, for instance, can look out for specific patterns of vibration, meaning it can sound the alarm before anyone has the chance to make it through your door. Philips’ Hue Motion sensor could be put to work to flash the lights in your bedroom if it detects any funny business at night, silently rousing you. As ever with smart home tech, it’s the way you put the devices to work that makes the real difference, and that’s a limit bound only by your own ingenuity.