Josh G | Social Media & Content Lead
By the end of the year, 7.2 million UK homes are predicted to own at least one smart home device. But even if your fridge isn’t sending you regular milk-based status reports yet, your home’s probably way smarter than you think. And it needs broadband to match.
Alexa, explain what a smart home is. “A smart home lets you control your tv, your heating, your lights, your curtains, your doorbell and even your automatic cat feeder from your smartphone or Alexa device. Other home hubs are available”.
All this smart home technology relies on the internet to work smoothly and instantly. Which makes a strong broadband connection more important than ever. After all, if you want to dim the lights, you probably want to dim them now-ish. And a lag on your security camera could have more serious consequences.
To future-proof your home, you need fast, reliable broadband with enough bandwidth to handle everything you can throw at it. Time to switch to Cuckoo full fibre.
Smart speakers (Alexa, Siri, Google Home) are constantly connected to your internet and don’t use much bandwidth. They kick into action whenever you issue a command (don’t forget to say please). Now, if that’s as smart as your smart home gets, these devices only use around 1-2 Mbps.
The more smart devices you have connected, the more bandwidth it takes to keep them all running properly. So if you’ve got smart heating, a video doorbell, pet cameras and basically more gadgets than a Bond villain’s lair, then you’ll need to beef up your broadband.
It’s also worth remembering that smart devices will also be competing with all the other streaming, gaming and WFH-ing going on in your home.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most popular smart home devices and how much internet bandwidth they gobble up. If you’re maxing out your megabits, Cuckoo broadband offers upload and download speeds of up to 900Mbps.
🔊 Smart speakers: 1-2 Mbps
🌡 Thermostats: 1.5 Mbps or more
🐶 Pet Camera: 2 Mbps
💡 Smart lighting: 2-5 Mbps
🎛 Smart home hub: 3 Mbps
🚪 2K wireless video doorbell: 3 Mbps (per camera)
📺 Smart TV: Up to 25Mbps
A good rule of thumb is 5 Mbps for anything non-video. And 10 Mbps for anything video.
Upload speed isn’t usually a big factor in smart homes, but it’s worth checking your upload and download speeds anyway just to see what you’re getting. It’s easy to take a speed test to find out.
As Kirstie and Phil would agree, when it comes to your router, it’s all about location, location, location . Try to put it somewhere central, away from solid walls, metal objects and anything else that might disrupt your signal like cordless phones, baby monitors and (bizarrely) fish tanks. We’re looking at you, Nemo.
Many routers offer a thing called dual-band Wi-Fi with two frequencies (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). The 2.4 GHz band offers slower speeds but a greater range, better for devices that are far away . The 5 GHz band offers faster speeds, better for streaming. So you can connect the right thing to the right band.
If your home has dead spots where the Wi-Fi signal is feeble or non-existent, a router that uses a mesh system can really help. Like the super smart eero Pro 6E that Cuckoo include as standard. A mesh is just a number of routers (or nodes) that work together to create a reliable network in every nook and cranny.
If your smart home isn’t acting as smart as you’d like because your internet can’t keep up, here are some top tips to speed things up a bit:
🔌 Plug it in
If possible, plug your most important devices in with an ethernet cable
🤔 Pick and choose
Do you need to see your moggy in HD? If not, reduce the quality of the stream
🧹Declutter your network
See what devices are connected and turn off anything you’re not using.
We’re not quite into The Jetson’s territory yet but smart homes are only going to get smarter. And the latest full fibre broadband technology will help us deal with whatever comes next. Mesh Wi-Fi will become even more important. And the rise of VR, AI and automation will push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Cuckoo customers like Brulzie are already living the full fibre dream in their connected smart homes. So why not join the revolution?
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