Question Smart (split) home.... need some advice please.

[Sampletime]

Hi everybody...

I’m looking to establish a smart home set up... to initially control lights, maybe one two other devices and I already have a Nest thermostat..
Here’s the thing.... I have my main house and also a studio room at the end of my garden (80 feet away).
I have a good internet connection and both buildings are connected via Ethernet. There is a strong WiFi network in both buildings.
We are heavily Apple based as a family....it’s all iPhones, Macs and iPads for us.... (it’s a long story...).

Anyway, what set up should I be looking at?
Do I need two hubs? (One per building)
Can I go hub free and connect everything via WiFi?
If I connect a hub to my main router (in the house), will I be able to control things when sitting in my studio?

Clearly I’m not sure if the primary connection is to the hub, or initially via my WiFi network.

I’ve read tons of stuff and feel enthused about setting up some interesting ‘scenes’ via something like IFTTT, but I’m really unclear about how it will all work with iOS, and how my split living arrangements will work with regard to connectivity.

I’d be grateful if somebody could advise or point me to a good source of information....
Many thanks in advance.
Regards
Paul

 

[TedJohnson101]

I'm an Apple guy & I love Alexa. No hubs required--everything is wifi. I've always wanted music in every room & it's been pretty expensive to do. With Alexa it's $30/speaker (per room). And you can use existing sound gear with the Input. I also turn on & off the lights in the garden & house. You can even set themes where you give a voice command for a combo of music & lights--like "dinner" or "romantic". It will provide you with an intercom between studio & house. And setup is easy.

It is similar to Siri but somewhat easier to talk to & more responsive. You can build shopping lists & set alarms. There are many, many devices that are compatible & more every day.

I haven't compared it with Google stuff directly, but from what i've read Amazon is more advanced.

I think Apple should have stepped up to this space. But in its absence, Amazon is there.

 

[Sampletime]

Thanks Ted
so, do you use IFTTT (or similar) to do intelligent things (like turn lots of things on/off in one go for example), or do you just 'speak to control'?
I'm not clear on why some people are using hubs though - especially as you are telling me that it's all handled via wifi. Do you find any of it a burden on your network, or perhaps you only have a few items?

You mentioned on speaker per room.... I'm not big on voice control, although that is starting to appeal a little more lately. I'd be happy to have a few 'scenes' set on my phone and just tap away as I see fit.
So, with your Apple setup, do you only control via Alexa or do you also use apps?