Title sort of says it all, but why does everything have to be Wi-Fi or via a remote these days? I'm not old by any means, class of 2007, but things were more simple, easier to fix, cheaper ect it seems before everything was not on your phone.

I also work in big data for a national company so I'm naturally hesitant to join, click, download, subscribe to a lot of services.

That being said what is "on your network"? We have the normal cell phones, pads, laptops, firesticks only. Why does my refrigerator, oven, washer, drier, dishwasher, a/c, garage door, entry doors, and ceiling lights all need to be accessible via Wi-Fi?

Also, why the hell do I have to have a remote for new fans?!?!

I'm kind of the same way. Outside of TV's, computers, and phones, nothing else in my house is connected to WIFI. When I have replaced appliances, I did not bother buying something with WIFI capability. I don't see the need In fact the only thing I can thing of that I have that is, is my garage door opener (which was replaced last year). And I have yet to connect it. My ex-wife on the other hand, has most everything in her house connected. I tell our kids all the time, when the machines rise up, they can all head to my house .

I work in software by the way, but have no interest in having everything wired (or WIFI-ed up) at home.

The fridge sends me texts when the kids leave it open too long. Very nice feature. Certainly not necessary and even more so when the kids get older, but it has saved a freezer full of food a time or two.

I like being able to control my garage door from my phone. And since putting in two ecobees that's nice too.

I hate a lot of the app controlled stuff just because I hate having to be on my phone more, in front of my kids. That being said, the garage door MyQ app is amazing. The freezer app alarm also sounds good but it hasn't been an issue yet. I just hate trying to tell my kids to get off the screens while we are still stuck to them for work and then dealing with home stuff we could just do IRL.

Someone should make an app that controls all the wifi enabled products. I have a 100 different apps for the different devices in my house that connect to wifi. It would be nice if i could control them all from one place… its a multimillion dollar idea….

Same goes for all my tv subscriptions. If someone made an interface where you could manage all your subscriptions in one app, that would be amazing

I love being able to change the thermostat without getting out of bed.

PlanoAg98 said:

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I love being able to change the thermostat without getting out of bed.

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That does make a lot of sense. Also controlling the air when away on vacation. We have definitely come back from a summer vacation and wished we were able to set it down to a comfortable temp before we got home.

Nothing is better than your toothbrush reminding you that you forgot a scheduled brushing and making sure you brush long enough.

I was a little bit paranoid when the brush was sitting upright in the drivers seat of my truck one morning when I was running late, didn't have time to brush, and ignored my app reminder.

I love controlling my pool and hot tub remotely! And I am an old!

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Why does my refrigerator, oven, washer, drier, dishwasher, a/c, garage door, entry doors, and ceiling lights all need to be accessible via Wi-Fi?

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Do you mean entry door cams (Ring)?

Smart locks
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-smart-lock/

I see the value in thermostat and gate/garage openers having connectivity (use MyQ all the time.)

I don't need my stove to text me.

My sandwich maker won't stop messaging me about all sorts of things but I'm afraid if I cut the cord ill have much bigger issues.

I don't really understand this thread. If you like something with wifi abilities, great. If not, don't get it. For everyone who doesn't want their stove to text them there's someone who would probably turn on their oven to preheat while on the way home if they could….

Anything and everything I can turn in to my smartthigs account is. I honestly don't remember the last time I used a light switch

htxag09 said:

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I don't really understand this thread. If you like something with wifi abilities, great. If not, don't get it. For everyone who doesn't want their stove to text them there's someone who would probably turn on their oven to preheat while on the way home if they could….

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Its a worthwhile conversation because the security on some of these things is suspect and opens your home up to outside vulnerabilities. Everyone is going to have a different sliding scale of risk/benefit for these things so its interesting to see where people land.

There is also the reality that many of these devices are also mining data about you that is being sold to third parties. Again, that will bother some more than others.

I see a lot of people who are completely distrustful of the government(understandable), but then open their homes up to the Amazons/Googles/Apples of the world for the benefit of convenience.

No right or wrong answers, but I fall on the side of extreme skepticism of all things branded Smart.

i keep my IoT stuff on an completely separate wifi network. I mean completely separate hardware, ssid and keys. you can't see my laptop network from my IoT network.

My internal cameras are hooked up to smart plugs that are geo-fenced with my phone. So the in house cameras are not even powered on unless i am away from the house.

Duncan Idaho said:

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i keep my IoT stuff on an completely separate wifi network. I mean completely separate hardware, ssid and keys. you can't see my laptop network from my IoT network.

My internal cameras are hooked up to smart plugs that are geo-fenced with my phone. So the in house cameras are not even powered on unless i am away from the house.

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Bad Poster said:

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Someone should make an app that controls all the wifi enabled products. I have a 100 different apps for the different devices in my house that connect to wifi. It would be nice if i could control them all from one place… its a multimillion dollar idea….

Same goes for all my tv subscriptions. If someone made an interface where you could manage all your subscriptions in one app, that would be amazing

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A multimillion dollar idea that already exists…

Username checks out

FincAg said:

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PlanoAg98 said:

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I love being able to change the thermostat without getting out of bed.

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That does make a lot of sense. Also controlling the air when away on vacation. We have definitely come back from a summer vacation and wished we were able to set it down to a comfortable temp before we got home.

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My wife doesn't have the ecobee app, so whenever she does something irrational with the thermostat, I wait 5 minutes and reset it appropriately.

coastalAg said:

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htxag09 said:

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I don't really understand this thread. If you like something with wifi abilities, great. If not, don't get it. For everyone who doesn't want their stove to text them there's someone who would probably turn on their oven to preheat while on the way home if they could….

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Its a worthwhile conversation because the security on some of these things is suspect and opens your home up to outside vulnerabilities. Everyone is going to have a different sliding scale of risk/benefit for these things so its interesting to see where people land.

There is also the reality that many of these devices are also mining data about you that is being sold to third parties. Again, that will bother some more than others.

I see a lot of people who are completely distrustful of the government(understandable), but then open their homes up to the Amazons/Googles/Apples of the world for the benefit of convenience.

No right or wrong answers, but I fall on the side of extreme skepticism of all things branded Smart.

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Breaking down a door or window isn't that hard to do either.

there's some great twitter follows that call out the absolute absurdity of the Internet of Things (IOTs)

yes, it is out of control.

I have several VLAN's with associated SSID's, including ones for IOT and guests. I also have a infrastructure configuration VLAN that I control all configuration from so infiltrating a random host does not give access to undoing network restrictions, and the configuration host runs only as needed. Also use traffic shaping to keep outgoing traffic restricted and even somehow someone gains access and uses something as a beach head if they trip the shaper rule they will be dropped to dialup speed.

New washing machine we are getting is WiFi. I can't for the life of me figure out why I would need that.

Dr.Rumack said:

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New washing machine we are getting is WiFi. I can't for the life of me figure out why I would need that.

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My in laws have one with it. Our laundry room is upstairs and out of the way, so we tend to start loads and forget them. My wife is actually jealous that her mom gets a notification when a load is done.

Also, a lot of these appliances have had some kind of smart capability for awhile to share info with a tech if you're having issues. For example, our refrigerator and our washer and dryer have this ability but are not smart. So I assume it's really not much effort to get them from that capability to full on smart.

Marvin_Zindler said:

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I don't need my stove to text me.

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I'd absolutely love to be able to preheat the oven so it's ready when I get home.

htxag09 said:

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Dr.Rumack said:

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New washing machine we are getting is WiFi. I can't for the life of me figure out why I would need that.

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My in laws have one with it. Our laundry room is upstairs and out of the way, so we tend to start loads and forget them. My wife is actually jealous that her mom gets a notification when a load is done.

Also, a lot of these appliances have had some kind of smart capability for awhile to share info with a tech if you're having issues. For example, our refrigerator and our washer and dryer have this ability but are not smart. So I assume it's really not much effort to get them from that capability to full on smart.

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Our washer and dryer have wifi, it's nice to get a push notification when a load is done.

The Pilot said:

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htxag09 said:

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Dr.Rumack said:

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New washing machine we are getting is WiFi. I can't for the life of me figure out why I would need that.

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My in laws have one with it. Our laundry room is upstairs and out of the way, so we tend to start loads and forget them. My wife is actually jealous that her mom gets a notification when a load is done.

Also, a lot of these appliances have had some kind of smart capability for awhile to share info with a tech if you're having issues. For example, our refrigerator and our washer and dryer have this ability but are not smart. So I assume it's really not much effort to get them from that capability to full on smart.

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Our washer and dryer have wifi, it's nice to get a push notification when a load is done.

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You know what they also have to let you know it's done? A loud buzzer!

Ours doesn't have that loud buzzer, it's some jingle that with the door closed you aren't hearing it upstairs or in the basement.

Having a wifi enabled irrigation controller is a game changer when doing maintenance. It's also nice to be able to cancel scheduled runs when away from home. And the app is so much more user friendly than any controller I've ever used.

Things connected to the network over wireless that aren't games/TV:
Ecobee (appreciate data tracking run time monitoring capabilities)
Shark vacuum (I like being able to see how it maps the house)
Big Ass Fan in the living room has an app, which is a good thing because the remote disappeared a long while back and they're good about support.

There are security cameras but they and the DVR are wired.

For most things I'd rather it not have an app or be online. Appliances last MUCH longer than any phone I've had and I don't want changing from one to the other to cause problems.. The washer/dryer are from 2004 and still look and run like new. Kitchen appliances are from 2014 so whatever app they might've used would probably be unsupported now like Smart View for my 2016 Samsung TV. The app still works great except for the up/select button and its last update is at least 3 years old now with none to be provided.

AggieOO said:

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Marvin_Zindler said:

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I don't need my stove to text me.

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I'd absolutely love to be able to preheat the oven so it's ready when I get home.

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Preheat takes, what 7-9 minutes?
Can dinner really not be delayed 7-9 minutes?
As soon as you walk in, you turn it on. Then you go to the bathroom, change out of work clothes, pour a drink, check your phone, and the oven is preheated.

Makes me think of a screen grab I saw of a NextDoor post where a person was complaining that someone had gotten onto their IoT fridge and started it running porn. And they couldn't get it to stop.

Scriffer said:

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FincAg said:

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PlanoAg98 said:

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I love being able to change the thermostat without getting out of bed.

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That does make a lot of sense. Also controlling the air when away on vacation. We have definitely come back from a summer vacation and wished we were able to set it down to a comfortable temp before we got home.

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My wife doesn't have the ecobee app, so whenever she does something irrational with the thermostat, I wait 5 minutes and reset it appropriately.

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You can configure it to reset to your schedule automatically after a set time. It does show the reset time on screen but I don't think my wife notices it .