All this smart home technology is only as good as the products that support it and the people that use it, right? Well, as anyone that has ventured into the smart home space knows, it isn’t always a fun process. In fact, sometimes it is a frustrating, make-you-grouchy-for-a-week situation. Sometimes, it’s your fault -you didn’t get the right products, you don’t know how to use the products, you have the wrong hub – but sometimes you do everything right and your smart home technology still fails you. Here are a few of the worst smart home technology fails that are sure to drive you crazy:
- Failed sync. No matter what you do, you just can’t get your new smart home product to sync with your home network or with the phone app. You’ve followed all of the directions, twice, and nothing. You’ve unplugged and reset the device, you’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the app, you’ve turned your phone off and on. Still nothing.
- Sorry, your device is offline. The thing about smart home technology is that is requires a connection. Sometimes, for no reason at all, your device goes offline and becomes a (probably expensive) useless hunk of tech that doesn’t even add anything to your room’s decoration.
- Your new phone isn’t paired. So, we can run most of our smart home technology off of our phones, which is great. The problem is that many of us update our phones more often then we replace our underwear. I’m guessing that if you’re getting into smart home tech, you’re interested in mobile tech as well, and want to have the latest and greatest. Problem is, if you forget to pair your new phone with your home, you’ll be left without control.
- Stage fright. You spent hours, maybe even days or months, purchasing products, setting them up, and syncing everything. It’s finally the big day – you’re having company over and you’re going to show off how smart your house is. Too bad you just end up looking stupid when your tech gets stage fright and fails to nail its performance; it just doesn’t work.
- Your mobile device is dead. While you can definitely use computers to manage a lot of smart home tech, most people want to use their mobile devices. If you have a smart home assistant, like an Amazon Echo, you can fall back on using your voice to control select home tech. Some tech, like smart locks, will rely on mobile devices. This can become an issue when you flake out on charging your phone. Looks like you can add the cost of an extra battery or a portable charger to your smart home budget.
- Taking a break. For no apparent reason, your connected home just won’t work. Your network is online, everything I plugged in, the weather is great, there isn’t a power outage…you just can’t figure out why it isn’t working.
What’s your worst fail moment with smart home technology? Sound off in the comments section.
