…and put you in a reallllllly bad mood.
I am not a man of patience. Once I get a new toy, whether it’s technology or just clothes, I get anxious to use it. I am not someone that sits down and reads through all the directions in the guide (but kudos to those that do). I like to start the setup as soon as possible, so that I can be done as soon as possible. I’m an early adapter, and I’m also pretty picky. This means that I’ve been through more setups than I want to admit, or remember. Through all those trials, I’ve experiences a ton of delays. Here are some of the things that could delay your smart home set up.
Wireless connection acts up or disconnects.
It doesn’t happen often, but every time it does, it’s when I’m trying to setup a new smart home device. Reconnecting takes time, since you have to unplug your router, wait 10 seconds, then plug it back in and wait for everything to reconnect. While in reality this takes less than 5 minutes, it feels like at least 2 hours. At least. And then there are the times when you can’t even get it to reconnect. Maybe there is bad weather. Maybe there is a power outage. Maybe it is just a random Wednesday and there is no rhyme or reason for the service disruption.
You run out of time.
Setting up new devices isn’t always that easy, and you should plan to double the expected setup time. Don’t try to start setting something up an hour before your kid’s soccer game, or 2 hours before your anniversary dinner. That is just asking for trouble. If you are in a hurry, you can assume Murphy’s law: what can go wrong, will go wrong. When you have all the time in the world, though? Things probably go off without a hitch.
Your phone or tablet is dead.
Many of us have multiple portable devices, and sometimes it is hard to remember to charge them all (or you just run out of outlets). Most, though definitely not all, smart home devices are going to need to connect to your smartphone or tablet. You’re going to need to download and install an app, then you’re going to use that app for some of the setup and for syncing. If your devices are dead, you’re going to have to wait for them to charge to finish your setup.
You decide that you want more things.
This is the one that happens to me the most often. I get everything that I think I want, and once I get home to start setup, I think of another way to use it that requires me to get more things. So now I either need to go back to the store, or I need to find what I want online and wait for it to arrive.
What things have you encountered that have delayed your smart home setup?
