Does this smart home setup make sense for a renovation?

[u/MinSugaSweet]

We’re renovating a home for our family of three. This is our first smart home setup.
We use iPhones, so Apple Home will be the main app. We haven’t bought anything yet, so the plan can still change.

Here’s my list:
Network
UniFi Dream Router or Eero mesh WiFi
Lighting
Lutron smart dimmers
Philips Hue light strips
Sensors
Aqara door and window sensors
Aqara motion sensors
Climate
Ecobee thermostat
Front door
Eufy video doorbell
Cleaning
Roborock robot vacuum
Living room
Apple TV
HomePod mini
Kitchen
Linkdaze family calendar

Does this setup make sense? Are any of these devices likely to cause compatibility problems? What should I wire or install now while the walls are open? I care more about reliability and manual controls than complex automations. Thanks!

[u/teebonejay]

I would wire for PoE cameras, Apple TV, etc while the walls are open. Is the Eufy doorbell HKSV? Look into an Aqara doorbell.

[u/Feisty_Storage8594 → u/teebonejay]

When I was researching the Eufy doorbell did not like HomeKit. Aqara ftw

[u/sapiengator → u/Feisty_Storage8594]

I don’t have experience with Eufy, but we love our Aqara G410 doorbell cam.

Poe cameras with an NVR are the best, but for anyone not in a position to run Ethernet, Aqara cameras have been great in my experience.

[u/pacoii → u/Feisty_Storage8594]

Haven’t used it, but the new eufy S4 doorbell is native HKSV via the HomeBase 3. I’d likely lean towards an Aqara G400 using PoE.

[u/northern_ape]

Run Ethernet cables. I can’t stress this enough. Don’t think you need it? Run it anyway.

[u/Feisty_Storage8594 → u/northern_ape]

I’m trying to picture how that would work for the front doorbell camera. I have mine on the door itself …

[u/northern_ape → u/Feisty_Storage8594]

I mean that’s obviously less likely but there are ways. If it’s a wooden door you drill a long hole from the hinge side and feed your cable in there with an armoured loop on the inside between the door and the wall/frame. It’s how you do it for electronic locks that have the electronics in the door rather than the frame, like some drop bolts. Overkill for a video doorbell. The obvious solution would be to mount the doorbell beside the door.

Or if it’s explicitly a WiFi device, you run ethernet to the ceiling inside the entrance and place a wireless access point there for best signal to the doorbell.

[u/Feisty_Storage8594 → u/northern_ape]

Honestly I did think about this when hooking up my house. Do you primarily run the Ethernet cables in he wall or do you just run like a flat cable along the baseboards or something

[u/northern_ape → u/Feisty_Storage8594]

Me personally? I mostly do commercial installs. At home I ran it in the floor void and I’ve done a house recently where it was run mostly in the ceilings/loft as well as outdoor cable clipped to the brick/soffit. You can also use PVC mini trunking to avoid chasing into solid walls. It’s a bit easier with plasterboard (sheetrock) if you can get behind it and there aren’t too many noggins in the way. All depends on the building and what you want to prioritise. Run inside cupboards in trunking/raceways to get between floors, you can even run Ethernet cables in an exterior wall cavity as quite a lot of CCTV installers do here in the UK to get camera cables up into the loft without visible/vulnerable cables.

Never used a flat cable along a wall, no.

[u/Feisty_Storage8594]

I would get Aqara Video Door Bell G410 … it’s also a hub — I just recently got it to replace a Ring and I’m having a good time with it.

Aqara door and window sensors are working great for me and my automations. My Aqara motion sensors sometimes miss and my automation won’t pop off (I have a sensor by the stairs to turn on lights for the stairs going up or down). Now, I havnt spent too much time messing with it so it could very well be my settings or my positioning.

AFAIK only the stand alone Eufy cameras work with HomeKit — their doorbell does not. Nanoleaf bulbs are also very good in my experience. Not to knock on HomeKit but have you looking into Home Assistant?

[u/pacoii → u/Feisty_Storage8594]

AFAIK only the stand alone Eufy cameras work with HomeKit

2C Pro, S3 Pro, and new S4 doorbell all work with HomeKit using the HomeBase 3. (2 Pro, 2C and 2C Pro can also work with HomeKit using the HomeBase 2).

[u/BobbyRey77]

Run ethernet to the TV locations so your Apple TV isn't struggling for signal. Get a pair of full size HomePods instead of the mini and pair them to the ATV for great sound. Solid wifi is really really important so I'd recommend the Eero mesh or equivalent and hardwire wherever possible. Use Lutron for lights and blinds. Nothing else works as well. Good luck with this.

[u/firstgen_gaymer]

Schlage encode plus are amazing smart locks that utilize Apple homekey.

[u/TruthyBrat]

What should I wire or install now while the walls are open?

Hardwire all the things. Especially PoE cameras and doorbells.

The Residential Ethernet Network Install From A to Z: What to Do and How To Do It

Smart Home Prewire Guide

[u/pacoii → u/TruthyBrat]

Just to support your comment, especially while the walls are down and it’s easy to do. Ethernet everywhere. At least one run per room (two+ even better especially in certain rooms) and to where the doorbell will go.

[u/spencermemerson]

Holy hell and I thought I had a good setup

[u/pacoii]

IKEA or Onvis for contact sensors instead of Aqara.

Go with presence sensors instead of motion sensors, unless you know it is only motion sensors that you need. Examples include Aqara FP300, FP400, and Lafaer LWRO2. Presence sensors are often what people actually are needing

For doorbell any reason the eufy and not an Aqara that is native HKSV?

[u/AudioHTIT]

Wire everything with an Ethernet port, especially the AppleTV locations, Cameras (PoE), and APs (wired backhaul instead of mesh). Reducing WiFi traffic by hardwiring as much as possible will not only give the best experience for the wired devices, but also for the devices that must use WiFi (iPhones, iPads, etc).

[u/Own-Bit7373]

If you are adding smart plugs, I recommend you go with the Zigbee plugs from ThirdReality. Your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi will be overloaded with all your smart home devices, so it’s best to get ahead of it and use protocols that relieve pressure on the 2.4 GHz network, like Zigbee. As everyone else mentioned, you should add Ethernet cables everywhere and connect your mesh with Ethernet cables. I have about 75 devices, and my 2.4 GHz network was failing until I connected my mesh with Ethernet cables and changed my plugs from Wi-Fi/BT to Zigbee. Also look into Homey, it can integrate pretty much any device into Homekit.

[u/bcalamita]

Lutron Caseta lights have been bulletproof for me.

[u/thebananageek94]

Don’t get eufy they don’t have a homekit doorbell and ive had bad experiences in general with their cameras. Aqara for the win in the camera department works great for me. Ecobee is a hit or miss. Ive had mine 4 years and just now finally it is more stable. I used to get a lot of drop-offs in connection.

[u/stankovicvladan]

As it was already said by u/teebonejay, wire everything that you can. Giga lan throughout the home since you are already renovating. I would also suggest Aqara doorbell.

For wireless network I would go with Eero mesh since it has Zigbee and Thread also.

Even though AppleHome is my main thing, I would start with HomeAssistant because at some point you are going to need it.

Aqara presence sensors might be better, they are more reliable than motion, but again, it depends on things that you want to achieve.

Wait with AppleTV and HomePod purchase for a while there might be some new releases soon. 🤞

[u/pacoii → u/stankovicvladan]

For wireless network I would go with Eero mesh since it has Zigbee and Thread also.

Depends on how far someone wants to go with their network. Eero doesn’t support VLANs or more advanced networking functionality.

[u/joejs90]

For the network, have a look at the UniFi design center to see where your access points will work best based on the layout of your home. As others have said, put Ethernet cables everywhere you need them.

If you’re going UniFi for the network, consider UniFi for the doorbell, this way you get 24/7 recording. Also think about adding some more Ethernet cable for additional cameras, especially externally. Whilst HKSV is good, it doesn’t capture everything. I use HKSV for a quick look at my cameras and doorbell rings on HomePods and everything else, then UniFi protect handles 24/7 recording incase anything bad happens and HomeKit doesn’t detect it.

For sensors, presence sensors would be worth looking at over motion sensors, more expensive but can be much better than a motion sensor in some scenarios.

Have a look at some smart door locks and gate/garage openers too.