I supsect, like a lot of people checking the IOT thread, that it can become a costly and dangerous place unless you can keep a tight rein on the list of things that you want or need! I also find, while sitting here at work, that I am spending far too much time reading it!!! I am then spending more time checking out z-wave, ifttt, Alexa skills etc, etc, etc...
We originally just started with a Withings Home camera as we wanted to keep an eye on the place due to a spate of burglaries in the area, works great and a second has been added.
The next job, and what led me to this forum, was trying to get a bit more control of the heating system in the house. It is a basic system as is, with either the heating and hot water all on or all off. Reading the various options the Hive Heating was ordered and is awaiting an electrician for installation.
While all these things are great and I have a list of what it would be great to have, the list has been put down and I have taken a step back to look at the setup of the house and what needs done to make it all a bit easier in the long run and more home automation friendly.
We are in a ten year old house with no provision for broadband/networking at all and in an area that does not receive broadband. We have a 4g router connected to an antenna which provides our data connection and works as well as we can hope at the minute, ftth is planned for the area in the coming years so will have to make do for now. Everything is connected by wifi and includes 2 phones, a linux combi sat box, rpi3, 2 withings home cameras, smart scales, a tablet when on, a laptop when on, so not a great way to do it.
I have decided that the best thing I could do is a bit of a rewire, move the router and add a network switch. I have ordered and received 300m of Cat6 cable, 100 RJ 45 connectors and boots, crimping tool, punch down tool and cable tester, all for about €100 and will probably be the best value €100 I will spend on this project. Looking at switches so any recommendations are welcome.
We are lucky in that our house is a bungalow with great attic access which makes this all a lot easier. As there is coax running to all the bedrooms I am looking to pull this out while pulling the Cat6 through, no TV's in the rooms and I can run hdmi over the Cat6 if and when needs be. I can then run the Cat6 back to the utility room to the switch. We also have a couple of telephone points in the hallway and a bedroom which will also be pulled through and replaced with the Cat6. The router will be moved and positioned on a suspended panel in the kitchen and cable run back to the switch. The living room is a vaulted ceiling so getting the Cat6 to the tv point here is a problem and may just use homeplugs in the meantime. The plasterboard here did receive some water damage a while back and we may look to rip it out in the future and sort out the cabling then.
I consider myself fairly handy so will be carrying out the work myself and hopefully keep you posted as I go along. I figured if I don't get things organised at this early stage then it will only lead to a bit of a mess down the line.
I would hope then to add a Harmony Remote (we have far too many for all the devises) Ring Pro, NAS, Lighting.........
Hope I won't bore you all and time for a bit of work