Hot take: I think the push for wireless everything is a bit overblown

I just finished a job in a 1970s brick house in Springfield where the customer insisted on a fully wireless system. Finding spots for all the sensors that got a good signal and didn't look awful took me almost two full days, when a basic wired setup would have been done in one. Has anyone else found that wireless gear can create more problems than it solves in some older builds?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandrajackson1mo ago

Sounds about right. Spent half a day trying to hide a wireless motion sensor in a plaster wall house, only for it to lose connection every time the fridge kicked on. The customer's fancy smart bulb system needed a booster just to work from the living room to the kitchen. Sometimes you just need a wire.

joseph_torres1mo ago

Come on @sandrajackson, wireless tech is way cleaner and you can move stuff anytime. A good mesh network fixes those dead zones easy.

theajackson1mo ago

Ever notice how many mesh network ads show a perfect open floor plan house? @sandrajackson's plaster wall story is so real... my friend's place is like that and his fancy router still drops signal near the laundry room. I read somewhere that older building materials can really mess with wireless waves, like lath and plaster or even some kinds of insulation. Makes you wonder if the whole "wireless everything" idea was made for new construction only.