Smart home gadgets are booming in Australia but some households are calling professionals for help

Smart home gadgets to boost Wi-Fi, monitor your door and make you coffee are booming but many are seeking pros to install them. And it pays off. Here’s why.

Two in every three Aussie households are using at least one smart home gadget, in a trend experts say is likely to skyrocket over the next three years.

From smart doorbells to speakers, Australians now have an average of 20 internet-connected devices in their homes, according Telsyte, in a number that is expected to grow to 34 by 2025, creating a $4.4 billion industry.

But there are technical hurdles to getting your speakers, lights, television, refrigerator and washing machine talking to one another, and they’re leading some to seek outside help to establish their ultimate connected home.

For Jason Chan, an IT worker based in Sydney’s north shore, the lure of smart security cameras captured his interest in smart home gadgets.

“I’ve heard a few of our neighbours have had cars stolen or broken into and it’s quite scary considering they break into your house while you’re asleep and take the car keys,” he says.

“I was looking at smart cameras and when I was paying a bill I noticed Optus had an offer for these cameras with installation. I don’t have that much time to fiddle about with these technical gadgets and my wife would suggest I’m not very technical. For me, that was the main attraction: having the install taken care of by a team.”

Google's Nest Cam smart security cameras can identify whether a person, package, animal or vehicle is in front of them.

Mr Chan says he purchased a number of Google Nest security cameras — to work with Google smart speakers he already used -— along with a Google mesh Wi-Fi system to expand the reach of his wireless internet network.

One of the Google cameras with a floodlight required an electrician to install it — a requirement that Mr Chan says would have significantly held up installation if he’d tackled it himself.

“I would have been more hesitant (if I was installing it myself) because I would have been trying to find the one that’s easiest to install and not necessarily the one that was best,” he says.

“And improving the Wi-Fi was an added bonus. My kids are forever complaining the Wi-Fi is down and they can’t watch any movies. Since the install I haven’t heard too many complaints.”

Optus launched its Smart Spaces installation service just four weeks’ ago, selling connected devices from Amazon, Eero, Google, Ring and TP-Link with the offer of installation from its ‘O-Team’ in Sydney or Melbourne for $240, or free online or over-the-phone assistance.

The Google Nest Hub smart speaker (2nd generation) uses low-energy radar to track users' sleeping patterns and connects to the rest of a user’s smart home devices.

Other smart home installation help can be ordered through The Good Guys or Bunnings, which offers installation consultations, as well as services including Tech2 or Geeks2u.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi says there’s a clear benefit in getting outside assistance to install smart home products as they can be tricky to install or connect, challenging to manage, and may not work well with products from other brands initially.

“The challenge is that consumers typically want more than one manufacturer’s products,” he says.

“Having a third party to advise on a range of products and help differentiate between products is valuable.

“There will always be a need for advice and set up for some smart products in the home. Electrical products should never be installed by consumers and there will be more complex products, like smart locks, that require professional help.”

Mr Fadaghi says smart home installations may become easier when a new generation of devices supporting Matter — a new, simpler connection standard — enters the market this year but installation services would still be useful to serve the “unabated appetite for smart home products in Australia”.

Originally published as Smart home gadgets are booming in Australia but some households are calling professionals for help