The walls have ears: Builder-installed Wi-Fi comes to smart homes

By Nicole DiGiose, editor

App-controlled smart bulbs in the fixtures, Google Home on the shelf, a thermostat that knows your preferred temperature, a fridge that orders your groceries, a Wi-Fi-enabled video doorbell for security. Think you’ve seen — and installed — it all? Well, smart homes are about to get much smarter.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has issued guidelines for homebuilders to follow when incorporating wireless networks into their designs. Source: Pixabay.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit organization that certifies Wi-Fi-enabled products, is aiming to usher in a new era of smart homes by enabling builder-installed Wi-Fi networks in new construction. Earlier this week (June 14), the organization issued a set of guidelines for homebuilders to follow when incorporating wireless networks into their designs. The alliance drafted the Wi-Fi Certified Home Design specifications with an eye toward eliminating Wi-Fi “dead zones” in and around the home to meet the needs of a connected future.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance announcement, “The requirements consider the increasing number of smart-home devices expected in homes over the next decade and the growing demand for data-intensive usages such as virtual reality and simultaneous 4K video streams. Wi-Fi home design will scale to accommodate both the growth in Wi-Fi devices and high-bandwidth applications.”

South Florida-based Lennar is the first homebuilding company to use the certification and is bringing in Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa, as part of the project. Wi-Fi coverage in new Lennar homes will come courtesy of strategically placed LAN access points throughout the floorplan, based on the Wi-Fi Alliance’s guidelines, to provide a strong wireless network in the entire home and adjacent outdoor spaces, such as in garages and on patios.

Through the partnership between Amazon and Lennar, Amazon’s Echo speakers will be included in each new building to enable far-field voice control, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance. Homes built by Lennar will also offer devices on the Samsung SmartThings connected platform. Amazon Home Services will provide activation and service. Other smart devices and appliances can also be connected, so if you’d rather use Google Home, for example, it will work just fine.

Next month, Lennar will begin a phased rollout to offer the Wi-Fi Alliance-certified. If other builders follow suit and adopt the standards, the days of wonky network connections might soon be behind us.

How would you feel about living in this type of home? Would you welcome it or have privacy concerns? Let us know; leave a comment below.