Bringing an array of devices into your home can be a little scary for a majority of the population as it has become common knowledge that devices are connected to company servers through the internet and thus these companies have all your information and this can invade your privacy as well as cause theft of sensitive information that can be used by criminals to harm you and your loved ones financially or physically. 

Thus, the concept of smart homes isn’t very alluring to crowds that have these concerns. But bringing convenience and security does not need to be so worrisome and daunting. Building a smart home without the internet can help you ensure all the advantages without the worry. 

Smart Home without Internet

The first step to building any kind of smart home is to get a central hub that interacts with all the devices. The central hub essentially controls all the smart devices in your home. It gives you their information and access on a screen of your choosing. Most central hubs work with the internet however there are a few that don’t need to be connected to the internet and can work without it. 

Choosing an option that works the best for you can be a little tricky however Hubitat is a good option. It has a great user interface and connects to all the devices of your home via the Wi-Fi or IP address. It works with Zigbee and Z-Wave appliances.  

The next step would be finding other products that work without the internet. If you were to take a regular smart device, chances are that it’ll connect to the internet and transmit your data on its own despite being connected to a local hub. 

This problem is challenging to overcome but it's possible through Zigbee and Z-Wave smart devices and fixtures. These are wireless protocols that are built-in to certain devices. You as the shopper will have to look into which devices work on these frequencies and technology. Depending on the distance between the devices as well as the number of smart devices you intend to have at your home, you can choose the preferred protocol.

Further Tips

You can further automate your home using the IFTTT (IF This Then That) service. This allows you to choose what happens in the format of a sequence through commands. 

For example, if you want your lights to dim to automatically switch off when you leave the house; then you can give a series of commands and automate this function that the interconnected devices will perform on their own. 

Overall, setting up a smart home in itself can be a challenging task in itself; but when you limit yourself by avoiding the internet entirely, the task only becomes more complicated. 

However, it is very much possible with the right tools, provided you are ready to get your hands dirty.