6 smart home myths you should stop believing today

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: How many of these do you still believe?

6 smart home myths you should stop believing today Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek By Tim Brookes Published Mar 6, 2026, 6:00 PM EST Tim has been covering technology for almost 20 years, in that time spanning a broad range of topics from security to product reviews. He is especially focused on the Apple ecosystem, productivity, and consumer advice. (we’re not making this up)

Over the years Tim has written thousands of articles, reviews, and round-ups plus to producing video content and original photography.

The Details

A graduate of journalism, he found his footing as a freelancer with a laptop and loves how he is able to work from practically anywhere. Now a Senior Editor for iPhone, Mac, and Smart Home at How-To Geek , Tim still loves to write.

He can also be found crafting round-ups and productivity posts for the Zapier blog . Earlier in his career Tim spent nearly a decade as a writer and at some point Apple section editor for MakeUseOf .

Why This Matters

Tim rn lives in Brisbane, Australia. Outside of work he loves to hike and work out, play video games, and spend quality time with his iconic partner and two cats Inka and Roger. Sign in to your How-To Geek account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Have you put off building a smart home because of something you heard five or ten years ago?

Tech companies have been making moves like this as competition heats up.

The Bottom Line

Smart homes are useless without the the internet Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek The idea that a smart home might be utterly dependent on the the internet is a valid concern. While Google and Amazon’s smart home platforms have only just taken steps to decouple themselves from the cloud, there are plenty of alternatives that are built with a local-first mindset.

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