Smart home & connected devices
Smart devices that work together
Cameras, doorbells, thermostats, speakers and TVs — installed, connected to the right network, and set up so they still work in six months.
Smart home gear is easy to buy and surprisingly hard to make coherent. Four apps, three accounts, two devices that stopped reporting last month and a camera nobody's checked the recordings on. It's the kind of thing that works beautifully on the day and quietly falls apart afterwards.
I install it properly, put everything under accounts you control, and make sure the network underneath can actually carry it. Then I show you how to use it — which is the step most installers skip.
Symptoms
What I get called for
Cameras that keep going offline
Almost always a Wi-Fi coverage problem at the mounting point, not a faulty camera.
A doorbell that won't install
Existing wiring, transformer voltage and chime compatibility — the parts the box doesn't mention.
Devices spread across four apps
Nothing talks to anything. Consolidating this is usually possible and always worth it.
A new TV that won't stream
Apps, accounts, sound bar and network, all needing to agree with each other.
A thermostat you don't trust
Installed but never configured, so it's running an expensive schedule nobody chose.
You've moved in and inherited it all
Devices registered to the previous owner's account. Fixable, and worth fixing properly.
- Network first. Smart devices fail when Wi-Fi doesn't reach them. I check coverage at each mounting point before mounting anything.
- Cameras and video doorbells. Mounted, aimed, connected, with recording and notifications configured so you get alerts that matter and not one per passing car.
- Thermostats. Installed and actually programmed around your schedule, including the C-wire question that stops most DIY installs.
- TVs, streaming and sound. Set up, signed in, sound bar and remote consolidated so one button does the obvious thing.
- Speakers, hubs and lighting. Grouped sensibly, named clearly, and set up so voice commands work the first time.
- Accounts in your name. Everything registered to you, with passwords you hold — not to an installer, and not to whoever lived there before.
- A walkthrough at the end. How to check a recording, change a schedule, add a family member, and what to do when something drops off.
What it costs
$100 an hour, flat
Billed for actual time on site. No diagnostic fee, no call-out charge, and quick questions are always free. If the problem comes back, so do I — at no cost.
- Same-day and next-day visits usually available
- No trip charge inside Passaic, Morris or Bergen county
- You get me on the phone, not a call centre
- Remote support by text, phone or video: $25 for up to 20 minutes
- Monthly and annual support memberships available
- Licensed New Jersey LLC, carrying liability insurance
Before you call
Questions about smart home installation
Do you run wiring or do electrical work?
Which brand should I buy?
Can you fix a system someone else installed?
Are cameras secure? I don't love the idea.
Related
Other things I help with
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Tell me what's not working.
Call and you'll get me, not a menu. Or send a note and I'll come back to you the same day — usually within a couple of hours.
Request a visit
The more you tell me, the better prepared I'll show up.