What does a complete smart home setup actually include?
When building a new house from scratch, it is hard to separate essential smart home and security components from those that just look good on paper but are useless in reality. This prevents people from figuring out what a complete setup actually means today, leaving them worried they are missing crucial features they will wish they had known about at the start.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
What does a complete smart home setup actually include?
- 1Using a planning spreadsheet to track potential componentsDid this help you?
- 2Asking online communities for real-world experiences and regretsDid this help you?
- 3Outsourcing the heavy physical infrastructure work (cables, mounting cameras, running PoE access points) to professional installers first.Did this help you?
- 4Hiring an electrician to install hardware backbones like smart light switches.Did this help you?
- 5Using Z-Wave or Lutron Caséta backbones alongside Home Assistant on mini-PCs or Raspberry Pis.Did this help you?
- 6Using AI tools to assist with writing YAML code and troubleshooting scripts.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Starting from zero on a new build - what does a complete setup actually include now?”source ↗
“Trying to figure out what "complete" even means in 2026.”source ↗
“What am I missing that you wish you'd known at the start?”source ↗
“So I'm wondering if this is something I should look into or not. Advice is appreciated, thanks.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to use existing ceiling speakers in a new house
- 3Why is infrastructure automation so hard to maintain?
- 2How to check on my home and dog while away without a subscription
- 3Are tripping breakers and blinking lights normal in a new house?
- 5How to turn a PDF or JPG floor plan into 3D
- 2How do I take over home tech and cameras when my partner is gone?