Smart Homes For Dummies by Danny Briere (PDF)

Description

Do you long to listen to your favorite CD from anywhere in your house? To set up a wireless network so you can access the Internet in any room? To install an iron-clad security system? To fire up the coffee pot while you’re still asleep and wake up with automated lighting? Smart home technology can help you do just that! Smart Homes For Dummies, Third Edition, shows you how easy it can be to create and live in a cutting-edge, fully connected home―without breaking your bank account. With this user-friendly guide, you’ll discover all the latest trends and gadgets in home networking, automation, and control that will help you make life more enjoyable and comfortable for your entire family. We help you plan for things such as flat-screen TVs, intercom systems, whole-home audio systems, gaming consoles, and satellite systems. We talk about your wiring (and wireless) options and introduce you to the latest technologies, such as VoIP and Bluetooth. You’ll see how to:Build your home network on a budgetTurn your home into an entertainment centerAccess the Internet from any roomGet VoIP on your phone networkBoost in-home wireless and cell phone signalsConnect your computer to your TVSecure your home and propertyIncrease your home’s resale valueAvoid common networking pitfallsAnd much, much moreComplete with a resource list for more information and neat toys of the future, Smart Homes For Dummies is your plain-English, twenty-first century guide to a fully wired home!

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Back Cover Make your home safer and increase its resale valueCreate a fully automated,21st–century wired home that meets your family’s needsWant to live in a cutting-edge, fully connected home? Now you can design the powerhouse network of your dreams without breaking your bank account. From listening to CDs throughout the house to connecting your PC with your HDTV to watching your house over the Web, you’ll discover all the latest trends and gadgets in home networking, automation, and control.Build your home networkTurn your home into an entertainment centerAccess the Internet from any roomBoost in-home wireless and cell phone signalsSecure your home and property About the Author Danny Briere founded TeleChoice, Inc., a telecommunications consulting company, in 1985 and now serves as CEO of the company. Widely known throughout the telecommunications and networking industry, Danny has written more than one thousand articles about telecommunications topics and has authored or edited ten books, including Internet Telephony For Dummies, Wireless Home Networking For Dummies (now in its second edition), Wireless Hacks and Mods for Dummies, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 PC For Dummies, and Home Theater For Dummies. He is frequently quoted by leading publications on telecommunications and technology topics and can often be seen on major TV networks, providing analysis on the latest communications news and breakthroughs. Danny splits his time between Mansfield Center, Connecticut, and his island home on Great Diamond Island, Maine, with his wife and four children. Pat Hurley is Director of Research with TeleChoice, Inc., and specializes in emerging telecommunications and digital home technologies, particularly in all the latest consumer electronics, access gear, and home technologies, including wireless LANs, DSL, cable modems, satellite services, and homenetworking services. Pat frequently consults with the leading telecommunications carriers, equipment vendors, consumer goods manufacturers, and other players in the telecommunications and consumer electronics industries. Pat is the coauthor of Internet Telephony For Dummies, Smart Homes For Dummies, Wireless Home Networking For Dummies, Wireless Hacks and Mods for Dummies, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 PC For Dummies, and Home Theater For Dummies. He lives in San Diego, California, with his wife, a fiery red-headed toddler named Annabel, and two smelly dogs.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Some readers commented that there is not actually enough information on “how to actually do something” or “home automation”. That’s true. There could be more of this stuff, but if there were, the book would probably not be for “dummies”, any more. Not meaning that stuff is too technical, but it would require a lot more pages, and the Dummies series probably doesn’t allow this. There are whole courses on those subjects from CEDIA.Anyhow, I find that the book is a treasure for information on what is available today to ensure you are up to date with the latest technology (at the time of writing). It enabled me to update my home system in ways I did not think possible. I thought I was doing well, until I read the book. One really good thing I like about the book, too, is that it mentions companies and products that are available for the area of discussion. Something as seemingly simple as introducing me to baluns, is a point worth noting. I always thought I’d have to get really long line level cables for long runs. Also, I thought a “zone” was simply somewhere where I’ve run speaker wire from my receiver, where it would have to play the one source that was playing. I didn’t know there were specially built multi-zone/multi-source amps out there and that Russound and Niles Audio were even companies. These are simple examples of how you can learn new stuff by reading the book. Of course, there are so may others. I have done so many upgrades since reading this book. e.g. my Roku Soundbridge (never knew it existed until reading the book), my D-Link DMA (which is now my most used piece of equipment, outside of the tv and receiver), my Russound whole home audio upgrade. That’s just to name three.Bottom line, if you want to increase your home electronics/automation knowledge, you cannot go wrong with this book. You will not become a CEDIA ESC after reading, but you’ll be on your way!

⭐My husband and I are in the midst of a major remodel/expansion of our 1968 tract home so we have read pretty much every remodeling book we could find. This book offers a lot of information and food for thought on how to bring an outdated home into the technology age. Our budget is not unlimited and this book helped us decide which features were essential to add now and what could be added later (and how to add the foundation work while the walls were stripped to the studs for those future improvements to save us money in the long run). This book does not give reviews on specific products, that is not it’s purpose. Technology is changing so fast, that any product reviews would have been obsolete by the time the book hit the shelves. I recommend you use this book to plan out the framework for your smart house and use magazines like THE PERFECT VISION, HOME THEATER, etc. to fill in the blanks. My husband subscribed to both magazines through Amazon (very inexpensively) for 2 years and did a lot of research on the Internet before making his preliminary choices. Since we aren’t at the “fun stage” of our remodel yet, where we get to go buy all the equipment, those choices might still change because prices our dropping and items that were out of our price range 2 years ago are now more affordable. The bottom line is this book is the BEST for helping you plan your smart house because it is easy to understand by even those of us who are not tech savy (like me) and it shows you options that you may have never even thought of before. And believe me, in a remodel the time for thought, planning and innovation is before you put the drywall back up!

⭐I’d like to give this book more stars but frankly it is out of date in several areas and if you don’t know what areas then you could be in trouble. It needs an update. Many of the websites it refers you to don’t exist — companies have been bought or gone out of business — technologies it says are coming have come… and gone. If there is a better book, I have yet to find it, which is sad since there are technologies that should be incorporated into homes — few builders seem to understand how to build a smart home — if the owner doesn’t drive the process it won’t happen or it won’t happen right.

⭐…but I didn’t get much out of this book. Much of what was in it – I already do (for example, I have a home network with a central “server computer”). I was hoping it would cover more about automating lighting and compare different methods/systems…Anyway, it also lacks much of the humor I normally find in “dummies” books – so it was pretty dry reading.Bottom line – not very impressed.

⭐The book is dated-17 years to be precise. Don’t purchase this tome of dated data, for if you return it for any reason, you will only receive a partial refund of approximately 1/2 your purchase price!

⭐Great book

⭐I actually only got the Dummies book because it happened to be bundled with Home Automation and Wiring. I returned HA&W and kept this one. Dummies gives you enough information that you can really do some of these projects on your own. HA&W is only useful if you’re planning on contracting out all of the work and you only want a high-level overview of the concepts.

⭐Referred to this book while building my new home. I incorporated a lot of information from this book into my own Smarthouse

⭐ITS LIKE BUYING A ROAD MAP OF GREAT BRITAIN THATS WRITTEN TEN YEARS AGO – AS THIS BOOK WAS!

⭐A nice reference book on home automation.The only problem is the subject is now advancing at such a rate that the book seems a little out of date. With the advent of all the new iPod remote control options and wifi ir triggers the book could do with an update.

⭐As stated by other reviewers this 2007 book is unfortunately long out dated by fast moving technologies so not much practical use in 2016.

⭐A well written books that cover all possibilities of home automation.A bit US centric, but fine as long as you are aware of it.Also a few years old, but also fine as the authors seemed to have estimated the future perfectly.Covers what you want to know about settting up phone, tv, audio, security, X10, Wireless, dialup or broadband connections, etc etc,Some very good points on your wiring, so read it before you do it!I thought I had pretty good idea of how I was going to make my “Smart Home”, but this book told me many things I was not aware of, or had the wrong opinions of.It is a good read, especially as it doesnt cost the world.

⭐This book is aimed at the american market, some good information but Id avoid if you are a UK customer

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