Why Your Control4 System Needs a Robust Network

The smartphone in your pocket – or maybe your hand if you are reading this on it – is a powerful computer. In fact, current generation smartphones have about the same computing power of the average laptop from just five years ago.

But this is a hyper-connected world, and all that computing power goes to waste without connectivity. How useful is Google Maps to navigate to a destination without a connection? In the same vein, all the smart devices in the world are reliant on connectivity – to each other in the home, and to the Internet to connect to the information, content, and services that make them exponentially more powerful.

But just like your smartphone, a Control4 system has a crucial dependency to work well in your Alpharetta-area home: It needs a robust and reliable network. Conveniently, Control4 has a professional-grade networking solution as well: Pakedge.

Learn more about why if you are interested in a highly integrated home automation system, you will need a professionally installed networking system that will keep up.

SEE ALSO: How You Can Get Started with Control4 Smart Home Automation

Managing Traffic

A high-performance network needs to be able to distinguish between types of traffic that need priority over other traffic. Think of your light switch; typically it responds instantly, correct? If you put that light on a lighting control system that offers remote management – as in through your smartphone – you want the same performance. In other words, you're not likely to tolerate much lag in that light's response to your input. That's what network latency is about.

Some applications on a network tolerate latency more than others. For example, downloading a file can tolerate a hiccup or two without you noticing; it might just take slightly longer. On the other hand, a voice call that hiccups often is hugely annoying and sometimes intolerable. The same might apply to a video that is continuously pausing to buffer because of a network issue: It keeps you from completing the activity at hand. With smart home automation, when you push a button for a light to turn on, or for a more complex sequence, one glitch in one thing not responding, like the light, can upset the whole operation.

Among many other features, Pakedge network systems from Control4 excel at traffic priority management. This is a technical feature of most routers but is in practice difficult to configure. Pakedge software makes it easy for our professionals to configure your smart home system with the correct network priorities, so everything you do – from streaming video to home automation – works smoothly.

Commercial-grade Hardware

To get consistent and reliable high-performance networking, you need high-grade equipment. Control4 Pakedge hardware components are built to commercial standards. That includes high-performance processors, antennas, and other internal components that have higher specification and reliability than typical consumer home networking products.  For outdoor connectivity, Pakedge has components that are rated for outdoor use so you can be sure you have the connectivity you need for smart home functionality, communication, and entertainment throughout your property.

Give your Alpharetta-area home network the robust infrastructure it needs for a Control4 smart home system. Visit Georgia Home Theater’s Control4 certified showroom, call us at (770) 955-8909, or just click the button below to connect with us right away.

We look forward to working with you!