Question 1

What happens when the internet goes out?

Accepted Answer

The lights, the heating, the blinds, the locks, and the cameras all keep working, because all of them are controlled from inside your house. What stops is voice control, phone notifications, and anything you would do from somewhere else. The local-first page lists it line by line, including the two things we support that genuinely cannot work offline.

Question 2

Do I need to rewire?

Accepted Answer

Usually not for lighting, if your switch boxes are deep enough — we check that on the first visit and it is a five minute answer. Motorised blinds and cameras want a cable and are much better with one, so those are best done while a wall is open. If you are not renovating, there are battery options and we will be honest about what they cost you in maintenance.

Question 3

Which brands do you work with?

Accepted Answer

The ones that will run without talking to a company server, plus a short list of others where there is no local option and the client wants the thing anyway. We are not tied to any manufacturer and we take no commission from any of them, which is why the list changes when a brand changes its firmware policy.

Question 4

Can you take over a system somebody else installed?

Accepted Answer

Usually. Nine hundred and fifty dollars to survey it, which tells you what is there, what the credentials situation is, and what it would cost to make it coherent. About a fifth of the time the answer is that most of it should come out, and we will say so plainly rather than billing for years of patching.

Question 5

What does support cost?

Accepted Answer

Sixty-five dollars a month, and it is optional — nothing stops working if you do not take it. It covers remote help, a visit a year, and firmware updates applied deliberately rather than automatically, which matters more than it sounds like it does.

Question 6

Is my data stored anywhere?

Accepted Answer

Camera footage records to a drive in your house and does not leave the property unless you set up remote viewing, which you can choose not to. For the two cloud-dependent things on our list, the data goes wherever that manufacturer says it goes, and we will show you their policy before you buy the thing rather than after.

Six, and the first one is the reason people ring.