Origins

The original smart home design concept, as pioneered by AlertMe nearly 10 years ago, was to have a collection of small devices connected to a hub, which was in turn connected to the internet via the home LAN.

Most of the AlertMe devices were battery powered. They were connected to the hub, and to each other, by a ZigBee mesh network running at 250 kilobits per second.

Each system was controlled by software running in the cloud, so they depended on the home having a reliable Internet connection.

Initially, complete systems were supplied for home automation applications. Although the devices, or at least their electronics, may have been manufactured by a third party, all of the components in these systems carried the supplier’s badge.

As the need of more devices increased, and more manufacturers entered the market, some suppliers, such as Iris, have opted to resell these third party devices, in preference to developing their own. These devices are also sold as being compatible with the supplier’s system, but without them being rebranding or badged by the system supplier.