It’s 2019. Why aren’t we all living in futuristic homes like Tony Stark? In his sleek Malibu mansion – or in Endgame’s charming rustic cabin – Iron Man’s home was packed full of technology. It was fully automated, with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) butler. Biometric security was built-in. There were even industrial robots equally capable of brewing coffee or manufacturing a suit of power armour.
Here’s the thing: thanks to the Internet, you actually can live in a home not very different from Tony Stark’s. Much of Iron Man’s home technology is based on real world tech, and you too can have a taste of living in the future. Google Assistant, for example, is a digital assistant that can make your home a little smarter. You can ask it questions, and tell it to do things. Your Google Assistant gets to know you and, with your permission, provides personalised responses across your devices—just like Jarvis! From controlling your home with your voice to accessing a world of movies and music, you can have a Smart Home with minimum fuss. It’s ridiculously easy. Here’s how:
A Smart Home Is a Connected Home
It all starts with the Internet. We take it for granted these days, but it is this technology that is transforming, well…everything! Having a well-connected home is the foundation of your very own Smart Home.
The first thing you’ll need is fast Internet. Whatever you have now may be enough to stream your family’s favourite movies, but to make the most of today’s technology you’ll want a connection that is instant and present everywhere. “How fast?” you ask? Megabits are nice, but a 1Gbps fibre broadband connection from MyRepublic is what you really want. The “Gbps” is short for gigabits per second, or one thousand megabits (Mbps). Compare it to the connection you’ve got, and well, you can do the math. When tech-heads talk about fast Internet, this is it.
The next step is getting that fast Internet to every corner of your home. MyRepublic’s 1Gbps fibre broadband plan is bundled with Google’s Nest Wifi that was made with homes in mind.
Nest Wifi is a mesh router consisting of two devices: the Nest Wifi router, and one or more Nest Wifi points—the very latest in networking tech, which has a number of advantages over other routers. Most homes have Wi-Fi dead spots where the signal drops to zero, but mesh routers are ideal for your home because…
- It’s perfect for getting Wi-Fi over a wide area. Most homes can be covered by a single Nest Wifi (up to 204 square meters).1
- If you need extra coverage, simply add additional Google Nest Wifi points. This will extend your coverage on the same Wi-Fi network, where traditional routers and extenders will force you to change network when you move around your house – a subtle change that makes a big difference.
- Provides reliable and fast Wi-Fi wherever you are at home.
- Nest Wifi point has a speaker with the Google Assistant. And that means you don’t have to buy any additional devices to get Google Assistant (your very own “Jarvis”) up and running.
- It’s easy to create a guest Wi-Fi network* for visitors.2
- You can control your entire network through an easy-to-use phone app. Easy setup, traffic prioritization, and parental controls are all accessible with a few taps.3
- Keeps your network safe and secure.
Once you’ve got fast Internet all over your house, the fun really begins…
Mum, Say ‘Hey’ to Google Assistant
Imagine you’re busy in the kitchen and you remember that you need to call your mum. But you can’t remember where you placed your phone. Not a problem. Simply say “Hey Google call Mum.”4
With your Nest Wifi, Google Assistant will call your mum and you can make your call right where you stand. And later on, you can find your Android phone with a simple “Hey Google, ring my phone.”
Your Nest Wifi can cover a generous space like your living/dining area, but why stop there? Place an inexpensive Google Nest Mini—a speaker you can control with your voice—in every room, and a world of possibilities opens up. “Hey Google, play some dance music.” Or you can have your Google Assistant find recipes for you, or play you the news. And with your online calendar always a voice command away, it can also help you organise your life.
There’s much more that you can do with Google Assistant, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. You can find out everything that it can do for you here.5
Home Automation for Dad
Home automation has been a buzzword lately, along with three letters: IoT – short for Internet of Things. It sounds terribly complicated, but it’s really quite simple. By connecting your devices and appliances at home, your life can be easier and more convenient.
All it takes is a few inexpensive devices – smart lightbulbs, Google Chromecast and the like – and you’re living in the future! The tech-obsessed in your family (your husband, ahem) will love it!
Once you’ve got all the automation set up, you can walk into a room and say “Hey Google, turn on the lights.” It sounds like a party trick, but it will soon become an essential and natural part of your life. And – depending on the level of automation you choose to build into your Smart Home – you’ll soon be doing things like using voice control for your air conditioning and TV.
The wonders don’t stop there. A connected Smart Home means you can control your home gizmos while you’re away from home. Want to turn on the AC 30 minutes before you get home? Turn on the lights while you’re out so it looks like someone is at home? You can do it from your phone on the Google Assistant app!6
With Google Nest Wifi, It's A Smarter Home for the Family
From school to entertainment, your family will benefit from the Smart Home experience. With the parent’s permission, children under 13 can also have their own personalised Google Assistant experience when they log in with their account, managed by Family Link. With a Chromecast or a Smart TV with the Google Assistant, say “Hey Google,watch Stranger Things from Netflix on my TV!” to spend precious family time together. But your Smart Home also has a number of subtler, more tricks up its sleeve. And with easy-to-access parental controls built into Nest Wifi, you can rest easy knowing your child won’t be accessing content they shouldn’t be. You can restrict searches or prevent Wi-Fi access at specific hours, say, before bedtime.7
Technology should bring people together, and this is one of the things that your Smart Home can do. For example, with any device with a camera, like a web camera, a home CCTV system or even just an iPad, you can watch your little one with his nanny while you’re away from home. Open up a FaceTime video call and keep it on while you’re at work, and it will be the next best thing to being there.
Faster and Smarter
Maybe you’ve always wanted a Smart Home and thought it was too complicated. Or maybe you just want super-fast Internet and build your Smart Home from there, one device at a time. Either way, the future begins with faster and smarter Internet with MyRepublic’s 1Gbps Fibre Broadband plan. Subscribers can get Google’s Nest Wifi at a special price that makes upgrading a no-brainer. “Hey Google, what’s the weather?” The future of your dream Smart Home is looking bright.
This article was written in collaboration with MyRepublic.
¹ Home materials and layout can affect how Wi-Fi signal travels. For homes with brick walls or long, narrow layouts, you may need an extra Wi-Fi point to get full coverage.
2 3 7 The Google Wifi app is compatible with Wi-Fi-enabled Android phones running Android 5.0 or higher, Android tablets running Android 6.0 or higher, or iOS devices running iOS 11.0 or higher.
4 Controlling certain devices and features in your home requires a compatible smart device. List of compatible apps and partners available at g.co/nestwifi/explore.
5 6 Controlling certain devices and features in your home requires a compatible smart device. The Wi-Fi point is optimized for select content services only.