Creating a smart home with TP-Link Tapo

Home News Creating a smart home with TP-Link Tapo

08.07.2022

Have you ever wanted to create a smart home, but were put off by the high price tag and lack of understanding of where to start? If so, then this news will help you to sort everything out.

We'll talk about how to turn an ordinary home into a smart one with TP-Link's Tapo range of budget equipment, which includes smart cameras, lamps, LED strips and sockets that can be controlled from a single app.

What is a smart home and what are its advantages?

A smart home is a set of IoT devices connected to the Internet, interacting with each other. A smart home allows you to automate a number of regularly performed actions. For example, you can set the coffee maker to turn on automatically in the morning and the air conditioner to turn on automatically at night, the light automatically turns on and off at a certain time, and also notify your phone when motion is detected by the camera.

A short list of smart home advantages:

automation and convenience;
energy saving;
safety;
personalization;
full control over home electronics.

Two stages of creating a smart home

Make sure the whole house has Wi-Fi.
Connect all smart devices to your home Wi-Fi network.

Stable Wi-Fi throughout the house

First of all, you need to make sure that there is Wi-Fi in the whole house. If the Wi-Fi network in one of the rooms is not stable enough or there is no Wi-Fi network at all, amplifiers, Powerline adapters or a Mesh system will help you to expand the network. TP-Link offers a wide range of devices that can be used to expand an existing network.

Connecting smart devices

Smart home devices include CCTV cameras, lamps, LED strips and sockets. Smart cameras are the easiest and cheapest way to control everything that happens at home from anywhere. Smart lamps and LED strips allow you to create appropriate lighting for any situation. Smart sockets will allow you to turn almost any electronic device into a smart one.

Let's consider each category of devices separately.

Smart cameras

Tapo cameras can be divided into fixed (Tapo C110), rotary (Tapo C210) and outdoor (Tapo C320WS) cameras.

To install the camera, simply connect it to a power outlet and your home Wi-Fi network. After that, you can monitor the house by phone from anywhere. If there is a smart speaker, the camera can also be controlled via voice commands.

Features of some Tapo cameras:

advanced night vision — high-resolution shooting even at night;
various ways of storing the recorded material — on a microSD memory card up to 256GB or in the Tapo Care cloud;
online broadcast — follow what is happening in real time;
detection of sounds and movement — when the sensor is triggered, you will receive notifications;
sound and light alarms — will allow you to scare away uninvited guests;
two-way audio communication — will allow you to communicate with loved ones;
voice control — will free your hands (requires a smart speaker).

Smart lighting

Smart lighting devices will allow you to create a unique atmosphere by changing the color of the lighting, as well as adjusting the brightness and color temperature.
Tapo lighting devices can be divided into lamps (Tapo L530E) and LED strips (Tapo L920-5).

Features of some Tapo lamps:

many shades - 16 million shades will allow you to create lighting for any mood;
brightness adjustment - from 1 to 100%;
presets – found the perfect lighting for watching movies? Save it for later so you don't have to re-set every parameter;
schedule and timer — the light of the desired color will automatically turn on or off at the set brightness at the specified time;
"Away from home" mode — will allow you to frighten uninvited guests;
dawn and sunset modes — the light will automatically turn on and off depending on the time of day;
remote lighting control through the app;
voice control – control the light via voice commands using Google Assistant;
no control center required - just connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.

Instant change of scenery

Features of some Tapo LED strips:

many shades and effects — 50 adjustable zones for a variety of lighting;
external protection — long service life thanks to the polyurethane shell;
no control center required — just connect the device to a Wi-Fi network;
flexible installation — cut the tape to the desired length and stick it to any surface;
presets – found the perfect lighting for watching movies? Save it for later so you don't have to re-set every parameter;
schedule and timer — the light of the desired color will automatically turn on or off at the set brightness at the specified time;
light music — immerse yourself in the world of music. The lighting will change depending on the tempo and rhythm of the music, creating a kind of mini-festival right at your home;
"Away from home" mode — will allow you to frighten uninvited guests;
control in any convenient way - with the help of a smart assistant, control center or through the Tapo app;
voice control - control the light via voice commands using Google Assistant.
Lighting for every taste.

Smart sockets

Thanks to smart sockets (Tapo P110) you will have full control over the connected electronics. Even when you are not at home, you can make sure that all electronics are turned off, as well as control devices remotely, which will make your home truly smart.

Features of some Tapo sockets:

schedule – create a schedule to automate the operation of devices;
timer — create lists of countdown timers for connected devices;
energy consumption monitoring — monitor energy consumption in real time through the app;
voice control - control your smart socket via voice commands using Google Assistant;
"Away from home" mode — automatically turns on or off devices at a certain time, creating the appearance that someone is at home;
compact design — the small size will allow to avoid cluttering neighboring sockets;
easy setup and use — no separate control center required; easy setup and control using a mobile app;
remote control - instantly turn on and off connected devices through the Tapo app, wherever you are.

The number of devices that can be connected to a socket is almost unlimited. Here are some of them:

floor lamps;
fans;
phone chargers;
air humidifiers;
TVs.

Control your smart home through the app

The main advantage of using smart devices forming a single ecosystem is the possibility to control a smart home from a single application. The Tapo app will allow you to control all Tapo smart devices in your house. With the help of the app, you can create automated actions or scenarios. For example, activating the Night scenario will turn off all the smart lighting in the house and turn on the CCTV cameras.