Smart Home Cloud Servers: The Good and The Bad

Many Smart home systems rely on remote servers to function. Typically the cloud server are operated by smart device makers to handle your home automation tasks. From device pairing, firmware updates to routines, data storage and analytics, these servers are the backbone of your smart home. When you use you smart home app it travels to the cloud, which processes it and sends instructions to your devices.

The Good

• Easy setup: Plug and play configuration with automatic device discovery and updates. Generally very easy to use.
• Remote control: Manage locks, lights or cameras using an app or web browser from anywhere with internet access
• Advanced features: Voice recognition, AI automation and analytics typically run in the cloud
• System integration: Enables voice platforms and cross vendor connections via cloud to cloud interaction

The Bad

• Privacy risks: Usage data, voice clips or video may be stored off site, exposing personal information
• Security vulnerabilities: Data breaches, insider threats or shared hosting can compromise your system
• Internet dependency: If you lose internet connectivity, you lose cloud based controls and automations stop working
• Latency: Commands must round trip to the cloud, introducing delays. Usually only seconds at most, but this is quite a delay. 
• Vendor lock in: Proprietary platforms make switching to different smart home systems difficult (sometimes means having to start from scratch) and costly
• Service shutdowns: Companies go bust and this this will potentially render smart devices unusable!

What Happens When the Cloud Is Unavailable

Without internet or the cloud service is unavailable for some reason, most (probably all) smart home functions will stop working. For most people internet connectivity is generally pre

• No remote access or voice control.
• Cloud‑dependent routines and automations fail.
• Devices cannot receive firmware updates.
• In some cases, abandoned services may permanently disable hardware

Is There An Alternative To Using Cloud

Yes, there are alternatives to having cloud servers managing and running your smart home devices. This alternative is called a Local Smart Home. With a local smart home a central hub or platform manages and runs all automations from on your local home network.

It is also possible, to give your local smart home access to the internet for remote control and notifications. Doing this doesn’t mean having to use cloud servers, it is direct access from your phone or computer to your local smart home system.

The most popular local smart home system is called Home Assistant. The good news is Home Assistant is completely free and works brilliantly. There are other local smart home systems like Homey, HomeSeer, Hubitat Elevation and many more

Conclusion

Cloud based smart home systems deliver convenience, scalability and advanced features, but they also introduce risks around privacy, security, latency and vendor dependency. There are local smart home alternatives to using cloud servers and you can also get hybrid solutions, the best of both worlds.