The following contribution is from another author.
Smart homes can be wonderful things until the day comes when everything has to go into a moving truck. Cameras, hubs, sensors, a wall of streaming boxes, and enough cables to wire a small office; none of it moves the way a couch does. If your house runs on gizmos and gadgets, these are the errors that will cost you the most time, expense, and stress during a move.
Ripping Everything Out Before You Document It
The single most painful mistake is taking items off the walls and not documenting how they were configured. Smart-home components can be difficult to rebuild from memory. Take pictures of your routers and hub configurations prior to unplugging anything. Take a picture of the backside of your entertainment center. Write down which sensor went into which room. Spending ten minutes recording information about your setup today will save you countless hours trying to figure it out next week or at least give you a place to begin.
Forgetting To Back Up Your Data And Settings
Hard drives, network storage, and security-camera footage do not enjoy being bounced around in a box. Any item storing data you don’t want to lose should be backed up prior to leaving the house. Ideally, this backup should occur in two places. A copy in the “cloud” as well as an external drive carrying the backup. Keeping current, tested backups is exactly what federal cybersecurity guidance recommends, and a move is precisely the kind of bump-and-jostle event that turns a shrug into a disaster. Additionally, maintain backups for login credentials for applications and accounts you will require to reactivate each device upon arriving at their new location.
Packing Electronics Like Everything Else
Your electronics have two major adversaries during relocation: physical contact and extreme temperatures. Wrapping a TV in a moving blanket and standing it flat in a hot truck is asking for a cracked panel. If you still have the packaging from the time you purchased your electronic devices, use those. Place screens facing upwards and add padding to protect against damage caused by being dropped or bumped. Batteries specifically do not perform well under extreme heat. Label every cable and store all small items like remote controls, mounting hardware, and various types of screws in one clearly labeled container so none are misplaced during relocation.
Assuming You Can Muscle the Heavy, Pricey Gear Yourself
That 85-inch TV, the server rack, the treadmill wired into your fitness app; some things are simply not a two-friends-and-a-pizza job. Hire a professional moving company to relocate your larger/heavier items that you could not physically move yourself. Protecting both your back and your wallet is always a good idea. Check the company’s past performance prior to hiring them: the FMCSA lets you look up a mover’s complaint and safety history prior to signing any agreements.
Give Your Smart Home a Soft Landing
There is no better way to ensure a smooth transition from your old house to your new home than treating this process as a project instead of a chaotic event. Plan ahead and document your setup, back up your data, take precautions to protect against impact and extreme temperatures, and know when to ask for assistance. By doing these simple tasks, you should be able to get your smart home functioning at full capacity before the last box has been unpacked.
