Rently’s Z-Wave Hub is here to meet renters growing demand for reliable smart home systems and devices. In a 2022 Rent.com survey, 82% of renters indicated that they want at least one smart home device or system in their residence. The modern renter doesn’t just want to live in a smart, connected environment with modern amenities — they expect it.
Likewise, rental property managers and operators are beginning to understand how smart home technology can help to resolve immediate, transitional, and long-term challenges. Specifically, deploying smart home technology immediately increases NOI, gradually centralizes operations for maximum efficiency, and creates a lasting alignment with the growing renter preference for on-demand services and modern amenities.
The true power of smart homes lies in its remote capabilities — the ability to allow users to control devices from anywhere at any time, offering convenience and flexibility at a new level. However, connectivity issues can significantly undermine the smart home experience for both residents and property managers alike. Despite the promise of seamless automation and intelligent control, network problems often disrupt the convenience and efficiency that smart homes are designed to deliver. These connectivity issues not only frustrate residents but also increase maintenance demands and operational challenges for property managers.
As a leading smart home solutions provider, Rently is committed to addressing this problem head-on. By proactively ensuring the best available connectivity options, we aim to deliver a smoother smart home experience for everyone involved. Let’s explore the impact of connectivity issues and discuss potential solutions to enhance the smart home experience.
Common Connectivity Issues
Over the years, we’ve learned from our data and from having meaningful discussions with our clients. The biggest challenges smart home tech users face with connected devices are typically: 1) not being able to set up the devices initially, and then 2) losing connection on and off in the long term. These issues have to do with many factors, including device chipset, 2.4 vs. 5 GHz frequency bands, network configurations, and even placement of their devices within their rental unit.
- • Network Connectivity: In a smart home, every device — lights, thermostats, cameras, sensors — relies on a stable internet connection to communicate with each other and with the smart home hub. When this connectivity is compromised, the entire ecosystem can falter, leading to resident frustration.
- • Smart Home Hub Offline: The hub is like the brain of a smart home. When it goes offline due to connectivity issues, users lose control over their devices. Automations fail, voice commands are ignored, and remote access becomes impossible.
- • Delayed Response: Connectivity issues often result in delayed responses from smart devices. This erodes trust in the reliability of smart home technology.
- • Frequent Disconnections: Devices that frequently disconnect from the network require constant troubleshooting and reconnection efforts from the user, diminishing the perceived value of smart home devices.
- • Inconsistent Performance: Recurring performance issues, such as a thermostat not maintaining the set temperature or a security camera failing to stream or store footage, can lead to dissatisfaction and mistrust in the technology.
The Negative Impact on Customer/Resident Satisfaction
Connectivity issues have a direct impact on customer/resident satisfaction and loyalty. When users experience frequent problems, their frustration grows, which can lead to negative reviews and a high volume of support requests. This not only strains customer support teams, but also tarnishes the brand’s reputation and can eventually result in increased resident turnover.
The All-Carrier Smart Home Z-Wave Hub
At Rently, we’ve developed innovative ways to tackle these connectivity challenges head-on. Our new chipset, integrated into our smart home z-wave hub, significantly improves connectivity by ensuring stable and reliable communication between devices. Additionally, we’ve introduced a carrier-agnostic SIM that can connect to multiple networks and determine the best network available at that point. Based on a merit system (threshold level) for network coverage, when the signal strength drops below a particular predetermined value, the SIM will then connect to the next best available network. In other words, our smart home hubs can automatically switch between carrier networks depending upon the best signal strength, offering unprecedented flexibility and reliability in maintaining internet connections.
The Rently Hub acts as the central component (the “brain”) of our smart home system, allowing your residents to control all of their smart devices remotely by connecting to our software platform. It provides seamless connectivity via 3G/4G LTE, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet. The fourth iteration of the Renty Hub features SmartStart and S2 Security support, and is compatible with all Z-Wave devices.
Rently also offers a wide range of best-in-class hardware solutions across our four Smart Home Pillars, so you can pick and choose what devices best suit your needs.
The Rently Difference
We engineer and manufacture our own smart home hubs in-house, allowing us to meet high demand, make timely deliveries without supply chain constraints, and most importantly, meet the highest hardware quality and power the most comprehensive feature set for a smart hub.
How Rently Mitigates Connectivity Issues
To further improve the smart home experience, Rently focuses its efforts in these key areas:
- • Education and Support: Educating users on best practices for network setup and maintenance, and providing comprehensive support resources to help them troubleshoot common issues.
- • Robust Hardware and Firmware: Investing in high-quality hardware and regularly updating firmware to ensure devices handle network fluctuations gracefully.
- • Enhanced Network Solutions: Encouraging the use of mesh Wi-Fi systems, extenders, or powerline adapters to eliminate dead zones and ensure robust network coverage.
- • User Feedback Loop: Creating a feedback loop where users can easily report issues and see their concerns addressed in future updates.
By focusing on these areas and leveraging Rently’s cutting-edge solutions, we can reduce connectivity issues and enhance the overall smart home experience, leading to happier residents who stay longer in your communities and a stronger market trust in smart home technology. When implemented properly, smart home systems give you greater control and visibility over your properties, allowing you to streamline your operations, maximize tenancy rates, and increase security.
At Rently, we take our promise of a truly connected home very seriously. Our end-to-end customizable solutions include a complete portfolio of best-in-class hardware, a robust desktop software platform and mobile app for managers, an app for residents, and installation support for technicians. We are fully committed to providing a seamless smart home experience for residents and a hassle-free maintenance experience for property managers.
Want to learn more about Rently’s Smart Home solutions? Schedule a demo today!
