Every week we get called to fix a smart home install someone else did cheaply. The customer paid half of what a proper install costs, and a year later nothing works. Here's the pattern of what goes wrong, why it happens, and how to spot the warning signs before you sign.

Problem 1: WiFi falls over the minute you add devices

The cheap installer puts a consumer router (Netgear, TP-Link) in the meter box and calls it done. For the first month, when you've only got phones and a few smart lights connected, it works. By month six — when you've added cameras, an iPad, more switches, a doorbell — the WiFi is dropping, cameras keep going offline, and the app says "Hub not responding."

How to avoid it: insist on enterprise WiFi (UniFi or equivalent). Multiple access points, properly tuned, on a properly configured network. Read more on why this matters →

Problem 2: Five apps to control your home

The cheap installer buys whatever's discounted at the time — a SONOS speaker here, a Hue bulb there, a Ring doorbell, a Nest thermostat. Each works in its own app. None talk to each other. The customer ends up with ten icons on their home screen and stops using most of them.

How to avoid it: insist that everything funnels into one app — usually Apple Home (HomeKit) or Google Home. If a product isn't compatible, don't buy it.

Problem 3: No security — your smart fridge can see your laptop

Smart devices are notorious security risks. Cheap cameras get compromised regularly. On a flat consumer network, a compromised camera can theoretically reach your laptop, your phone, your NAS. The cheap installer never sets up VLANs because consumer routers don't support them.

How to avoid it: insist on VLANs separating smart-home devices from your personal devices. This requires a UniFi-grade gateway, not a consumer router.

Problem 4: Footage stored "in the cloud" — for $30/month

Cheap cameras (Ring, Wyze, generic) push footage to a cloud account and charge you a monthly subscription for the privilege of accessing it. Cancel the subscription and your cameras are useless. Get hacked and your footage is on someone else's server.

How to avoid it: use cameras with local recording. UniFi Protect cameras record to a NVR in your home. No subscription. Your footage stays in your home.

Problem 5: The installer disappears

The single biggest issue with cheap installs: the installer takes the money, finishes the job, and is gone. When something breaks — and something always breaks — you can't get them on the phone. Either they're booked solid, or they've changed jobs, or the company has folded.

How to avoid it: verify the installer has been in business for at least 5 years. Ask about their post-install support process. Get the support window in writing.

Problem 6: It's hard-coded to one person's preferences

Cheap installs come with whatever scenes the installer felt like setting up — usually their preferences, not yours. "Movie Night" dims the wrong lights. The "Welcome Home" trigger doesn't match when you actually come home. You spend the next six months tweaking it yourself.

How to avoid it: insist on a customer-led programming session. The installer should set scenes BASED ON your daily routines, not their defaults. The handover should include 60+ minutes of you walking through every scene with the installer.

Problem 7: Future-proofing? What future-proofing?

The cheap installer wires what's needed today. Six months later you want to add motorised blinds — there's no cable run to the windows. You want to add a camera by the garden — no cable. You want to add an Apple TV in the second living room — no cable. Every addition becomes a full re-do.

How to avoid it: insist on extra cable runs for things you might add later. Cat6 to every window, every camera position, every TV mount, every speaker position. Cables are cheap; walls are expensive.

The fixed-price alternative

The reason ROBOT built the Plug n Play Pro at $17,500 is exactly this — we got tired of fixing other people's cheap installs. The Pro includes enterprise WiFi, VLANs, local recording, Apple Home integration with custom scenes, future cable runs, and a 60-minute handover walkthrough. Nothing optional.

If you're getting quotes for a smart home install, send them through us — we'll tell you honestly whether what you've been quoted is fair, what's missing, and whether it'll still work in three years.