Overview
Wi-Fi, in practical terms.
Wi-Fi is how almost every Indian smart home starts, and for one or two devices it is the right call — no hub to buy, no gateway to configure, just a QR code and an app. Where it goes wrong is scale. Every Wi-Fi switch is another client on a router that is already carrying your phones, laptops, TV and cameras, and somewhere between the tenth and fifteenth device things start dropping out in ways that are genuinely hard to diagnose.
The second issue is what happens when the broadband does. Most Wi-Fi smart devices route commands through a vendor cloud, so an ISP outage — routine in most Indian homes — can leave you unable to switch on a light from a wall panel that no longer has a physical button. Use Wi-Fi for cameras and anything streaming video, where the bandwidth is genuinely needed, and consider Zigbee for switches and sensors.
