It appears that the “battle” between UTP cabled and Wi-Fi IP connectivity options has been won by wireless. Wi-Fi is now built-in to smart devices, laptops, IP cameras and other technologies used by our industry.

The Lutron Smart Bridge Pro, which uses Lutron’s proprietary ClearConnect® Wireless technology, plugs easily and directly into a home’s Wi-Fi router. Installed and set up in less than 30 minutes, the product sends wireless, radio frequency (RF) communication signals to compatible devices inside the home.

Now is the time for our industry to fully embrace Wi-Fi connections for IP cameras and other devices, because that’s the way the world is going. When planning to use Wi-Fi devices, security dealers have the potential option of using the client’s existing Wi-Fi.

There is no sure-bet way concerning wiring, protocols, proprietary and open standards when it comes to home networking. Most often a number of wired and wireless methods coexist or run separately.