21-05-2025
Six exciting advancements coming to a smart home near you
From keeping your family entertained to ensuring everyone is safe and sound, a new wave of technology is set to make Australian homes smarter than ever.
Not so long ago, the ability to dim your lounge-room lights without getting off the couch was considered the height of smart-home technology. These days, smart technology is extending to every corner of our homes, working together to create a truly smart home rather than just a collection of smart devices.
Keep in mind, many of these new devices and applications tend to be hungry for bandwidth. The average Australian household already downloads seven and a half times more data than it did a decade ago, and this is expected to double again within the next seven years. Uploads are also increasing, predicted to double in the next four years.
The desire for speed makes fast and reliable broadband the cornerstone of any Australian smart home.
The good news is that nbn is continuing to remove ageing copper wire from its Australia-wide network, offering millions of homes and businesses the opportunity to upgrade to full fibre to their premises.
From September, nbn is also accelerating the speeds on its top three residential wholesale speed tiers for homes and businesses with Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connections, without changing the wholesale prices. This means, for example, an nbn 100 plan (Home Fast) will offer five times faster download speeds (500 Mbps) and double the upload speeds (50 Mbps).
Fast, efficient broadband means the network can handle not only the 25 connected devices an average broadband home has today, but also the 44 we're expected to have by the end of the decade. Here are six smart home advancements heading your way.
1. Virtual and augmented reality
Smart TVs and even smart mirrors are bringing 4K Ultra HD streaming video to every room, but home entertainment is set to become even more immersive thanks to the rise of virtual and augmented reality. A virtual reality headset completely blocks your view of the real world to transport you to another realm, while augmented reality superimposes information over your view of the real world around you — a bit like a fighter pilot's heads-up display.
