Why Do So Many Smart Home Systems Fail?
The Lack of Industry Standards
Unlike traditional home trades like electrical, plumbing, or security, smart home technology is largely unregulated. There are no official qualifications, standardised practices, or governing bodies enforcing best practices.
This means that anyone can claim to be a “home technology expert” without formal training, experience, or accountability. Many smart home installers enter the market, take on complex projects, and then struggle with the reality of integrating multiple systems.
We’ve seen countless projects where homeowners paid six figures for an installation that was built with poor infrastructure, outdated networking, and no proper documentation. When things start failing, the original installer either disappears or blames the technology—leaving homeowners with an expensive mess to fix.
Smart Home Integration is the Most Complex Trade
Unlike a lighting specialist who only deals with lights, or an electrician who installs wiring, a smart home integrator must have a deep understanding of multiple fields:
- Electrical and lighting control
- Networking and Wi-Fi infrastructure
- Home cinema and multi-room AV
- Security and CCTV
- Heating and climate automation
- Motorised shading
- Custom system programming
- General construction and finishing
No other trade interacts with so many parts of the home. Without the proper knowledge, these systems don’t work well together, leading to reliability issues, performance failures, and a frustrating user experience.
Abandoned Systems and Poor Support
We get calls almost every day from homeowners facing the same issues:
- Their installer has stopped answering calls or has gone out of business. CLICK TO WATCH THIS VIDEO
- The AV system doesn’t sync properly, with constant glitches and dropouts.
- Wi-Fi is slow or inconsistent, even in a high-end home.
- They are continually being charged for “repairs” that don’t actually fix anything. WATCH THIS VIDEO
Technology isn’t perfect—even the best-engineered systems need maintenance. But if your system was poorly designed from the start, these problems will never go away until it’s rebuilt to a higher standard.
How We Rescue and Take Over Failing Systems
We’ve worked on dozens of failed installations and have a systematic process to assess, document, and re-engineer systems that don’t work as they should.
Step 1: The Walk Test – Understanding Your System
Before we do anything, we need to fully understand what’s in place and how it behaves.
- We walk through your property and test everything as a user would.
- We document every issue, noting how the system reacts under normal conditions.
- We don’t touch programming, cabling, or equipment at this stage—this is a fact-finding step to get a true picture of what’s working and what isn’t.
- We speak with you to understand your frustrations, because many smart home issues are intermittent and may not always be visible.
Cost: £3,000+VAT (for a 5,000 sq ft home, requiring two engineers for two days).
Step 2: The Report – Identifying the Problems
Once testing is complete, we produce a detailed engineering report outlining:
- Critical failures and why they happened.
- What can be fixed and what needs replacing.
- Estimated costs for remedial work.
Most failing systems suffer from the same core issues:
- Unlabelled and chaotic cabling in equipment racks.
- Unpatched software and firmware causing instability.
- Poor networking infrastructure leading to dropouts.
- Bad programming resulting in confusing or unreliable controls.
Cost: £750+VAT (one full day of engineering work to compile and document findings).
Step 3: The Rescue Work – Fixing the System
With the assessment complete, we discuss the next steps with you.
- For some systems, minor reprogramming and fixes are enough to restore stability.
- In more severe cases, core infrastructure needs to be replaced or reconfigured.
- Messy equipment racks often need to be rebuilt, with cabling properly labelled and routed.
Typical Cost: 20–80% of the original system cost, depending on the level of failure.
Step 4: Ongoing Support & Maintenance
Once your system is working as it should, we onboard you into our Concierge Support Plan, ensuring you never have to deal with these issues again.
- Proactive monitoring to detect issues before they cause problems.
- Unlimited remote support to fix minor issues quickly.
- Priority in-home response within one to two days.
Cost: £1,500+VAT (one day of work to integrate your system into our support structure).
Why 1install?
We don’t offer cheap, quick fixes. We take on projects that need to be done properly.
If you want a permanently reliable system, you need a company that:
- Understands large, high-end homes and complex smart technology.
- Has a track record of taking over failed installations and making them work.
- Charges properly for quality work—because cheap is expensive in the long run.
How Much Will It Cost?
For a typical 5,000 sq ft home:
- Walk Test & Assessment: £3,000+VAT
- System Report: £750+VAT
- Rescue Work: Typically 20–80% of the original system cost
- Onboarding into Support Plan: £1,500+VAT
If you’re ready to stop dealing with unreliable technology and finally get the system you paid for, get in touch today.
Why Smart Home Systems Fail & How We Rescue Them
Why Control Systems Fail & How We Rescue Them
This is a system we were called to in a large home in Berkshire. The client was dealing with constant issues—TVs not working, unreliable internet, control system glitches, gates opening randomly, intercom not responding—the works.
The root cause? A complete lack of care from the previous installer. Cables were poorly terminated, nothing was labelled, and there was zero documentation. Every time someone tried to fix one thing, they accidentally broke something else. Why? Because everything was loose, messy, and untraceable.
We ripped it all out, re-terminated everything properly, labelled every cable, and left the client with full documentation so anyone working on the system in future knows exactly what’s what. A clean install, done right.
Control4 Guessing Game
Why Electricians are Electricians and not smart home Pros.
This home in Henley was bought from a developer who’s electrician installed a Control4 system but had left it half-finished. It was originally put in by the site electrician, who clearly wasn’t an AV specialist. The homeowner never got any documentation, was never shown how to use the system properly, and every time something went wrong, she’d call the electrician… who’d “fix” one issue, vanish, and leave a trail of new ones behind.
The system was confusing, unreliable, and badly programmed. None of the lighting scenes made sense, and every room had six-button keypads with zero engraving—so using the system became a daily guessing game.
We stepped in, assessed the setup, and were asked to take over. We tidied up all the cabling, reprogrammed the lighting to suit the homeowner’s lifestyle, engraved the keypads for clarity, and provided full documentation so the system could finally be understood and used with confidence.
Another system rescued. Another happy client.
Control4 Thrown in
Control4 System not working
On this project, the client requested privacy, so no house photos. But the story? All too familiar.
The previous AV company failed to support the system properly, leaving behind a mess of unlabelled cables, poor workmanship, and no documentation. The client had enough, and we were brought in to make things right.
We completely stripped out the old install, re-wired and re-installed the system the way it should’ve been done the first time. We also provided clear, professional documentation showing how everyhing is wired and configured.
What you're seeing here is an example of the kind of drawings we include on these jobs because a properly installed system should never leave you guessing.
