Smart Home Alone: Automations for extra peace of mind
Speaker 1: This is the CNET smart home. These two have been casing the joint for weeks, and I'm about to leave on vacation. It's the holidays. Fortunately, I set up the house to defend itself. So I feel more than comfortable leaving the smart home alone.
Speaker 1: I set up a handful [00:00:30] of routines to trigger a wide variety of connected gadgets. And now that my suitcase is all packed, I am ready to take off. I'm leaving things in the very capable hands of legendary CNET, anchor I as AAR. Thanks for your help bias. I'll see you later. The duo known as the dry bandits, so called since they leave your home high and dry will almost certainly try to break in and steal my stuff. [00:01:00] But I think my home can take, so I'm not worried. We'll progress through three nights or rounds with the dry bandits, getting progressively more desperate each time. And I'll of course narrate through the whole thing. In case you want similar products, so you can pull off shenanigans on your own. The clever dry bandits. Undoubtedly saw me toss my I suitcase in the car and take off tonight. It begins. [00:01:30] They approach cautiously. At first, they notice that the outdoor lights are on and hesitate. As they see indoor lights turn off in one room and on in the next, maybe a neighbor is visit. They think they roam a bit keeping their distance. They gradually approach the garage just to check the door, but are startled. When the flood lights turn on stuck like a deer in the headlights. At first, the siren does enough to startle and scare them back into the [00:02:00] night.
Speaker 1: Let to rewind a little bit. Outdoor lights are easy enough to put on a timer with a simple, smart plug. Make sure you find one rated for the weather. If you're putting it outside, you'd think the indoor lights bit is trickier, but it's really not. You just need smart light bulbs or smart switches and routine. Have the kitchen lights turn off. And the living room lights turn on at eight, do the same with the living room and the bedroom at 10 or 11. If you keep your blinds [00:02:30] closed and have some simple light routines in place, that'll be the end of it. For most burglars outdoor floodlight cams. Like this one provide a nice bit of extra insurance. You can set up motion alerts, have it record events and have it flip on the light when it detects. So this one even comes with a siren built in that's nice and loud. And again, for realistic scenarios, this much tech should scare away. The vast majority of crimes of convenience,
Speaker 1: [00:03:00] The persistent dry bandits noticed the lights turn on at the same time as the previous night and realized they were just looking at connected tech. They think they'll be able to fool it tonight. Now that they know what they're dealing with, we'll see to get around the flood lights they're approaching from the yard and will try the doors in back. They think they actually see a figure moving in the lights and stop in their tracks. They try to move silently to get a closer look, but it's not the sound that gives them away. Motion [00:03:30] sensors near the door, trigger the sprinklers and the burglars realize the trap too late and are met with a wet end to their dry run, damp and discouraged. They again, flee into the night. This time they know where the sprinklers are. They know where the flood lights are. They know no one has come in or out. So the figure moving and the light must have just been another trick. This time they're gonna get aggressive and they're taking their target down at all [00:04:00] possible. I know they're coming back. I'm dialed in from grandma's game on after navigating through the yard and past the motion detectors carefully, they're done being stealthy.
Speaker 1: They smash the window on the top floor by the deck. I get an alert, thanks to the glass break sensors, but I already know they're here still. [00:04:30] They crossed a line time to fight back for real,
Speaker 2: Something really weirds going on. Don't you know who that is. That's legendary scene at host in teen harra, IAS, Acthar. [00:05:00] That's just cardboard. You don't understand even cardboard is, is the strength of a thousand men. Are you serious?
Speaker 1: Oh, I should mention that most home security setups allow you to send notifications to friends and neighbors and more,
Speaker 2: Oh, I, I live right next door. I will end you.
Speaker 1: You can even alert [00:05:30] your favorite holiday. Wish granter. If you have Santa's number that is
Speaker 2: See that sweater business, man, he's the naughty one. I swear.
Speaker 1: [00:06:00] So a few things, all the products featured in the video are actually real, but we definitely dramatize some of the specifics as you might imagine, especially on the last night. And if yous are trying to break into your house, don't use your smart technology to mess with them. Just call 9 1 1. In fact, a lot of the security systems, we like also offer professional monitoring that can help you do that. So [00:06:30] what we don't recommend some of the specifics we do recommend some of the actual products we used and we linked to those below a as well as to some of our actual reviews and our roundups. Also, you probably shouldn't print out a full body. Cardboard cut out of is, and put it on your robot vacuum. Probably it will make your vacuum less able to fit under stuff. But on the other hand, ISAs is awesome.
Speaker 1: Common below to let me know what you think [00:07:00] actually happened to that. Second bandit was the sprinkler spray. So forcefully that it actually knocked him unconscious. If so, how come he was continuing to move forward? Did the sprinkler melt him? They are called the dry Banis, but if so, how come he didn't melt after they, he got sprayed that second night. These are the deep philosophical questions that I need your help to get to the bottom of. Thanks for watching. Please hit that thumbs up button. If [00:07:30] you enjoy the video and subscribe to Sennett's YouTube channel for more, most of which will be nothing like this, but we'll have actual useful information about technology special. Thanks to our burglars, Dave and Chris to neighbor Aaron, to Megan Claus and to the legend himself, Mr. A and from all of us here at the CNET smart home happy holidays.
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