Over the next decade, smarthome, as we know it, will change dramatically thanks to technologies such as Linksys Aware that turn a wifi network into a motion detector that tracks every corner of the house. Technology is still in its infancy, but Linksys has announced a major update that uses IoT devices to improve its accuracy.
We first tested Linksys Aware at the end of 2019, and at the time, the technology was more interesting for its potential than what the launch function could actually do. Based on research that dates from 2013 and earlier, Linksys Aware actively measures the signal strength of invisible radio waves falling back and forth between the nodes of a wifi mesh configuration in a house. When those radio waves are obstructed, such as when a person moves between two nodes, the decrease in signal strength can be measured and used as an improvised motion detector, providing a home with a basic security system without the need to install additional hardware. .
It is a fascinating use of existing technology, but in its current form the Linksys Aware service can only tell you that movement has been detected in your home, not where the reported event took place. As a result, it is too vague to be of much practical use, especially when a dedicated home security system can alert you to problems in individual rooms or when certain doors and windows have been opened.
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But sometime in early 2021, Belkin will launch an update for its Linksys Aware service, which extends its connectivity to almost every IoT device connected to wifi in your home. Although previously limited to the nodes of a mesh router configuration, Linksys Aware will soon be able to use everything from smart speakers, to video ringtones, thermostats, even TV streaming boxes to improve the accuracy of motion detection. It will still not be able to issue alerts such as “motion detected in upstairs master bedroom”, but after update, these alerts will include more details about the devices that were closest to the detected movements.
In the Linksys app, users will be able to make sure that all connected devices have a nickname they recognize (such as the upstairs Google Nest Mini and upstairs Google Nest Mini) that should make it easy to decode, at a glance, in which detected detected movements. It still takes a lot of responsibility for decoding a Linksys Aware alert on the user and means that the service still can’t be configured with highly personalized alerts, such as “warns me only when motion is detected in the footer”. But it is still a welcome upgrade and one that continues to slowly reveal the real potential of this technology. One day, Belkin believes that Linksys Aware is a tool that could take into account the specific health of all in a house by secretly monitoring heart rate and breathing patterns, but we’re still a few years away from that right now.
New users with a Wi-Fi mesh product (you need at least two nodes for this to work and Linksys has not yet introduced the feature on its WiFi 6 products) can try Linksys Aware for free for 90 days, after which the service updated will keep the same subscription prices of 3 USD/ month or 25 USD/year.