1) Yes all of those apps do work well, but having all of these functions in on app allows for the automation and integration. Like when i press the goodbye scene on my lights as i leave the house my alarm turns on, TVs turn off, etc. Or having my sprinklers not run based on weather. Or if my alarm is on at sunset turn on some lights to make it appear i am home. Next these don't have good options for controlling your TV or theater like say savant or control4 with a dedicated single remote. and again this remote will also then have the added functions of your lights, shades, audio, thermostats, etc

2)I have access to control via alexa i couldn't have otherwise. for example my security system or my TV don't integrate with alexa directly, but my control system does and i can have Alexa tell my control system to do things with these usually non alexa capable devices

3) this depends a lot on the cameras being used i guess. But i believe vivant and some of these other security companies want a monthly fee so you can monitor your cameras via an app which i think is silly. also i bet the cameras my company sells are worlds more clear and capable then the ones from vivint. like 360 degree fish eye lens that i can go back in the recording and zoom in on specific portions of the image as if i was zooming with a normal camera live. Thermal imaging.

And again integration, trigger lights based on motion as example.

4) Eero isn't bad. But in a large home when they have friends over, will eero provide good speeds to 40+ connected devices at once? what about your backyard, need an outdoor AP, i don't believe eero has one. How secure are their products and what advanced features do they offer? Roaming between APs, having a wifi system that is centrally managed and will adjust the signal strength of APs to make it where as you walk from one side of the house to the other you can jump between APs without any low signal areas or getting stuck to one AP when you're really now closer to another one. Ruckus as an example is a wifi we use. it was also used for the olympic stadiums with 20,000+ connected devices. All of the free wifi for san francisco, ruckus.

We try to cater only to the wealthy, and show them how although sure eero or Hue are good ideas, they are designed for a basic home. They just can't handle large, custom, intricate installations. Its like buying a car or anything else, sure a Kia is a working car, but put it next to a mercedes. it just offers you more.


The other thing you have to try to pair the sale of these products with is the services it allows you to provide. If i give someone sonos and an alexa and something stops working on a saturday well they need to wait till i roll a truck monday. with a full system from say savant with a good network i can remotely log in, diagnose, reboot, and control their system. i can fix most service issues from my cell phone in my car or a laptop on my couch. And a client is always happy when you can say "its fixed" and not "i can come tomorrow and look at it"