Constantia · Family home
Constantia family home: whole-home automation and coverage
A double-storey family home with a cottage, a long driveway and a set of devices that had never been introduced to each other.
The request
- “The cameras are on one app, the gate is on a remote, the aircon is on remotes, the lights are on the wall — and nothing talks to anything else.”
- “Wi-Fi in the cottage and upstairs bedrooms drops out every few days and the smart bulbs go offline with it.”
- “We'd like one panel in the kitchen that shows the whole house, and a gate that lights up the driveway when it opens at night.”
- “I want to know if a door is left open or the gate doesn't close, wherever I am.”
How we tackled it
- Rebuilt the network first — the root cause of the dropouts was a single router trying to cover a large house. Cabled access points upstairs and in the cottage, a PoE switch, and a separate network for cameras and IoT devices so a misbehaving bulb can't take down a meeting.
- Brought the existing cameras, gate motor, aircon units and lighting into a single Home Assistant system, keeping the hardware the client already owned.
- Added a wall-mounted touchscreen in the kitchen as the everyday household panel.
- Designed outdoor and driveway lighting on presence and schedule, tied to the gate so arrivals are lit automatically.
- Set up remote access with secure notifications for doors, gate and devices going offline.
Delivery model
Full turnkey: design, supply, installation and configuration by Cue Home. Existing hardware retained and integrated. Electrical work by a licensed, registered electrical contractor.
Technology
- Cabled Wi-Fi access points, managed PoE switch and separate IoT VLAN
- Home Assistant as the coordinating platform
- Existing cameras and gate motor integrated
- Smart switches and outdoor lighting control
- Kitchen wall panel and secure remote access
Automations
- Gate opening triggers driveway and entrance lighting after sunset
- Aircon turns off in rooms unoccupied for 15 minutes
- Good Night routine checks doors and gate, dims the house, arms cameras
- Push alerts for doors left open, gate not closed, or a device going offline
Photographs
On site
Outcome
What changed
- One panel, one phone, one system — the household no longer app-switches to get through an evening.
- The cottage and upstairs bedrooms have had zero dropouts since the network rebuild.
- Arriving home after dark is lit end to end without touching a switch.
- The owner gets a notification the moment something needs attention, anywhere.
Licensed
All electrical work by licensed, registered contractors where regulated.
Insured
Cue Home is fully insured for every engagement.
Design-only available
We can produce the plans and your builder installs — or we do it all.
Want a result like this?
Tell us the room, the problem or the idea. We'll tell you honestly what's possible and what it involves.
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