So, you’ve heard about TechReady, but what makes a Wilsons Smart Connect TechReady system so amazing? Let me explain!

The Two-Cabinet Design

Regardless of what anyone tells you, here’s a fact: You simply cannot use a single cabinet-designed system and maintain the neatness of the panel. By the time your Internet service provider finishes their part of the installation, the cabinet usually becomes a mess of wires – sometimes to the point where customers cannot get the door back on the cabinet! This is where Wilsons Smart Connect’s two-cabinet design comes in. Splitters and power bars are reserved to the lower cabinet, maintaining the neatness of the upper cabinet, giving the customer a much better user experience.

Hinged Door on the Upper Cabinet

All Wilsons Smart Connect systems have a hinged door on the upper cabinet, making it easier than ever to access your equipment. No more having to remove multiple screws and fumble with a heavy door to get access to your system.

Adaptable Outlets

For a true “plug and play” system, we design all of our outlets to be flexible. Many TechReady installers set up the cabinet in a way that leaves the home owner without freedom to make changes. A great example is a telephone outlet; you cannot use this outlet for anything other than the phone without calling a technician to make the changes for you. With our flexible outlets, if you want to turn a phone outlet into an Internet outlet, just unplug the outlet from the phone module and plug it into your Internet module, right inside your Smart Connect cabinet (another reason you’ll love the two-cabinet design). It’s that easy!

Colour Coding Wires

It only adds to the confusion of sorting through your home’s wiring when you discover that the same colour wire is used for everything. We help our customers keep it simple by colour-coding the wires we use, so the patch cords in your cabinet match their corresponding Cat5e cable in the wall.

Pre-wiring for a Wireless Access Point

For a superior WiFi experience at home, nothing provides better coverage than Wireless Access Points (WAP). They put the wireless Internet closer to where you use it, as opposed to the signal only coming from the modem. Unlike a WiFi extender or repeater, WAP is actually hardwired to your main Internet connection, in a similar way to how a desktop computer would be. Most TechReady companies don’t offer this as a standard item, but the pre-wiring for one of these units comes with the Wilsons Smart Connect system, so it’s already there if you ever wish to install a WAP.

Dual Data in the Family Room

Not using a Wireless Access Point? Wilsons Smart Connect hasn’t forgotten about you! The optimal location of your WiFi modem is near your Smart Connect cabinet, but we understand that this could very well be under a stairwell or in a utility room, potentially meaning a less-than-stellar WiFi signal. We provide an additional data outlet on the main floor so you can still get all the benefits of your Smart Connect system, while keep your modem in a central location.

You would be hard-pressed to find any other TechReady installing company that looks after you better than Wilsons Smart Connect does!

If you have a security system, these steps can help you make the most of its features while you’re away

We’ve talked about how technology can help you keep an eye on your home while you’re on vacation, so now let’s take it a step further! There are the traditional things you should do before taking off, like asking a neighbour to get your mail, or leaving an emergency phone number, but here are four things you can do at home that will help you have a stress-free trip.

Let your monitoring company know you will be away.

Telling your alarm company when you’ll be on vacation can greatly assist them in protecting your home. Suppose the alarm goes off and the monitoring station calls your house. Maybe someone answers claiming to be you, and that they’ve forgotten the ‘All OK’ word. Now, it is possible that you could have forgotten your ‘All OK’ word, but if the station knows you are away from home, they will be far more suspicious of whom they’re talking to.

Assign a separate code to the person looking after your house.

This not only prevents you from having to give out your personal access code, but also allows the alarm system to track who is coming and going back at home. Most alarm systems are equipped with an ‘Event Buffer’, which records each time someone disarms and rearms the alarm system. By giving each person a different code, the system can track each time an individual has been at your home while you’re away. When you return home you can simply delete these temporary codes. If you are using a service such as Alarm.com or Honeywell’s TotalConnect, you can also receive an e-mail notification when people come and go from your home.

Update your contact list.

If your alarm goes off for any reason while you’re out of the country, your monitoring station is going to need to get in touch with the right people. Provide your alarm company with a new list each time one of your emergency contacts’ numbers changes.

List service companies you deal with.

Break-and-enters aren’t the only thing that can happen while you’re not at home; your furnace could run out of oil, or your basement could flood. If you’re receiving notifications through a service like Alarm.com or Honeywell’s TotalConnect, you’ll know what’s going on in real time. However, if you happen to be out of range of WiFi during the time an event is occurring, you’ll want to provide the people on your emergency contacts list with a list of the companies you use for services such as your heating company, your electrician, your plumber, and your locksmith.