This Christmas, something underneath the tree is bound to become connected after it’s finally unwrapped.

Experts expect 50 million connected devices to be sold during the holiday season this year. Light bulbs, coffee makers, thermostats, door bells, garage door openers and more have gotten quite the upgrade just in time for the holidays.

Last year, a box of light bulbs would have been considered as grand a Christmas gift as a lump of coal. Thanks to Philips Hue, light bulbs are actually pretty cool. Everything, and we mean everything is becoming connected. It’s not can a product become smarter, it’s when will someone make that product smarter.

When those packages, boxes and bags containing smart home solutions are unwrapped, there are plenty of considerations to make. You can’t just hand grandpa an Amazon echo and expect him to use it every day, or even know it does.

Here are some things to be aware of when gifting and receiving connected devices for the holidays.

When Giving IoT Gifts, Remember Wi-Fi is Often a Requirement

Connected devices often require a working Wi-Fi connection to work properly. Many devices today come with some sort of app compatibility.

If you are giving IoT gifts to someone, be sure that they have a working Wi-Fi connection. When giving IoT gifts to relatives who may have a smartphone but aren’t really sure how to set things up, you may have to include some labor along with your gift to ensure it works properly.

A garage door opener that can be controlled via an iphone app is only cool if the device is properly connected and the user actually has the app installed.

Keep Security Risks in Mind

IoT is a relatively new phenomenon, and in most instances the technology is fulfilling a need for a solution with security as an afterthought.

That’s not to believe all the doom and gloom about machines spying on us and hacks being inevitable, but security is certainly something to keep in mind with IoT gifts.

Always update your devices when prompted, set secure passwords and make sure your devices work on their own private network.

Merry Christmas from ThrottleNet!

Innovative, smart tech gifts aren’t the reason for the season, but they are nice to find underneath the tree. After refreshing from the holidays, we would love to chat about your business’s security and network management needs. Contact us or like us on Facebook today!