Smart Home Devices Fail Without Internet Connection

A technology journalist named Brady has over 20 smart home devices connected to Apple Home and Google Home over Matter and Thread. He wanted to test how his smart home would behave when the internet connection is down, so he unplugged it.

The results were surprising. His Nest cameras continued recording for an hour or more, but could only upload their recordings once the internet was back online. The camera's ability to record without a constant internet connection is partly due to Brady having an active Google Home Premium Advanced subscription and power being connected to the device.

However, his HomeKit Secure Video cameras, such as the TP-Link Tapo C125, couldn't record at all when the internet was down. This is because they rely on a connection to the Apple Home hub for functionality. If Brady had set up local recording options, like a microSD card, it would have allowed him to continue recording even without an internet connection.

Other devices in his smart home, such as smart displays and speakers, became completely unusable when the internet dropped. The Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max lack local control support and can't perform tasks like setting a timer or telling the date without Wi-Fi.