The Smart Home Mistake That Could Cost Ontario Homeowners $10,000
Most Ontario homeowners think about smart home technology the same way they think about furniture, something to figure out once the renovation is done and the dust has settled. According to Andrew Valyear, founder of Uplynk Home Automation and a 25-year veteran of the home tech industry, that mindset is one of the most expensive mistakes a homeowner can make.
"You're probably gonna waste up to ten thousand dollars in extra costs that you never thought of," Andrew told us on a recent episode of the Ontario Homeowner Show. "Drywall's gonna have to be cut, wiring is gonna have to be run exposed, and you're gonna have to go with different solutions than you would if you just designed the system in the first place."
The good news? It is entirely preventable — and it starts with a single conversation before your renovation begins.
The Wi-Fi Myth That Is Costing You More Than You Think
One of the most persistent myths in the smart home space is that Wi-Fi is good enough to power a fully connected home. Andrew is direct on this point: it is not.
"As soon as you get like 10 feet away from your modem, your signal's already degraded by 50%," he explains. "And I would argue that the vast majority of Canadians are actually struggling with terrible signal inside their homes and they don't realize that."
What about those plug-in Wi-Fi boosters your telecom provider offers? Andrew says they are largely ineffective. The boosters rely on receiving a strong Wi-Fi signal in order to amplify one — meaning if your signal is already weak where the booster is plugged in, it has nothing meaningful to repeat. Your phone may show five bars, but that is just showing the connection between your phone and the booster sitting a few feet away, not the actual connection back to your modem.
The solution is wired connections — Ethernet cables run back to your modem — for the devices you rely on most heavily: security cameras, streaming TVs, desktop computers, and smart home hubs. When those devices are wired, the experience changes completely. No buffering. No dropped footage. No fluctuating speeds.
Why Timing Is Everything in a Renovation
Smart home wiring, Andrew argues, belongs in the same conversation as your electrical and HVAC planning — not as an afterthought.
"If you're doing a reno, run the cabling. Just like you run your electrical, your HVAC system. This stuff should be built into the home. It's part of the infrastructure now."
Once drywall goes up, your options shrink dramatically. Andrew's technicians can still run wire in finished homes — threading cables through attics, behind eavestroughs, down interior walls — but it costs more, takes longer, and may never look as clean as infrastructure that was planned from the start.
Choosing Your Ecosystem First — The Question Most Homeowners Never Ask
Even homeowners who are thoughtful about smart technology often skip the most important first decision: which ecosystem will control everything?
Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and higher-end platforms like Savant each have different strengths, different compatible devices, and different limitations. If you buy a smart camera here and a smart doorbell there without considering how they will work together, you may end up with a collection of devices that cannot communicate — and a smart home that is not actually very smart.
"Smart homes really become super powerful when you have a bunch of devices that not only can talk to you, but can also talk to each other," Andrew explains. His own setup automatically turns on exterior lights when a vehicle pulls into his driveway — because his cameras and his lights are on the same integrated system. A single button beside his bed turns off every light in the house, closes the garage door, and locks all exterior doors.
Those experiences are only possible when the ecosystem is chosen intentionally from the beginning.
A Free Hour That Could Save You Thousands
For Ontario homeowners planning a renovation or a new build, Andrew is extending a rare offer to Ontario Homeowner Show listeners: a free one-hour smart home consultation — something he normally charges $150 for — to help you map out the right system before you commit to a design.
You do not have to hire his installation team. The goal is simply to make sure you have the right blueprint so that whatever path you choose, you are not paying for someone else's mistake later.
You can reach Andrew and the Uplink team at uplynk.ca or by emailing andrew@uplynk.ca.
Your future self — the one who does not have to cut open drywall — will thank you.
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Mohsin Lakhani is a Salesperson with REAL Broker Ontario LTD., Brokerage. For real estate inquiries in Toronto and York Region, call 647-906-5457.