Cisco Systems (my former employer) and my many friends are to blame for this. At my friends urging and Cisco igniting, I have entered in to the world of communicating more than a dream, actually a reality. The home is smart. It is connected. It does things for you. It talks to you. It keeps you informed. It makes you think, but it lets you relax as well. This is our world of home automation and the connected home. Like many others (or so I thought) this home is part of a growing trend to build intelligence into the home and allow everything that can be connected to be so, IF it makes sense and serves a purpose. I thought this was what tons of people were doing. But, according to the managers at Cisco, I scored the top-dog prize for the most-connected and automated home for all 57,000 Cisco employees. There were some other awesome ideas, its just that I got a little more invested in connecting everything that moved me to the top of that list. So, at the urging of many friends and acquaintances, I think I will share some perspectives and experiences and hope that you too, will enter into this great world of the connected home.

Click HERE to see the full Network Diagram Or Click HERE to see a PDF of the Network Diagram.

Read the full story of the Best Home Network contest at Cisco’s web site.

One of Cisco’s FIRST multi-point telepresence conferences with active participants in Sydney, Europe, North Carolina and San Jose (Andrew is on the far right of the picture, next to Cisco’s VP of the IT dept.)

Each of us presented our network and discussed its technical features.