We do all this through actual hard-wiring so that it is always reliable and painless.   We run all control to a single closet in the house, which we call the “smart closet”, and all the equipment is housed in one central location.  Because all the equipment is designed to “talk” with each other, instead of having five different apps on your phone, one that controls the lighting, one that controls the air conditioner, one that controls the TV, etc., you have a single app on your phone that is connected to each aspect of the home that you want to control.  So, you could control each component independently, or, you can control all of them at once.  For example, you might have an “Entertaining” button on your phone that when you press it, a predetermined set of events occurs, such as disarming the security system, opening your garage doors, bumping down your air conditioner, turning on the lights in the foyer, dimming the lights on the back patio, turning on music to a particular station, setting all the lights at the preferred level, etc., all with a single touch of the button!  Or, perhaps you want to go to bed, so you have a “Goodnight” button, that when you press it, it sets your alarm, makes sure the garage doors are down, turns off the television and speakers, turns off the exterior lights, turns down the air conditioner, sets the kitchen lights to 15% so you can see if you get up to get a glass of water, etc., once again, with a single touch of a button.  This is true home automation!