What Is the Internet of Things?

What Is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things, or IoT, is the portion of the Internet to which smart-things and other networked devices are online. These devices can collect data, store data, or share data with each other over their connections—and this can only be accessed by other smart-things. You may already own device like this—a smartphone, smart TV, tablet, connected cars, and smart garage door openers. Through the Internet of Things, your smart devices might communicate with devices outside of your home as well.

New York City, San Francisco, Louisville, and Austin, TX are just a few of the cities in the United States that have infrastructure supported through the Internet of Things. Connected streetlights, water/flood sensors, fire detection systems, and weather-monitoring technology are some of the ways smart cities use IoT. These smart city IoT devices can share data with the Internet of Things-connected devices you have at home.

Microsoft Defender

Stay safer online with one easy-to-use app<sup>1

1</sup>Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription required; app available as separate download

Learn More

How Does the Internet of Things Work?

Devices connected to each other via the Internet of Things can simplify different areas of your life.

Let’s say you stream music through a subscription-based app. You can create a playlist of your favorite songs while logged into the app from your desktop computer and can listen to that same playlist on your smartphone, on your tablet, in your car through your stereo, or from your smart TV (either via connection to your phone or through a native app).

All of these connected devices don’t actually have your playlist or songs stored on them—you’re using these connected devices and various apps to connect to the streaming service’s cloud-based servers. This is the Internet of Things at work.

Imagine it this way:

• The songs are uploaded to the streaming service from connected devices that create, release, or publish the music—a music producer’s laptop, a recording company’s cloud storage account, or an artist’s social media profile.
• The songs are stored in IoT hubs or gateways. The IoT hub would be your streaming platform’s storage device that allows all the songs to be accessible via their app.
• The songs are played through an IoT-connected device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

This is just one example of the Internet of Things at work. When you use any smart device, it’s collecting data from a storage device, and that storage device is collecting data from another IoT-connected device.

Benefits of Using Internet of Things Devices in Your Home

If you have home internet service, you can benefit from having connected smart devices in your home in several ways.

Run Your Household from Anywhere

A smart refrigerator might notify you that your milk is going to spoil so you buy more before you come home from work. A video doorbell can allow you to talk to visitors while you’re not at home. You can schedule a smart coffee maker to brew fresh coffee so your cup of joe is ready for you before you leave the house.

Improve Your Home Security

Security cameras, smart locks, motion sensors, and smoke detectors are some smart devices that can connect to your home Internet, but they can also be wirelessly paired to work together. If one of your home’s motion sensors is triggered while you’re away, the sensor can notify the security camera that motion has been detected, and the security camera can turn on and start recording. You might receive a notification to your smartphone that motion has been detected, and the notification can include live video footage showing the area where the motion was detected.

Save Money and Energy

You can save money on your gas, electric, and light bills using smart devices connected to Internet of Things. The data collected by IoT-connected devices tracks how much you use different types of energy in your home. If you forget to turn off the heat before you leave for work, a smart thermostat can help you—it will collect data from the city’s weather system as well as your use patterns and adjust your home’s temperature accordingly. If your home’s smart motion sensors haven’t detected any movement in a while, your smart lights can turn off automatically.

Remember that you can manually set how your smart devices respond under certain conditions, you can let the devices decide how to behave based on how they communicate with each other, or you can have your devices send data to your smartphone and let you decide the next action from there.

Cons of the Internet of Things

Although there are benefits to using smart devices in your home, there are also some precautions you should take and considerations to make before connecting.

Compatibility Issues

All your IoT-connected devices might not be compatible with each other. Smart devices must be able to share data with one another. Use Microsoft Defender for IoT to manage the devices in your home. Before you buy an IoT smart device, check the product label or the manufacturer’s website to ensure that it’s compatible with the other smart devices you own.

Requires an Internet Connection

Your home Internet service can disconnect. All smart devices stay connected to the Internet, allowing them to communicate with each other, send you notifications, and collect data from other smart devices via the IoT. If your home Internet connection drops, so does the connection between your smart devices. Make sure you sign up for home Internet service that provides fast, reliable speeds.

Expensive to Install and Maintain

Installing and maintaining IoT-connected devices can be expensive. Smart devices aren’t cheap, and the cost of having a certified technician install and program your smart device (if you can’t or don’t want to do it yourself) can vary as well. If any of your smart devices need to be fixed or replaced, you might have to pay for installation and programming again. You can help extend the life of your smart devices by keeping them updated with the latest software. Consider buying an additional warranty for your smart device if the manufacturer offers one.

If you have smart devices in your home, some of their data is stored online. This data is collected, stored, and shared via the part of the internet known as the Internet of Things.