A Bridgehampton, N.Y. house with 5,477 square feet including a media room, 5 bedrooms and 6 … [+]
Sotheby’s International Realty
If you’ve ever been invited as a guest speaker on a Zoom webinar, with hundreds of people watching, you know how distracting and frustrating it is when the words “unstable internet” flash across screen. Which got me to thinking: What can I do to upgrade my home office in this COVID-19 landscape?
“Having a great Wi-Fi network in your home used to be a luxury, it’s now a necessity,” said Neil Greenberg, director and co-owner of Audio Interiors, a smart home, audio and television vendor located in Hauppauge, New York. Greenberg said that he has been deluged by calls since the pandemic forced everyone to shelter-in-place. Most of the calls, he noted, came from homeowners in the Hamptons.
“People don’t realize that the commercials for Optimum, Spectrum and Fios make it seem like Wi-Fi will go anywhere in your home,” he said. “If you are in a 1,200-square-foot home, you are fine, but if you have a large house with a lot of square feet, regular Wi-Fi is not going to work.”
Beginning in March, as New York City residents started to evacuate for the Hamptons, Greenberg said, “I got a sea of orders. My phone was ringing 10 times per day with people saying…Oh my God, my Wi-Fi is a mess. “
The pandemic sent Greenberg’s company into overdrive. He was allowed to work in New York State as an essential business because he provided services for people working and distance-learning.
But getting a great Wi-Fi system doesn’t come cheap. Greenberg said prices range from $10,000 to $30,000 or more. “The must-have item is a large screen with conference capability. Instead of doing a Zoom meeting on your 13-inch laptop, you can do a meeting on an 85-inch TV screen with a bluetooth keyboard and a remotely hidden computer. You pick up your remote control and hit conference. When you are looking at 10 people on an 85-inch screen, it’s so much better than a laptop. An 85-inch TV runs $3,000 to $12,000.”
A home theater in a Sagaponack, NY home that has 10,000 square feet including 9 bedrooms, 9 … [+]
Sagaponack Builders and Coastline Real Estate
Another feature Greenberg can also provide: installing cameras that swivel to focus on the person who is talking in a Zoom meeting.
Many of Greenberg’s clients also use him as their IT department. He provides a remote monitoring service that sends him a daily morning report on the speed and signal strength in each client’s home.
As summer approaches, the demand has shifted to installing regular items like indoor and outdoor sound systems and electronic shades. He also installs sensors that turn on the lights when someone walks into a room. He uses appliances like Amazon’s voice-activated Alexa, and he envisions the future of the home as being primarily run by voice command.
With the coronavirus in mind, Greenberg said, “The fewer things you have to touch, the better.”