How we think about
building automation.
The engineering judgment behind every system we install — protocol selection, security architecture, and the principles we won't compromise on.
Our thesis
The right protocol for the right environment.
Most automation companies pick one ecosystem and force-fit every customer into it. Control4 dealers sell Control4. Crestron dealers sell Crestron. Savant dealers sell Savant. Each is a tier-locked walled garden — and each is happy to sell you a $30,000 system when a $4,000 one would have done the job.
We pick what fits. Sometimes that's a Matter-over-Thread mesh on a Raspberry Pi. Sometimes it's a KNX bus laid into the walls of a new build. Sometimes it's an existing Lutron installation with a Home Assistant brain bolted on top to make it actually do something useful.
The unifying principle isn't which protocol — it's that you should own and understand the system you live or work in. No phone-home telemetry you can't see. No subscription that bricks your lights when it lapses. No ecosystem that disappears when the manufacturer pivots.
Protocol matrix
How we choose
We're happy to show our work. Here's the decision framework we use on every project.
| Protocol | Best for | Strengths | Tradeoffs | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matter / Thread | Residential, home office, light retrofit | Wireless mesh, multi-vendor, open standard, low-power | Newer ecosystem, fewer commercial-grade devices | Default for residential and SMB |
| KNX | Commercial, new construction, high-end residential | Wired bus, deterministic, 30-year track record, ISO 14543-3 | Higher upfront cost, requires planning during construction | Default for buildings that need to outlive the integrator |
| Home Assistant | Universal integration layer | Speaks every protocol, fully local, infinitely extensible | Requires operator expertise (which is what you hire us for) | The brain on top of everything else |
| Zigbee / Z-Wave | Legacy device support, specific niche devices | Mature, broad device catalog | Hub-dependent, fragmented vendor support, being eclipsed | Bridged into HA only when a unique device demands it |
| Wi-Fi (cloud) | Avoided where possible | Cheap consumer devices, easy initial setup | Cloud-dependent, opaque telemetry, vendor lock-in, security risk | Quarantined to a restricted IoT VLAN if used at all |
The stack
Six layers, every install
Whether it's a one-bedroom apartment or a 20,000 sqft commercial building, we work the same six layers. Smaller projects collapse layers; bigger ones expand them. The framework doesn't change.
Network foundation
Before any device gets installed, we design the network. VLAN segmentation for IoT, separate SSIDs by trust level, proper firewall rules, and (where appropriate) Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 for the bandwidth ceiling. UniFi or equivalent.
Protocol layer
Matter-over-Thread for residential mesh. KNX bus for commercial wired backbone. Zigbee bridged in only when a specific device justifies it. We document why every protocol choice was made.
Hub and orchestration
Home Assistant runs on dedicated hardware in your space (typically the AIQSO Edge Gateway, but we can also use existing hardware). Multiple Thread Border Routers for mesh resilience. KNX IP gateway for the wired bus.
Logic and automation
YAML or Node-RED for declarative automations, with optional local LLM orchestration for natural-language interaction. Every automation is version-controlled and testable — no "works on my installer's phone" surprises.
Observability
Grafana dashboards (optional, hosted by us) showing device health, energy usage, automation execution, and security events. You can see what your house is doing, in real time.
Security and compliance
IoT inventory, CVE tracking, behavioral baselines, and segmentation enforcement via our Network Sentinel platform. Quarterly health reports for managed customers.
Security
The Armis perspective
Before AIQSO, our founder worked on enterprise IoT visibility — the kind of platform Fortune 500s and critical infrastructure operators use to figure out what's actually on their networks. What you see at that scale shapes how you think about residential and SMB automation forever:
- →Most consumer IoT devices ship with known CVEs and never get patched. We track this for every device we install and tell you when something needs to be replaced.
- →Most IoT devices broadcast far more data than their function requires. We segment them so a compromised lightbulb can't pivot to your laptop.
- →Most automation systems have no audit trail. Ours generate logs you can search, dashboards you can read, and alerts you can act on.
- →Most installers can't answer the question "what does this device talk to?" We can. We use our own Network Sentinel platform to find out.
Standalone offering
You can buy an IoT Security Audit from us without buying any installation services. We come look at your existing setup, inventory every connected device, map vulnerabilities, recommend segmentation, and leave you with a written report.
See pricing →Honest constraints
What we won't do
Most marketing pages don't tell you when they're the wrong fit. We will.
Ring/Wyze/Tuya cloud-only stacks
These devices can't function without their manufacturer's cloud. We can't guarantee uptime or security on infrastructure we don't control.
Custom A/V theater integration
There are great specialists in DFW for $200K home theaters. We're not them. We integrate audio for whole-home automation, not film-grade theaters.
Cheap-and-fast installs
We design first, install second. If you need someone to drop in an Echo and call it done, we're not the right fit and we'll tell you so on the call.
Locked ecosystems we can't hand off
Every system we install is documented, exportable, and operable by another competent integrator if you ever decide to fire us. No vendor hostage situations.
Still reading?
You're probably the kind of customer we want. Let's talk.