Setup Check · Personalized research
A researched plan for your home.
Tell us what you own and what you want your home to do. Setup Check is a written research report covering compatibility, automation possibilities, required equipment, ongoing costs and what to buy in what order.
For a new device or a useful automation
You may be starting with lights and a lock, planning several rooms, or exploring what devices you already own could do together. You do not need to have chosen products. Your phones, existing devices, installation limits and subscription preferences give us the starting requirements.
What your report covers
- Options for each area. Two or three options compared against your requirements, with the documented reason an option fits or is ruled out. Unconfirmed facts stay visible.
- Automation possibilities. Where relevant, which devices can start a routine and which can respond on your chosen platform. The report distinguishes support documented for a model or connection from a platform's general rule, and explains what still needs checking.
- A purchase sequence. What to buy first, what depends on another device and what can wait.
- The equipment your setup needs. Hubs, bridges and network requirements, including which existing equipment can be used and what additional hardware costs.
- Ongoing costs and upkeep. Free and paid features, five-year plan costs where the terms are documented, batteries and maintenance.
- Internet and service dependence. What the maker documents working during an outage, what depends on its servers and what is not established.
- Lifecycle and future additions. Discontinued models, announced changes, promised features and the effect of the additions you have in mind.
- The cost of a later change. Which connections would need to be rebuilt, which equipment might need replacing and what the evidence lets us calculate.
- Sources, dates and open questions. The evidence behind the plan, assumptions we made and the checks that remain yours.
Compared against your requirements
We compare setups against the constraints you give us. We publish no product-quality rankings and do no hands-on testing. A documented fit for your requirements is different from a claim about how well a product performs.
If your requirements do not separate the options, the report says so. It explains the remaining choice and any unresolved questions. The sample report shows how this reads.
Your products don't have to be in our library
The public library contains 300 research profiles. That is our published coverage, not the limit of a Setup Check. For a product we haven't profiled, we check manufacturer documentation, certification registries and other published sources.
If you name a product, give us the exact model number or a link to its listing. If you are not sure, enter what the box says. We will state any model uncertainty rather than assume two similarly named products are the same.
If no primary source establishes an answer, we report that limit. If your plan depends mostly on products we cannot source, we contact you within one business day of your order and refund you in full before researching further.
General product facts may later enter the public library. Your name, home, household details, constraints and personal report stay private.
How it works
- Choose the areas to research. Tell us what is urgent, what can wait and what you might add later. Up to 3 areas costs $49; whole-home research costs $99.
- Describe your setup and priorities. The form asks relevant questions about the home, phones, existing equipment, access and installation requirements. It explains the questions and gives an estimated completion time.
- Review your answers. Correct anything that is not right, then provide the email address for your report. You can answer “not sure”; the report states any resulting assumption.
- Complete payment. Your human-checked report arrives within three business days. There is no interview to schedule.
We do not ask for your address or photos. Read the privacy policy for how your answers and report are stored and deleted.
Clear explanations, dated research
The report is a plan you can use; it does not configure or run automations for you.
The report defines technical terms and links to free guides where more context helps. Start with the beginner’s guide, Matter or Thread border routers if those are new to you.
Hardware prices are dated research figures, not live offers or checkout totals. Prices vary by seller and can change. Firmware, platform support and cloud-service terms can change too; read the verification dates and limits attached to the findings.
Research, with clear limits
Setup Check uses manufacturer documentation, certification registries and published sources, checked by a human before delivery. It is not hands-on product testing or electrical, security or other professional advice. Household wiring may need a licensed electrician under your local codes.
Manufacturers do not pay for reports. Reports disclose affiliate relationships with the products discussed and contain no retailer links; product links go to our own research profiles. Read our affiliate disclosure for the current position.
Service terms
- Refunds: full refund any time before your report is delivered. If we find your plan depends mostly on products no primary source covers, we tell you within one business day and refund you before research proceeds — you don't have to ask. If a delivered report doesn't answer the question you paid for, tell us within 14 days — we'll fix it or refund it.
- Accuracy: findings reflect manufacturer documentation and registries as of the delivery date. Firmware, cloud services, and product lines change; the report states its verification dates so you know exactly what was checked, and when.
- Coverage: we research whatever the plan needs, whether or not it's in our public library. Where no primary source exists for a product, the report says so rather than guessing.
- How we choose: options are ranked against the constraints you give us, never against our opinion of product quality. Where your constraints don't separate the options, the report says so and names what's left for you to decide.
- Your information: what you send us is used only to produce your report. It's never sold or shared, and it's stored privately with our cloud provider (Microsoft Azure, in the US) — not in a mailbox and not in our public library. We delete an order that never completed checkout after 7 days; your answers 30 days after your report is delivered (the fix-or-refund window is 14, so that leaves slack); and your report and our correspondence about it after 12 months — or sooner, any time you ask at contact. Product facts we learn while researching your report may be published in the public library; details about you, your home, or your list never are.
- The fine print: the site's Terms of Service apply, including the compatibility-data disclaimer. Missouri law governs.
Pilot pricing may change. Contact us with questions about the scope or service before ordering.