HomeKit (Secure) Routers

HomeKit (Secure) Routers

Apple announced HomeKit Routers at the June 2019 WWDC conference, which will automatically create a firewall for your HomeKit enabled devices. A HomeKit router might be a good choice for people who are uncomfortable changing settings in their home Wi-Fi and routers. Otherwise, I would recommend selecting the best system for your home first, and if it isn't a HomeKit Router, you can manage the firewall rules yourself.

Things to Consider:

• A HomeKit Router is only going to add extra protection for your HomeKit devices, not any other devices you have on your home network.

• Most people will want to apply firmware updates to their devices, so they will probably pick the middle setting of "Automatic: Default security. Your accessory can communicate with HomeKit and connections recommended by its manufacturer." This doesn't even make sense to me. You are going to allow connections "recommended by its manufacturer"? Isn't this what you were paranoid about in the first place, how secure is this?

• If you want a router with HomeKit Secure Router support, this will really limit the number of mesh network systems that you can consider.

• As Thread devices become more popular, the number of HomeKit devices on your Wi-Fi network will decrease, making the HKSR features less important.

I guess it is better than nothing for those that just want to push a button and don't understand or want to mess with network settings, but this could very easily (and probably more efficiently, and certainly much more securely) be implemented by simply placing some rules on your firewall.