I have some smart lighting which I control from my phone, set up timers, automation etc. It’s all local though, I have no need to access it remotely. You can set up a VPN to access your home network remotely if you want to be secure, but I’ve got no need so it’s not worth the effort. But yeah, smart/IoT doesn’t have to mean can talk to the public internet!
Maybe I misunderstand but the benefits of the IOT things is to access this stuff remotely, from your phone, from anywhere.
I have some smart lighting which I control from my phone, set up timers, automation etc. It’s all local though, I have no need to access it remotely. You can set up a VPN to access your home network remotely if you want to be secure, but I’ve got no need so it’s not worth the effort. But yeah, smart/IoT doesn’t have to mean can talk to the public internet!