Home Automation System Upgrades in Houston, TX
Is your smart home system showing its age? We help homeowners in the surrounding Houston Metro area modernize aging technology to restore speed, simplicity, and reliability.
System Upgrades for Aging, Underperforming Smart Homes
Technology moves fast. The system that was "state-of-the-art" seven to ten years ago is now becoming a source of frustration. You may be experiencing lagging commands, freezing apps, or hardware that simply refuses to communicate with modern streaming platforms.
Many of our clients come to us because their system has drifted into obsolescence. The hardware may physically still turn on, but the user experience has degraded. This is often because older processors cannot handle the data load of modern 4K streaming, high-res audio, and cloud-based voice control.
At Refined Systems, we specialize in home automation system upgrades. We offer bespoke modernization plans that respect your original investment while integrating the speed and reliability of current HTA Certified integrator standards.
Whether you reside in River Oaks, Memorial, The Woodlands, or Houston, our team provides the engineering expertise required to transition your home from outdated legacy hardware to a seamless, high-performance experience.
“Is It Time to Upgrade?” Common Symptoms We Fix
How do you know if you need a repair or a full upgrade? Generally, if your system is experiencing frequent, unexplainable glitches across multiple rooms, it is likely a systemic issue rather than a single broken component.
If you recognize these symptoms, it is time to consider upgrading your home automation system:
- App Incompatibility: Your control app crashes often or no longer supports the latest updates from Spotify, Netflix, Apple TV, or your other favorite apps.
- Ghost Glitches: Music cuts out randomly, or lights turn on/off without input.
- Outdated Interfaces: You are using bulky, plastic keypads or remotes that feel clunky compared to your modern smartphone.
- The "Spinning Wheel" Delay: You press a button on your touch panel or phone, and there is a 3-5 second delay before the lights change or the TV turns on.
- Voice Control Failure: Voice commands are misunderstood or ignored altogether.
- Wi-Fi Dead Zones: Your devices drop connection when you move from the study to the patio.
What We Upgrade: Comprehensive Smart Home Modernization
Our goal is to create a unified control experience where every subsystem, whether it’s a Crestron or Savant control system, speaks the same language. We assess what can be saved and what must be replaced to give you the best performance-to-cost ratio.
Control & Unified Experience
The "brain" of your home—the processor—is usually the first thing we address. We migrate legacy systems to modern platforms so that when you tap "Movie Night," the lights dim, the shades close, and the TV starts instantly, every single time. We can also integrate sophisticated voice control via Josh.ai voice control, which offers privacy-focused, natural language processing designed specifically for luxury homes. To learn more about our platforms, visit our smart home automation page.
Network & Connectivity Backbone
You cannot run a modern smart home on an outdated network. Upgrades for smart home systems almost always require a refresh of the network infrastructure. We replace consumer-grade routers with enterprise-grade connectivity solutions (both wired and Wi-Fi 6/7) to deliver high-bandwidth coverage across every corner of your Texas estate, so you can avoid buffering and dropouts.
Audio & Video Performance
Many older distributed audio systems lack the clarity and depth of modern equipment. We can upgrade your whole-home audio system’s amplifiers and speakers to deliver high-resolution sound that rivals a concert hall. In your entertainment space, we provide a high-performance home theater/media room refresh, swapping out aging projectors for 4K laser units and updating surround-sound processors to Dolby Atmos. Discover our approach to home audio/video solutions here.
Lighting & Shading
Modern lighting scenes offer more than basic on or off functionality. Now they can adjust brightness, color temperature, and more with a button tap or voice command. We can upgrade your dimmers, keypads, and fixtures to support color-tunable lighting that mimics natural sunlight and integrates seamlessly with motorized shading, improving energy efficiency and comfort.
Our Upgrade Process: White-Glove Service
We understand that you are living in the home while we work. Our process is designed for discretion, "quiet sophistication," and minimal disruption to your daily life.
We visit your home to assess the existing wiring, rack equipment, and network health, establishing a baseline for your current system.
We create an upgrade and modernization roadmap that outlines your desired experience, determining exactly which legacy components can remain and which new platforms will best serve your lifestyle.
Before installation begins, we verify legacy system compatibility and produce technical documentation to ensure the new hardware integrates flawlessly with your existing infrastructure.
Our technicians work cleanly and efficiently. We treat your home with respect—wearing booties, protecting furniture, and cleaning up daily.
We don't just plug it in; we perform calibration & quality control to verify network speeds, audio balance, video color accuracy, and hembar alignment.
Once the upgrade is live, we transition you to our remote support + monitoring team to ensure long-term uptime.
Retrofit Reassurance: Upgrades Without Tearing Up Your Home
The most common question we hear is, "Will you have to cut open my walls?” In the vast majority of cases, the answer is no.
We specialize in retrofit-friendly installation. Because we have extensive experience working in finished luxury homes across Houston, we know how to utilize your existing wiring infrastructure to support new hardware.
Furthermore, the latest control systems and lighting keypads utilize advanced wireless mesh technologies that were not available a decade ago. This allows us to deploy smart home modernization across your entire property without the need for drywall demolition or repainting. If any minor access is required, we coordinate everything, making sure your home is restored to pristine condition.
Upgrade vs. Retrofit vs. Takeover vs. New
To ensure we engineer the correct solution for your home, it is helpful to define the scope of work. We categorize our services into four distinct paths, and if you aren’t sure what you need? Contact our team.
- Upgrade: Is your system underperforming or becoming incompatible with modern technology? Explore our system upgrades. Our goal is to migrate to a new platform and modernize hardware to restore performance.
- Retrofit: Want to expand or add onto your existing smart home system? Learn more about our Retrofit Solutions. We install new systems using wireless and low-impact wiring techniques to minimize disruption to your drywall and finishes.
- New Build / Custom Installation: Are you building a new custom home or undertaking a major "down-to-the-studs" renovation? Learn more about our services and solutions for a robust, hardwired infrastructure.
- Takeover: Have an existing system and need a new integration partner for services? Learn more about our Takeover Services. You need a new partner for management, service/membership plans, and stewardship.
Experience the Difference Before You Upgrade
It can be challenging to visualize how much faster and sharper a new home automation system will be, which is why we invite you to visit our Houston showroom.
Come experience the difference between a 10-year-old system and a modern Savant or Josh.ai interface. Hear the difference in high-resolution audio and see how instant the lighting response feels. A brief visit to our experience center can clarify precisely what you are missing and help you prioritize your upgrade budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your system is 7–10+ years old, relying on discontinued apps, or suffering from frequent lag and "ghost" glitches, it is likely outdated. Home automation system upgrades are recommended when hardware can no longer support modern streaming services or network speeds, leading to incompatibility and frustration.
Yes. We prioritize the "backbone" first, specifically the network and central processor, because these affect stability the most. Once the foundation is solid, we can phase in upgrades for whole-home audio, motorized shades, lighting, or video distribution over time to match your budget and schedule.
Glitches are rarely "ghosts"; they are usually symptoms of an aging processor that cannot execute commands fast enough, or of a network overwhelmed by modern device traffic. Upgrading the control system and network infrastructure typically eliminates these latency issues immediately.
Almost always, yes. The network is the highway your smart home travels on. If you have a Ferrari engine (new automation) on a dirt road (old router), it won't perform. We install enterprise-grade solutions so your new system is fast, secure, and stable.
Absolutely. We specialize in retrofit-friendly installation. By reusing viable existing wiring and utilizing modern, reliable wireless communication protocols for lighting, shades, and AV, we can modernize your technology experiences with virtually no damage to drywall or finishes.
Yes. We frequently take over and upgrade systems installed by other integrators. We start with a comprehensive system audit to determine legacy system compatibility and which equipment can be salvaged and which requires controller replacement.
Timelines vary by scope. A single-room media refresh might take 2–3 days, while a whole-home smart home upgrade involving lighting and network overhaul could take 1–3 weeks. We plan our work in phases, so you always have functional living spaces during the process.
Yes. We believe the relationship begins after the install. We offer comprehensive technology support plans that include proactive monitoring. This allows us to fix many network issues remotely before you even notice them, and results in minimal system downtime.
We’re the Houston Metro’s Smart Home Automation Experts
Don't let an outdated system diminish your enjoyment of your home. Whether you need to fix a spotty network or overhaul a decade-old control platform, we are here to help.
We serve clients throughout the Houston Metro area, including Memorial, River Oaks, Tanglewood, and The Woodlands.
Ready to modernize your home? Book a consultation with our team today.