As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly set up a smart home hub.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the hub manufacturer's current support page and record the exact hub model, required app, supported phone type and any stated compatibility limits.
   2. Gather the hub, its power supply, your phone, the router, the devices you want to connect and their model numbers, then place the hub near the router and a power socket.
   3. Install the manufacturer's app from the official app store, create or sign in to the hub account, and enable two-step verification if the service offers it without pasting any password into the chatbot.
   4. Paste the prompt and your model details into a chatbot, then follow one physical step at a time, reporting the exact message or light pattern after each step.
   5. In the manufacturer's app, compare the proposed setup with the current menus and confirm that the hub is online, its firmware is current and each device is listed under the correct room.
   6. Test every connected device from the app and, where relevant, from its physical control, including lights, heating, sensors, cameras, locks or alarms, and record only non-secret settings.
   7. If pairing fails, use the manufacturer's documented reset and recovery instructions rather than an unverified chatbot instruction, and contact the manufacturer before connecting a safety-critical device.

   Prompt

   Help me set up my smart home hub in the UK. Give me one step at a time and wait for my result before continuing.
   
   Hub make and exact model: [hub model]
   Hub app name and phone type: [app and iPhone or Android]
   Router make and model, if known: [router details]
   Internet provider: [provider]
   Devices I want to connect: [devices and exact models]
   What is already done: [unpacked, powered, app installed, account created, or nothing]
   What happens now: [description]
   
   Use only the information I provide and information that is clearly applicable to the exact models. Do not guess compatibility, button locations, passwords, security settings or menu names. If a detail is missing, ask for it or tell me to check the manufacturer's current manual or support page. Never ask me to paste a Wi-Fi password, account password, access code, recovery phrase or other secret. Tell me when I need to be physically near the hub or device, when a reset could erase settings, and when I should stop and contact the manufacturer's support. Prefer secure settings, including a strong unique account password, two-step verification where available, updated firmware and a separate guest or smart-device network if the router supports it. After each step, tell me exactly what successful result I should see. At the end, give me a test checklist for every connected device and a short list of settings to record without recording secrets.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.