Should smart home devices be on a separate network?

Last updated October 6, 2026.

The short answer

Yes, for most homes. Smart gadgets are often cheap, numerous and rarely updated, and on a typical home network they sit right next to the computers and phones that hold your email, photos and bank logins. Putting them on a separate network means a compromised gadget has far less to reach. US government agencies have recommended it for years.

What the experts say

• The FBI's 2015 public service announcement on the Internet of Things advised: "Isolate IoT devices on their own protected networks."¹
• In 2019, the FBI's Portland field office put it more plainly: "Your fridge and your laptop should not be on the same network."²
• CISA, the US cybersecurity agency, suggests connecting smart home devices to your guest Wi-Fi if internet access is all they need.³

Why smart devices are the weak spot

The numbers explain the advice. NETGEAR and Bitdefender's 2024 report, based on 3.8 million homes, found the average home network sees about 10 attack attempts every 24 hours, and that smart TVs, smart plugs and DVRs accounted for most of the vulnerability discoveries in their data.⁴ Kaspersky's honeypots recorded 105 million attacks on smart devices in the first half of 2019, with logins like admin/admin among the most tried.⁵ In enterprise and healthcare networks, Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 found that 98% of IoT device traffic was unencrypted.⁶ And in 2025 the FBI warned that millions of home streaming boxes and similar devices had been infected and recruited into a criminal network.⁷

The typical US household now has around 21 connected devices,⁸ and many of them will never get another security update.

Three ways to separate smart devices

What can break, and how to plan around it

Separation is a trade-off. Gadgets you control through the maker's cloud app usually keep working from any network, because they talk to the internet. Features that work over the local network can stop working across networks, such as casting from a phone to a TV, AirPlay, screen mirroring and local control from a hub. Two habits help:

• Group devices that talk to each other. Put the TV, streaming stick and the speakers you cast to together.
• Keep computers and phones in their own space. They hold the most valuable data, so they should be the hardest to reach.

Two more things a separate network won't do: it won't patch an outdated gadget, and it won't protect the gadget's cloud account. Keep firmware current and use unique passwords with two-step login.

A simple plan for most homes

1. Cameras and doorbells in one network.
2. Appliances, plugs, bulbs, thermostats and vacuums in another.
3. TVs, consoles and speakers together, so casting works.
4. Computers and phones on their own.
5. Guests on the guest network.

Where Rio fits

Rio was designed around that plan. It gives you up to 16 SecureRooms across 4 Wi-Fi networks, each room its own network segment with its own Wi-Fi password, walled off from the others by default. You open a path between two rooms only when you need one, new Wi-Fi devices wait for your approval, and guests get their own network. See an example smart home, room by room.

Frequently asked questions

Is a guest network good enough for smart devices?

It's a solid first step and better than one flat network. Its limit is that most routers give you only one guest network, so cameras, appliances and visitors all end up together.

Will my smart home devices still work on a separate network?

Devices you control through the maker's cloud app usually keep working. Casting, AirPlay, screen mirroring and local hub control may stop working across networks, so keep devices that talk to each other on the same network.

Do I need a VLAN to separate devices?

Not necessarily. A guest network or a router with built-in segments does the job for most homes without any manual configuration.

Does a separate network protect a device that never gets updates?

It limits what that device can reach if it's compromised, which is the main benefit. It doesn't fix the device's own flaws, so replace gadgets that the maker no longer supports.

Sources

1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, PSA I-091015-PSA, Internet of Things poses opportunities for cyber crime, September 10, 2015. https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2015/PSA150910.pdf
2. FBI Portland, Tech Tuesday: Internet of Things, December 2019 (quote confirmed via IoT Tech Trends, December 13, 2019: https://www.iottechtrends.com/fbi-recommends-iot-devices-connect-separate-network/). https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/tech-tuesday-internet-of-things-iot
3. CISA, Project Upskill, Module 5. https://www.cisa.gov/audiences/high-risk-communities/projectupskill/module5
4. NETGEAR and Bitdefender, 2024 IoT Security Landscape Report, June 2024. https://www.netgear.com/hub/network/2024-iot-threat-report/
5. Kaspersky, More than 100 million attacks hit smart devices in H1 2019, October 2019. https://usa.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2019_kaspersky-reports-more-than-100-million-attacks-hit-smart-devices-in-h1-2019
6. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, 2020 Unit 42 IoT Threat Report, March 10, 2020 (enterprise and healthcare data). https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iot-threat-report-2020/
7. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, PSA I-060525-PSA, BADBOX 2.0, June 5, 2025. https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250605
8. Deloitte, 2023 Connectivity and Mobile Trends Survey, September 5, 2023. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/telecommunications/connectivity-mobile-trends-survey/2023/connectivity-mobile-trends-survey-full-report.html