Putting awnings and screens on your smart home

The motor in your awning or screen listens on a radio protocol built for window coverings — Somfy RTS at 433 MHz, or Dooya's equivalent. Your phone and your voice assistant speak Wi-Fi. A bridge sits between the two, and everything you can do from an app or a voice command runs through it.

That is worth knowing because the bridge, not the motor, sets the ceilings: how many devices, how many scenes, how many schedules.

myLink is Somfy's Wi-Fi-to-RTS bridge. You set it up on the app, join it to your network, and then program each RTS channel by jogging the shade or screen you want it to control — the physical movement is how you confirm you are addressing the right unit.

Published limits are up to 25 scenes and 25 schedules. Additional users are added by PIN, and it works with Alexa.

TaHoma is the larger bridge, and it speaks two radios: RTS at 433 MHz for the motors, and Zigbee 3.0 for everything else. Somfy publishes capacities of up to 50 Zigbee devices and 40 RTS channels, with 40 scenes and 40 schedules, and supports up to 10 bridges on one RTS system for larger homes.

It is a USB-powered unit in an ABS case, roughly 2.94 by 2.94 by 6.5 in, rated IP30 and specified for 32 to 95 °F — so it is an indoor device. Somfy lists integration with Google Assistant, IFTTT and Hue, and Control4 certification. An Ethernet adaptor is available separately if you would rather not put it on Wi-Fi.

On the Dooya side, the DD7002B hub connects motors to the Connector app and to Google Home over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, with a status LED that reports its state by color.

Note the 2.4 GHz requirement specifically — it is the single most common reason a hub will not join a network, because many modern routers present one combined network name and quietly hand the device the 5 GHz band.

Which ecosystem you already live in is the real question. If your house is Somfy, stay Somfy. If you are starting from nothing and you want voice control and schedules, say so at the quote — the motor and handset choice is easier to make once than to change later.

And a caution that is not about technology: an automated schedule that retracts your awning is not a substitute for a wind sensor. A schedule knows the time. A sensor knows the weather.