Electrical guide
People blame the app. It is nearly always the wiring, and the same four problems account for most of it.
A traditional switch only interrupts the hot conductor, so many older boxes contain a hot and a switch leg and nothing else. Smart switches need constant power to run their radio, which means they need a neutral. Options: pull a neutral to the box, use a no-neutral switch designed for the situation, or move the intelligence to the bulb instead of the switch. Which one is right depends on what the wall will allow.
Mechanical chimes ran happily on 10 VA. A video doorbell wants 16 to 24 volts at 30 VA or more. Undersized transformers cause the classic symptoms: the doorbell works for a week, then reboots, drops the live feed, or never charges. Replacing the transformer is a short job and fixes it permanently.
A camera sending continuous video from the far corner of the property is the hardest thing you can ask of a wifi network. Hardwired PoE cameras are more reliable, more secure, and do not need a battery changed. If you are installing more than two cameras, wire them.
Thirty smart devices, four cameras, three TVs and a family of phones on a single router is a bandwidth and airtime problem. Two or three wired access points placed properly fix more smart home complaints than any firmware update will.
Smart home reliability is an infrastructure question wearing a software costume. Neutrals at the switches, a transformer that can carry the load, ethernet where wifi is marginal, and adequate circuit capacity — get those right and the devices mostly take care of themselves.
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