I'd imagine it's so you can check on them or adjust them from outside your home network. If you're leaving town for a week and forgot to switch off the air con

I'd imagine it's so you can check on them or adjust them from outside your home network. If you're leaving town for a week and forgot to switch off the air conditioning, you don't need to run back home when you're halfway to the airport. I guess ideally they would utilize a more localized protocol when you're nearby and then fall back to control->remote server->device when you're not.