Let’s Take a Closer Look. 

“Is Ketra really worth it?” 

It’s a common question searched online and asked by our showroom visitors. Because while Ketra is regarded as the gold standard of tunable lighting control, it does have a notably higher price tag than products like Philips Hue. So, is it really the best? 

To understand Ketra’s value, it’s best experienced in person. But until then, let’s explore what makes Ketra more than just another lighting product, and why it’s trusted by design professionals, homeowners, and architects alike.

Not Just Bulbs: A Complete Line of Architectural Lighting

While most smart lighting brands focus on retrofittable LED bulbs, Ketra offers an expansive architectural-grade line: recessed downlights, linear tape lights, and track lights, all fully color-tunable across 16 million colors. We can use Ketra alone to create complete lighting designs, from ambient and accent lighting to task-focused areas.

The technology is equally advanced: each Ketra fixture contains a 16-diode chip, giving it the precision to render the exact hues and dynamic white tuning you desire. 

Outdoor Audio That Actually Endures All Weather 

Are you someone who prefers to purchase high-quality, long-lasting items rather than quick and convenient products that quickly fall apart? 

If that sounds like you, we’re willing to bet you’re a little nervous about investing in new outdoor audio or lighting equipment. Speakers that stay outside permanently—how long can they really last? 

While it may sound hard to believe, Coastal Source’s outdoor hardware is the real deal. We’ve had a very long partnership with Coastal Source and trust that their outdoor audio and lighting can endure even the harshest Texas weather, year after year. 

Meet Q-SYS, the Modern AV Platform for Businesses

In today’s IT-driven world, everything from security to communications is built on scalable, software-driven solutions—except, for many businesses, AV. 

Traditional AV systems are still clunky, hardware-heavy, and difficult to integrate, leaving IT teams scrambling to manage disparate devices that don’t play well together. 

If your AV setup feels like a constant headache—requiring custom programming, endless troubleshooting, and costly upgrades—you’re not alone. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Q-SYS OS by QSC is changing the game, bringing the same IT-friendly approach to AV that businesses have relied on for decades in their networking and software infrastructures. Here’s how it works—and why your business needs it.

Protect What You’ve Built with Building-Wide Access Control 

What happens when your facility’s entry points aren’t as secure as you think?

In just the last year, several Texas-based businesses and organizations have suffered devastating breaches, each incident underscoring the need for proactive, intelligent access control.

• Austin Pets Alive!, an animal shelter, was broken into in August 2025. A keypad was forcibly damaged, dogs were released, and tragically, one died.
  
  
• Overhaul, a supply chain management company in Austin, reported a 49% increase in cargo theft in 2025, as part of a broader rise in theft across Texas.
  
  
• In Midland, businesses lost over $90,000 in property during a 2024 string of break-ins.
  
  
• In Houston, a local restaurant suffered two burglaries in a single week, one involving a power cut to disable the alarm system.

While motives vary, these incidents share one common thread: a lack of sufficient physical access control. A damaged keypad, an unmonitored entry point, or a power outage shouldn’t be a free pass for criminals.

How Networking Powers Today’s Lighting, Shading, & Automation Systems

Most people tend to focus on the fun, flashy aspects of smart home living: beautiful lighting scenes, motorized shades, whole-home audio, etc. And it’s understandable—that’s the part you want to experience in your home. 

But what many homeowners don't realize is that every one of these experiences depends on something less visible: a professionally designed network. In this article, we'll explore how networking infrastructure supports today's most sophisticated smart homes in and around Dallas–Fort Worth, and what homeowners should consider when building or upgrading their residences. 

Attract (and Keep!) Top Talent While Improving Productivity in Your Meeting Spaces 

How is your conference room’s lighting? 

While it may not seem like the most urgent concern, your office’s environment can have a direct impact on employee performance, productivity, and morale. If people dislike being in your office, even if only a few days a week, they’ll be more likely to look elsewhere for work. 

Texadia Systems works with businesses across Dallas-Fort Worth, and we’ve seen our fair share of poor meeting room lighting. After we come in and update the lighting design, people are amazed at how much more enjoyable it is to meet and collaborate in their meeting spaces. 

So, whether you’re moving into a new unit or upgrading your current workspace, consider the following updates to your conference room lighting.

First, Get As Much Natural Light as Possible 

We can’t stress this enough. While most of us know intuitively that natural light makes us happier, there’s science to back it up. A 2018 study by the World Green Building Council found that workers in offices with natural light reported up to 15 percent higher levels of well-being, productivity, and creativity. A study by Cornell University also found that workers in daylit offices experience 84 percent less eye strain, headaches, and blurred vision compared to artificially-lit spaces. 

A luxury smart home isn't a one-time project. It's an investment that deserves ongoing care.

Installing a custom smart home is an exciting milestone. Your lighting responds to the time of day, music follows you from room to room, and every system works together with a simple tap or voice command.

But what many homeowners don't realize is that the installation is only the beginning.

Like any sophisticated home system, smart technology performs best when it's maintained over time. Software evolves, devices receive updates, and your family's routines naturally change. The homeowners who enjoy the most reliable, stress-free experience aren't necessarily the ones with the most technology. They're the ones with the right support behind it.

Update Your Downlights to LEDs & Reap the Benefits 

When most homeowners hear the phrase “lighting upgrade,” they assume it's as simple as swapping out an old bulb for a new one. However, switching from incandescent and CFL bulbs to LEDs can be a little more complicated for recessed/downlight fixtures. 

Downlights come in one of two forms: can or canless. Can lights feature a cylindrical housing behind the bulb, while canless lights are flush to the ceiling without any space around the light. No matter what you have, if your recessed lights still use older light bulbs, it’s time to upgrade to LEDs. 

Our partner DMF Lighting offers a Retrofit Kit that makes it easy to upgrade recessed lighting systems to high-quality LEDs. Let’s walk through how it works—and why it’s always worth upgrading to LED lighting.

Putting More Control in the Homeowner’s Hands 

If you live in a Control4 household, you’re in luck. 

Control4 recently unveiled its newest operating system, X4, which brings newfound customization options to your C4 interface. Plus, if you’re an Apple fan, X4 deepens Control4’s integration with Apple products. 

Here’s all you can expect when you upgrade your Control4 system to X4.

Get the Benefits of Remote Work without the Downsides 

We love hybrid work. It’s incredibly convenient, widens talent pools, and helps people live their best lives without the stress of long commutes and finding local housing. 

But have we lost something without seeing each other in person? Face-to-face interactions lead to fewer misunderstandings, more effective communication, and stronger bonds. So, when your teams aren’t in person together, it’s critical to replicate the face-to-face experience the best way possible.

A well-designed video conferencing system not only ensures effective communication but also creates an inclusive environment where every team member feels equally valued. Let’s explore how advanced conferencing technology can improve hybrid communication and create a more welcoming company culture. 

Get the Custom Width & Length to Match Your Frame TV  

You care about how your home looks, right? You aren’t a college kid with thumb-tacked posters and a hodgepodge of random furniture. No, you’re an adult with taste and a home you take pride in. 

So, if you’re reading this, you probably understand the clash between interior design and setting up an attractive entertainment system. You could have the most beautifully cultivated furniture, artwork, and lighting—and then a clunky TV setup disturbs the entire aesthetic.  

Thankfully, many technology manufacturers are catching on and offering solutions to make TVs appear more aesthetically pleasing. Samsung’s The Frame television resembles a real piece of art when powered off, and fits ultra-slim to your wall. 

And now, audio manufacturer Leon has released a soundbar to perfectly fit the width and dimensions of any Frame AV. Meet the Leon FrameBar, the soundbar built for audio and design enthusiasts alike. 

The Soundbar Made for The Frame 

Leon’s FrameBar is custom-built to match the precise dimensions and frame color of any Samsung Frame TV, creating a unified, polished look. With its ultra-thin cabinet (as slim as 2.375 inches), the FrameBar installs flush to the wall using Leon’s exclusive mounting brackets.

Why It’s Time to Ditch the Single-Router, Multi-App Smart Home Setup

Does this sound like your home? 

You have a single, consumer-grade Wi-Fi router that’s used on every floor and in every room, serving sometimes dozens of devices at once. Your entertainment, home office, and smart devices all rely on this router alone—and sometimes your technology stalls or becomes unresponsive. 

On top of that, every IoT device has its own app, cloud account, and even sometimes its own physical remote. You’re left juggling three or four apps for the smart bulbs, another for the security cameras, and a pile of remotes to control your TV and soundbar setup. It’s madness! 

This was the old way. Thankfully, there is now a smarter, simpler approach to living with home technology, with help from your local integrator. 

Host In-Person and Hybrid Meetings with Ease 

Is your company building new conference rooms or renovating your existing ones?

What an exciting opportunity! You have the chance to create a dynamic, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing space that makes it easy to collaborate—even with remote team members. 

To prepare your business for a future of successful meetings, make sure the following features are on your conference room checklist. 

Create a Versatile Media Room with Home Theater-Level AV 

Do you crave the ultra-wide screen, surround sound, and cinematic experience that a home theater provides—but aren’t sure if you have room for a home theater? Or maybe you do have the space yet wonder how often you’ll use a room with only a screen and seating. 

There’s a happy medium between dedicated home theaters and a living room setup, and that’s the media room. Perhaps a media room is a better fit for your Highland Park, TX home. You can still enjoy the high-quality audio and video setup you’d find in a home theater installation, but with more flexibility for other activities. 

Below we’ll share how you can create a multipurpose media room and what equipment to include. And to learn more about the world of home theaters, subscribe to our monthly newsletter here! 

Faster, More Reliable Wi-Fi for the Modern Home 

Not too long ago, we were writing about the exciting new internet protocol, Wi-Fi 6. But as our homes become ever more connected—and audio video streaming quality improves—that puts even more demand on our Wi-Fi. 

Enter Wi-Fi 7, the newest iteration of Wi-Fi standards, now available on home networking devices from brands like WhyReboot and Ruckus. Wi-Fi 7 offers accelerated connectivity, solid reliability, and performance that only compares to wired networks. Streaming 8K, gaming online, and smart home devices are all improved with a Wi-Fi 7 network. 

Here’s what you can expect from a Wi-Fi 7 upgrade and why you’ll be thankful you switched. 

What Is Wi-Fi 7? How Is It Different? 

The new Wi-Fi 7 promises enhanced speeds and reliability. Intel describes Wi-Fi 7 as having “wired-like responsiveness.” It packs more data into each transmission with 320 MHz channels—double the size of Wi-Fi 6. 

Wi-Fi 7 arrives at a perfect time, as 4K and 8K streaming becomes even more prevalent. Wi-Fi 7 can easily handle high-quality 8K video streaming, so you can enjoy movie night without buffering and pixelation. 

And Yours Should, Too. 

Walk into three different conference rooms, and you may find three different experiences. One room’s tech connects instantly to the meeting. Another needs adapters. A third requires a call to IT before the meeting can even begin. 

For many modern businesses, this inconsistency has become a major operational friction point, especially in hybrid environments. That’s why more organizations are standardizing AV systems across all spaces. Not to make every room identical, but to make every experience predictable, reliable, and easy to support.

The Rise of Design-Integrated Lighting & Shading Systems

Did you know 52 percent of interior designers and architects believe proper lighting design can enhance even the most modest homes? Meanwhile, 47 percent believe the wrong lighting design hinders even the most luxurious spaces.  

We certainly agree. We’ve met homeowners who spent millions on their properties, only to leave rooms with “four cans and a fan” lighting that cast a dull light and harsh shadows. On the windows, people leave lopsided blinds with tangled cords, unintentionally hindering their home’s appearance. 

That’s why lighting design is gaining momentum in new builds and renovations. And thankfully, more high-end lighting and shading brands are offering design-centric options, making it easier to create a beautiful ambiance while reducing tech clutter. 

The Rise of “Quiet Ceilings” 

We’re all familiar with “popcorn” or “cottage cheese” ceilings, the lumpy design trend that’s now ubiquitous with the 1980s and ‘90s. Another trend that’s reached its expiration date? “Swiss cheese ceilings.” 

You’ve seen them: ceilings that look hole-punched with large recessed lights, some as large as 6 inches wide. These grids of circles cast an unflattering glare, often making rooms feel more like a dentist’s office than a luxury home. 

Understand What Keeps Your Smart Home Running—and Why the Network Matters

A lot of homeowners assume their entire smart home shuts off the moment the internet drops. That's a fair assumption—most of us think of "smart home" and "internet" as the same thing. In reality, they're not. 

A well-designed Crestron Home system runs on several distinct layers, and only some of them depend on the internet at all. Knowing which layer does what helps you ask better questions before you invest in a system, and helps explain why reliability matters more than flashy gadgets.

For homeowners across Dallas-Ft. Worth, reliability starts long before you press a button. Here’s why Texadia Systems treats the network as an essential part of your smart home experience.

Not with the Sony BRAVIA + Leon Studio Frame 

If you dislike seeing a clunky black rectangle in your living room, artwork TVs are a dream for design-oriented homeowners like you. When not in use, the artwork TV transforms into a realistic painting or paper photograph on the wall, appearing so lifelike that guests will never know it’s a television. 

Unfortunately, most artwork televisions are great at displaying a matte art canvas, but don’t offer the highest video quality. Many ‘art TVs’ use a commercial display panel that is excellent for static images or low motion, but not ideal for action movies, sports, and games. 

If you want a true home theater experience, a TV like Samsung’s The Frame won’t take you there. Thankfully, there’s an alternative route that provides the best of both worlds: pair a Sony BRAVIA TV with Leon’s Studio Frame. 

Great Technology Is Only the Beginning

A conference room won't connect before your client presentation. A video call drops audio halfway through a pitch. In both cases, the equipment isn't really the problem. The lost time is. 

Any number of reasons could have caused the drop in performance. The network could be overloaded, or a device could have updated its firmware before your meeting, disrupting crucial integrations. For reliable, uninterrupted operation, your technology needs ongoing attention and maintenance to keep it performing as well as it did on day one. 

That's why the partner behind your technology matters as much as the technology itself. Whether your business features video conferencing AV, digital signage, security systems, or a Crestron control platform, you need a technology provider that keeps your business running without a hitch. Here’s what to look for.