AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I'm wondering has anyone switched over or reverted to a Harmony Elite setup from C4. I have had C4 and Phillips Dynalite installed since 2015 and have never been happy with the way the system has performed. My dealer has made multiple visits, and each visit seems to break as many functions as it solves problems, and in the meantime I continue to receive ongoing bills. Tonight for example, I can't even change satellite channels after having had a Sky satellite driver installed. I'm therefore thinking I best take control back to myself and install a means of control, such as Harmony, which I at least can control myself. I'm thinking my biggest problem is lighting control - can the harmony system integrate with Phillips Dynalite? wappinghigh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 If your system is small and simple enough that wouldn't be awful. I think you might be able to use a smartthings hub to control the lights and use IFTTT to let the harmony control the devices on smartthings. Maybe have another c4 dealer out to do a site survey first? AidenL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 @sonic30101 I'm in Ireland, so dealers are scarce. I'm totally frustrated at how much hassle this has been, as is my wife, we cant watch tv at this stage, after having spent so much money, its just exasperating. I know Harmony could control most of it, its just the panelized lights which will be a problem, and they were expensive also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy.trochez Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 It’s a shame that you want to replace Control4 with Harmony. You can have a remote dealer from this forum take a look at your system and see what can be done. They are great programmers here that can fix your issues. elee532, koxkp, msgreenf and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 My internet speed is only 7 megs down and 0.5 megs upload, not sure if that would be fast enough for remote work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 My internet speed is only 7 megs down and 0.5 megs upload, not sure if that would be fast enough for remote work?Yes. If you use 4sight it's really no different Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk AidenL and wappinghigh 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 I'm just worried that I'm throwing good money after bad - there are so many bad reports about Control 4 on www.avsforum.com and Trustpilot , mainly form disillusioned end users like me. It seems we get blamed for breaking it, and charged for fixing it - its very frustrating. Right now this weekend, we cant watch satellite TV , as the rack is upstairs and the living room is downstairs, so I have to go upstairs, or to the bottom of the stairs to change channels. And it will be that way until the dealer gets to me sometime in the future, as he said a DNS setting is wrong. So that means no one can log in either I guess. I'd jump to Harmony straight away, but for the Dynalite, which is panelized and had Cat6 running from there to the light switches. I cant even use Hues to replace my bulbs as they don't work with Dynalite dimmable circuits. I'd really love to hear from someone who made a similar transition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 The harmony remotes aren't really going to control a bunch of lights anyway. There are a few hard buttons on the bottom of the remote for choice loads. You won't be able to select anything in the house like an SR remote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 18 minutes ago, sonic30101 said: The harmony remotes aren't really going to control a bunch of lights anyway. There are a few hard buttons on the bottom of the remote for choice loads. You won't be able to select anything in the house like an SR remote Yep, I know, but sometimes something simple, which actually works reliably, will outweigh something fancy, which mostly doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 True. Is it just the remotes not staying connected over zigbee? Does your app work? Is it problems controlling the sat boxes but other sources work? Try a remote programmer, they may be able to find some things to help/fix your system as it sounds like your dealer may be out of his depth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 1 minute ago, sonic30101 said: True. Is it just the remotes not staying connected over zigbee? Does your app work? Is it problems controlling the sat boxes but other sources work? Try a remote programmer, they may be able to find some things to help/fix your system as it sounds like your dealer may be out of his depth I have a Router from my ISP, which he has set up as a modem. Then a Draytek router which is set as a switch. He installed a Sky satellite IP driver last week, but it stopped working yesterday, so I'm now being told that the DNS in the ISP router is incorrect and this is stopping the IP driver from updating. Also given as the reason why 2.10 couldn't be applied as an update. Neither the app nor SR260s will change the satellite boxes channels. The other sources do work, but pretty much have never been as I wanted them form day 1. Also, it seems things which have been programmed, and which did work, seem to vanish after a visit or update. I have googled on Trustpilot, and this kind of occurrence seems to happen many? Disappearing programming? You might be right about out of his depth. But I suppose its Control 4 which is seen as being at fault by me and my wife. Maybe C4 should ensure that dealers are well trained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 3 hours ago, AidenL said: I'm just worried that I'm throwing good money after bad - there are so many bad reports about Control 4 on www.avsforum.com and Trustpilot , mainly form disillusioned end users like me. It seems we get blamed for breaking it, and charged for fixing it - its very frustrating. Right now this weekend, we cant watch satellite TV , as the rack is upstairs and the living room is downstairs, so I have to go upstairs, or to the bottom of the stairs to change channels. And it will be that way until the dealer gets to me sometime in the future, as he said a DNS setting is wrong. So that means no one can log in either I guess. I'd jump to Harmony straight away, but for the Dynalite, which is panelized and had Cat6 running from there to the light switches. I cant even use Hues to replace my bulbs as they don't work with Dynalite dimmable circuits. I'd really love to hear from someone who made a similar transition. Your post on Avs was started by someone with 1 post and never posted again and it started a long thread. Most anti c4 posts on Avs are because end users cannot get composer pro only composer HE. The other posts usually revert back to poor networking Avs is a big DIY forum so it is going to have an anti custom install slant. Your issues are within networking and lack of technical knowledge of your dealer, not Control4 as a product. You can contact c4 through this forum - I believe @Derrick Cain may be able to help but again you can find a remote dealer on here who can get you set up right. Look at their threads and the dozens of people who give them good reviews. Did you have dozens of referrals for the dealer who did your c4 install? South Africa C4 user, thecodeman, AidenL and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake0508 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I just switched over from Harmony Elite to a C4 setup. It worked ok for me because I had Lutron lighting. I also used a SmartThings hub to connect everything else. I just got tired of the outages and wonky UI. I would also suggest having someone who does remote Programming look at your system. I am extremely happy with the change to C4. I’m sure there will be problems at some point but they are electronics. I’ve come to expect it. Having said that, it sounds like you are certainly having issue that aren’t little glitches. I have a remote programmed. I’d be happy to give you his contact info if you’d like. eddy.trochez, wappinghigh, sonic30101 and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 2 hours ago, eggzlot said: Your post on Avs was started by someone with 1 post and never posted again and it started a long thread. Most anti c4 posts on Avs are because end users cannot get composer pro only composer HE. The other posts usually revert back to poor networking Avs is a big DIY forum so it is going to have an anti custom install slant. Your issues are within networking and lack of technical knowledge of your dealer, not Control4 as a product. You can contact c4 through this forum - I believe @Derrick Cain may be able to help but again you can find a remote dealer on here who can get you set up right. Look at their threads and the dozens of people who give them good reviews. Did you have dozens of referrals for the dealer who did your c4 install? Yes, I can believe its down to the dealer, and no, I didn't have dozens of referrals. I suppose my faith in C4 as a system has been severely damaged, and my faith is little. I do believe honestly that C4 shouldn't allow dealers to sell their product, if they haven't been certified as being up to scratch. Trustpilot has a lot of bad reviews on there, its not just AVS, and its amazing C4 allow their brand to be damaged by sub standard installations. 1 hour ago, Drake0508 said: I just switched over from Harmony Elite to a C4 setup. It worked ok for me because I had Lutron lighting. I also used a SmartThings hub to connect everything else. I just got tired of the outages and wonky UI. I would also suggest having someone who does remote Programming look at your system. I am extremely happy with the change to C4. I’m sure there will be problems at some point but they are electronics. I’ve come to expect it. Having said that, it sounds like you are certainly having issue that aren’t little glitches. I have a remote programmed. I’d be happy to give you his contact info if you’d like. And here I am thinking about going the opposite direction. If you are able to recommend someone, I'm open to investigating if it can be improved. Thank you. wappinghigh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 20 minutes ago, AidenL said: Yes, I can believe its down to the dealer, and no, I didn't have dozens of referrals. I suppose my faith in C4 as a system has been severely damaged, and my faith is little. I do believe honestly that C4 shouldn't allow dealers to sell their product, if they haven't been certified as being up to scratch. Trustpilot has a lot of bad reviews on there, its not just AVS, and its amazing C4 allow their brand to be damaged by sub standard installations. People have problems with their Toyota and the dealerships mechanics you feel are to blame and complain on a forum about the issues with their car. Should toyota shut down that dealership? Should you keep spending money with that dealership mechanic hoping they figure it out? Maybe they just have bad mechanics. You can go somewhere else for service. Another dealership or an independent mechanic Open yelp or another service and read reviews. Or you can sell the new car and take a beating on the investment So you have c4 and you are getting bad service from your dealer. Get referrals. Shop around. Pick another service center/mechanic for your c4 work. Home Theater Advisors and wappinghigh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 12 hours ago, AidenL said: I have a Router from my ISP, which he has set up as a modem. Then a Draytek router which is set as a switch. That is exactly the gear I have (Cable Modem ...but also capable of being a router) and a Draytek but you should have the Draytek set up as the router... IMHO... you do this by setting the Cable modem in bridge mode... Check your settings would be my advice oh and read this... AidenL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenL Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 5 minutes ago, wappinghigh said: That is exactly the gear I have (Cable Modem ...but also capable of being a router) and a Draytek but you should have the Draytek set up as the router... IMHO... you do this by setting the Cable modem in bridge mode... Check your settings would be my advice oh and read this... I'll have a read of that. Got my phrasing wrong - the Draytek is set up as a router, my mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 9 hours ago, eggzlot said: Your issues are within networking and lack of technical knowledge of your dealer, not Control4 as a product. Sure. The old "Car and the road or bad mechanic" analogy.. But these issues are massive in the mind of the consumer none the less... Why is it that so many don't seem to understand the simple fact that in many instances the consumer (in this case) can't necessarily separate these issues apart? Is that the fault of the consumer or the primary product sales and support teams? All the consumer experiences is a failed outcome... as they are holding a Control4 remote... Control4 gets the blame (right or wrong) so it's Control4 who needs to man up to explaining to the consumer the whole dealer<>consumer relationship.... And what to do if it fails (in whatever particular circumstance) W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 You want to push that analogy? OK. Lets do that... Were they Toyota airbags that failed and prompted the recall? Was it the dealers fault? No They were third party airbags.... The consumer is non the wiser but in their head they think Toyota.. So it's Toyota that has to pay for and do the damage control and the follow up marketing and then direct the recall... Not the consumer, or the car dealer, (and initially) not even the third party... though no doubt Toyota will try recoup some of that later.. Who is actually behind the problem (whatever it is) is irrelevant. W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 25 minutes ago, AidenL said: I'll have a read of that. Got my phrasing wrong - the Draytek is set up as a router, my mistake. Well make sure the dealer has it set up correctly.. Also check the setup of any managed switches on the network... ...But this stuff gets complicated very quickly... W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 9 hours ago, wappinghigh said: The consumer is non the wiser but in their head they think Toyota.. thats actually not true because all the news, lawsuits and press was about Takata rea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 @AidenL- maybe your best course of action is to use Harmony for controlling your AV equipment and keep some C4 devices/ keypads for lights as lighting should be simpler to control and may not need any attention from a dealer. On a regular basis C4 users pop up here who have a system that hasn't been updated in many years so you don't always need to be paying lots of money to a dealer to keep things going. I am using a combination of C4 and Harmony for controlling my AV. I have used Harmony for years, the family are used to the remotes, and I have full control over making changes to components. But I do like the benefit of having everything fully integrated into the system with C4. So I have started to use C4 remotes but the family prefers sticking with the old Harmony remotes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rea Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 On 3/10/2018 at 1:57 AM, AidenL said: My internet speed is only 7 megs down and 0.5 megs upload, not sure if that would be fast enough for remote work? That's currently how awful my Internet is too and have been able to have some of the programmers on here remote in without issue. Now, if you have to download an update or something, it'll obviously take longer, but I wouldn't let that scare you away from trying someone on here first. msgreenf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHC Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Hi, We are Dynalite (and C4) dealers and I'm afraid the Harmony will not integrate. I'm surprised to hear you are having so many issues we have found C4 to be very reliable as is Dynalite, maybe we can help, a fresh pair of eyes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twebb Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 I only scanned over this topic, but did AidenL say which general area he resides? Everyone wants to help when this kind of thing happens, but these issues sound like networking, so how can anyone help in a cost effictive mannor if they are based elsewhere. we are all just guessing his problems. Based on his ethernet speeds and choice of a Draytek router, I think he could be on a VDSL or even DSL line and thefore his Draytek would need to be setup as the head router or from DMZ/BRIDGE mode. Why not check this first Mihaihttp://www.draytek.co.uk/support Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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