Kimi Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Is there a benefit or drawback of placing all the controllers in one location? I currently have one 300 in the basement and one HTC on each floor next to the TV's. I am thinking about relocating a lot of the cable equipment to the basement, but I am not sure if moving the HTC's will reduce zigbee performance (the 300 is running Director). I already have the switching gear and cable runs, so that is not a factor.Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 If all of them have zserver turned on, and they're all set to different channels, with the corresponding devices' channels changed, then yes, locating them all together will hurt your Zigbee performance.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimi Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Where do I look to see if what the channels are set to? If I understand correctly, I will need to look at the HTC and the various dimmers and switches on that floor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Where do I look to see if what the channels are set to? If I understand correctly, I will need to look at the HTC and the various dimmers and switches on that floor?You're dealer should be able to get your zigbee setup properly. It isn't as easy as you might think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimi Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 I am not trying to setup the zigbee network, I am trying to see how the zigbee is currently setup. If the zigbee is not currently using multiple channels, then moving the boxes should have no impact, however if the setup is using the multiple channels, then I better leave the boxes where they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebster Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 If all of them have zserver turned on, and they're all set to different channels, with the corresponding devices' channels changed, then yes, locating them all together will hurt your Zigbee performance.RyanEI thought it was common practice (and my plan not yet installed though) to locate all HC controllers in the central equipment room. Doesn't each zigbee light switch also repeat the signal? So if the controller was in a room with a couple of light switches/dimmers, I would think it wouldn't make much of a difference, since the light switches would retransmit the zigbee signal. If it does still make a difference, I'd like to learn what am I missing? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 If all of them have zserver turned on' date=' and they're all set to different channels, with the corresponding devices' channels changed, then yes, locating them all together will hurt your Zigbee performance.RyanE[/quote']I thought it was common practice (and my plan not yet installed though) to locate all HC controllers in the central equipment room. Doesn't each zigbee light switch also repeat the signal? So if the controller was in a room with a couple of light switches/dimmers, I would think it wouldn't make much of a difference, since the light switches would retransmit the zigbee signal. If it does still make a difference, I'd like to learn what am I missing? Thanks!It's not, actually. Common practice is a controller at each television, though you can locate all your equipment in a rack you must plan accordingly for appropriate zigbee coverage. Multi-floor sites or sites with great distances from one side of the project from the other will benefit from segmenting the project into seperate zservers on seperate channels, and the devices nearest that controller on the same channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebster Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Thanks for the information. I guess the zserver provides more service than just radio signal. Fortunately the HC-200 is smaller, and that's what I'd hope to put at each TV location. Does the HC-200 provide the same zserver functionality as the HC-300 in this regard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Yes, that's actually one of the benefits. It's desined to be mounted on the wall behind your flatpanel, for example, and give local zigbee and IR control as well as On-screen navigator and audio endpoint for streaming media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I am adding an HC200 for this very reason, on the top floor of my home above my garage. It will provide better zigbee coverage to the devices out on the sideyard, in the garage, and on the top floor of the house. All my equipment is currently located almost dead center of the house, but all the way in the basement.I have a slim mount on this TV and I am hoping the HC200 will fit behind it. It will be a few weeks before I get it hooked up, but I will report back and show some photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 You guys want me to post a pic of an HC200?*Sorry for the bad pictures. It's about 1" high, 8.5" wide, and 5" deep. Comes with a wall mount kit or you could probably velcro it to the back of your tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Thanks Codeman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Here are the exact dimensions• H x W x D: 1.44” (36.5mm) x 8.55” (217mm) x 5” (127mm) (with connectors and mounting plate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 The issue isn't that the signal won't get there if it has to hop across several dimmers, it's that each time it has to hop, it introduces latency in the time it takes a signal to get from the device to the controller and vice versa.For dimmers, etc., that's not as big a deal, but for remotes, and the List Navigator functionality of the remote, several hops will slow the list showing up considerably.For that reason (to speed up remotes' responsiveness in List Navigator), I have a controller on each of my 3 floors.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eeiecl Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 How many hops is control4's version of ember stack limited to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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