Offwidth Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Purchased a new home, got keys yesterday. Two racks of stuff in storage room, wires everywhere, speakers in all rooms, Control4 remote on the wall. Routers in attic, CAT6 jacks everywhere. Three Tivo (? what's that) boxes and switches for video, and coax (who uses that?) sticking from walls everywhere. Magnolia sticker. Stopped by Best Buy, they found some previous owner info and offered "consultation". Sounds not cheap. Nothing works, obviously. ATT fiber will be there tomorrow to start internet service. I plan to map cat6 wiring and peruse the rack to put my Unify UDM-pro, and switch and put three access points - about 4500ft2 house, and one mesh one for the yard. Started searching, found this forum. Read it a bit, and have a strong desire to rip out everything and redo, but that multichannel audio looks nice, shame to lose it. And god damn lightning in the house, will take me ages to figure out what goes where and hook up things to Google home app.. Why can't this be simpler?? I do have Ph.D. in physics, with decades of experience working in software industry, and I can't just adjust it myself.. Damn this.. Just a newb rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraydonH Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 I mean control4 is a pretty awesome system. I would still get in contact with a dealer to really know what you have. If you have the latest gear then absolutely keep it and get it working again. If your system is ancient then perhaps rip it out and come up with another solution. But the C4 multi channel amps are awesome and aren't cheap. It would probably cost less to keep it and get it working again than to start fresh. And you can do some programming and such yourself using when / then or you can get Composer Home Edition and do even more tinkering. No the system will never be completely "dealer free" but it allows the end user more freedom than most of the other professionally installed automation systems. wnpublic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopedogg88 Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 I'm a remote Control4 dealer/programmer, have helped lots of others in your situation to get their system up & running, upgraded (if necessary), and humming like its supposed to. PM me if interested. SMHarman, msgreenf and C4 User 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offwidth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 Yeah, should be fun figuring it out. Moving up from a house where my entire setup was a Unify access point, and some ecobee thermostat and nest doorbell and cameras. Now four AC zones.. dozens of wired speakers.. gazillion of zwave switches and stuff.. I do work for a huge software company, and generally know my way around tech.. Usually prefer everything without any remote controls though.. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offwidth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 9 minutes ago, chopedogg88 said: I'm a remote Control4 dealer/programmer, have helped lots of others in your situation to get their system up & running, upgraded (if necessary), and humming like its supposed to. PM me if interested. May indeed ping people here. Sounds like a good community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Just to note, nothing stops you from 'simply' keeping it running as an audio (music) and lighting system (and you can setup control using Alexa or Google Home mostly yourself once the basics are setup) and leave your 'TV experience' simply with local TVs and boxes using whatever universal remote you want. Just an option to consider that would in all likely hood be faster and cheaper than trying to replace it or even 'just' taking it out and go to mechanical switches - even if you end up getting a brand new 'master' controller to create a clean 'new' install. Ari (chopedogg) above and a few other dealers offering remote services here can assist you with this perfectly well (as this often leads to PMs asking me - no I do not offer remote services) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraydonH Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 I'm a huge fan of remote controls. The SR-260 is an awesome unit. I rarely use my phone app to control the TVs and such. Basically I use the app to control music, and remotes to control the video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 As said above, a lot is going to depend on just how old the system actually is. Right now, you don't have a sunk cost in any solution (I doubt your purchase price valued that gear at all). If it's older (sounds like it), the cost to upgrade is probably going to be the same as or more than other solutions you might like better. If it's newer, it might be less and could be worth spot upgrading certain items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 post a picture or 2 of your rack and we can tell you what you got! SMHarman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 5 minutes ago, BraydonH said: I'm a huge fan of remote controls. The SR-260 is an awesome unit. I rarely use my phone app to control the TVs and such. Basically I use the app to control music, and remotes to control the video Me too - I hate not having tactile feedback for video use - but to each there own: I have clients that don't use the apps at all, and clients that we had to 'convince' to at least have one remote (if only as a back-up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Offwidth said: Why can't this be simpler?? I do have Ph.D. in physics, with decades of experience working in software industry, and I can't just adjust it myself.. Damn this.. Just a newb rant. It can be a great system with the right dealer. This is the most important part of any good home automation product. Most every major automation system will work well and do just about anything most people can think of. However the person installing it may not have the same vision as you do or the ability to do it the way you need. Spend some time interviewing some dealers local and remote. Get their ideas and see what their design philosophy is. Find some one that you can work with to get the most of your system. Now that does not mean they have to do all of the work for you. You can have a local or a remote dealer do the bear minimum amount of work needed which you may not need anything at all. You might just need to get the proper tool like composer home to see what is going on with your system. There is some information out there about how to use it. We do offer a training course on composer home. This can also help you get an idea of what you can do with your system and some of the ways that you can do it. https://www.patreon.com/waltstv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offwidth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 56 minutes ago, msgreenf said: post a picture or 2 of your rack and we can tell you what you got! Will eventually do.. now a little remodel will go there.. Because while I was musing over the wiring, wife was picking all the different colors and things... msgreenf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Go to a touchpanel, select settings, about. Note the director version and the director common name (that's the main processor). Director Common, in order of desirability: EA5, HC800, EA3. Less desirable: HC250, EA1. Ugh: HC500, HC1000. Odds are HC800 Director Version: OS3, minor tweaks and you're good. 2.10.x, OK, can work with that. 2.9, reasonable, below 2.7 Ugh. Control4 can often use static addressing and reserves, changing out the network can make the system stop functioning. Use the Control4 site and find a dealer near you, you don't need to use who installed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offwidth Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 Touch panel is dead, no internet in the house. Will see if it comes alive once I can hook up my switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 37 minutes ago, Offwidth said: Touch panel is dead, no internet in the house. Will see if it comes alive once I can hook up my switch. just to be clear - control4 doesn't require an Internet connection to function - it can all work locally on a local network Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 1 hour ago, RAV said: Go to a touchpanel, select settings, about. Note the director version and the director common name (that's the main processor). Director Common, in order of desirability: EA5, HC800, EA3. Less desirable: HC250, EA1. Ugh: HC500, HC1000. Odds are HC800 Director Version: OS3, minor tweaks and you're good. 2.10.x, OK, can work with that. 2.9, reasonable, below 2.7 Ugh. Control4 can often use static addressing and reserves, changing out the network can make the system stop functioning. Use the Control4 site and find a dealer near you, you don't need to use who installed it. And an even more desirable Director would be a CA10... Matt Lowe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cshepard Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 4 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: And an even more desirable Director would be a CA10... Sheesh...the guy is already not excited about the potential $$ of getting his system up & running, and you’re suggesting a CA-10? I work for a Gold dealer (we’ll hit Gold for this year by the end of the month; most likely Platinum by the end of the year), and I’ve never even seen a CA-10. Not that we don’t have projects that could benefit from one, but it may be overkill for a lot of systems. msgreenf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 3 hours ago, cshepard said: Sheesh...the guy is already not excited about the potential $$ of getting his system up & running, and you’re suggesting a CA-10? I work for a Gold dealer (we’ll hit Gold for this year by the end of the month; most likely Platinum by the end of the year), and I’ve never even seen a CA-10. Not that we don’t have projects that could benefit from one, but it may be overkill for a lot of systems. Maybe he gets lucky and that is what is already in the house. I doubt it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 11 hours ago, BraydonH said: No the system will never be completely "dealer free" but it allows the end user more freedom than most of the other professionally installed automation systems. This really shows how little you know about the other systems... RyanE, Neo1738 and MattK2 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 34 minutes ago, Control4Sucks said: This really shows how little you know about the other systems... I think the point is right as to professionally installed systems. Elan, for example, has no analog to Composer HE. Every automation is done by a dealer...l Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraydonH Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 9 hours ago, Control4Sucks said: This really shows how little you know about the other systems... Please tell me what professionally installed automation system has more end user control than control4 between the OS3 app, Composer Home Edition and When / Then? Not Savant, Crestron, AMX, Elan, RTI..... Please tell me what I'm missing here? wnpublic, MattK2 and RyanE 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 15 hours ago, cshepard said: Sheesh...the guy is already not excited about the potential $$ of getting his system up & running, and you’re suggesting a CA-10? I work for a Gold dealer (we’ll hit Gold for this year by the end of the month; most likely Platinum by the end of the year), and I’ve never even seen a CA-10. Not that we don’t have projects that could benefit from one, but it may be overkill for a lot of I personally do not sell out of my own wallet. I would love to buy a buy a ca10 but can't justify the cost. I'm sure most systems could benefit from a ca10 performance wise. Faster everything and redundancy is never a bad thing. South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 This was an interesting article I read today that made me think of this question. "My Evolution from Reluctant Smart Home Customer into a Fully Committed Enthusiast" https://restechtoday.com/reluctant-smart-home-customer/amp/ South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 On 5/6/2021 at 3:02 PM, msgreenf said: just to be clear - control4 doesn't require an Internet connection to function - it can all work locally on a local network But a switch is a critical part of an internal network Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 2 hours ago, SMHarman said: But a switch is a critical part of an internal network Nah, just twist all the wires together by colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.