Control4 in Rental Property Best Practices

[ejn1]

Hi all,

I have a second home that I will be renting that has a control4 system installed.   I'm trying to figure out how best to transition the system as the tenant is not keen on the landlord having access to the homes system (for privacy, etc) while they are renting.   I also have the desire to have a reliable low touch simple setup.   I was going to remove everything from the Control4 project aside from lighting for simplicity a less probability of something not working.    Any thoughts how best to setup a lighting only C4 system that is minimum downtime and maintains a tenants privacy?  One thought I had was just to convert the tenant to be the C4 customer of record registered to the project / controller.   Is this the best approach or am I missing a simpler solution?

Another element is the tenant wants their own ISP relationship with a simple wifi/modem/router that comes with the ISP.   If I have the C4 controller on DHCP, will it pick up simply when connected to the tenants new router? Or will some dealer set up be inevitable?

Huge thanks!

[RAV]

Have them get a different ISP from yours for their network, as most ISPs won't do two accounts to one address.
Disconnect just the modem from your network unless service to the system is required, and they'll need to reconnect after power outages for TP to get the time right.
Provide a touchpanel for overall control of home systems.
Take any remotes.
Tell them to supply their own AppleTV or Stick for the TVs.
No music.

[ejn1]

6 minutes ago, RAV said:

Have them get a different ISP from yours for their network, as most ISPs won't do two accounts to one address.
Disconnect just the modem from your network unless service to the system is required, and they'll need to reconnect after power outages for TP to get the time right.
Provide a touchpanel for overall control of home systems.
Take any remotes.
Tell them to supply their own AppleTV or Stick for the TVs.
No music.

Thanks RAV,  I want to make sure I'm following you correctly.   I'm going to cancel my existing ISP so it will just be theirs in the end.   They will have their own router/modem combo from the ISP.  Are you saying just keep the system in my name but not have the C4 controller connected to the home network at all?  So it would just be the C4 controller and the zigbee lights?  and if there is a power outages just plug the controller in the network to sync time and then unplug again?  Thanks!

[RAV]

I was suggesting maintaining your ISP, unless it's a very long rental. Leave your ISP modem live, but not connected to the router to maintain their privacy.
Then if things go south, or you need to support, you can reconnect, even if it's temporary.
You won't have control over their router choice, and it'll likely be junk. Nor control over their IP settings, which may cause conflicts.
Maintain as it's own system, just disconnect from the Internet for privacy, and they don't get music etc.

It's not Burger King, no having it their way, it's your property.
 

[ejn1]

4 hours ago, RAV said:

I was suggesting maintaining your ISP, unless it's a very long rental. Leave your ISP modem live, but not connected to the router to maintain their privacy.
Then if things go south, or you need to support, you can reconnect, even if it's temporary.
You won't have control over their router choice, and it'll likely be junk. Nor control over their IP settings, which may cause conflicts.
Maintain as it's own system, just disconnect from the Internet for privacy, and they don't get music etc.

It's not Burger King, no having it their way, it's your property.
 

Thanks Rav,  It is a longer term rental and unfortunately maintaining 2 ISPs will not work in this situation although I now understand what you are getting at.   What about just changing the controller to a newly created account for Tenant?  Would this be a solution?   Also, happy to hear if anyone has any other options to ponder.

[ejn1]

Was reading other threads and one triggered a thought... Is it possible (for a lighting only system) to have the EA-3 Director Controller disconnected from the Internet entirely (eg no cat6 connection at all), set the time to "Legacy" and let it just operate the zigbee lighting network with no remote or local access?   Eg will the lighting and keypads just work as per normal?

Thanks!

[RAV]

10 minutes ago, ejn1 said:

Was reading other threads and one triggered a thought... Is it possible (for a lighting only system) to have the EA-3 Director Controller disconnected from the Internet entirely (eg no cat6 connection at all), set the time to "Legacy" and let it just operate the zigbee lighting network with no remote or local access?   Eg will the lighting and keypads just work as per normal?

Thanks!

As long as there’s a router for it. But as mentioned touch panels don’t like that.

[ejn1]

3 minutes ago, RAV said:

As long as there’s a router for it. But as mentioned touch panels don’t like that.

Can I ask why does it need a router in my example?  It already has a project assigned to it and it will only have zigbee devices (no touch panels in the home).     My thinking was turn over to the tenant unplugged from network, then if any issues arise, he plugs into his network and the dealer remote access to fix but my hope is that will be rare.  Huge thanks for the quick replies.  I will make sure the controller is not set to a fixed IP to ensure it gets an assigned address if the tenant has to later connect to his router.

[RAV]

Cause control4 said so, don’t remember technicals.

I believe just a network switch will suffice as well, someone else can chime in, couple done we use a router so we can connect on site easily.

[ejn1]

47 minutes ago, RAV said:

Cause control4 said so, don’t remember technicals.

I believe just a network switch will suffice as well, someone else can chime in, couple done we use a router so we can connect on site easily.

ok,  thx...

[cdcllc]

You might just give them access to the router and they can control who has access (i.e. allow only known Mac id's on the network) and give them wifi access point access as well.  You can always get access back later doing a factory restore if they leave without turning access back over.  Or if you don't want to do that, have them put their own router in, etc.  

[ejn1]

On 7/14/2023 at 6:34 AM, cdcllc said:

You might just give them access to the router and they can control who has access (i.e. allow only known Mac id's on the network) and give them wifi access point access as well.  You can always get access back later doing a factory restore if they leave without turning access back over.  Or if you don't want to do that, have them put their own router in, etc.  

Thanks, they are going to put their own ISP supplied wifi router after they move in.