Steve Hammond

@joecheech Do you mean here that I cannot wire the panel to send alarms to a central such as ADT and also have the alarms triggered to C4 for extended feature? If so, that kills my dream and I may have to replace everything!! Thank you

You were right, it is a Vista thing. Not very clean in the picture, but I read Vista 20P/15P

I suppose it is a module my C4 dealer will know about?

Stay calm. That was not clear to me... I’ve included a picture of the panel. i see K4392v2, not sure if it mean anything

Ok maybe I was expecting you or someone say that the wall panel needs to be changed or or is a module in the alarm box that needs to be added.

What do you mean by What Alarm,? Can you be a little bit more specific??

I already have an alarm system installed, but I’m not sure how I should proceed to make it compatible with Control4 system.

I understand there’s probably no official documentation on this. But the few comments sent convinced me I should do that. For example I’d like some lights to Open automatically if it is dark. that said, I’d like to understand what is required to make this work?

Hi, I’m searching for information on how Control4 could benefits from being connected with the alarm system. Where I can find information about that? Thank you

I know that the more recent Harmony remotes have a better way of handling things, but I was still using the older models. That said I love the way C4 remotes work. No need to show it to the device to get it to work.

That is not where I’m heading. Just changing the Luxul AP to a different SSID/password. The subnet and everything else will stay the same.

Ok, thank you all. I am about to do some changes to my Wifi networks, and wanted to make sure the remotes won’t stop working if I change anything. I suppose that the ZigBee protocol is between the remote and the box on the back of the TV, as I can’t believe the remote in the baseman can talk over to the second floor controller directly. That makes lot of sense in a way. Thank you

Hi there, basic question but I can’t find the information anywhere. How the C4 remotes talk with the system? Is it over wifi? Bluetooth?? I figured out iris not IR as compared to Logitech’s harmony. Thank you

I figure-out most of the stuff in that rack except for the Control4 stuff for which I’m less familiar with. The Luxul portion is a wireless network that is distributed in a few rooms in the house. One access-point is located in the baseman, and two at the top floor. None on the first floor. Is it only doing 801.11n wifi, but good enough to for the moment. There is a small PoE Luxul switch used to power the access-points. The HDMI Matrix, you saw that right, is redistributing two Apple TV 3rd generation and two cable terminal (the two units under the blu-ray player) to the different TV the the house controlled by the Control4 system. The Blu-ray player is only connected to the receiver for the home theatre. I also have an Apple TV 4th generation connected to that receiver. I eventually think I should replace one of the two ATV 3rd gen by another 4th gen I have, but not connected at the moment... The HC250 is the part that is not upgradable to OS3 from my understanding. If I’m correct, it is the tiny box on the side of the two 3rd gen Apple TV, below what you describe as the IO extender. The C4 amplifier at the bottom, I figure that out all by myself. It was obvious that this was connecting the speakers in the house. Upgrading all the audio zones to Sonos may cost a lot, as I have many of them. Based on my understanding of Sonos, I’ll need to add multiple AMP (one per zone) and that could be costly. I will contact my current dealer, probably more in the fall when I get more time to think about this, and see what he can offer. The tech told me that they do not want to upgrade the OS version remotely, because it is risky, so I’ll see if there is something else I can buy and make him come for new installs and that upgrade. There is also the TV set in the baseman that was not ready when he came in the first time, so I will ask him to configure it too. EDIT: I forgot to mention, everything is in that rack, nothing elsewhere.

I learned that the hard way. I was trying to stream the Apple TV over the swimming pool once and could not figure out why I couldn’t hear anything. I finally figured out it was caused by one of the audio cable disconnected from the back of the Apple TV. Took me a few weeks before I could find it. This will definitively be redone eventually to make it better looking and help further investigations...

Don’t worry. That is one of the first thing I saw when I bought the house. This mess of wires really made me mad. The rack is in a small room on the back off the home theatre. Most of the cabling are for the home theatre but the mess of cable has to be clean eventually. And that is not the only place where I found messy cables: on the back of the TV set on the first floor, there is a spool of maybe 6-7 Ethernet cable not terminated to a proper terminal one the wall, just lying around on the floor. Maybe 7-8 feet of cable let there. The good thing is that I want to expand the Ethernet network, so they were smart enough to cable more than needed. But I keep that for later on when fall/winter comes in.

Oh we have 3 AC’s that may benefit from Control4 integration, instead of using 3 remotes. And some lightning on the deck and swimming pool are also controlled by 2 remotes. That really sucks at best!! that said I’m in no rush. I have other investments in the way for now. But home automation is in the sight as well.

I forgot to mention that my system does not have any touch screen. We visited some houses that had them installed, but not this one. the reason I said I could control only the lights is because the system controls mostly only the lights, speaker zones, the cinema room and TV’s. There’s no camera either. Nothing I feel I’d like to control when outside. While shutting down external speakers when out and forgotten may prove handy I’d certainly like to expand the system, for now I’m not too sure with what. I was thinking about door locks and video door bell. As a first thing @eggzlot you mentioned something in my system that can be upgraded and another that can’t be. Maybe that’s what the tech referred too. What is the non upgradable part??

Hi all, Sorry four the delay, been busy the last few days... But I read and re-read your answers a few times Thank you for your answers. That’s reassure me seeing this forum is very active and with dedicated users. I asked my dealer about possibly another c4 forum that was asking for a dealer ID, probably dedicated to C4 technicians, but never he talk to me about a possible user specific forum. That tech never talked either about the Controller HE version, only 4sight at 99$ a year. But considering it would only help me control the lights when I’m not home, for now at least, I did not find any added value in it. But the dealer keeping information from me, frustrate me even more about him. He was probably thinking I wouldn’t me smart enough, and preferring to let to call him and me pay each time I need a small change. That’s the kind of attitude I really hate to start with... That said, while I do understand that the Controller HE do not permit me to do everything, it is already better than having to call each time I need to change a lightning scenes or such. One question that crossed my mind: One answer said that it includes a one year of 4Sight, but is 4Sight required to use the application if done within the house? I’m pretty much a Mac guy, but my older Mac Pro is dual boot with Windows 10, so that can be the computer to use for the Controller software. How do I find the hardware version of the controller I have? My local dealer also never talked about the 15% discount, but I saw it on the C4 web site. He told me that a new controller could cost around 1500$ CAD, that’s all I heard. I’m surprise that some of you said I have a old controller, it has been installed probably in 2016 based on what I was told by the previous owner. I do not know when OS3 was released. Is there any comparison chart comparing the two OS somewhere on the web? When I talked to the tech about OS3 options, he told me that unless I needed much more (for example he named the intercom feature as not available), there was not so many benefits. Maybe Control4 is not a DIY solution as mentioned, but on the other side, I like what it proposed because it is a central solution. When I read articles or listened to podcaster on how they manage their home automation, it sounds like a bunch of apps and bridges you have to mix into the pot to make only one feature working. Each company have their app that works only when their hardware. Control4 have the benefits of centralizing all hardware into one platform. That’s one of the issues I see with home automation these days, everyone trying to implement their own standard and not working on a common ground. I’ve attached a few photos of my humble setup.

Hi there, We just bought a new house that was fully equipped with a Control4 system. From what I can see, the Control4 system I have is on OS2 (Version 2.8.1.514313-res) and I ask the local vendor and he told me that the system I have do not support OS3. We have a home theatre, lights controls in most rooms, and speakers in wall as well as around the hot tub and the swimming pool. The system also includes multiple TV setup working with the Control4 remote. So far, I’m a bit happy and frustrated. I have let a Control4 sales tech come in my house to configure the basics things with my account. Things are working not too bad as for the lighting and all TV’s, including the big screen and projector in the home theatre, but the music is another story. Question 1: My music was ripped with iTunes using the AIF format. While my SONOS system sees everything without any issue, the Control4 system is not seeing any file, except a few that are in MP3 format. I saw old post dating from 2016 on this forums that AIF support was coming soon, but nothing saying when it was released if ever. I cannot understand that a 200$ SONOS speaker PLAY:1 supports this format, but the Control4 would not. Is it still the case in 2020? My Music is on a Synology NAS if that makes anything more specific for the answer. Question 2: On my iPad, I saw that I can create or modify existing scenes in the Control4 app. That option is not available on my iPhone, or at least, I couldn’t find it anywhere. But when I try to adjust the lighting on my iPad, by moving the sliders, the application Kinda resets to default and all the sliders disappears. The only way I found to adjust a scene was to adjust the lights with the wall controls, then hit the learn button and save. But even there, sometimes, the save button is not enabled, so I cannot save. What’s wrong? The vendor told me that my system could be updated to 2.9 and that may solve the issue, but he was not even close to be reassuring. Question 3: The vendor told me that they are the only one who could make changes to my system. For example, when I asked to add my NAS to MyMusic, I had to call them. Something, again, I can do all by myself on the 200$ SONOS. Now, since it is not working, I also have no way to investigate what’s wrong. If I call again, they charge me 85$/hour for any changes, that is unacceptable. I have the feeling my house is under control by a stranger, and nothing I can do without being held by my hand. On Control4 website they uses terms such as « you’re in control », but I do not feel that. I feel like I’m control by the number of dollars I have in my pocket. Is there any application or web software that Control4 let open to the end user to self serve a minimum of control (hey, it’s call Control4 after all)? I’m looking forward to expand my home automation eventually, but I’m asking myself if I’ll do it with the Control4 system, or if I will trash this and start from scratch with something brand new. Last question (4) for today: Is there a way to have the Control4 stuff added to Apple’s Home Kit and control a few things with my phone or tablet? Thank you all for the time you’ll take to read and answer my questions. Steve