Hi all. So here's the drill.
--- Bought a house. Had a few lights on Conrol4. I figured I would just keep it even though my smart home needs and desires are pretty basic. Had a well respected integrator out to the house. We now have Control 4 hooked up to a three switch panel in front of the house. A four switch panel that controls a finished-carriage house. And a few other random switches in the house (backyard lights, etc.). Plus 4 locks.
--- The goal was to be able to: (1) easily control locks (set up a code for the dog walker...lock or unlock remotely with a tap...etc.); (2) link to Alexa so we can turn off back yard light -- for example -- with voice control; and (3) have a few simple scenes...like "lock the doors and turn off all outdoor lights and lights out in carriage house at xzy time."
--- To their credit, they DID set this up. But after multiple years, I have decided that Control4 is mind-blowingly crappy. Maybe if you are doing much crazier stuff than I am, it has capabilities that boggle the mind in a good way. But I look at this thing and say "the interface for when/then looks like something my teenager built for school" // "half the SUPER simple automations I set up will "break" and need to be fixed" // "one of the lights no longer can be changed by me and it says I need the dealer to make the change" // "the fact that adding or changing ANYTHING requires an integrator is just robbery and silly" // "you can't even CHANGE when/then stuff on the phone and iPad app" // and on and on and on
--- I compare this with a second home that we own and rent out. Self-serve, super simple smart home stuff lets me control locks, security cameras, thermostat, even water valves. And with WAY fewer errors. With WAY better user interfaces. And with zero need to pay a "professional" when I want to add something, change something, etc.
-- So...I'm out. My only question for this group is how much of a nightmare it is to get RID of Control 4. The locks are generic smart locks so I'm assuming I can connect them to another hub (z-wave or zigbee or whatever). But what about these damn Control4 light switches? Are those a total nightmare to replace with a more generic "smart switch" or is it something I can have an electrician do in a day, etc.?
Curious to hear your thoughts. I'm sure this is more of a "rah-rah Control4!" site but I can't be the only person who finds it an overpriced rip-off with crappy user interface technology. : )
