elee532 Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 So, I've talked to a few Control4 dealers in my area, and gotten some different opinions... My Denon 4520ci, OPPO 103D, and Sony KDL-55W800C all support serial, IP, and IR interface for remote control. Are there any differences in terms of features supported by the different interfaces? Differences in reliability? What would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy.trochez Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 You will get different opinions here as well. I prefer IP, especially with receivers. Volume feedback is one reason. In my opinion, this is something that you shouldn't worry about. Your dealer will make a decision based on your setup. Assuming you have a very solid network; which you should; he might just go with IP. With devices where there are known issues with the IP driver, he might do serial. From the end user perspective, the system should be working when he/she finishes the installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitali Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 I like more to connect with RS232. I found it more reliable then IP driver (IP conflicts, network problems, etc...) RS232 just works. I found it after client called me pretty late and told he can't turn off the system (equipment in big rack) with my help on phone we turned it off manually, later I found some network issue. but stopped using IP drivers for receivers. Up to me it OK for Apple tv, LED, Projector, but not for receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elee532 Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 5 hours ago, etrochez said: You will get different opinions You called that! :-) One of the reasons that I asked the question is that one of the prospective dealers that I spoke with said they pretty much always use IR for everything. He said this before even knowing much about my system. I thought this was strange since I understood that IR was typically the least preferable of the three options. Granted, I am no professional at this stuff, so maybe my understanding is wrong! You mentioned volume feedback... it sounds like this is a functionality that I would get with IP that I wouldn't get with Serial or IR? For me, if given the choice, in most cases I'm going to choose functionality over stability. Especially in this case where I am pretty comfortable with managing and troubleshooting an IP network. Anyway, I realize that I ultimately need to discuss this with my installer. I just wanted to get myself as educated as possible about the benefits and challenges of each option. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 ir is not necessarily the worst option. ir is the most basic and will work great for basic dvd, tvs, cd, and such players. serial is a more common interface for a lot of devices needing some type of 2 way communications. Ip has become very popular, but a strong network is a must. i like using ip more than anything else, but we make sure to put some quality networking in for larger jobs. Yamaha is the only exception to this as their to my knowledge is no solutions to their ip controls. you said it it is what ever your installer is more comfortable with. if he is not comfortable don't force it, look for another dealer. It will help with future headaches if he is not aware of how a device integrates in a certain way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knowitall Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 IP drivers have come a LONG way in the last ~2 years. I refused to use them. I rely on them a lot now, but as others have said, a solid network is a must. some devices (roku) don't even take IR commands anymore. Using IP drivers for AVR, roku, DTV and soon to be Sony tv and work flawlessly. I recommend static IP's or Mac base reservations outside of DHCP range on your router for best communication even if device is SDDP DO NOT USE WIFI!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elee532 Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 All of my devices are hard wired. Most to my Asus wireless router which includes a gigabit switch and a few to the 10/100 switch on my Denon receiver. My devices don't currently have static IP addresses assigned manually, but I can certainly set that up. Any other advice for ensuring my network is "solid?" Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy.trochez Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 11 hours ago, elee532 said: All of my devices are hard wired. Most to my Asus wireless router which includes a gigabit switch and a few to the 10/100 switch on my Denon receiver. My devices don't currently have static IP addresses assigned manually, but I can certainly set that up. Any other advice for ensuring my network is "solid?" Thanks! Well, the first step is installing an actual network switch. Every device should be connected to this switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elee532 Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 So, are you saying the switch that is built into my router is insufficient for this purpose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 3 minutes ago, elee532 said: So, are you saying the switch that is built into my router is insufficient for this purpose? NO switch built into ANY router is sufficient for ANY purpose. Live by that sentence and be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elee532 Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 ? Seriously though, this thing has been rock solid. (knocking on wood now) Any particular brand or model you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 ? Seriously though, this thing has been rock solid. (knocking on wood now) Any particular brand or model you recommend? Your dealer may have preferences. For a dumb 24 port switch I have been using this. http://www.planet.com.tw/en/product/product.php?id=45443 Rack ears come with it and it is plug and play. Takes all the labor off the Asus backplane Your devices will need dhcp reservations. The C4 controller will need to know the ip address to send the command to. Again your dealer may have desired ip ranges for specific devices. Also while your device may have been rock solid. It will see a lot more traffic with control4 pinging and polling etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitali Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I moved almost all Denons I connected from IP to RS232. more stable. no service calls anymore. For some reason after power outage, some denons (with wifi) go to wifi mode(I think because they fire up faster then router (static ip didnt help, called denon tech. support- didnt help, changed to RS232- no calls for 1.5 year) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9800pro Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Well year and a half is a long time. We have several Denons on IP with no issues. Most important is to completely switch off wifi inside the avr, not just select ethernet instead of wifi, switch it off...and second thing, use fixed ip addresses, sddp is good but not that good. Also, we had a lot of issues with Oppo 103 with serial driver from C4 and hc250. There was constant lag of some 15 seconds between button press and response from Oppo. Tried 3 hc250s, 2 Oppos and about 15 serial cables, nothing helped, in the end we used IR. For Sony TVs ip driver is working normally, the driver is even bound to TVs mac address but just to be safe we use fixed ip address. For switches we also use Planet. They are cheap but most certainly better than inbuilt ones in router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elee532 Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 My Denon model does not have WiFi built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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