AceOfSpades Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Every Year I continue to validate whether it make sense to continue to stick with Control4 as my main Home Automation Controller/Gateway. I look through my deployment, I see that I have a plethora of other Gateway Devices to augment my Control4 installation like Phillips Hue Gateway, Samsung Smart Things, Amazon and IFTTT. The value add for Control4 today is that it is not dependent on the Internet to operate and it support legacy device that doesn't have an Open API or IP support. At this point, I still need Control4 in my installation. What gateway devices are you using in your deployment? If you didn't have Control4, would your Home Automation be easier, complex or in between? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct- Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I personally have Philips Hue as well as Control4. Philips Hue is nice, but limited as far as what it can do by itself. I started following a lot of DIY forums since I only use and know Control4. It was surprising how complicated and limited DIY is right now. If I did not have Control4, I probably would not even think about having my home automated outside of controlling my Philips Hue lights and using Sonos as a standalone audio system for my music. (I use Triad right now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Interesting topic, my experience: if you don’t have Control4 you’re simply going to go for a total nightmare, HomeSeer, OpenHAB? Good luck as u will need tons of hacks to have things talk to each others not to mention the amount of breaks you will face because some one forgot to update a driver or abandon it totally ... For me, I keep integrating more to C4 not the other way around, so I don’t use Hue, I favored Xiaomi to it, Didn’t find a need for smart thing, I use Amazon locally with Epic driver, IFTTT was so slow so I used it in very specific trail based things ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Yeah - I pretty much just use Control4. I do have Google Voice integration with IFTTT, but it's rarely used. For music, we most often airplay from our mobile devices to the shairbridge driver...maybe you would consider that Apple Music a separate "Gateway Device"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 How are you guys doing Geofencing without a different hub? Maybe I missed something but I still need IFTTT, SmartThings, and Chowmain's IFTTT Maker driver for that...the old driver never worked right and finally quit pretty much completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I use IFTTT Chowmain for geofencing but will replace all that by integrating HomeKit to C4 it’s much neater and Geofencing is perfect with Apple based house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 9 minutes ago, Amr said: I use IFTTT Chowmain for geofencing but will replace all that by integrating HomeKit to C4 it’s much neater and Geofencing is perfect with Apple based house Ok, I assume you mean the unofficial integration, since nothing is official yet right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Of course, and it works, official integration does not exist and it will only be available for OS3.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Amr said: Of course, and it works, official integration does not exist and it will only be available for OS3.0 Is it coming? I personally don't see a use for Geofencing. I have way too many people coming and going from my house all the time for geofencing to be at all useful. msgreenf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 9 minutes ago, ILoveC4 said: I personally don't see a use for Geofencing. I have way too many people coming and going from my house all the time for geofencing to be at all useful. It works with 5 people at my house, I have some pretty involved programming to determine when nobody is home and I can't say it is 100% correct yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turls Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Amr said: Of course, and it works, official integration does not exist and it will only be available for OS3.0 Well my experience with Control4 is once an official driver appears the unofficial ones go to pot. I've done without the unofficial one this long, I'll wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceOfSpades Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 It sounds like Control4 is here to stay in the short term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 7 hours ago, turls said: It works with 5 people at my house, I have some pretty involved programming to determine when nobody is home and I can't say it is 100% correct yet. Yeah, and we’ve got 6 plus a seeming endless number of guests....plus I don’t know that I see a ton of value in it anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Just got Josh HomeKit driver up and running, built the whole setup on docker on my Synology NAS and couldn’t be more happier, Geofencing testing phase ... Syno community really built beautiful apps and support is incredible ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 On 6/25/2019 at 10:20 PM, AceOfSpades said: It sounds like Control4 is here to stay in the short term. Control4 is either "here to stay" or its future is "short term." After reading through my stockholder materials, I'd say if the execs get their big cash payouts, it very well could be a short future. SnapAV acquisition should be getting the dealers' attention -- It sure got mine as a customer/end user. I always assumed I'd put C4 in my new home -- not so much anymore. I'll be doing a lot more homework than I expected. Right now, my immediate decision is whether or not to sell it while it is worth something or hold on to it in hopes that C4 remains a viable company supporting their dealers and customers. I do plan to move it and see how OS3 works and how future Apple integration plays out. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 3 hours ago, Elvis said: Control4 is either "here to stay" or its future is "short term." After reading through my stockholder materials, I'd say if the execs get their big cash payouts, it very well could be a short future. SnapAV acquisition should be getting the dealers' attention -- It sure got mine as a customer/end user. I always assumed I'd put C4 in my new home -- not so much anymore. I'll be doing a lot more homework than I expected. Right now, my immediate decision is whether or not to sell it while it is worth something or hold on to it in hopes that C4 remains a viable company supporting their dealers and customers. I do plan to move it and see how OS3 works and how future Apple integration plays out. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic. What did you read that has you overly concerned? Snap A/V is a VERY successful business, with a lot of distribution. I think they’ll still continue to run Control4 as a “sister company”, but I’m not basing that off of anything other than what seems to make sense in my head. I haven’t done any real reading on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 We have Phillip hue ~ lighting Alex (dot in 4 rooms) - Voice control mainly music Sonos in the 4 rooms with Alexa dots - Total voice control no need for any apps Control4 to us is a App which brings together our ~ Qmotion Shades Texecom Alarm CCTV Cameras Video equipment Phillip Hue Lights Music By Sonos Voice control ~ if you can remember the correct phase Yale Lock if we moved, the system is designed to move with us (no matrix/switches/in wall screens). I have a HC800 and may need to update ~waiting to see if they are new controls coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 I only use Control4 as the UI and control layer of my home. The only Control4 equipment I have is an EA-1 and 4 remotes, 1 for each video zone and it works very well. I have the following "subsystems" that you could get Control4 solutions for: Lutron Smart Bridge Pro for lighting Russound MCA-C5 for whole home audio Sonos for music distribution Global Cache for serial and ir control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janthony6 Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 I can’t imagine using my c4 system without homekit. i use the homebridge driver and a raspberry pi. I have a bunch of drivers installed on it and control pretty much everything with it and have all my automations setup in my Apple home app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 On 6/29/2019 at 3:03 PM, ILoveC4 said: What did you read that has you overly concerned? Nothing scientific. Just seems to me like the very large sum$ for execs means they are leaving. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 1 hour ago, therockhr said: Lutron Smart Bridge Pro for lighting Do you have this integrated into C4? If so, how do you like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 8 minutes ago, Elvis said: Do you have this integrated into C4? If so, how do you like it? yes i do and it works perfectly. never had an issue. I do not have that many lighting loads though, less than 20. You can put up to 75 devices on a bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LollerAgent Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 50 devices on Caseta Smart hubs, 100 on RA2 Select. I have RA2 Select fully integrated with C4 and have no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 4 minutes ago, therockhr said: yes i do and it works perfectly. Thank you. I got a deal on the pro version of the bridge so I'm anxious to see how it works with homekit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therockhr Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 40 minutes ago, LollerAgent said: 50 devices on Caseta Smart hubs, 100 on RA2 Select. I have RA2 Select fully integrated with C4 and have no issues. Starting July 8th caseta is getting expanded to 75 devices https://homekithero.com/2019/06/26/lutron-app-update-coming-july-8th-expands-device-limit-to-75/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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