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Want to ditch my dealer


N347RG

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19 hours ago, N347RG said:

. I bought a new system to add as a dual NAT, which is where this mess started. EVERYTHING was working great. I had blazing fast WiFi. Latency issues with Ring went away, etc. then about 24 hours later Control4 stopped working.  As long as I stick with my current dealer, I will have shitty WiFi and no control over Control4. Will see how things go when they come out tomorrow. 

what do you mean you bought a new system to add as a dual NAT.....  are you running 2 different WIFI systems??

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4 hours ago, ekohn00 said:

what do you mean you bought a new system to add as a dual NAT.....  are you running 2 different WIFI systems??

I think it is a problem. new wifi system may have its own router. Daisy chained/plugged into  same switch  routers, it is not very healthy connection.

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6 hours ago, vitali said:

2 waps should be enough. depends on you house of course.

I would say with 5G, 2 WAPs is not enough and most folks now want to connect on 5G so proximity to WAP is key.   with 2G and Long Range WAPs probably enough but dont think so with 5G Coverage.  

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7 hours ago, N347RG said:

6400 sq ft, single level

I don’t think 2 araknis waps will provide provide proper coverage. I have 6000 sf on 2 floors and 2 on each floor worked out good. And then I switched to ruckus and it was much better 

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On 8/24/2020 at 7:55 PM, vitali said:

I think it is a problem. new wifi system may have its own router. Daisy chained/plugged into  same switch  routers, it is not very healthy connection.

And the problem these days is that ISPs may require you to use their router if you are also using them for TV services as they use the LAN to deliver TV throughout the house.  It can make it very tricky to maintain your own network at home without being a sophisticated network admin unless you solely use your ISPs hardware for LAN/Wifi.  This is one of the reasons that I am staying on legacy cable rather than switching to the latest and greatest IPTV solution from my ISP/cable company (Rogers cable) or switching to Fibe Internet/TV from Bell Canada.  I want to continue to use my Ubiquiti Unifi USG and WAPs for my home network.  But I have to think that before too long they will deprecate legacy cable.

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2 hours ago, zaphod said:

And the problem these days is that ISPs may require you to use their router if you are also using them for TV services as they use the LAN to deliver TV throughout the house.  It can make it very tricky to maintain your own network at home without being a sophisticated network admin unless you solely use your ISPs hardware for LAN/Wifi.  This is one of the reasons that I am staying on legacy cable rather than switching to the latest and greatest IPTV solution from my ISP/cable company (Rogers cable) or switching to Fibe Internet/TV from Bell Canada.  I want to continue to use my Ubiquiti Unifi USG and WAPs for my home network.  But I have to think that before too long they will deprecate legacy cable.

With Serices like FIOS, set top boxes rely on MoCA technology to get their Internet access. To get this to work, simply connect the ISP Router's WAN port to an ethernet port on your network (when using your own router). Say a little prayer, and feel free to do a jig if it works.

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On 8/23/2020 at 7:25 PM, N347RG said:

My dealer also manages my Router, Switch and WiFi.They only support one platform. They have been out three times to try to improve the coverage and performance. The WiFi is a bigger problem. I bought a new system to add as a dual NAT, which is where this mess started. EVERYTHING was working great. I had blazing fast WiFi. Latency issues with Ring went away, etc. then about 24 hours later Control4 stopped working.  As long as I stick with my current dealer, I will have shitty WiFi and no control over Control4. Will see how things go when they come out tomorrow. 

N34, did the dealer show up and fix all your problems? I’m Gonna guess he didn’t even show up. 

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Going to mirror what everyone else is saying, it sounds like the network is the issue, coupled probably with zigbee issues (which I do side with your original dealer. Zigbee runs on 2.4ghz band so that WiFi you added/changed could easily be overlapping if not configured properly to account for the Zigbee radios).

On the flip side they could also be side stepping their poor installation by blaming your WiFi. Regardless I’d concentrate on getting a network export in there. Start with the wired network and topology starting from the ISP down to the WAPs. Then worry about WiFi channel setting/Zigbee channel setting and coverage. Too many WAPs is a bad thing if the power isn’t adjusted properly in respects to neighboring WAPs. Plus if there’s no coordinator involved between the WAPs the channel switching (especially if they’re all set to automatic) will be chaotic.

One last thing. The safest way to deal with ISP’s that force their equipment in the mix and that can’t be set into a bridge mode, make sure to setup a DMZ on the first router in the mix, pointing to the second router in the mix (set by a static IP). Had to do this all the time with job sites that had Fios.

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On 8/26/2020 at 10:39 AM, zaphod said:

And the problem these days is that ISPs may require you to use their router if you are also using them for TV services as they use the LAN to deliver TV throughout the house.  It can make it very tricky to maintain your own network at home without being a sophisticated network admin unless you solely use your ISPs hardware for LAN/Wifi.  This is one of the reasons that I am staying on legacy cable rather than switching to the latest and greatest IPTV solution from my ISP/cable company (Rogers cable) or switching to Fibe Internet/TV from Bell Canada.  I want to continue to use my Ubiquiti Unifi USG and WAPs for my home network.  But I have to think that before too long they will deprecate legacy cable.

Sure. I had that kind of problems a lot, cameras connected to ISP router, so I can't reconfigure it, cable boxes with wifi access to ISP router with few ISP WAPS.  Some additional services, client has remote access, security system connected. There are a lot of cases I can't bridge ISP router. So.... there for I mentioned that I saw some systems with double NAT working. As well many times I saw daisy chained routers with same sub net ISP router 192.168.0.1 and another router with 192.168.0.1. I can say more, I saw them connected to same switch with LAN ports, so it was really interesting. :) Saw one part of network connected to ISP router and another to another router (Can't print, can't stream, can't see, ETC.). Guy who does network needs to understand what does he do and be able to finf and fix all that "stuff that suppose to make network better". For client it will be good to find that kind of guy and do not touch network even with DIY "easy for self installation" devices. 

Found many times P&P means Plug and pray :)

 

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  • 9 months later...

Curious if you ever found an excellent solution to your network and internet issues?  And your remotes etc. working the way you want.

If I recall correctly, a clients network is the biggest bottleneck in regards to system performance and therefore customer complaints.

Unfortunately wifi gets saturated as our world gets filled with more and more wireless devices and why a true expert is gold when designing your mesh and network hierarchy.

Not understanding bandwidth and upload download speeds can also clog the network,  compounding the issues.  

There is a war of providers as well with the homeowner being a casualty as most technicians don't seem to care about the client ahead of their job.  Its a rough world in technology as a huge convenient pain in the butt.

But when it becomes an extension of you lifestyle, and seamlessly reacts to your whim and has the function available whenever its needed, what a dream come true that is. 

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  • 6 months later...
On 8/26/2020 at 9:16 PM, JSTRONG said:

N34, did the dealer show up and fix all your problems? I’m Gonna guess he didn’t even show up. 

Been a while, but yes they did show up and got me going. I have had a continual string of issues though. About once every 3-4 months I have to have them come back out to fix my system. 
 

Now they are saying my WiFi needs to be updated to improve coverage. Probably true, but then I will have yet another system that I have to have them manage. They are recommending a Ubiquiti Unifi system and want to charge me 3-4 times what I could purchase it’s for directly. They also said they could not give me control of the dashboard. I could do it myself or have someone else install, but then they have said they would not connect my C4 to the new network, so the C4 would be useless. They refuse to sell me Composer so that I can have some control over my system. 

 

 

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52 minutes ago, N347RG said:

They refuse to sell me Composer so that I can have some control over my system. 

 

 

Just to clarify, if you simply asked for "Composer", they likely assume you are asking for Composer Pro, which is licensed to dealers only. The version mentioned above is Compose Home Edition, which has 90% of the same functionality and can be purchased by any customer. Any of the fine remote dealers on this forum can assist you with getting HE if you would like.

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3 hours ago, N347RG said:

Been a while, but yes they did show up and got me going. I have had a continual string of issues though. About once every 3-4 months I have to have them come back out to fix my system. 
 

Now they are saying my WiFi needs to be updated to improve coverage. Probably true, but then I will have yet another system that I have to have them manage. They are recommending a Ubiquiti Unifi system and want to charge me 3-4 times what I could purchase it’s for directly. They also said they could not give me control of the dashboard. I could do it myself or have someone else install, but then they have said they would not connect my C4 to the new network, so the C4 would be useless. They refuse to sell me Composer so that I can have some control over my system. 

 

 

Have your new network admin follow the same IP scheme thats already existing inside your network. There is very little else likely needed to “hook Control4 up to the new network”. That sentence in itself shows the dealers inept and out for profits. 

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Yeah you def need a new dealer. They are trying to milk you. As discussed find out what the static ips and dhcps on the current network than replicate on the new network. Also no reason at all you can't have Composer HE available to every customer. Again any dealer here will gladly sell you a license and it comes with a free year of 4sight so you really only pay $50 for it. 

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any client we sell HE we let them know if we get a call from you and find your system malfunctioning because of changes made by the client it becomes billable hours. like others have said, you can change your wifi just keep the same dhcp pool, dhcp reservations. Personally i like our clients having HE so they can make the system thiers.

 

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