Is C4 getting lapped by open source solutions?

[eggzlot]

Just now, Cyknight said:

LOL I'm aware, as well as being aware that Chevy and GMC trucks use the same chassis - but that goes back to Toyota vs Lexus.

Just stirring the pot

which you do best

and for the record I haven't driven a GMC for 20 years, only 5 years and I don't own the Envoy anymore.  Was just making a comparison for the sake of the good old car analogy.

[msgreenf]

2 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

Envoy

I loved my envoy

[therockhr]

Why do we always have to compare Control4 to cars? 

[Cyknight]

1 hour ago, therockhr said:

Why do we always have to compare Control4 to cars? 

I really don't know. Maybe we should compare it to fruit instead? The Red4 would be an apple, or maybe a red mango? Pomegranate maybe?

Or should we go down the road of Tomatoes is a fruit?

[eggzlot]

1 hour ago, therockhr said:

Why do we always have to compare Control4 to cars? 

Always come to my mind because you can get a car for 15k or 150k. Both drive from point A to point B. Different types of cars etc.  there is a market for various types of cars.  so it’s an easy parallel to me to home automation. 
 

I’m also very not imaginative

[Cyknight]

Neither is WAP.

Hi WAP by the way.

[ejn1]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:48 PM, RyanE said:

If your mobile devices are reloading every time you start them, you likely have a 'Refresh Navigators' driver or something else triggering refresh navigators frequently, which is certainly not recommended.

RyanE

 

Not sure if mine does it every time but it sure seems like it reloads for me most of the time I hit the app.   Pretty sure I don't have a Refresh Navigator driver.

[RyanE]

1 minute ago, ejn1 said:

Not sure if mine does it every time but it sure seems like it reloads for me most of the time I hit the app.   Pretty sure I don't have a Refresh Navigator driver.

I rarely see it, of course, I'm on Android, I suppose it could be an iOS issue, but I doubt it.

RyanE

[Amr]

My 2 cents here as I compared DIY to C4 for a couple of months before moving to C4 and will never look back; solid foundation!

Pretty damn good system, polished interface, with tons of drivers for accommodating hundreds of hardware out there, backed by a huge echo system and a company that is there to last, so what are u missing in other systems that u don’t have in C4?

[Cyknight]

1 hour ago, RyanE said:

I rarely see it, of course, I'm on Android, I suppose it could be an iOS issue, but I doubt it.

RyanE

I use both - and no that's not normal at all for a 'sitting' system.

Of course HE users doing a lot of programming and hitting refresh is a different matter.

Not sure, but doesn't a controller reboot force a reload as well? That could be something causing a weekly reload with 3rd party drivers...

[ejn1]

23 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

I use both - and no that's not normal at all for a 'sitting' system.

Of course HE users doing a lot of programming and hitting refresh is a different matter.

Not sure, but doesn't a controller reboot force a reload as well? That could be something causing a weekly reload with 3rd party drivers...

Thanks both,  I will watch it now a bit more closely.  It very well could be that I tinker with HE more than the average user.   I actually love the app, just the load times are sometimes a bother for me...

[wnpublic]

2 hours ago, ejn1 said:

Not sure if mine does it every time but it sure seems like it reloads for me most of the time I hit the app.   Pretty sure I don't have a Refresh Navigator driver.

Threads on this site are full of people reporting the same phenomenon, as in the recent thread about OS 3.2 and new products, and integrating the Intercom functionality into the main app. Maybe we all have misconfigured systems

[RyanE]

47 minutes ago, wnpublic said:

Threads on this site are full of people reporting the same phenomenon, as in the recent thread about OS 3.2 and new products, and integrating the Intercom functionality into the main app. Maybe we all have misconfigured systems

Hard to tell, but obviously, if everyone is seeing it but me, I'm probably not correct.

RyanE

 

[RobbieF]

In answer to the original question - nothing comes close.  

But besides that, imagine trying to sell you Multi-million dollar smart home that only you can support.......  That won't go done well.........

[Matt Lowe]

I also have not see any open source solution that are as easy to pick up and start integrating everything in the home. Sure there are some solutions that have kludgy voice control4 and I do not believe c4 voice is any better. Everything DIY that I have seen, there is usually only one person in the house that can use it. Control4 does sometimes have a little bit of a barrier of entry but with OS 3.0 it has made it easier that ever.

[zaphod]

5 hours ago, RobbieF said:

In answer to the original question - nothing comes close.  

But besides that, imagine trying to sell you Multi-million dollar smart home that only you can support.......  That won't go done well.........

It must be tricky for a new owner to take over many C4 homes.  When you sell a C4 home what should you take with you, assuming that you will want to have C4 in your new home?  I would likely take all controllers except the main controller, and all except one remote.  If I had a Neeo I would buy a used SR-250 and have that put in.  I doubt the purchaser in the house is going to give you anywhere near the value of the hardware. What about networking hardware?  Do you leave it or take it? 

A lot of my keypads don't always have up to date labels as I occasionally change buttons.  Maybe that is why I am now divorced 

[wnpublic]

7 hours ago, RobbieF said:

But besides that, imagine trying to sell you Multi-million dollar smart home that only you can support.......  That won't go done well.........

That is a valid observation and an important consideration. 

[wnpublic]

6 hours ago, Matt Lowe said:

I also have not see any open source solution that are as easy to pick up and start integrating everything in the home.

????

Doing it on home assistant has the homeowner click through a simple GUI, per the image below.

[Köhler Medientechnik]

3 hours ago, zaphod said:

It must be tricky for a new owner to take over many C4 homes.  When you sell a C4 home what should you take with you, assuming that you will want to have C4 in your new home?  I would likely take all controllers except the main controller, and all except one remote.  If I had a Neeo I would buy a used SR-250 and have that put in.  I doubt the purchaser in the house is going to give you anywhere near the value of the hardware.

When selling a house, you don´t sell a long list of pieces, you sell the whole thing.

If you can sell it without your automation system depends on how it was designed. If the basic functionality is self-sufficient (e.g. based on a bus-system) and the home automation is designed on top of it for the comfort functionality, then it should be possible to sell without the automation system (or at least ask the buyer what he prefers).

If it´s all tied together, then the automation system is part of the house and taking it out would reduce the value of the whole house much more than just the value of the automation hardware, because that would leave the house disfunctional.

 

[cdcllc]

7 hours ago, zaphod said:

It must be tricky for a new owner to take over many C4 homes.  When you sell a C4 home what should you take with you, assuming that you will want to have C4 in your new home?  I would likely take all controllers except the main controller, and all except one remote.  If I had a Neeo I would buy a used SR-250 and have that put in.  I doubt the purchaser in the house is going to give you anywhere near the value of the hardware. What about networking hardware?  Do you leave it or take it? 

A lot of my keypads don't always have up to date labels as I occasionally change buttons.  Maybe that is why I am now divorced 

I'd price to sell mine with the system or I'd have to invest some pre-sale to deinstall/retrofit - primarily due to lighting control.  Several lights wouldn't work without the controller and those that would would require going to hidden locations to turn them on.  And a retrofit might be pretty ugly because most switch locations have single gang boxes with keypad dimmers and multi-gang boxes would be required.  TVs might be an issue too as all are wall mounted and some on tiled walls that really require remote additional sources or you would spoil a really clean look.

But you never know what a specific buyer will want . . . might be a shock to find out the cost of the house without the system is more due to the retrofit! 

[Neo1738]

7 hours ago, wnpublic said:

????

Doing it on home assistant has the homeowner click through a simple GUI, per the image below.

How many of these things will work when the wifi is down?

[wnpublic]

2 hours ago, Neo1738 said:

How many of these things will work when the wifi is down?

Any device or service not dependent on wifi for transport but instead use ethernet, zwave, zigbee, IR, etc.

[ILoveC4]

On 11/16/2020 at 12:37 AM, Köhler Medientechnik said:

When selling a house, you don´t sell a long list of pieces, you sell the whole thing.

If you can sell it without your automation system depends on how it was designed. If the basic functionality is self-sufficient (e.g. based on a bus-system) and the home automation is designed on top of it for the comfort functionality, then it should be possible to sell without the automation system (or at least ask the buyer what he prefers).

If it´s all tied together, then the automation system is part of the house and taking it out would reduce the value of the whole house much more than just the value of the automation hardware, because that would leave the house disfunctional.

 

When I sold my home I included all the lighting, 4 zones of audio, an in wall touchpanel, the security cameras/DVR and a basic controller to run it all. I gave them an option to buy my theater equipment (which they did) as well as an option to buy the entire system with video distribution, all the audio zones (I had 20), etc... They bought the theater stuff but not the whole home stuff (which was exactly what I wanted them to do).

[Singularity]

My humble opinion, as a dealer, is that if Control4 doesnt open up for cheaper and easier integration... The big corps will eat most of the business. Sure. It may not be as professional. Sure it may have flaws, and most likely a bit less user friendly. But at the end of the day. If you want to control you lights, use Siri or Alex, unlock your door and so on. You can do it yourself at a significantly lower price. Most people dont want to do the programming themselves, but using google home, and Samsung is getting very easy to set up. 

The more funded people will most likely use a professional install. A group that might, or might not be larger in the years to come. There are an increasing amount of pro installers, so the competition is not getting easier.

[-defunct-]

1 hour ago, Singularity said:

My humble opinion, as a dealer, is that if Control4 doesnt open up for cheaper and easier integration... The big corps will eat most of the business.

Kinda lost me on this one. How is it is not cheap and easy to integrate?