Control4

[NBPK402]

Has anyone ever used or currently use Control4? I am thinking of moving to it because I have been referred to it for a while and would like some more feedback from others.

 

[BrianK]

I'm a little late to this but, what would you like to know about Control4? I ran Control4 for 5 years before switching to RTI. I've used Harmony, URC, Control 4 and now RTI.
Control 4 worked great but after 5 years, the remote was getting old. I looked at getting the new Neeo remote but it was more of an add on than a custom programmed remote. That's when I switched over to RTI and their new T4x remote.

Control 4 is very stable and can be programmed to do almost anything you need it too. It can only be installed by a Control4 dealer so you will be married to your programmer for a while when they set it up.

Brian

 

[Sonnie]

I've been using the URC MX-890 forever... great room and theater/listening room. Love that it has all the buttons I need to match up with my equipment, and the endless customization. I keep looking for something new, but I just can get use to touchscreen anything. I hate using my phone other than to talk.

 

[BrianK]

The URC MX-890 is a very solid performer for a single room. The problem for me is that they don't do IP control or integrate into my alarm system, lights, etc. I used Control4 and now RTI for whole house automation and URC can not do that. The OP should look at what they want to control and in how many rooms, do they need IP control or 2 way feedback? If the new remote is for a single room with a few components then I think Control4 would be over doing it a URC remote may be a better option and less expensive.

 

[Sonnie]

Yep... I see what you mean. I do use my phone to view my alarm system at home, and both my stores... about 40 cameras. However, during the day I have a dedicated 27" display that keeps about 24 cameras viewable all day, and I can access the cameras on any of my computer, which makes them easier to see.

As for IP control... the only thing there is Roon and then the settings on my HTP-1, but have my small laptop for all that... remote would be too small. I mainly use my remote to power stuff up, change inputs and then skip ahead or back, FF/REW, volume, etc... when I'm watching Dish, Roku or movie media on the Panny.

Whole house automation is another level or remote control for sure.

 

[BrianK]

The reason I use IP Control is for the 2 way communication. I have my house divided into 6 zones for audio. With IP control, I can select a room and see what is playing and where the volume is set. In the living room, the remote will show me the volume and what sound mode is playing. For lighting control, the light icons on the remote will glow when the light is turned on so I can see at a glance what lights are on in the house.

I also use a lot of macros that will run multiple commands with the push of one button. An example would be the Theater button. When I press "Theater", the TV turns off, projector turns on, screen drops down, lights turn dark blue and then ramp down over 15 seconds and the receiver switches from output 1 to output 2.
Here is what that screen looks like. The Theater button is the projector icon on the bottom right side.

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[Travis Ballstadt]

I used the NEEO remote prior to Control4 buying them out. It was amazing, until the final firmware update which came about 3 days before the C4 announcement, which removed some functionality, hobbled others, and broke a few things.

The NEEO hardware was incredible. The software was making real progress. I’ve considered a move to Control4 just to get that remote back in hand.

I’ve been using Harmony. It’s.......fine. It does what I need in a single room setup. It’s just not great. It is a step back from where my NEEO was before they kneecapped it.

 

[Sonnie]

Reviving an old thread... looking at Control 4. The only reason I may be considering it is because it will control the shades we are looking at buying via their Android app. I see they have a couple of fairly nice remotes too. I might be interested in doing some lighting schemes around the house as well... maybe integrate our camera system.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I'd suggest taking a look at Home Assistant before you drop the cash on Control 4. The way I'm using it with my Remote Two, Home Assistant is doing all the heavy lifting and it is essentially a C4 system running on a $99 Home Assistant Green device. You can install the integrations for your Kaleidescape and AppleTV and whatever media player devices there are in your system and have those trigger most shades and lighting systems inside of Home Assistant and still use your URC to control devices. Depending on the URC capability, you could create a script in Home Assistant that can be called via the URC and operate the shades, lights, etc.

I don't have any of my lighting setup in the remote. It's all configured 100% in Home Assistant, and it is triggered by my different media players. You can also automate the shades based on sunset/sunrise in your specific location, or by time, or whatever you want to use as a trigger for automation. New shades are on my very short list here, too.

I've found it to be very powerful and reasonably simple to use, as long as you don't need to write your own integrations. There's a ton of YouTube videos that show you how to configure it and add integrations that aren't already built in to the Home Assistant platform - there's an enormous community of people smarter than me who are writing more custom integrations to control even more devices.

Home Assistant

Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server.

www.home-assistant.io

 

[Sonnie]

We've been going round and round with the shades. Right now, we are favoring Lutron, and they can integrate with about anything and are app controllable from anywhere.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Looks like you should be covered very simply with Home Assistant.

 

[Sonnie]

How about Legrand QMotion QAdvanced shades... are they listed?

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Looks like a gray area. Legrand has a Home Assistant integration, but they've deprecated it and are now using a Netatmo system, as the blinds have Zigbee control. The Netatmo integration lists several items, but not shades. Seems like something that might work, but also might require more research and configuration. I'm guessing it's possible, or it will be possible, but perhaps not immediately. The changeover from their own integration to Netatmo has occurred in the last 18 months, so fairly recent.

Also, a side note, not sure if they are all battery powered, but the Legrad QMotion blinds I pulled up in a search were. We have Hunter Douglas battery operated blinds, and while they work decently (but not ideal), they require new batteries twice a year. For us, that means going through 108 AA batteries twice a year. I just swapped them out to rechargeable batteries, but they need to be charged every 3 months. I've been looking at the BEASEN blinds that you can get with a small solar panel to avoid any more battery changes. Not to mention they're very affordable and the folks I've spoken with who are using them have been pretty satisfied.

Regardless of what you go with, I'd highly advise against anything that is battery powered. 12 AA batteries per shade, 9 shades on just our main level. What a pain.

https://www.beasenhome.com/collections/frontpage/products/smart-motorized-roller-shades-100-blackout-sierra

 

[Sonnie]

These shades use D cell and last 5-7 years if you raise/lower the blind 2-4 times daily. Fairly efficient.

 

[NBPK402]

Try Allonis software.