HSG, can you give us some idea of the scope of your projects? You're obviously happy so I'm trying to get a sense of what you're doing (or what you're not doing!). When you say they're running stable, does this mean the systems have been running without any processor reboots?

I'll give you 2 or 3 off the top of my head.

System 1
Theater room - Sim2 domino 30, Denon 3805, Sony 995 400 disc player, Dish 942, customer supplied VCR,C4 Media controler, 10.5 touch panel, system remote, 3 dimmers, triad silver inwalls, triad bronze inwall surround (2 pair), reel acoustics 12" sub, C4 8 X 8 amp, 110" screen by screen innovations, 8 seats.

Living room- C4 HTC, Denon 1906, Denon single disc DVD(don't recall which), LG 50" Plasma monitor in Hooker cabinet with lift(controled by C4), Tru-Audio Revolve ceiling LCR, Tru-audio CPI6 for surround, Dish 811, C4 System Remote

Master bedroom- C4 HTC, Dish 811, C4 System Remote

24 C4 light dimmers/keypads installed downstairs

400 disc DVD available through modulator and controlled in each room by C4

2nd receiver from Dish 942 also available through house controled by C4

Distributed audio from theater rooms 8 X 8 amp - Kitchen, MBR, Master bath, Game room, office, dining, Porch, Garage - Tru-Audio CPI6 with C4 system remote.

Controllers are plugged through APC along with all Linksys network equipment.

Second system
Not one of our largest systems but a little different

Living room - 50" Pioneer plasma, Denon 3805,
Sony 777 400 disc dvd, Wharfedale EVO 10 bookshelf and EVO center, Wharfedale in ceilings for surrounds, Directv HD, 10.5" touch, system remote, Dual 8" Reel acoustic subs. C4 8X8 amp, C4 media controler

Around 40 C4 light dimmers/ keypads, 3 mini touch(ethernet) 4 6 button KP, 1 speaker point at boat dock(about 350') with a pair of Pinnacle Atlantis 06. 8 zones of audio throughout house.

Customer has his favorite teams fight songs in his media contoler. When they score he presses a button on a 6 button kp and the song plays on 3 inside zones at a reasonable level and on the porch and the boat house at much higher level.
To get the boat house to work we just installed a switch in a water tight box on the outside wall for the zigby to reach.

System 3

Theater room - Sim2 Domino 30, Daylight motorized screen, Denon 2806 or 7, sony 995 dvd, Directv HD, Older Denon for 2nd FM, System remote, C4 8 X 8 amp, Tru-Audio speakers and reel acoustics sub, C4 Media Controler

family room - LG 50" plasma (IR to theater room media controler) Directv HD controled by 10.5 ' touch on kitchen bar and system remote control.

C4 HTC in master bedroom closet controling 32" westinghouse LCD(don't recomend them for a control system) in MBR, 20"? in office and Panasonic Tv / DVD combo in kids room.

Distributed audio in - Kitchen, MBR, Master bath, Office, dining, living room, 2 on porch. Each with system remote.

Around 25 switches.

2 cameras, theater room 400 disc, a directv receiver available in each room through modulator and contoled by C4

If the equipment was shipped in the last 6 months, and you make sure that all the software and firmware are upgraded and match across the board you should have a low failure rate. We have found that once the system is up and running that we have little or no trouble with them. The customers love it and we get referals on a regular basis.

Is there IR control of the second tuner on the 942??

HSG,

Have you ever had any interference on C4 stuff from cordless phones??

A friend of mine who also sells C4 says he has had problems in condos where the next door neighbor has a cordless phone. C4 acknowledged the problem, and said that he could change channels on his router. He tried that and he was still having issues.

Not sure if this was totally C4's fault as the client was constantly thrown off the internet when the neighbor used his cordless phone.

Dawn

Love those 2.4 ghz cordless phone products. Especially the cheap spread spectrum ones.....

I long for 900 mhz.

We've installed our first large C4 system, and couldn't be happier. The software is easy to program and functionality at the price point is great. The main issue with C4 is to make sure you have a stable network. We put C4 equipment at this project on a UPS also on an emergency generator. This way with power outage or spikes C4 and the network stays up. This house is 12,000 sq ft with a 1,500 sq ft pool house 50 ft from main house. The customer can operate all equipment in the pool house and main house via hand held remote with feed back anywhere he wishes. Yes there are a few bugs that need to be worked out, but what company don't have them. The customer is very happy with the system except for it takes to long for the rooms to switch at times on the MTS. C4 is aware of this problem and will be fixed with the 1.3 software release as will other issues.

Tucker,
Check back in with us in a few months...backups on backups shouldn't be a requirement in any properly designed and manufactured system-I can come up with a list as long as my arm of systems that don't have "bugs"! I can't even say how many times I've heard about C4's little bugs and how the manufacturer is aware...do yourself a favor Tucker and don't hold your breath on v 1.3 software it will most likely only throw you into another random "bug". Your best bet at this point is to make up a room in the pool house and get comfortable, you'll be spending alot of time there-believe me I've taken that ride before--Never again!!

Not yet. we tell customers of the possibiltiy up front, so they can get 5.8 stuff. The 2.4 stuff is most likely causing trouble with the zigby on your freinds install. The zigby channel can be changed on all the C4 products maybe that would help.

As far as networks go. They crash. Sometimes just because they feel like it. Use a backup and teach the customer how to re-set the network. They would need to do this with or without C4.

I take it all back, it is a fine product that works flawlessly and would reccomend it to all my customers, may I have some more Kool-aid please.....

LOL did you get busted by the cyber-cops ?

I was not "busted" I was just told that I was wrong, reeducated and returned to service....Mmmmm that Kool-aid is good Do we have any grape? Check for the thread later…..

I'm watching threads like this with great interest. I'd like to think this type of product is the wave of the present, not the future. It seems that if a manufacturer in this business is not scrambling to make a secure platform of this sort they're most likely going to get left in the dust within the next few years.

you might want to qualify that statement. Some networks crash much more often than others. especially if they are consumer grade gear.

I'm still using consumer grade gear myself but I'm strongly considering the switch to more robust products. The difference is I'm still doing fairly basic distributed audio and mid-fi home theaters. In other words my installs don't rely on Linksys to work properly. I can't imagine relying on Linksys network for home automation.

We aer moving off topic here but I just upgrade to Cisco prosumer VPN gear and at the 500 price point ( cost ) it seems worth it. I do lots of remote access and being on the LAN side (via VPN ) is so much easier than UPN port forewarding ( what I was originially taught was port triggering but this has changed since ) and port forewarding, espcially if you need to talk to multiple devices on the same port.

Sure there is a difference between $60 and $465 but what price Remote Desk Top? I think that the quality of the router less important if you have a low traffic enviorment than putting the network gear on a UPS and surge protected mains supply. Mains hiccups will due more to cause lockups than traffic congestion, though having a managed switch and 2 WAN ports is a nice luxury, espcieally if Junior is an video games fiend.

Alan

Putting a UPS or backup generator in my book would be top of the list for any network. We cannot control Mother Nature or the power company, so this is one less hassle we have to deal with.

I am still shocked by C4's lack of compassion for the end users. I think the Sony analogy is right on. This is simply bad customer service and in my opinion adding salt to the wound. Any manufacturer that I deal with would have found another dealer to take care of the customer, not brush them off.

If there is more to the story, please share.