I wish rs232 would just die. Idk. Just saying.

Thoughts?

IP control is great when it works, but the nature of computer networks means that for any given control connection there are multiple hardware and software points of failure. It has been my experience that IP-controlled AV equipment is much more likely to lock up and require a power reset than the same or similar equipment directly serially controlled.

Cheap NICs? Bad drivers? Or it might be that hardware engineers have decades of experience designing serial control interfaces, and not as long with IP.

I hope RS232,485,422 never disapear they are very very reliable form of Com's.
Why do you think Cisco still use RS232 today for setting up the Routers/switchies... ???

In reality RS232 is easier than IP with less complications. It is just what you know best that seems the easiest.

I'll take 232 any day over IP.

I like the idea of IP, but have been avoiding it - I dont want to have to tell my customer to reboot the router when they cant control their tv. maybe I should just get over it.

The other thing I've never understood is incomplete drivers. Control4 has many drivers that will control things like receivers, but then the driver is 80% complete - wtf? Now if I need to add a command that's missing which always seems to happen I'm SOL. Am I missing something? Why bother having an rs232 driver if it isn't complete?

Either works just as well, as long as the manufacturer has the proper controls defined.

As for those afraid of rs232 it really isn't that complicated. To me it's simple. You can learn it easy enough.

;)

Nothing is better than a system with full RS-232 control - even more so than IP in most cases.

+10

+ 1 for RS232. It's hard to beat hard wired point to point for communication.

My wish list
IP and serial control for all devices
Support multiple sockets(this will help when a driver doesn't have all the commands or feedback you need)

As far as command protocol goes, the syntax is the same on most devices. IP control wiring is all the same so, that is a plus. But as stated above, IP is also network dependent and will require device reboots from time to time. Unlike IP, serial protocol doesn't require logons and passwords to connect.

what I should have said was i wish the rs 232 cable would die. that is what i meant.

just wish all the rs232 was done over a cat cable. less stuff to stock and easier to make a cable in an instant.

You can. Just buy the serial connectors with a RJ45 port on them.

I custom make all my serial cables using RJ45 to DB9 adapters. I wire the adapters to use Ethernet pins 4,5,7. I mark an adapter as straight or as X-over depending on how I wired pins 2 and 3. On straight I wire DB9.2 to Cat5.4 and DB9.3 to Cat5.5. on X-over I wire DB9.2 to Cat5.5 and DB9.3 to Cat5.4.

If manufacturers did things correctly the a Female,Female able would
always be X-Over, and a Male,Female would always be straight. There should not be a Male,Male, but if there is one it should be straight.

I wish the Home automation industry and device manufactures of amps dvds tvs ect. would use RS485, this would be a much better standard and distances up to 1KM (1000 yards) would be easy .