Re: A mentor / Advisor ?

["Chris Hackett" <chackett@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"accidental plumber" <aplayerinla@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1162685652.562665.308360@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Chris Hackett wrote:
>
>>
>> Data:
>> -----
>> It's cool that each room has a cat5e run to it, but I've been happily
>> using
>> my wireless network for some time now, and wouldn't be disappointed if I
>> continued using my wireless.  Although I don't know if my wireless
>> Ethernet
>> will help or interfere with any wireless HA products or services.  I
>> definitely would like to have access to my HomeAutomation system via my
>> data
>> network (so I can access it from my laptop or from the internet .. maybe
>> with some nat rules on my firewall).
>>
>
> Don't buy anything that would interfere with your wi-fi.  Would you go
> back to looking for the Ethernet socket in every room you take your
> laptop into?  I bet they didn't wire the bathroom, which I take my
> laptop into everyday.  Guess what I'm doing now?
>
> Everybody goes cordless, even though most homes have a telephone socket
> in every room.
>
> There are many things wi-fi, wi-fi cameras, media adapter, and even
> residential main phone replacement.  Then the rest are most likely have
> a USB for plugging into a PC.  Get the free VNC, which make the
> commercial PC Anywhere like a joke, and you can control you home
> desktop or a dedicated computer over the internet as if you are at
> home.
>
>> Phone:
>> -------
>> My phone requirements are pretty small.  Don't use home phone for much of
>> anything.  Wife uses it occasionally, but for the most part we're
>> cellular
>> people, and would probably give up home phone service if not for DSL.
>> One
>> person suggested installing big fancy phones in lieu of a speaker or
>> intercom system.  I don't know if that's necessary or not .. probably
>> not.
>>
>
> You should go for internet phone - Sunrocket or Vonage.  Not only they
> will save money for light (and heavy) users, they have full features.
> You can see your phone logs and read your voicemails over the internet.
> You can bring your phone with you anywhere in the world and people
> still reach you as if you are at home, and the call is local charge
> wise.  You have E911 instead of just 911.  But if there's a power
> outage, your modem fails or your wireless router fails ...  They never
> failed on me for years, 24/7.  But you have cell phones for back up.

I have Sunrocket now.  Service has been medicore so far.  Maybe if we switch
to cable, and give up the DSL we'll have a different experience with them.

>
> The adapter is free if you want to keep your old telephones.  But if
> you pick the wi-fi phone, you can use it on any hotspots I think.
>
> But for DSL, you can't port your old number to the new service without
> giving up your DSL service.  Go cable, 5 M is rather pleasant.

This issue gets so complicated for us.  We've looked into giving up the DSL
and moving to cable, mostly cause we don't want to fool with Bellsouth
anymore.  I could never give up my Dual Tuner Tivo, and as far as I know
that's only available on DirectTV.  I don't know how much un-bundled data
service from our cable company costs, or if it's even available.  I'm
guessing that the cost of unbundled data service from the cable company is
more than the savings of giving up bellsouth and DSL.  Of course it's all
moot if I have to give up the dual tuner tivo.  That's just not gonna happen
:)

>
> If you need an intercom, you need video intercom.  Otherwise a camera
> is safer than voice intercom.  If you get a wi-fi cam around $100, you
> can use it as a security cam when you leave home.  You can see it over
> the internet without your PC.

This is cool stuff.  I would like to do something like this if it's 1) Not
unsightly and can integrate with the environment reasoably well .. and 2)
It's low-to-no maintainence.

>
>> HVAC:
>> --------
>> I don't know what all the options are with this, but I would suspect that
>> anything above and beyond the standard programmable thermostat would
>> suffice
>> for me.  It might be cool to have a few temperature sensors in various
>> places in the home and control the system from those sensors as opposed
>> to
>> the single sensor that's in the thermostat.  In our current home, we
>> moved
>> the thermostat into the master bedroom instead of out in the hall.
>> Definitely care more about the temp in the bedroom than in the hall way,
>> and
>> there's a significant difference.
>
> I used wireless programmable thermostat Totaline.  I carry it where I
> need the temperature to be regulated.   Evening time, center of the
> living room.  Night time, the coolest or hottest bedroom.  More
> thermostat is a waste, you only get bad compromises.  Optimum location
> of thermostat depends on season and time.  If all your rooms are of
> equal temperature no matte what, you just need the plain old
> thermostat.

That's an interesting concept.  I'm not sure if it's for me or not, but
definitely makes sense.  I'm not sure if I'll remember or want to carry a
thermostat with me from place to place.  I wonder if there's a solution
where I can install temperature sensors in various places, and then program
the thermostat to regulate the temperature based on different, stationary,
sensors .. maybe based on time of day as well.

>
>>
>> Security:
>> ---------
>> Again, I would expect that whatever is above and beyond the standard
>> system
>> is cool with me.  My system now has standard burglar and fire monitoring
>> with all the usual bells and whistles (zones, motion, perimeter, etc..).
>
> Think wi-fi cam.  The range should be better than any of the x10 craps
> and the 1.2 GHz tiny craps.  By definition you get as many cams as your
> wireless router can support NAT.  Not just 1 channel for the 1.2GHz
> craps and 4 channels for the 2.4G X-10 craps or similar craps on eBay.
> You can see your home when you are on vacation.

I don't understand a lot of what you're saying, and I would like to install
some camers, as long as they're low maintainence and relatively well
integrated into my environment.  I don't want them to be an eyesore.  And
while the cameras are cool, the motion and perimeter sensors and central
monitoring are important to me.  More important than cameras.  If someone is
intruding into my home or my "space" I'm much less interested in seeing
them, than in getting rid of them.

>
>>
>> A/V:
>> ------
>> This is probably one of the bigger issues for us.  We have, and LOVE, our
>> dual tuner DirectTivo.  Only problem is that we only have one of them in
>> the
>> family room.  We can't route the signal anywhere else.  Well, I suppose
>> we
>> could, but currently we don't.  I'm thinking there must be some sort of
>> solution to put the TIVO, and all the other AV equipment in the theater,
>> and
>> use IR "stuff" to control it from other rooms, and program which signal
>> goes
>> where.  My guess is this stuff aint cheap, so it may be cost prohibitive.
>> Oh .. and whole house audio is always cool.
>
> The newer Tivo's are all network aware.  You can have a Ethernet
> adapter or a wi-fi adapter.  Multi room transfers are the aim, but I
> think you need 1 Tivo for each TV.  Well if you have plasma in each
> room, I guess the price of tivo doesn't bother you.   I suppose you can
> control all your Tivo's via your laptop wirelessly.  I think you can
> grab the video with your desktop and beam it via wi-fi and receive it
> with a wi-fi media adapter, if that's cheaper than a tivo box.
>
> There are always those dump IR range extenders, which turn IR signal
> into RF and back.  No line of sight is needed.

Yeah .. it's been a while since I looked intothe Tivo's..I guess they're on
series 3 now?

I don't know what the practical reality is of what you described above.  If
my wife is in the kitchen preparing dinner, I don't want it to be a 3 step
move that requires punching keys on a wireless laptop if she wants to turn
on the tv and watch something from the tivo in the kitchen.  I realize that
if I only have 1 tivo, then it can only send one signal at a time .. so that
anyone in the house that's watching the tivo will all be watching the same
thing.  I think we can live with that.

>
>>
>> Lighting:
>> --------
>> I don't think there's anything too unique about what I think is cool
>> here.
>> Pre-Set "scenes" like "evening" or "party" or "sleep time" or whatever.
>> I
>> had a fellow out that was telling me that I would need to start replacing
>> all the switches with some kind of $100 switch.  That would be WAY
>> expensive
>> for me .. I would bet the gang of switches in the entry way would cost me
>> close to $1,000 to replace, and that's only taking 3 steps into the
>> house!
>>
>> Whew .. that's a lot.  I guess what I'm thinking most about now is the
>> main
>> panel and how much it will cost to make sure that down the road I don't
>> have
>> to replace it because I didn't give it enough thought.
>
> Even if you throw money indiscriminately into X-10, a main filter, lots
> of blockers for noisy appliances, it's much cheaper.  Then it's fully
> programmable via PC, and executed at the click of a button.  For
> brownouts, you need some sort of interruptible power supply for the
> lights, which I guess is not practical.  The alternative is battery
> operated wireless switches, which by default should remember the on-off
> state before brownout.  For the new standard, you have to wait till
> next year.  Now there are propriety systems.
>
So what's the implication of this?  Do you have a recommendation or
suggestion for lighting?

Thanks your all your information .. I appreciate it!

Chris Hackett