Smart Homes

[Rooter]

Yes we have a pump near the boiler (it isn't a combi as we have a hot water tank in the loft) and no cold water tank that I've seen. Is that a pumped system then?

I may be being too obvious, but surely if you have a pump, its a pumped system?! Stu C is your man! Only confusion for me (not a plumber!!!) is your HW tank is in the loft, which would suggest gravity.. Is the pump pumping to the HW tank, and then thats gravity feeding the CH?!

Sorry, I have probably made it worse for you! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!!

 

[Beezerk]

I may be being too obvious, but surely if you have a pump, its a pumped system?! Stu C is your man! Only confusion for me (not a plumber!!!) is your HW tank is in the loft, which would suggest gravity.. Is the pump pumping to the HW tank, and then thats gravity feeding the CH?!

Sorry, I have probably made it worse for you! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!!

That's my dilemna, does the boiler get supplied by mains or from the tank in the loft. I ain't a clue mate 😕

 

[KhalJimbo]

I have my Echo Dot controlling my lights, nest thermostat (soon to have Harmony Hub and alarm system) and my nest smoke alarms.

It gets even better when you tie in IFTTT to it all. That super charges your smart home.

I can have all my music playing and my lights on and heating the house, as soon as I leave IFTTT picks up my Nest is set to away and turns everything off. I enter a particular radius coming home and my nest turns to Home mode and my lights are one. For some alarm systems to you can have it activate and deactivate via the nest "home\away" mode.

I think it's the future and as has been mentioned before here the retrofit market is huge, just wish Wifi plugs were a bit cheaper than they are.

 

[vkurup]

Are you for real?? Friends and family visiting you have a separate network?? You either need to get out more, or find some friends and family you trust.

We do run 2 networks but that is more to do with bands.. got a 2.4 and 5MHz bands rather than Home & Frineds
Too many kits in the house consuming spectrum so best to put them onto different channels (+ Ethernet where needed)

 

[Beezerk]

Just checked out my boiler, 4 pipes around it with 2 going into the boiler, all 4 are hot with heating and hot water on. It's almost like hot water is getting continually circulated.

 

[Rooter]

We do run 2 networks but that is more to do with bands.. got a 2.4 and 5MHz bands rather than Home & Frineds
Too many kits in the house consuming spectrum so best to put them onto different channels (+ Ethernet where needed)

i have dual band running on the same SSID its more efficient that way these days. no need to split them, just adds complication. In fact today, I am 'downgrading' my dual band, to a single 2.4 network. The skyQ system is the main reason. While the TV side of it is great, the new network hardware is fit for the bin only. The TV boxes 'Try' to work as wifi hotspots, creating a large mesh network. Its just awful, I have at least 6 versions of my SSID bouncing round the house, the handover from box to box if you are on say skype is dreadful, the wifi signal in general is way down from the old system and i have to reboot the entire system every two days.

Going old skool that i know works!

 

[vkurup]

i have dual band running on the same SSID its more efficient that way these days. no need to split them, just adds complication. In fact today, I am 'downgrading' my dual band, to a single 2.4 network. The skyQ system is the main reason. While the TV side of it is great, the new network hardware is fit for the bin only. The TV boxes 'Try' to work as wifi hotspots, creating a large mesh network. Its just awful, I have at least 6 versions of my SSID bouncing round the house, the handover from box to box if you are on say skype is dreadful, the wifi signal in general is way down from the old system and i have to reboot the entire system every two days.

Going old skool that i know works!

What a #FirstWorldProblem to have
I have not run ethernet to anything that is next to the hub.. so the TV running on a Cat 7!! Cat 7 in the house! who would have thought of that, i bet some of your DCs dont have Cat 7

I have my Echo Dot controlling my lights, nest thermostat (soon to have Harmony Hub and alarm system) and my nest smoke alarms.

It gets even better when you tie in IFTTT to it all. That super charges your smart home.

I can have all my music playing and my lights on and heating the house, as soon as I leave IFTTT picks up my Nest is set to away and turns everything off. I enter a particular radius coming home and my nest turns to Home mode and my lights are one. For some alarm systems to you can have it activate and deactivate via the nest "home\away" mode.

I think it's the future and as has been mentioned before here the retrofit market is huge, just wish Wifi plugs were a bit cheaper than they are.

Impressive.. i had come across IFTT in theory, but good to see one in practice.

 

[Rooter]

What a #FirstWorldProblem to have
I have not run ethernet to anything that is next to the hub.. so the TV running on a Cat 7!! Cat 7 in the house! who would have thought of that, i bet some of your DCs dont have Cat 7

You are running actual physical cables? 3ThirdWorldProblems... bit overkill, and i dont do cables! if it works though, happy days.

And you are right, most probably are on cat6 or 5 still. If it ain't broke.... Does depend on the client though.

 

[KhalJimbo]

Impressive.. i had come across IFTT in theory, but good to see one in practice.

IFTTT is very good, but as with any thing that relies on Applets there are multiple that do the same thing so research is required into which ones to activate, and the execution can be delayed by up to an hour on some that rely on polling API's. The Applets that are triggered by smart cars seem impressive! It can automate even the most mundane tasks for you, for instance I have an applet that updates keeps my Facebook and Twitter profile pictures the same. Update one, IFTTT picks it up and updates the other. I even have an applet that set to thank everyone for my birthday wishes on Facebook each birthday LOL

 

[ScienceBoy]

Interesting thread here.

Getting expected 300Mb speed FTTH on Monday.

Router arrives tonight, so setting up my home network.

Was planning on seperate 2.4 and 5 if possible, not sure if can do with stock router.

All my non-mobile/iPad devices will be connected over power line connectors to the router.

Hopefully I will get a zippy network set up as my old router is super cheap (plusnet standard).

I'm hoping the BT one will be much better.

Keep up the good reading, I want to get the most out of my new connection!

 

[philly169]

Interesting thread here.

Getting expected 300Mb speed FTTH on Monday.

Router arrives tonight, so setting up my home network.

Was planning on seperate 2.4 and 5 if possible, not sure if can do with stock router.

All my non-mobile/iPad devices will be connected over power line connectors to the router.

Hopefully I will get a zippy network set up as my old router is super cheap (plusnet standard).

I'm hoping the BT one will be much better.

Keep up the good reading, I want to get the most out of my new connection!

I've just bought some TP-LINK AV1200's after my Belkins were struggling over multiringed circuits. The new TP-LINKS are insanely quick, get pretty much what i'd expect being plugged in directly into the router (around 180mbps)


We're getting a new boiler installed in the next few weeks and Hive will be installed as well, so thats another app to add to my phone..

 

[ScienceBoy]

I've just bought some TP-LINK AV1200's after my Belkins were struggling over multiringed circuits. The new TP-LINKS are insanely quick, get pretty much what i'd expect being plugged in directly into the router (around 180mbps .

Guess I have to hope my current network is up to the job.

I have some older TP link gear and a cheap-o 3 way pass through. I will do some testing direct and over the network to see how much it's losing.

Doubt it will have much of an impact or be worth upgrading. I bet any bottlenecks are elsewhere when my standard usages are taken into consideration.

 

[Beezerk]

Hive arrived this morning, took about half an hour to install and set up. All working perfectly, damn good it is, I'm thoroughly impressed.