So DH's latest project is making the house Smart. This apparently is a big deal for the house buyers in our area. He has done a lot of research and is convinced it won't be that difficult but is still weighing pros and cons of this system and that. Yes, I had to watch him changing the water temperature from the living room last night.
So, would anyone with knowledge in this area mind fielding some questions from him? (Gud!) His main concerns seem to be around interoperability among the various devices.
I can answer some questions. I'm a developer on Lowe's Iris system, so I'm a bit biased though.
Yes, I told him that part! He has interest in that system. Should he email you or ask questions here?
I'm asking the hive mind because I'm stumped and don't know who else to ask.
The internet at home is being weird and lots of dropping. Here's the backstory:
We have DSL (it's the only option besides dial up at this point) and over wireless for the most part.
Mom has a Samsung Tab 3, I have a desktop computer, we both have Samsung phones. Those all connect wireless. I have an xbox 360 that is hardwired.
There is no way to hardwire my computer.
For the past few months the connection just drops. The speed will go from 7mbps to sometimes 600 kbps. And the phones and tablet will lose connection and need to be reconnected.
The internet people (it's a regional thing called Comporium) have been out and checked the modem/router (which is theirs) and the connection to the house. They say that both are working fine.
The tech dude suggested there may be a device that is running some kind of update or program that is causing the slow down BUT my phone will lose connection when everything is turned off.
Comporium has basically said this is not their issue and I'm not sure what else to do...maybe get my own modem/router and see if that works. I'm hesitant to do that because supposdely in the next 6 -8 months we are going to be upgraded to cable internet (I doubt it but with my luck I'll buy something and we'll get upgraded rather quickly).
so any trouble shooting suggestions or possible causes.
Does the xbox ever lose its connection?
Occasionally Netflix will slow down enough it can't load something fully but not often.
So DH's latest project is making the house Smart.
I'm running Homekit on part of the office, and I've got the Hue system with Homekit and home and looking at doing from IFTTT work on it as well, though if I go too crazy I think I'll drive Pix nuts.
I'm also putting a new alarm into the office that is Z-Wave compatible so I'll be getting more familiar with that. The issue is that each of the product areas tend to have market leaders, which then aren't on the same systems as the others.
The leader in lighting is really Philips Hue, but they don't do Z-Wave. Alarm systems tend to do Z-Wave, but the really good thermostats are EcoBee and Nest, and they do Homekit. I have an August Smartlock, which is an amazing product, but it is Homekit and not Z-Wave.
Homekit would be a good way to go, but there aren't any really good alarm systems that I can find that will leverage it.
Oh, hm. My dad has an iPhone and my mom has, I don't remember what exactly but not Apple, I should look into whether there are smart house options that would work for both of them simultaneously. I forgot that was even possibility.
I've been using Open Office for serious word processing, but it requires Java to run the macros. I do not have a Java Runtime Environment on my Win10 machine, and I'm not sure if I should download it. Is it save to put a JRE on my Win10 machine, or is there another free word processor I should switch to?
