Home automation

[Tron3219]

payment for services

[Tron3219]

[dan991]

Haha we all love those things lol thanks again

See I guess I wasn't understanding because I was always under the impression that RF was broadcasted and got weaker as the transmission got further away and if it overlapped with another transmission, the stronger transmission would prevail. But from what I gather it just scrambles the transmission if they overlap. Period.

I thought it was like German and French yelling equals noise, but u speak German so u give the German guy a megaphone...now u can't hear the French guy

And u know u like displaying ur knowledge...we all do...we're all infantile ego maniacs in here lol

That is true in licensed freq. In unlicensed... there are no rules. So... a receiver "hears" anything/everything. It only responds to commands addressed to it. If there is packet loss.... the data never gets there so its just "junk" which is ignored. You can broadcast at a higher output (total radiated power) however that doesn't mean that there won't be interference that will cause packet loss. Keep in mind that in a fully automated home you are talking 20+ devices at once.

There are two components that actually matter- total radiated power (TRP) and total isotropic sensitivity (TIS). The TRP is limited to a certain output regardless of band by the FCC. TIS is based mostly on the antenna design of the device. What ends up happening is one device broadcasts data; and the other device only receives part of it. This only happens some of the time which is typically by outside influence. Same thing applies to even licensed bands like cell phones. You'll see that at night your signal may not necessarily increase; but your ability to make a call is greater because there are less devices utilizing the network.

No... I'm just spewing worthless info to most as my girlfriend pissed me off and I'm doing everything I can to avoid her.

[dan991]

We need to bring this conversation back above water before I start rambling about signal theory and RF propagation which eventually is gonna get me made fun of, lol.

Long story short- try it and see if it works before you buy it. It may or may not depending on a lot of outside factors. If you can- use wired where possible.

[Tron3219]

That is true in licensed freq. In unlicensed... there are no rules. So... a receiver "hears" anything/everything. It only responds to commands addressed to it. If there is packet loss.... the data never gets there so its just "junk" which is ignored. You can broadcast at a higher output (total radiated power) however that doesn't mean that there won't be interference that will cause packet loss. Keep in mind that in a fully automated home you are talking 20+ devices at once.

There are two components that actually matter- total radiated power (TRP) and total isotropic sensitivity (TIS). The TRP is limited to a certain output regardless of band by the FCC. TIS is based mostly on the antenna design of the device. What ends up happening is one device broadcasts data; and the other device only receives part of it. This only happens some of the time which is typically by outside influence. Same thing applies to even licensed bands like cell phones. You'll see that at night your signal may not necessarily increase; but your ability to make a call is greater because there are less devices utilizing the network.

No... I'm just spewing worthless info to most as my girlfriend pissed me off and I'm doing everything I can to avoid her.

Got it...so pretty much if I want to go wireless I'm at the mercy of surrounding 900mhz devices. Which right now won't be an issue cuz the houses near me are still being built, but may become a problem in the future. Any idea on the broadcast radius of household devices that would interfere? I can't imagine it would b too much being designed for residential use, but with my luck I'd have a dickhead neighbor that had to get the industrial model lol

That sucks, did the boobies help any? Lol

[Tron3219]

We need to bring this conversation back above water before I start rambling about signal theory and RF propagation which eventually is gonna get me made fun of, lol.

Long story short- try it and see if it works before you buy it. It may or may not depending on a lot of outside factors. If you can- use wired where possible.

Lol I'm pretty sure very few are paying attention to this thread, and if signal theory and RF propagation is above their comprehension level, F'em! Maybe they should listen and learn something! I could have easily stopped this conversation at buy something cheap and try it, but what's the purpose of that, I wanna know why and how. I'm a firm believer in gather as much knowledge as possible...never know when you'll need it!

[dan991]

Got it...so pretty much if I want to go wireless I'm at the mercy of surrounding 900mhz devices. Which right now won't be an issue cuz the houses near me are still being built, but may become a problem in the future. Any idea on the broadcast radius of household devices that would interfere? I can't imagine it would b too much being designed for residential use, but with my luck I'd have a dickhead neighbor that had to get the industrial model lol

That sucks, did the boobies help any? Lol

The broadcast radius is based on the freq. Typically the higher the freq. the longer the range. ISM band devices are designed to have a limited range. Licensed bands go much much higher. For an example- Verizon uses 900 Mhz. That 900 Mhz can cover an area of 5 miles in diameter around the cell phone tower. That's because they are given a strict freq. of dedicated operation which could be something like 932.5913 MHz for example and its based on the area of operation which changes from tower to tower. That freq. is dedicated by the FCC strictly to Verizon as to where ISM band is 900 Mhz +/- 20 MHz and anywhere in between.

Yep- you're at the mercy of other devices in your house as well as your neighbors if he's close enough. The assumption is that since the range is limited the interference is negligible which is why Bluetooth for example rarely hiccups. Bluetooth is also 2.4 GHz, and so is 802.11 (all flavors), some remote controls, cordless phones, microwaves, etc.

[songdog]

The hell with that I got all I can handle to set the clock on my micro

[MuscleInk]

Does anyone have any experience with this? Thinking about automating my home, not sure which system to go with.

My AC/heating, security systems, surveillance cameras, lights, and garage doors are all controlled from my phone.

[Tron3219]

My AC/heating, security systems, surveillance cameras, lights, and garage doors are all controlled from my phone.

What technology do you use?

[dan991]

My AC/heating, security systems, surveillance cameras, lights, and garage doors are all controlled from my phone.

PM me your phone number and I'll show you some scary shit. I don't need to know anything but your cell phone number and country code

[DSM4Life]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTVPVobDrms

[basketballfan22]

The broadcast radius is based on the freq. Typically the higher the freq. the longer the range. ISM band devices are designed to have a limited range. Licensed bands go much much higher. For an example- Verizon uses 900 Mhz. That 900 Mhz can cover an area of 5 miles in diameter around the cell phone tower. That's because they are given a strict freq. of dedicated operation which could be something like 932.5913 MHz for example and its based on the area of operation which changes from tower to tower. That freq. is dedicated by the FCC strictly to Verizon as to where ISM band is 900 Mhz +/- 20 MHz and anywhere in between.

Yep- you're at the mercy of other devices in your house as well as your neighbors if he's close enough. The assumption is that since the range is limited the interference is negligible which is why Bluetooth for example rarely hiccups. Bluetooth is also 2.4 GHz, and so is 802.11 (all flavors), some remote controls, cordless phones, microwaves, etc.

Isn't it the other way around? The higher the frequency, the shorter the range? I know there are several variables in determining the range of wireless signals, but I am pretty sure I am right in this regard. The following link is not the most credible source, but I wanted to quickly double check myself.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/w.../5ghz-gear.htm

Admittedly, I can't offer much on this entire subject though. It is an interesting (nerdy) read though. Thanks for the knowledge.

[basketballfan22]

Well I just bought the house a year ago, and got a great deal on it, I already have 30k in equity because what I bought it for vs. what it's worth. It's a smaller home, but everything in it is high end. Marble throughout the house, marble entry way (floor), mahogany custom cabinets (all), stainless appliances, coffered trey ceilings in every room. 10ft ceilings (10.5 inside trey), high end hardware, crown molding throughtout, motorized shades, the showers have glass tiling with rain style shower head, river stone floor, fireplace in living room and master br, porches are tiled in slate. It's a very clean house, and like I said, I have a lot if equity in it already so I'm not to concerned with turn around. And I'm in the early stages of research, but my father and myself will probably install it. The attic was put together in a way that its incredibly easy for wire drops if need be, but the house is wired with cat5 cable already. My dad has a lot of electrical/electronics experience and I have electrical/carpenter experience so I'm confident we can do it. As far as the equipment goes, I'm thinking 5k would b a good starting point. Really the only thing I want to be able to control remotely away from the house is the security system with live feed cameras. The rest (av, thermostat, lights, fans, etc) I'd like to b able to use my iPad as a universal remote.

Damn Tron, good work. I can't wait until I own my first home. Sounds like quite the house.