Hi all
Right-o, I might as well apologise in advance for a long post - but I want to get all the details in so none of you waste time asking me questions I could've answered from the start! I'm posting here as more of a 'general thread' to the question I posted on Kevin's joggler app post on the xAP forum (link), as he has suggested.
So, me and the fella bought our 1st house in April, and we've gone from just changing a few bits & bobs to gutting and totally renovating just about the whole bloody building (we've knocked that many walls down & built new ones it may possibly have been easier to knock it down and start again!). I'm a tech fanatic, and HWMBO is a gadget lover-if not understanding any of the tech behind anything he does (he appreciates end results, but isn't interesting in learning how to get there).
My 'capability' level in tech varies - I can build a PC with my eyes shut, can design a (very) basic website using html (but as a print-designer prefer WYSIWIG until I know more...), have spent literally months on here/AV Forums/Google, etc, lurking almost every day and trying to research all the various options open to me. I have wired up most of the house with Cat6, and am in the process of having everywhere plastered right now, so will be connecting it all up very shortly. When it comes to coding, however, I know pretty much nothing - although am exceptionally keen to start learning some basics asap, just can't seem to figure out where to start.
FYI, my poor man's equivalent of a 'Node Zero' is just in the office - where the router (currently a BT HomeHub) will be connected directly to my PC (Windows 7, good quad-core spec PC for my graphic design work but power hungry), a printer and a scanner, plus a 24 port switch, which will be wired up to a 24 port patch panel. From here I have 2 Cat6 runs to our bedroom, terminating behind where the Freeview/PS2 will be when we first move in (have no current plans for these, just wanted to get them in), 4 Cat6 runs to the lounge (fella's PC, which I'm *hoping* to turn into a Media Center/HA hub, Wii, PS3, plus 1 spare), and 2 Cat6 runs to the kitchen (an O2 joggler, plus a spare). I've also run a Cat6 to the hall, which is just coiled up under the floorboards, for if we later add CCTV, etc.
I've ran telephone extensions up into the office, plus into the lounge for the Sky+ HD box, new aerial wiring from the loft down to the bedroom and the lounge, plus x2 Cat 6 and a Coax directly between the lounge and bedroom to one day send tv over using baluns + a magic eye. I've also ran the satellite wiring to the lounge, and left it coiled up in the hall, for when we move in and actually have the dish installed. I've also run 2 satellite wires to the bedroom, which could be used for Freesat one day.
I haven't run anything to the dining part of the new kitchen diner, which I have a feeling I might regret, BUT, the wires which go into the lounge and kitchen run through a space under the stairs, which I will still have access to, albeit through a kitchen cupboard - so I'm presuming I could add another switch in there if need be, and figure out how to run some extra wires).
The fella's PC, which I'm hoping to use as the 'house pc', has the following specs:
- Windows 7 32 bit
- AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
- PC2-4300 (266 MHz) 2Gb RAM
- Mobo is just what came with the PC (he brought the Acer Aspire T180 off the shelf before we were together, I've just upgraded it for him bit by bit) Apparently it's a "EM61SM/EM61PM"
- Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 6100 nForce 405 256Mb
It has a fantastically quiet PSU, though I admit I don't know how energy efficient it is, and at the bare minimum it needs a freeview card adding.
Between us we have a PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 2 laptops, x2 iPhone 3GS, x1 iPhone 4, a Sky+ box, O2 joggler, wi-fi digital picture frame.
---------------------------------------
So, that's the background (see, I told you it was going to be stupidly long!) Now for what I would like for my new house system (combination of media and HA) to do, both immediately and in the long term:
- Energy monitoring, preferably accessible over the web and/or iPhone (looking at AlertMe, though I've had many of it's shortcomings identified by Kevin over on the other thread. That said, I'm wondering if it's strengths at energy monitoring make it worthwhile as running seperately from the rest of whatever system I setup? Not sure if anything else at such a low price does the job - i.e. web access, iPhone app, etc)
- Remote control of lights, both in and out the home, again preferably available via both web and iPhone. On a basic level want some basic on/off modules for a few lamps about the house, but also want to integrate into the bedroom and lounge a mixture of on/off/dim units, for both lamps and ceiling lights. Ultimately I would like to setup something so that one day, whether by software or hardware upgrade, I could setup 'scenes'
- I'm thinking for the media side, to begin with use the fella's PC as Windows 7 Media Center, with Media Portal as a front end (which I have just this very afternoon learned has at least one X10 control plug in available - just reading up on that now, so not sure of it's capabilities yet
- Ultimately I would love to integrate cameras/security, although before I really got the HA bug we'd already ordered our alarm system, which I know is a Veritas system but don't have the model number - I'm presuming that won't be compatible, so the security will have to come later.
-------------------------------
As it stands, I'm thinking an X10 based system would suffice (money will be tight for a year or 2), maybe running the energy monitoring seperately via AlertMe's £29.99 deal (no monitor, just web/iPhone app access).
However, I know I will want to add to and expand the system over the next few years, so I want to make sure that whatever I do from the start can be upgraded, and can be controlled via one system - e.g. xAP. I'm thinking maybe the CM15Pro would be ok to start with, though Homevision would be preferably if I had the pennies! I'm never going to want to control things like curtains - a bit of overkill for my 3 bed 1950s semi...
Something relatively simple would be great to start with, though I'm a quick learner and very keen to learn more asap - happy to put the time & effort in.
So.... any ideas people? Kevin and chris_j_hunter have come back with some feedback over on the original thread, so off to read through that now, but any ideas/suggestions welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Caroline
Right-o, I might as well apologise in advance for a long post - but I want to get all the details in so none of you waste time asking me questions I could've answered from the start! I'm posting here as more of a 'general thread' to the question I posted on Kevin's joggler app post on the xAP forum (link), as he has suggested.
So, me and the fella bought our 1st house in April, and we've gone from just changing a few bits & bobs to gutting and totally renovating just about the whole bloody building (we've knocked that many walls down & built new ones it may possibly have been easier to knock it down and start again!). I'm a tech fanatic, and HWMBO is a gadget lover-if not understanding any of the tech behind anything he does (he appreciates end results, but isn't interesting in learning how to get there).
My 'capability' level in tech varies - I can build a PC with my eyes shut, can design a (very) basic website using html (but as a print-designer prefer WYSIWIG until I know more...), have spent literally months on here/AV Forums/Google, etc, lurking almost every day and trying to research all the various options open to me. I have wired up most of the house with Cat6, and am in the process of having everywhere plastered right now, so will be connecting it all up very shortly. When it comes to coding, however, I know pretty much nothing - although am exceptionally keen to start learning some basics asap, just can't seem to figure out where to start.
FYI, my poor man's equivalent of a 'Node Zero' is just in the office - where the router (currently a BT HomeHub) will be connected directly to my PC (Windows 7, good quad-core spec PC for my graphic design work but power hungry), a printer and a scanner, plus a 24 port switch, which will be wired up to a 24 port patch panel. From here I have 2 Cat6 runs to our bedroom, terminating behind where the Freeview/PS2 will be when we first move in (have no current plans for these, just wanted to get them in), 4 Cat6 runs to the lounge (fella's PC, which I'm *hoping* to turn into a Media Center/HA hub, Wii, PS3, plus 1 spare), and 2 Cat6 runs to the kitchen (an O2 joggler, plus a spare). I've also run a Cat6 to the hall, which is just coiled up under the floorboards, for if we later add CCTV, etc.
I've ran telephone extensions up into the office, plus into the lounge for the Sky+ HD box, new aerial wiring from the loft down to the bedroom and the lounge, plus x2 Cat 6 and a Coax directly between the lounge and bedroom to one day send tv over using baluns + a magic eye. I've also ran the satellite wiring to the lounge, and left it coiled up in the hall, for when we move in and actually have the dish installed. I've also run 2 satellite wires to the bedroom, which could be used for Freesat one day.
I haven't run anything to the dining part of the new kitchen diner, which I have a feeling I might regret, BUT, the wires which go into the lounge and kitchen run through a space under the stairs, which I will still have access to, albeit through a kitchen cupboard - so I'm presuming I could add another switch in there if need be, and figure out how to run some extra wires).
The fella's PC, which I'm hoping to use as the 'house pc', has the following specs:
- Windows 7 32 bit
- AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
- PC2-4300 (266 MHz) 2Gb RAM
- Mobo is just what came with the PC (he brought the Acer Aspire T180 off the shelf before we were together, I've just upgraded it for him bit by bit) Apparently it's a "EM61SM/EM61PM"
- Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 6100 nForce 405 256Mb
It has a fantastically quiet PSU, though I admit I don't know how energy efficient it is, and at the bare minimum it needs a freeview card adding.
Between us we have a PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 2 laptops, x2 iPhone 3GS, x1 iPhone 4, a Sky+ box, O2 joggler, wi-fi digital picture frame.
---------------------------------------
So, that's the background (see, I told you it was going to be stupidly long!) Now for what I would like for my new house system (combination of media and HA) to do, both immediately and in the long term:
- Energy monitoring, preferably accessible over the web and/or iPhone (looking at AlertMe, though I've had many of it's shortcomings identified by Kevin over on the other thread. That said, I'm wondering if it's strengths at energy monitoring make it worthwhile as running seperately from the rest of whatever system I setup? Not sure if anything else at such a low price does the job - i.e. web access, iPhone app, etc)
- Remote control of lights, both in and out the home, again preferably available via both web and iPhone. On a basic level want some basic on/off modules for a few lamps about the house, but also want to integrate into the bedroom and lounge a mixture of on/off/dim units, for both lamps and ceiling lights. Ultimately I would like to setup something so that one day, whether by software or hardware upgrade, I could setup 'scenes'
- I'm thinking for the media side, to begin with use the fella's PC as Windows 7 Media Center, with Media Portal as a front end (which I have just this very afternoon learned has at least one X10 control plug in available - just reading up on that now, so not sure of it's capabilities yet
- Ultimately I would love to integrate cameras/security, although before I really got the HA bug we'd already ordered our alarm system, which I know is a Veritas system but don't have the model number - I'm presuming that won't be compatible, so the security will have to come later.
-------------------------------
As it stands, I'm thinking an X10 based system would suffice (money will be tight for a year or 2), maybe running the energy monitoring seperately via AlertMe's £29.99 deal (no monitor, just web/iPhone app access).
However, I know I will want to add to and expand the system over the next few years, so I want to make sure that whatever I do from the start can be upgraded, and can be controlled via one system - e.g. xAP. I'm thinking maybe the CM15Pro would be ok to start with, though Homevision would be preferably if I had the pennies! I'm never going to want to control things like curtains - a bit of overkill for my 3 bed 1950s semi...
Something relatively simple would be great to start with, though I'm a quick learner and very keen to learn more asap - happy to put the time & effort in.
So.... any ideas people? Kevin and chris_j_hunter have come back with some feedback over on the original thread, so off to read through that now, but any ideas/suggestions welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Caroline
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