Anyone have it? How do you like it?
I’m having Time Warner Intelligent Home installed this week, looking for tips on what equipment is worth it and what isn’t.
Paying a monthly fee for connected home products is not wise. The market is going to go wild in ny over the next 6 months.
You will see three product launches (1 fee based and 2 with no fee) before the end of the year.
Hold tite and don’t waste your money.
I’ve seen a few systems that are cheap / no fee and effective like simplisafe, but they’re not actually monitored unless you pay extra. It’s a bit confusing the way they word them.
The package Time Warner offered me was decent so I figured why not give it a try.
Att offers whole home system also. Was offered to me last time i was in there getting a phone but i cut him off bc i have no use for it.
Look into mios. Their UI will be seeing an update this summer and will allow for some seriously bad ass features their energy based starter kit is one to keep a serious eye on over the next few months.
With the correct components, the system will automatically alert you via text and allow you to check your video.
With systems like the above you can monitor everything from moisture to live video.
Yeah, it’s just cool that you can use any web device to change your thermostat, arm the house, check cameras, turn on and off lights, etc. It will even send video to your phone via MMS when a camera picks up motion. Or a text when a door is opened.
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Sounds like Time Warner’s system. I’ll take a look.
https://my-digitallife.att.com/learn/?WT.tsrc=ATTLinkFarm pretty much the same.
I did mine piecemeal and while it works I want to get a complete integrated package. I will not pay a monthly fee though.
My cameras are all set to notify me of any movement. They all have inputs which I have connected to the doors. The house had ADT when I bought it. I just disconnected the box and used the existing sensors and switches.
For remote outlets and lighting I have an ancient X10 which actually works like a champ.
It works, but is a kludge.
I have att digital life and don’t know how I lived without it. Just the fact that I carry one key (car/bike) on me now makes it worth it.
I setup my security cameras myself utilizing a static ip, noip.com for port forwarding and an alarm feature on my camera to send me an email every time it detects motion. I paid like $80 per camera and I don’t have to pay any monthly fees other than my internet bill. I’m working on getting my camera all hardwired so they don’t run off wifi, but for now it works.
In fact, during our most recent storm, my camera snapped a quick shot of lightening hitting pretty close to my house.
That’s a cool shot :tup:
Remember to check on that discount for me 
When you guys keep saying free, I don’t think you’re including monitoring. I haven’t found anyone who monitors a home for free. Are there systems out there that do that?
There is a discount. We just need the certificate once it’s installed.
I was just saying that I bought my own cameras and set them up to port forward straight to my phone/ipad via foscam app. An alarm system is totally different, you can get one that’s free, but it will be a localized alarm, not one that sends a signal to a central station. This part is essentially what you’re paying TW to do and you might be leasing the equipment from them?
I don’t know what time warner offers but the things we use most include the automated door locks and lights. They’re automated on programs each day and turning the lights on or off from your phone is a must. I also have the automated thermostat which comes in handy at the end of a vacation when its 90 degrees in the house, or when you’re in bed and too cold/warm. I wish I had the water controls, I have an automated system now for my lawn/garden but if I could control it from my phone I’d remember more often to turn it off when it rains.
Gotcha. I’ll make sure to get that.
I’m buying the equipment. But they have a deal right now where once you pay for 3 months of service they give you a $200 gift card that you can use to pay your bill, etc. So it’s almost like a $200 rebate.
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I don’t know if Time Warner has the door locks actually, I need to look a bit more.
Another interesting thing is that I’m moving my service and was told it would be at least 10 days to get things going. But because the Intelligent Home techs work on a different schedule, I’m having a tech come out in only 3 days. And he’ll be at my place the entire day doing everything including cable & internet installation.
Exactly what I did. I use ipcam viewer, but same difference.
TW camera quality was terrible. I have the water alarm (saved my ass twice now), motions, sensors, fire and thermostat with TW now… I had the camera, but the quality was 90s and returned it asap. I now have a mix of 3 systems, TW, fixed cameras w/dvr and a few PTZ foscams with rigged dvr…
I do like the peace of mind with the water, fire and power out notifications with the TW system.
Bump.
Sort of related to the home Automation discussion. I saw this on Ask This Old House recently. Seems like an interesting toy if you’re into home automation.
It analyzes the signals in your electrical draw to learn and be able to tell what appliances or devices are in use at any given time, you can set alerts etc.
That is pretty cool, however the “be more efficient than your neighbors” crap isn’t going to sway me to buy it. I already get that report from my electric company and somehow I’m in the top 20% of efficient users despite leaving everything on all the time.
You know what, fuck that report. Every since my neighbor across the street got solar panels installed all that report does it try to guilt me into using less electricity. “Your most efficient neighbors are using X less than you every month”.