C-bus to control4 info.

Hi all,

We are currently in the process of building our house. We have planned to use C-bus throughout with a control4 controller. Is anyone keen to share their experience with these types of set up’s? Pros and cons? Any recommendations or any info would be great if you are willing to share.

 

Not quite sure why you would spend all that cash when cbus with a SHAC or NAC + any tablet can achieve the same for much less expense. You can even add voice control with a raspberry Pi and Homebridge for under $100

 

Hey Chromus, yeah totally agree with the Shac/Nac being more than capable for home control on a tablet. I will still have a shac on my C-Bus side for scripts etc. The control4 controller is more for the audiovisual side of things. Would love to keep it all C-Bus if I could but to achieve what I want as far audiovisual goes control4 is just far easier by the sounds of things. But the decision is not set in stone just yet hence the thread.

 

Hey NWB,

I have exactly that, C-Bus doing the yardwork with a C4 controller doing the smarts and all the AV stuff. C4 is definitely the way to go if you want to pull in AV and other things, also with a VERY active driver community there is always new things coming. I have had a few issues with the C-Bus driver but that seems to have settled down. Also C4 is the way to go if you want to do anything wireless, I have a mix of C4 wall plate dimmers and C-Bus wall stations. Sometimes the C4 plates loose the indication from the C-Bus which is something I need to look at next.

In saying this, I havent done Push systems or ect so dont know other options for AV control with C-Bus but will say that I am happy with my choice to go with a C4 controller to replace my old Wiser. I use SHACs every other day and while they are very powerful as you say the C4 wins over with AV integration.

I would still go with the C-Bus relays, dimmers and sensors and ect, but do C4 controller and wall plates personally.

 

Thanks for the Reply Jboer, are you a control4 installer? Have you done the integration yourself? One thing I’m not sure on is aways having to have someone program changes for me on the control4
side if needed. Totally understand why control4 has locked its self down, but how amazing would it be if it was as open to the public as C-Bus was.

 

I have a friend who is a C4 Dealer, we are not ourselves, but we are installers under his dealership so that works well for us. Like most people we do a range of lighting control systems depending on the requirement. If you do need a hand with the C4 side feel free to send a PM or email.

Yeah I dont see C4 opening up, its very much the US model. They are very big on having remote access and all C4 Controllers have VPN clients that enable dealers to connect to them for remote support. There is always the good and bad side of that but...

 

We use this combination on our jobs quite regularly. C-Bus for lighting control, use a Control4 headend. Simple to deploy and simple for the client to use with the ease to upscale in future, easy integration with lighting and security and av and comfort.

Control4 also allows the client to program parts of their system by using the customer portal, they can create their own schedules/alter, create when and then events without the dealer being involved. For some of our clients that like to tinker they can without altering the main programming. Highly recommend it

 

Thanks for reply Joshl,
If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the security system you typically use with Control4 ?

Also if you have any recommendations on extra hardware or anything that works well with this install and your willing to share let me know.