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Smart Home HQ is a proud member of the Geeks Network! Find out more information at TheGeeksNetwork.com [Notes] WCPO visited our Smart Home Demo, and did an interview with me. It was very exciting and took much longer than I thought for what amounted to a few seconds of TV time. My kids are very happy with their TV-Star-Daddy. Cincinnati Bell invited us out to their booth at the Home and Garden Show which was really fun. It was nice to see how many people came to the show and said they were looking for booths that showed off smart home gadgets, this means we are moving on in the right direction and it’s finally becoming more mainstream. Smart Home HQ is now partnering with Cincinnati Bell to provide their Smart Home consultation and install services. If you are in the Cincinnati Tri-State area you can schedule a consultation inside any Cincinnati Bell store and receive a discount on the consultation through that partnership. Otherwise you can schedule online at smarthomehq.net. Blog and Podcast site separated from the main website to help keep thing stable and secure. Picking the right home automation controller is very important, I have used a lot of different controllers along my journey and I feel it’s safe to say they all have their pro’s and con’s at this point in time. Manufactures are constantly working to find the sweet spot between feature set, stability, and profitability.  I struggle to find which hub to recommend a lot of the time and as a Smart Home Pro it’s up to me to talk to my clients and interpret what will work best for them. Are you an extreme tinkerer and want to control every bit of the experience or perhaps code your own ideas into the system? Then I might recommend Smartthings, if you have zero tolerance for cloud outages then perhaps Homeseer is a better fit. For most non-tech-savvy individuals that want some basic connectivity then my go-to will be Zipato for now. Cloud/web programing combined with local processing and a nice module approach to adding additional functionality makes it a very attractive system. The new Alexa/Echo Look $199 This product will have the paranoid up in arms, the new device looks like something from the game Portal and sports a blue light and Camera in addition to a built in speaker and microphone that

Tired of your mesh network cutting your bandwidth in half or looking for an easy way to do things at the push of a button? I talk about my time with the Linksys Velop and the Fibaro Button. I visit briefly the Zipato home automation controller to see how it stacks up with the US based competitors. Smart Home HQ is a proud member of the Geeks Network! Find out more information at TheGeeksNetwork.com [Notes] * Linksys Velop * Tri-Band – no meshing performance drops. * 2x 5Ghz radios and a 2.4Ghz radio. One Radio for linking. * Two-Gigabit Ethernet ports per node. * Bluetooth LE for app setup. * Power bridge, on the larger size taking up two-plugs on a power strip. * Zigbee radio hidden inside, future firmware update and an unknown purpose. * Fibaro Button * 6 Actions possible (1-5 press’ or press and hold). * Small, light, can be mounted with double-sided tape (included) or just sitting down. * Easy to replace battery. * Plastic, keep away from the pets. * Zipato * Zipabox * Z-wave on it’s own. * Modular, add backup battery, 3G backup, security zones, zigbee. * *  Zipatile * Android tablet. * Side load apk’s * Z-wave, Zigbee, wireless, Ethernet via micro-usb adapter. * Powered by Micro-Usb * No direct POE support, but you could get a POE-to-USB converter to hide in a new-work box. * Wall-mount built in. * Can use built-in web came as an ip-camera through the Zipato software. * Intercom functionality * Ties into SIP doorbell and lock systems * Room-to-Room calling * Home to mobile app calling. Please click here to rate on iTunes! Please click here to rate on Stitcher! Send Feedback Voice Mail/Message: Click &#

Spending time with the Nucleus Intercom system to see how well it will fit into my Smart Home Arsenal. Does it replace a traditional intercom system and will it make your life a little easier to justify the purchase? Read more to find out. I spent a few days with Nucleus Life’s intercom device testing basic functions and going through some use cases to see how well the device would fit in with the rest of the technology and home automation in my life. I’ve had my eye on this device since I first heard about it and I have even thought about it as possible solutions in consulting work I have done in the Cincinnati market with clients looking to replace old built-in intercom systems. Considering that I may end up suggesting this product I decided to take it for a test drive to try it out. I reached out to Nucleus directly and was forwarded off to a PR firm to handle my inquiry. This was back in August 2016 and I had a few back and forth emails with a representative of Moxie Group PR and could tell right away that I was not big enough to get anywhere, I was always told they are out of review units and would keep me in mind. Thanks to Amazon Prime I decided to purchase a 3-pack and give it a go. Out of the box you are greeted with welcome material and a Nucleus sticker, feels very much like an Apple device unboxing. All supplies needed to mount the device is included except for the tools. You don’t have to mount it to the wall as a table top stand is included as well. The power cord is a long USB cable with a traditional power-barrel connector at the other end with an included wall wart to convert to USB 2amps 5v.  You can also power this device by POE which adds the benefit of having an ethernet connection instead of having to use wireless. Power up the unit and you are greeted by the Nucleus splash screen and asked to join your wireless network for connectivity, after this the unit will update to the current Firmware. The update process takes about 10-15 minutes depending on your internet connection. After updates you are taken to a Welcome Wizard that will give you a brief introduction to features and how to get started, at the end you will be able to setup a new account or add the unit to an existing account. Thankfully Nucleus makes it easy to add additional units by giving you a ‘Home Code’ which is a short alphanumeric code that will link the device to your account, so keep it sa

Do you want a solid Wi-Fi connection when you’re outside? How about a nice coverage of your favorite audio as well! Take it one step higher past your back yard and bring wireless coverage to your neighborhood and bring Sonos along for the fun. Thank to Ubiquiti and Sonos I accomplished this goal for Lawrenceburg Indiana and I want to tell you about it. Smart Home HQ is a proud member of the Geeks Network! Find out more information at TheGeeksNetwork.com [Notes] Picking the equipment and why? Establishing the request, short notice is not the best position to be put in, but it can make for a strong motivator and adds to the stress level. Planning, Replanning, and lots of time on the phone tracking down supplies. Organizing teams and supplies, pre-building Installing, testing, troubleshooting, and installing again. * The big event and the cold * Follow up and user training * The Wow!   Please click here to rate on iTunes! Please click here to rate on Stitcher! Send Feedback Voice Mail/Message: Click ‘Send a Voice Message’ link on the home page or go to http://podcast.smarthomehq.net/voicemail Email Send an E-Mail Social/Subscribe    

I talk to Ron Adams from Bastion Realtors about what to expect when you try to sell your Smart Home.

Will Google Home take over where Amazon Echo is lacking? Smart Home HQ is a proud member of the Geeks Network! Find out more information at TheGeeksNetwork.com Wink 2 Hub blog post Check out http://thehomeremote.com/ for a nice Home Dashboard Designer application that will give you another option for building the control center for your home. Google Home!   Please click here to rate on iTunes! Please click here to rate on Stitcher! Send Feedback Voice Mail/Message: Click ‘Send a Voice Message’ link on the home page or go to http://podcast.smarthomehq.net/voicemail Email Send an E-Mail Social/Subscribe Support Click the image below to be taken to my Patreon page to lean more on how you can support the show and become a patron. Thanks for listening! Interested in way’s you can support Smart Home HQ? Please visit the Support page. You can also send one-time donation through PayPal You can also just start your next Amazon shopping trip at smarthomehq.net/amazon and a percentage of your purchase will come back to help support Smart Home HQ!  Thanks! It’s time to make your home smarter.

Smart Home HQ and Smart Link bring Smart Home and Smart City technology to Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. Jon Salisbury with SmartLink.city joins me to talk Smart Cities.

Nucleus is a new home intercom system reinvented, 360 video is a ton of fun, Hue, Alexa, and networking gear. Thanks for listening!

I talk about rebranding and starting a new company as well as talking about my time with HomeSeer.

Project house is coming along, learning a bit along the way. One thing I will be covering today is some sharing caution within Smartthings.

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