Question Advice Needed with Harmony Hub.

[terryr]

Hi Folks

I can’t seem to find a definitive answer to my questions about the harmony hub. Maybe I’m just thick which is more than likely!

I currently have my TV in our lounge and the AV equipment in a comms cabinet in our under-stair cupboard. This is currently controlled by a harmony 950 remote via an IR receiver/extender to which the blasters are connected to the front of each piece of equipment in the under-stair comms cabinet. (HTPC, Yamaha RX-V779, Humax Freesat Box all of which are about to be upgraded but that's irrelevant to my questions)

Firstly, this is an untidy solution as having all the blaster cables on view in the comms cabinet is not ideal as well as the fact that these often fall off.

Secondly, I want to add an NVidia shield tv pro to the comms cabinet and as that needs Bluetooth to control it I am considering adding a harmony hub to the 950 remote.

So a few questions:

1) The hub will be placed in the glass-fronted comms cabinet which is in the under-stair cupboard through two doors (Lounge and Under stair cupboard doors) 15 ft away from the TV. The cabinet has 4 shelves each housing a different piece of AV equipment. Will the hub be able to control the equipment on its own or will I need to use the blaster extension that comes with the product? The hub itself will also be in the cabinet.

2) I note from the harmony site that they suggest that you should have a blaster near your TV so that the hub can control it along with the AV equipment. Does this mean I would have to run the blaster cable from the hub in the under-stair Comms cabinet to the TV in the lounge? All our cabling is hidden and runs between the joists in the ceiling so doing that would be an absolute pain.

Any advice would be appreciated or any ideas about alternative robust solutions would be welcome.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Terry

 

[Broadsword]

Hi, I have a harmony elite and my equipment tucked away in a cupboard on various shelves. I have the hub and one blaster connected and it’s fine. I think the hub manages to reflect the signals off the walls and doors such that I wouldn’t need the blaster. There is no line of sight between the hub and the equipment but nothing is enclosed fully in its own space, if that makes sense? My tv downstairs is also in a cupboard but with the door closed there is no way for reflections to get the signal to reach the sky box and amp etc as once door is shut they are in two closed off spaces so I need to use the blasters. So I think if there are lines of reflection available you should be ok for IR with just the hub, if you have issues just add a blaster. Bluetooth will be ok in any case and doesn’t need line of sight or blasters.

As for your tv there is an option to send IR out of the remote rather than using the hub or blasters so it should be ok but it does need setting up and you would then need to point the remote at the tv when turning activities on.

The hub uses WiFi to talk with the remote I think so the distance shouldn’t be an issue.

Hopefully someone can come on and back all that up as that’s my understanding but I’m not 100% sure if other things are at play.

 

[terryr]

Thanks for the quick response Broadsword, that's great. The worrying part was that I would need to run a blaster to the TV which would have meant pulling up all the carpets and first floor floorboard to run the cable.

So I take it that this will also eradicate the need for the current IR extender which would also be a bonus?

Thanks again
Terry

 

[terryr]

The wireless shouldn't be an issue as we recently install a ubiquity unity network with ethernet ports and wireless access points in every room so that we created a robust network as a foundation for smart home tech as we move forward.

 

[terryr]

One other question, can anyone confirm that the Harmony 950 is the same remote as the Elite in terms of its functionality and that it works in exactly the same way with the Hub?

 

[Broadsword]

I’ve just checked in settings and you can select on a device by device basis how it is controlled, either via hub, blasters or both. There is also use remote only as well so that’s your tv sorted.

Can’t see any need for the repeaters to be honest.

Sometimes Black Friday has the elite half price, might be worth waiting. Although I’m not sure but can you add a hub to the 950 so you do t need a new remote just the hub and blasters? Worth checking that.

 

[terryr]

Thanks again Broadsword. Yes, I thought about buying the Elite and Hub on Black Friday or when Amazon drops the price again but, there's nothing wrong with the 950 as long as it works with the hub in the same way as the Elite and it would save a pile of cash if it does.

Anyone using the 950 with the hub?

 

[dion 6]

Hi the 950 is just the Elite without the hub you can buy the hub and add it on I did the same a few years ago with the harmony ultimate and added the hub for inside my av cabinet

 

[stereobfs]

The hub uses WiFi to talk with the remote I think so the distance shouldn’t be an issue.

This would be ideal, but sadly it using radio frequency ( RF ) and the distance is a big issue (for me anyway). I have my equipment in the cinema room, and can not use the remote in the living room - only one solid wall away. I have to use the mobile app.

 

[terryr]

Thanks guys, good to know the 950 works with the hub.