New House Stuff Discussion

[RJ]

Ok so here are some comments, focusing on the existing systems, and add one:

TV Provider: Sling

I forgot about this one, but it's a big part of a house. We've been limping along in the apartment with Spectrum on a limited package (10 channels) plus internet. We tried Disney+, up until the Gina Carano shenanigans. We joined Hulu on a special $1.99 a month; that promo ends this December.

I happened to be looking at my Verizon account and noticed they had a special on SlingTV; free Orange or Blue or $35 off Blue+Orange for two months. I checked for comparison of basic cable at our new place, and found it started at $89 plus $5 for a cable box.

So I ordered Sling. I'm very happy a day in. It offers around 50 channels, including some of our favorites (hint: HGTV). Plus some sports networks (I see the British GP is on this weekend) as well as 50 hours of cloud-based DVR. I think this will work out very well for us.

Whole House Audio: Sonos

We've had our Sonos system for about three years. I really like it; we have an older Playbar as well as a Sub, and a couple Play:1's. The system auto-detects various inputs including if we get a movie from Redbox to generate decent 5.1 sound. I'm sure you can spend a lot more money for less distortion but "to me" it sounds great.

I've also setup Pandora as one of the services, so it's typical for us I set up Chris Botti collection to run free playing tracks for The Boss (she likes that guy).

I'll probably get a couple more speakers, or at least one more, and set it out pool side.

One thing about Sonos I don't like is that it does not seem to have the ability to split the speakers into logical "rooms", which would be incredibly useful.

[RJ]

Man I hate my Samsung fridge; the thought of buying something more complex than what I have no has no appeal.

I’m assuming washer and dryer are mainly to get notifications when the cycle is done? Why the fridge?

She did her research and picked LG. I'll let you know on the washer/dryer. They do pair up apparently. No Jetson's robot arm to lift the wet clothes from the washer to the dryer apparently; now *that* would be cool.

I have no idea why a fridge needs to be on the internet, but it's a thing. I did see some when we were shopping that had cameras inside so you could see what was in there when you were at the store (I guess).

[orionz06]

So far I went with a local chain that sells "resort grade" outdoor stuff for a 11.5' cantilever umbrella. We will order a powder coated aluminum table and chairs from Lowe's, or somewhere else that carries the brand, once we move in. Umbrella is in now. Went to a place advertised as Amish, though I suspect most of it is not. Moot though, all solid oak bedroom set on order. Wasn't awful, just over 5k for two night stands, dresser, chest of drawers, and a queen bed. Difference was well worth it. Got some Ashely Furniture stuff for the living room, which is cheap enough to not feel bad if we shit can it in a few years. Will be heading back to the "Amish" place for a dining table, chairs, eat in countertop height or bar height table, and stools. Even with the current delays, their timing will suit our timing.

For the outdoors, a grill gazebo from Wayfair will work short term. At some point we're going to add a garage stall 45° off of the driveway and house, with the top of it being roughly the height of the current deck, so gazebo/sunroom will be in question at that point.

[AKDoug]

It's funny, we are buying semi-commercial appliances to get away from all the wi-fi B.S. My Speed Queen washer and dryers with old fashioned knobs are a pleasure compared to the crap I have to go through with our fancy assed washer and dryer. My new refrigerator will be a commercial model as well. I'm building my next house to be as low tech as possible. The only tech will be security cameras. In the entry way there will be a basket hanging there where all my family members will have to deposit their cell phones upon entry.

[Andy T]

I will be in the same boat in a few months - needing to furnish/equip a new construction house. My plan is to get furniture off of Costco.
Do NOT purchase any major appliances (except TVs) from Samsung. They sell refrigerators with a known design defect that causes them to stop cooling. I had to fight them tooth and nail and was able to get a refund for a 2.5 year old refrigerator that froze from the inside out and stopped cooling (this was around 4 years ago).

When possible I like buying appliances online. Last time I had to get a fridge in Lowes along with their credit card, was a terrible 1.5 hour experience of running around the store.
After that, I bought my current fridge and dish washer from Costco online. A few clicks and voila. The only downside is their "white glove" delivery service. It's anything but white glove.
The refrigerator delivery people had difficulty getting it in and didn't know how to remove doors. They actually asked about leaving it on the porch - which I refused. They figured out a way to bring it in.
The dishwasher installers are running a nice scam too. The Costco price includes delivery and installation. However, in order to do the install, the house must be up to code. That will be $150 for a small dohickey, please...

[peterb]

If it’s going to be your “age in place” home, make the aging-friendly modifications now before you “need” them. Bathroom grab bars, handrails on both sides of all stairs, wheelchair-capable bathroom, etc.

Roll-out drawers for every kitchen cabinet below counter height.

Lighting. We found that putting motion sensor switches in the entryways made coming home nicer. Under-cabinet lighting. LEDs have made it much easier to put light where it is needed.

[orionz06]

However, in order to do the install, the house must be up to code.

Eh, there are potential issues if things are worked that aren't up to code. It's shit because so much of it is stuff you and I both know doesn't amount to anything, and off the clock, the installer would tell you the same, but it's their ass and potentially contracts if they goof.

[RJ]

Garage Door Opener

Got the garage door opener online.



The GDO is a Chamberlain Liftmaster Elite Series belt drive. (I paid for belt drive vs chain for longer term reliability.) My garage door is 16'.

Pairing the GDO to my network was fairly straightforward. This system (like most of the appliances as well, it turns out) only runs on 2.4 Ghz, 802.11 b/g/n, so it sits on the low speed side of my net (I have one 2.4 GHz band and two 5 GHz band nets that I assign different things to).

You setup PROGRAM mode on the GDO remote opener, which sits next to the entry/exit door to the house. Then you download the "MyQ" App. You initiate the App, and connect (temporarily) your phone the GDO to the WAP that the GDO initiates (this seems to be the WiFi equivalent to the old 'learn' mode where you could pair another remote. The App does it's thing, and as part of that process you connect it to your home network, which then becomes permanent. (I had to pause and 'allow' the GDO on my network with my Netgear admin panel on the router, using the GDO MAC address.)

All mine does is open and close the GDO, remotely. It can email notices every time that happens, but I just have it notify my phone. It allows you to set a "close" schedule in case you forget to close the GDO every night, for example (I've done that.) This schedule will close the GDO at 11pm if it is left open. I suppose a helpful security thing is if we are both out of the house and the GDO opens, clearly something is up.

The remote on the wall for the opener shows the temperature in the garage, which doesn't get communicated to the GDO. It's a shame this isn't passed through to the app.

There are other options (e.g. camera) that can be added to the GDO, but I don't have those.

Next up is the Honeywell Thermostat, then washer/dryer and fridge, then security cameras.

[orionz06]

Why Honeywell over Nest or others?

Our next venture will be determining which mesh network equipment to go with, which doorbell, thermostat, and cameras. Part of me wants some automated stuff for outside, and then some hard wired, old school stuff for indoors where we can afford to be luddites. I've had a chance to purchase some cheap stuff through work to treat as disposable and the setup to functioning is pretty quick, and the recorders are rather nifty.

[RJ]

Why Honeywell over Nest or others?

The T-stat was part of the package that came with the house; as was the range and uWave (GE; not my choice), & GDO.

Ours is a small 3/2; and I had an existing router. So far I don't see a need to extend range with a mesh as the coverage we get seems adequate.

Mrs. RJ mentioned getting some more speakers for the pool deck, and I will also likely want connectivity in the garage for a TBD set of equipment, so I'll have to look at the latency/throughput at those points eventually. My router is located centrally via a Cat 6 off the ONT that enters in the garage, so it's the best I can do. It has a set of six reflectors that fold up, and is a MU-MIMO design. We'll see how that works out in practice.

I should probably mention I'm not a fan of Alexa or Google Assistant etc. Obviously I'm skating close to the edge as it is with potential exposure on packets routed outside my firewall. I'll need to give some thought to whether or not remote monitoring is worth the risk, and also to re-check my FW settings. I've set up Wireshark on my network and tail'd the ping log. I get hit literally 5x a second by gropers and other DoS attacks, 24/7. Amazing just now active bots are in terms of looking for exposed systems.