Anyone has info on the new Hawking HomeRemote for zWave?

They are coming out with a new version also called the 'pro'. below is a link to the video. looks like the GUI was updated and now they have some of their own modules. other than that it looks to be the same thing as what is out. for the one that is out, it is basic and gets the job done however the support is horrible. they answer their forum about once a couple of months. the cellular access is extra, about $8-10 a month. the webserver is built in and you can use dyndns to set up a free domain name although you will need 2, 1 for the HA, and 1 for the video if you use their cameras. the camera software is java based. i have it working with just about all of the product lines out there although it can be buggy at times.

http://hawkingtech.com/homeremote/pro_vid.html
 
Just a correction to twilo123's post... you can use TZO not dyndns. Although people have been asking for dyndns since its free and TZO charges.
 
actually you can use dyndns and not have to pay for a domain. you can uncorrect that post. tzo is a pay domain service they try to push on you. it is not necessary, especially for any DIY person.
 
They are coming out with a new version also called the 'pro'. below is a link to the video. looks like the GUI was updated and now they have some of their own modules. other than that it looks to be the same thing as what is out. for the one that is out, it is basic and gets the job done however the support is horrible. they answer their forum about once a couple of months. the cellular access is extra, about $8-10 a month. the webserver is built in and you can use dyndns to set up a free domain name although you will need 2, 1 for the HA, and 1 for the video if you use their cameras. the camera software is java based. i have it working with just about all of the product lines out there although it can be buggy at times.

http://hawkingtech.com/homeremote/pro_vid.html

Thanks for the info. One question -- does it work like just another (secondary) controller? Or does it have to be the master controller? It's useful if I can just drop it in as an additional controller in an existing network to get web access to the zwave network.

I took a quick look at the forum, and the product definitely looks like a version 1 product.
 
actually you can use dyndns and not have to pay for a domain. you can uncorrect that post. tzo is a pay domain service they try to push on you. it is not necessary, especially for any DIY person.

there is NO support for dyndns in the hawking homeremote. Thats what I meant.
You can check their forum, its been asked for but they wont add it.... yet.
no need to uncorrect it.
 
Thanks for the info. One question -- does it work like just another (secondary) controller? Or does it have to be the master controller? It's useful if I can just drop it in as an additional controller in an existing network to get web access to the zwave network.

I took a quick look at the forum, and the product definitely looks like a version 1 product.


Technically the handheld remote that comes with it is the master and you transfer the info stored in it to the homeremote.

VERY version 1 product as you said.... needs a lot of improvements, but it does work.
 
the correction was that you can use tzo 'not dyndns' which is untrue. you can use dyndns and it is free unlike the tzo. again, i stand by my statement. i have been using dyndns for over 8 months now with no issue whatsoever. frumple sorry for any confusion between the posts. hope this clears it up.

back to the question at hand... like frumple said it works as a secondary controller. you take a primary handheld and replicate to the appliance through a web page. pretty simple. it has some bugs but most of them are problems with scheduling since they came out with a new update. for control it works fine. it has a built in webserver and you access the interface via web page. you can also add a ip camera to the system for added benefit.

the pro version looks like the regular version with a better designed gui. i found a sneak peak on their website http://hawkingtech.com/homeremote/pro_vid.html
and there is some discussion over here http://zwaveworld.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=235
 
the correction was that you can use tzo 'not dyndns' which is untrue. you can use dyndns and it is free unlike the tzo. again, i stand by my statement. i have been using dyndns for over 8 months now with no issue whatsoever. frumple sorry for any confusion between the posts. hope this clears it up.

I know what you meant, and again, the homeremote has zero support for dyndns, so how are you using it with the homeremote.
I can understand if you are using it in conjunction with your router, I've been using it that way for years now, but theres is no way to input your dyndns info into the homeremote. They only support TZO.
That was the issue here, so if you know of a way to do that which no one else knows, please tell me.
Maybe theres a firmware release to implement it?
 
Good to hear that it is a secondary controller. Then I can just drop it into my existing network. For $179 or so, hard to decide if it is worth the money.

Two other interesting thoughts -- 1) if the UI is pure HTML, it will not be hard to write another front end on a different box to call those forms, and implement my own UI, even for SmartPhone browser friendly UI without having to pay for it. and
2) If it is an linux box, maybe someone will hack it open, like many of the linksys routers?
 
frunple, i am not quite sure what you are asking specifically but basically all i did was setup 2 free domain names (actually dyndns uses subdomains for the free ones) with dyndns. you map an ip/port to the free domain name in dyndns. you create 1 for the web page and 1 for the video camera web page. after that you just port forward to each ip address internally through your router at home. 1 port forward to the webserver and 1 port forward to the video camera. just keep in mind what ports you are using for the video camera and the webserver. the video camera i believe defaults to 5000 and the webserver is 80. both are changible.

i never said it was 'supported', i merely stated what could be used. if you want to pay the exorborant pricing for the tzo service, by all means. i do not want to deter anyone i just did not want to pay for something i know i could get for free. tzo is probably much simpler to use for people who are not DIY.

pkshiu,

you could write a UI but how would you get the appliance to serve the page unless you can hack the box? i would love to see at least some different skins, most notably a wap version and something more intuitive for small touchscreens like internet tablets (think nokio n770+)

the box is linux although i am not sure what flavor. all of these appliance boxes either are or are going to be some flavor of linux when they come. that's how they keep the cost down. controlthink is the only one i know trying something windows based.
 
Good to hear that it is a secondary controller. Then I can just drop it into my existing network. For $179 or so, hard to decide if it is worth the money.

Two other interesting thoughts -- 1) if the UI is pure HTML, it will not be hard to write another front end on a different box to call those forms, and implement my own UI, even for SmartPhone browser friendly UI without having to pay for it. and
2) If it is an linux box, maybe someone will hack it open, like many of the linksys routers?
For $20 more you can buy HomeSeer and not only control your Z-Wave devices via the web but all of your home automation hardware from the web as well.
 
i never said it was 'supported', i merely stated what could be used. if you want to pay the exorborant pricing for the tzo service, by all means. i do not want to deter anyone i just did not want to pay for something i know i could get for free. tzo is probably much simpler to use for people who are not DIY.

What I was referring to is the built in ddns service of the homeremote. If you use that, you can only use TZO as its the only option that Hawking has built in. Yes you can obviously use dyndns in the ddns portion of your router (as we both do) but I just wanted to make the OP aware that the homeremote only has support for TZO. If someone chose to use it for there ddns service that is.
didnt mean to offend you, just wanted to post the correct info.
 
Rupp,

it's an option for those who don't want to run a full blown windows pc or any pc 24/7 as well as run the homeseer software on it. nevermind spyware, viruses, etc. that come up on them unless you dedicate that box to homeseer alone.
 
Rupp,

it's an option for those who don't want to run a full blown windows pc or any pc 24/7 as well as run the homeseer software on it. nevermind spyware, viruses, etc. that come up on them unless you dedicate that box to homeseer alone.
Good point.
 
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