The End is Near for HomeSeer 1.7x

[WayneW]

This is the very reason I no longer buy 3rd party plugins. They seem to be here today and gone tomorrow.

And how is that different from how HST is treating recent 1.7 customers? As I recall (please correct me if this is wrong), HST stopped selling 1.7 somewhere around Sept/Oct 2005. Some resellers had it for much longer after that. Now HST is telling those recent customers after only a little over a year that their product is totally unsupported?

Microsoft just dropped their last support for Windows98 this month, a product that hasn't been sold for 4 years or more and wasn't mainstream for longer than that. Would it really kill HST to keep the updater running for another couple of years in case people want to add/purchase a plug-in or have to reinstall their system?

 

[Rupp]

Pod,
I feel your pain. I too have a phone switch around here somewhere. I was within a day of buying a SlinkE but bought the Ocelot instead. I'm sure they are closing the updater so they do not have to support 2 versions of certain plugins. They are a small company so support just takes away from getting the newer versions of software out the door.

 

[Rupp]

WayneW,
HST has a much smaller payroll than Microsoft.

 

[upstatemike]

upstatemike ,
I think a few of us users need to get in touch with these 3rd party plugin providers and request updated versions. I have a few myself that I would like to use but can't. This is the very reason I no longer buy 3rd party plugins. They seem to be here today and gone tomorrow.

Fortunately I don't use any of those 3rd party plug-ins that I listed so it won't impact me. All I need is a non-beta 2.x plug-in for Stargate (coming soon?) and a 2.x version of my Virtual Weather Station plug-in (which I think exists).

 

[The Pod]

I'm sure they are closing the updater so they do not have to support 2 versions of certain plugins. They are a small company so support just takes away from getting the newer versions of software out the door.

I understand that they are a small company, but they basicly haven't supported 1.x since 2.x was introduced (no new updates have been added to the 1.7 updater in a very long time). So they really aren't supporting it now, so can't they just leave it alone and locked it time? At least the files would still be available if someone needed them. Dropping support is fine, but leave the files available for the users as they are now. Most other software/hardware companies that drop support on a product usually still leave the drivers/plug-ins available for download long after the support has been dropped.

The Pod

 

[Rupp]

Pod,
I help part time on the help desk and we receive dozens of request a day for support for HS 1.7. I was surprised at the number of users that didn't even know the bulletin board didn't exist or chose not to use it. So when it may appear from the outside that they are not supporting HS 1.7 is generating a ton of help requests. They want to eliminate these so they can get on with the HS 2.x fixes and updates.

 

[The Pod]

Pod,
I help part time on the help desk and we receive dozens of request a day for support for HS 1.7. I was surprised at the number of users that didn't even know the bulletin board didn't exist or chose not to use it. So when it may appear from the outside that they are not supporting HS 1.7 is generating a ton of help requests. They want to eliminate these so they can get on with the HS 2.x fixes and updates.

Once again Rupp, dropping support is find, but what "tech support" is involved in leaving the updater as it is now online for another year or so. This isn't about requiring HST support, its about current users being able to restore their 1.7 system in case of a computer crash. As long as it doesn't crash there is nothing HST would have to do except leave the updater server and files running as they are now.

The Pod

 

[WayneW]

WayneW,
HST has a much smaller payroll than Microsoft.

and a much smaller overhead
and a much smaller development cost
and a much smaller income
and a much smaller customer base
and a much smaller legal department

what is the point?

 

[Rupp]

Pod,
I help part time on the help desk and we receive dozens of request a day for support for HS 1.7. I was surprised at the number of users that didn't even know the bulletin board didn't exist or chose not to use it. So when it may appear from the outside that they are not supporting HS 1.7 is generating a ton of help requests. They want to eliminate these so they can get on with the HS 2.x fixes and updates.

Once again Rupp, dropping support is find, but what "tech support" is involved in leaving the updater as it is now online for another year or so. This isn't about requiring HST support, its about current users being able to restore their 1.7 system in case of a computer crash. As long as it doesn't crash there is nothing HST would have to do except leave the updater server and files running as they are now.

The Pod

Pod,
If you download something from the updater and it doesn't work who are you going to contact? HS of course.

 

[Rupp]

WayneW,
HST has a much smaller payroll than Microsoft.

and a much smaller overhead
and a much smaller development cost
and a much smaller income
and a much smaller customer base
and a much smaller legal department

what is the point?

WhyneW,
The point is they are smaller. :unsure: Thus less people to support 2 divergent products.

 

[smee]

Pod,
I help part time on the help desk and we receive dozens of request a day for support for HS 1.7. I was surprised at the number of users that didn't even know the bulletin board didn't exist or chose not to use it. So when it may appear from the outside that they are not supporting HS 1.7 is generating a ton of help requests. They want to eliminate these so they can get on with the HS 2.x fixes and updates.

Once again Rupp, dropping support is find, but what "tech support" is involved in leaving the updater as it is now online for another year or so. This isn't about requiring HST support, its about current users being able to restore their 1.7 system in case of a computer crash. As long as it doesn't crash there is nothing HST would have to do except leave the updater server and files running as they are now.

The Pod

Pod,
If you download something from the updater and it doesn't work who are you going to contact? HS of course.

If I lose my hard drive and need to reinstall everything, who am I going to contact? HS. Are they going to help me? I don't know. It sounds like I won't be able to do anything on my own without the updater for downloads. I will have no choice but to involve someone directly - taking them away from other things. But, I guess you are saying that they will just ignore me.

 

[Rupp]

Guys,
Don't beat me up over this it wasn't my decision. I have iVista that has a web based license that doesn't work any more on any machine. If I loose my hard drive I've lost my iVista. This is not uncommon. What if you loose your hard drive with Win98 on it?

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I have ALWAYS been a supporter of HomeSeer (maybe to much of a supporter in some respects).

I respect both Rich and Rick and I truly believe in their product.

I wanted to bring this up with the hopes that this respect and belief can be continued. It's just too soon to "loose" the support for HS 1.7x versions. I can see not giving technical support as "The Pod" stated, but at least keep the updater alive.

I don't like running "beta" software on my dedicated HA system. We all strive for a high WAF factor and that alone in a lot of cases decides if the "toys" we want to have/keep survive in the household. I will play around with a Beta of MainLobby/MusicLobby, but when it comes to critical software, I want tried and true versions.

I paid for the upgrade of HS 2.0 when it was first offered, and wanted to wait till all the bugs were worked out before installing. This included "tried and true" plugin support for my Caddx, Ocelot, W-800, Ninja (CM19a), NetCallerID as well as some "custom" serial devices that I use the hs.opencomport type commands with.

Sure HS 2.0/2.1 "core" functions were eventually stabilized and made to where it would not crash (mainly due to the latest .net build), but what about all the plugins, which is the main reason I went with HomeSeer in the first place?

If I didn't want home automation software with all of this type of product support I would probably not have went with HomeSeer. THIS is HomeSeer's strength, the support of many products via their plugins.

I don't care if a plugin was paid for or not, the point is I rely on them.

So let's review (a lot of these "generalizations" are results of what I have been reading via the HomeSeer forums and may not be 100% correct. I'm just trying to give a generalization from memory of "why" support is still needed but if anyone see's any gross errors let me know and I'll edit. Also note these needs are for myself and do not include other products that may still have issues):

HomeSeer 2.0 came out, crashed and burned.

HomeSeer 2.1 came out, stability occurred.

Allen came out with a Caddx "beta" plugin, some problems occurred.

Allen fell off the face of the earth, no more Caddx support.

Nitrox decided to update his Caddx plugin, still some issues as it just came out a couple of months ago.

W-800 plugin was re-written for HS 2.1, seems stable.

WAF NetCallerID plugin never was upgraded to HS 2.1 standards.

Problems exist (and may still) with hs.waitsecs and hs.opencomport commands.

A CM19a plugin has just recently been written for HS 2.1.

EDIT: MLHSPlugin was re-written for HS 2.1 and recently has proven stability.

All of this is just to show why it is still to early to give up supporting HS 1.7. HS Technologies has to realize people do NOT want to be in a constant "beta" mode with their systems, and this INCLUDES plugins.

 

[The Pod]

Guys,
Don't beat me up over this it wasn't my decision. I have iVista that has a web based license that doesn't work any more on any machine. If I loose my hard drive I've lost my iVista. This is not uncommon. What if you loose your hard drive with Win98 on it?

If my windows 98 was to crash I would install it from the original Windows CD. Then believe it or not I could use the microsoft updater and update it to the most currect updates that were available at the time when MS dropped support for win98 or even Win95 for that matter. I would hope that if my HS was to crash I could use the original CD I purchased from HST to install the software, enter my license code for it, and use the HS updater to bring me back to last supported version along with the last supported version of all the plugins I purchased.

The Pod

 

[Rupp]

BSR,
All I can say is HS 2.1.x is stable and if there's a third party plugin that needs to be update it's time to get in touch with the author. We've been given roughly 5 months to get these plugins updated from the developers. BTW the WafNetCallerID script runs fine on HS 2.1.x

The last thing I can say about this news is - It's their baby they can treat it as they choose. I'm sure this wasn't something they just posted in haste. They have a business to run and they can choose to run it as they please. Having said that, we can choose to stay or go as well.