Look at Broadlink they have universal remotes. It's not perfect but it's cheap. You control/program everything with an app. Add an IR extender and blast IR all over the apartment, and control AC or anything with IR. They also have Bluetooth options. I've been using the old mini for about 8 years.
I agree with you 💯. I had my Harmony Elite customized and set up perfectly for my girlfriend and myself. It even did my home lighting features and door locks perfectly for years. Long story short, the only reason I found out they weren’t being made anymore was over many years and many times being dropped, the RF distance from the hub seemed to decrease a little bit. I started having troubles when trying to use it in my bedroom (furthest from the hub). The writing was on the wall and I can see after a ton of research that there is zero replacement remote that even come close to The Elite. So I decided to down size from a few year old Yamaha receiver w/ Definitive Technology Mythos Eights small system with some add on stuff to a simple p-series elevate sound-bar using HDMI-CEC using the apps in my cable box and a fire stick. And for the home automations (lighting, locks, etc.) I switched to using Apple HomeKit. Im pretty shocked at how well the HDMI with CEC works and I’m more shocked at how far along sound bars have come. This thing blew my expectations away with Atmos. I also just switched to using the built in apps on the other tvs in the house. Im getting used to it and the only thing that I can say I really miss is the responsiveness of the Apple TV box which I’m not using anymore. I may add it back in considering I can put it back in my audio closet considering the remote is not IR.
I wish I could give this more than 1 thumbs up. CEC was freaking me out once I started noticing my LG TV powering up my Sony Blu Ray player simply by accidentally tuning the TV to the HDMI input with Blu Ray. I still have a Harmony, but the buttons and battery power on the remote are wonky.
There is no doubt that the development of audio and video equipment from infrared to Bluetooth should be followed by CEC technology. Although IP technology is also used, the network often fails after the device is powered off. You can try BESTJOY remote, including infrared, BLE, RF 433/315, 2.4G, and a matching HDMI-CEC COMMANDER will be launched recently. It can solve the problems encountered by general CEC, such as that the TV does not support CEC and the entire video and audio system cannot work.
No solution here... I'm hanging onto my harmony hub and harmony keyboard until it's no longer functional or like you, I find a suitable replacement. I took the time to relocate all of my components into a media closet so that I only have my TV and the harmony hub visible in the room. The harmony hub has been working great for about 8 years except for the last two years I've noticed that it can get very delayed to commands and the only solution is to power it off then back on, by pulling the power cord. Possibly a Wi-Fi connectivity issue... I also use Alexa devices to control my harmony hub and associated components... I did attempt to begin the journey of finding an alternative, which lead me to the Broadlink IR/RF Smart Home Hub-Wi-FI IR/RF Blaster... RM4 Pro (Amazon purchase). I returned it within 24 hours. It was maddening, to have a device advertised as a suitable replacement (no bluetooth), that had a piece of paper included in the package that detailed a work around to get the device connected to your home network. It only supports 2.4ghz bands, which is fine IF the device could figure out that I did indeed have a 2.4ghz band network along with my 5ghz (same SSID name) network. It failed over and over. I've purchased several other devices that only use 2.4ghz bands on my same network without issue. Why can't this device figure it out? I refuse to buy a device in 2022/2023 as a solution to controlling my smart home devices that can't connect to a my home network without issue. /rant Now that being said, I've begun leaning towards using devices that house multiple platforms/services in one device, so I honestly don't have to change inputs/devices as much as we all once had to... Between my HTPC and Nvidia Shield, I don't have a need for anything else. Possibly if I were to connect my gaming consoles from a decade ago... Looking forward to an update video with the perfect solution soon! Keep up the great content!
I have to agree with you. A couple of options. 1) Pro Control rti24. Expensive, but more powerful than Harmony. However, needs a certified installer. Also needs a seperate processor for RF. Great overall. 2) Sofabaton , like Harmony with a hub. Never tried this one but seems to be a compatible one.
Look at it from logitech's perspective. They created a product, harmony, that was great! But they didn't create a income revenue other than the initial payment for the equipment. Whats happening now is a reset for not only harmony but alot of other smart equipment. At some point, harmony's cloud will either shut down completely or they will offer a subscription service per month fee to make all the good stuff start working again. My bet is it will shut down completely and they will just change the name and make us buy new equipment making them lots of money and of course a subscription fee as well. If you think about it and you are old enough this has already happened before with the radio shack automation things. I had all that stuff and it worked well as for lights and powered plugs and it just quit working as for the connectivity outside your home. It still works locally.
Look at Broadlink they have universal remotes. It's not perfect but it's cheap. You control/program everything with an app. Add an IR extender and blast IR all over the apartment, and control AC or anything with IR. They also have Bluetooth options. I've been using the old mini for about 8 years.
I will look at Broadlink! Do you know if it does Bluetooth and RF? Thanks!
@@FiniteComedy IR and RF. Not Bluetooth my bad
@@JonDoucette101 thanks for the info! I'll check it out and see if it gets a high PAR score.
I agree with you 💯. I had my Harmony Elite customized and set up perfectly for my girlfriend and myself. It even did my home lighting features and door locks perfectly for years. Long story short, the only reason I found out they weren’t being made anymore was over many years and many times being dropped, the RF distance from the hub seemed to decrease a little bit. I started having troubles when trying to use it in my bedroom (furthest from the hub). The writing was on the wall and I can see after a ton of research that there is zero replacement remote that even come close to The Elite. So I decided to down size from a few year old Yamaha receiver w/ Definitive Technology Mythos Eights small system with some add on stuff to a simple p-series elevate sound-bar using HDMI-CEC using the apps in my cable box and a fire stick. And for the home automations (lighting, locks, etc.) I switched to using Apple HomeKit. Im pretty shocked at how well the HDMI with CEC works and I’m more shocked at how far along sound bars have come. This thing blew my expectations away with Atmos. I also just switched to using the built in apps on the other tvs in the house. Im getting used to it and the only thing that I can say I really miss is the responsiveness of the Apple TV box which I’m not using anymore. I may add it back in considering I can put it back in my audio closet considering the remote is not IR.
I wish I could give this more than 1 thumbs up. CEC was freaking me out once I started noticing my LG TV powering up my Sony Blu Ray player simply by accidentally tuning the TV to the HDMI input with Blu Ray. I still have a Harmony, but the buttons and battery power on the remote are wonky.
There is no doubt that the development of audio and video equipment from infrared to Bluetooth should be followed by CEC technology. Although IP technology is also used, the network often fails after the device is powered off. You can try BESTJOY remote, including infrared, BLE, RF 433/315, 2.4G, and a matching HDMI-CEC COMMANDER will be launched recently. It can solve the problems encountered by general CEC, such as that the TV does not support CEC and the entire video and audio system cannot work.
No solution here... I'm hanging onto my harmony hub and harmony keyboard until it's no longer functional or like you, I find a suitable replacement. I took the time to relocate all of my components into a media closet so that I only have my TV and the harmony hub visible in the room. The harmony hub has been working great for about 8 years except for the last two years I've noticed that it can get very delayed to commands and the only solution is to power it off then back on, by pulling the power cord. Possibly a Wi-Fi connectivity issue... I also use Alexa devices to control my harmony hub and associated components...
I did attempt to begin the journey of finding an alternative, which lead me to the Broadlink IR/RF Smart Home Hub-Wi-FI IR/RF Blaster... RM4 Pro (Amazon purchase). I returned it within 24 hours. It was maddening, to have a device advertised as a suitable replacement (no bluetooth), that had a piece of paper included in the package that detailed a work around to get the device connected to your home network. It only supports 2.4ghz bands, which is fine IF the device could figure out that I did indeed have a 2.4ghz band network along with my 5ghz (same SSID name) network. It failed over and over. I've purchased several other devices that only use 2.4ghz bands on my same network without issue. Why can't this device figure it out? I refuse to buy a device in 2022/2023 as a solution to controlling my smart home devices that can't connect to a my home network without issue. /rant
Now that being said, I've begun leaning towards using devices that house multiple platforms/services in one device, so I honestly don't have to change inputs/devices as much as we all once had to... Between my HTPC and Nvidia Shield, I don't have a need for anything else. Possibly if I were to connect my gaming consoles from a decade ago...
Looking forward to an update video with the perfect solution soon! Keep up the great content!
I have to agree with you. A couple of options. 1) Pro Control rti24. Expensive, but more powerful than Harmony. However, needs a certified installer. Also needs a seperate processor for RF. Great overall. 2) Sofabaton , like Harmony with a hub. Never tried this one but seems to be a compatible one.
Look at it from logitech's perspective. They created a product, harmony, that was great! But they didn't create a income revenue other than the initial payment for the equipment. Whats happening now is a reset for not only harmony but alot of other smart equipment. At some point, harmony's cloud will either shut down completely or they will offer a subscription service per month fee to make all the good stuff start working again. My bet is it will shut down completely and they will just change the name and make us buy new equipment making them lots of money and of course a subscription fee as well. If you think about it and you are old enough this has already happened before with the radio shack automation things. I had all that stuff and it worked well as for lights and powered plugs and it just quit working as for the connectivity outside your home. It still works locally.
Sofabaton?
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give them a shot soon!