Saturday 17 December 2016

Connected by TCP Lighting

When I started drafting this post, it would have had a very different bent, as I was impressed by the price point of the Connected by TCP system and had implemented it in a few areas of my home.

Unfortunately, development all but ceased in 2014, and support for the product ended in summer 2016.

TCP's Connected line is an example of bait & switch - they're now selling their products through Nimbus9 - which requires the purchase of a new gateway device as well as adding a $5 monthly subscription fee.  TCP's selling feature was that the system was without monthly charges and would continue to work indefinitely.

Thankfully, there have been some enterprising individuals who have managed to integrate the original TCP gateway with connected products like Vera or on your own Linux server (see http://home.stockmopar.com/updated-connected-by-tcp-api/ and https://github.com/stockmopar/connectedbytcp)

That said, Philips has added the "Hue White" line that has a similar price point as the TCP bulbs, not to mention being supported by a company that seems to stand behind their product.  Not to mention, a protocol that works more quickly and efficiently than the proprietary one TCP uses.

Additionally, there are many Z-Wave options that have come down in price and increased in accessibility.  If I was to do things over again with my home automation system, I'd certainly take some different approaches than I had in the past.  I'll be writing more about that over the next little while.

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