cell phone support

[Jim Becker]

Ah, Lee...I forgot the garage door opener in my previous post.

IoT isn't for everyone at this point. Some of us are comfortable with it and some are not. And either is ok.

[Brian Elfert]

At most twice a year, coming home from vacation, it would be nice if I could pre-cool the house because the 'Heat Monster' had moved in over SoCal while I was away.

File that under "Not Gonna Happen". I'm more tech-savvy than most, but so far I've had zero luck getting my Honeywell thermostat to play nice with any of the Samsung phones I've had since it was installed. And at this point I have zero desire to go on a scavenger hunt for a t-stat that will...just not worth the aggro.

Honeywell/Resideo also has a web version of the app that may work on your phone in a web browser. I have used it before, but I don't recall the URL off hand.

[Curt Harms]

Ah, Lee...I forgot the garage door opener in my previous post.

IoT isn't for everyone at this point. Some of us are comfortable with it and some are not. And either is ok.

I look at it as draw a horizontal line. One end is labeled convenient, the other end is labeled (pretty) secure. Pick your spot in the line. "But but but I want both!" Yeah, don't we all.

[Brian Elfert]

I only got a smart thermostat because it was free from my electric cooperative. Now, it was free because I had to enroll in their air conditioning control system. I was already using air conditioning control through a radio receiver box on the side of my house anyhow so I wasn't really changing anything. I can override the temperature settings on any day they control my air conditioning, but I lose my bill credit for the month. If they start messing with things too much I can just disconnect the thermostat from my Internet connection.

I like it for changing the settings just before getting home from a trip, but I probably would not but one if I had to pay full price.

[Jim Becker]

I look at it as draw a horizontal line. One end is labeled convenient, the other end is labeled (pretty) secure. Pick your spot in the line. "But but but I want both!" Yeah, don't we all.

I don't disagree. We each have "that spot" on the line where we have the mix of convenience and security that we are individually comfortable with.

[Michael Schuch]

I live out of town. The bandwidth on 4G gets crowded and calls don't go through. According to Verizon 5G will handle much more traffic at one time. Since upgrading to a 5G phone I haven't had any problems with making or receiving calls like I did before I upgraded. Before I upgraded service was continually getting worse.

Maybe the big cities are different?

[Curt Harms]

I live out of town. The bandwidth on 4G gets crowded and calls don't go through. According to Verizon 5G will handle much more traffic at one time. Since upgrading to a 5G phone I haven't had any problems with making or receiving calls like I did before I upgraded. Before I upgraded service was continually getting worse.

Maybe the big cities are different?

I'm no expert in these things but it sounds like the cell provider doesn't have enough 4G bandwidth in that area. I do remember reading that there are 2 'kinds' of 5G. One that will cover a larger area but isn't much faster than 4G and another that only covers about a city block but is very fast. Where I live I can just about see Comcast's corporate headquarters from my 2nd floor window. I have Comcast internet & cell service and am quite happy with them - $40 for both, introductory deal. I figure living near 'the flagpole' (near headquarters possibly having Comcast executive types living nearby) may have something to do with that.

[Jim Becker]

Curt, there are more than two "kinds" of 5G. Low band (slowest at or just above 4G speed, but farthest transmission), mid-band (noticeably better speed than 4G and now also includes "C" band which should should be familiar with being a pilot) and high-band which is "lickety split darn fast" but has short distance requirements between radios (1500-3000 feet max) and poor building penetration because of how high the frequencies are.

[ChrisA Edwards]

It just boggles my mind that anyone would think that having their thermostat online and/or on their cell phone is in any way a good thing. So, other than avoiding Sensi, how do you like the online thermostat? Is it an actual improvement in your quality of life over having one on the wall?

When we moved into our current house back in 2015, it have very old thermostats, which really didn't seem to work very well. We hav three zones, first floor, second floor and finished Attic bonus room. I installed Nest Thermostats, on each level/zone, and recently Nest Smoke detectors. Because we rarely use the attic, I monitor the temperature and can adjust any of the thermostats from my phone anywhere I have cell phone access.

[Curt Harms]

Curt, there are more than two "kinds" of 5G. Low band (slowest at or just above 4G speed, but farthest transmission), mid-band (noticeably better speed than 4G and now also includes "C" band which should should be familiar with being a pilot) and high-band which is "lickety split darn fast" but has short distance requirements between radios (1500-3000 feet max) and poor building penetration because of how high the frequencies are.

Yeah, there was a lot of paper/ink/electrons/photons expended on the "C" band thing. I had no first hand exposure to it, AFAIK it only really applied to really low visibility instrument approaches requiring the user of radar altimeter information. . Other countries solved the problem before it became a problem by either limiting cell sites within so many feet of the approach centerline to lower transmit power or restricted cell site location within so many feet of of the approach centerline or both. Development of better radar altimeter filters made the issue moot, it just took a while to develop and certify.

[Michael Schuch]

I'm no expert in these things but it sounds like the cell provider doesn't have enough 4G bandwidth in that area.

This is exactly the problem... and they told me they will not ever be installing additional 4G bandwidth in my area.

[Curt Harms]

This is exactly the problem... and they told me they will not ever be installing additional 4G bandwidth in my area.

Not really a surprise. I doubt any cellular provider is adding 4G capacity at this point, it'll be all 5G going forward.

[Jason Hennry]

I have an iPhone 7 plus. The Apple support app will not load because you have to have ios 16 or higher to do so. I have 15.7.9 so it won't load. I'm wondering if those of you that use android phones have built in obsolesce also? I really like this phone and don't see a need to change.

It seems like Apple's support app requires iOS 16 or higher, and unfortunately, your iPhone 7 Plus has the latest available version, which is iOS 15.7.9. This issue is specific to Apple devices, and Android phones typically do not face such forced obsolescence.

[Lee Schierer]

It just boggles my mind that anyone would think that having their thermostat online and/or on their cell phone is in any way a good thing. So, other than avoiding Sensi, how do you like the online thermostat? Is it an actual improvement in your quality of life over having one on the wall?

I have a thermostat that I can control from my phone via the internet. It is useful to be able to monitor and control things when we are away from home. I normally set our thermostat to keep the hose warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter whenever we will be away for more than a day or two. I also get messages if the power goes off or if there is a problem with the system.

I do have an android tablet that can no longer be updated to the new version of Android, which means that it cannot run apps that are written for the new operating system. The newer version app for my thermostat is not compatible with my tablet.

[Jim Becker]

This issue is specific to Apple devices, and Android phones typically do not face such forced obsolescence.

I do not believe this is accurate at all. It's counter to the "natural laws of tech" and compounded by the very real fact that the majority of Android devices do not run pure Android. (This is also an older thread)