Newbie trying homeseer. PC build and general help.

[freddie_m]

Hello All. I recently moved into a new house and with a baby,work and tight schedules home automation looks something worthwhile. Through my quest for a reliable automation platform I landed on homeseer.
I have been going through the forums and it has helped me a lot!

I currently installed trial version of Homeseer on a netbook to be particular, asus 1000ha running XP. I am using Z-stick gen5. I currently have one kwikset lock and a foscam camera as devices. It run's OK, I have netcam,z-wave,hs-touch plugins running. I was wondering if this setup will work if I go ahead using homeseer for the next say 2-3 years before I upgrade the hardware. My setup will mostly increase to 4 z-wave locks, 15 door/window contact sensors, a few light switches, bulbs, garage door opener and anything else I might find use for. I want a machine just to run homeseer, will this work? or should I look into getting a new machine. If needed will something like this work?

http://www.amazon.com/Kangaroo-MD2B-...ronics&sr=1-18

I like the smaller foot print. It will be in basement along with my router,modem and a Plex server in the future on a UPS.

Thanks for reading and I am sure I will have more questions hope you can help me .

Also, I can access homeseer form the web interface when I am connected to my network does that mean anyone connected to my
home network has access to it? Is there anyway to limit this?

[waynehead99]

If its working for you now, then keep it. You may find as you mess with things that you need to upgrade hardware, but that is easy to do with HS. Just make sure you do daily backups (there is a good plugin for this).

When/If you upgrade, just do a base install on the new computer and then just copy the entire folder over and your setup is there on the new machine.

[sparkman]

Also, I can access homeseer form the web interface when I am connected to my network does that mean anyone connected to my
home network has access to it? Is there anyway to limit this?

Welcome to the forum. You can set it up to require local logins under the Setup pages.

Cheers
Al

[freddie_m]

If its working for you now, then keep it. You may find as you mess with things that you need to upgrade hardware, but that is easy to do with HS. Just make sure you do daily backups (there is a good plugin for this).

When/If you upgrade, just do a base install on the new computer and then just copy the entire folder over and your setup is there on the new machine.

That sounds easy thanks!

[freddie_m]

Welcome to the forum. You can set it up to require local logins under the Setup pages.

Cheers
Al

Thanks!

[ybanerd]

Welcome Newbie!

We all are new at some point. Like me I have few post on this forum but I have been using Homeseer since v.1.4 (still have the CD) way back in 2000. Some of the guys here on the forum have much more experience and are really great at sharing their experience. Anyway, I think the machine you have for what you want to do is fine. Just remember to backup, it's a witch to recreate events and devices. I would recommend a fresh format and wipe of the hard drive and a new install of windows. Otherwise you might be chasing ghost of problems at some point. I've used the same HP Pentium 4 machine for 16 years. Being an old guy I run both X-10 (TI-103) and Z-Wave(HS SmartSTICK+). HS is the best money (and the most) I ever spent on software and it's been worth it. Make sure to check out the HSTouch app and designer. Allows you to access HS from iphones/pads and Android devices. I use cheap android devices and Bluetooth speakers along with the speech capabilities of HS to make whole house announcements of different system events and actions. pretty neat.

Web access is on by default you can administer users and permissions from the web interface under TOOLS>SETUP>NETWORK
There are several options for additional security and limiting access.

[randy]

That sounds easy thanks!

The operating systems must be the same variety (32-bit or 64-bit) in order to copy the folder structure. XP to Windows 7, 8, 10 32-bit is ok. If you move to x64 there is a little more work involved. Most, if not all new systems will be x64.

[NicolaiL]

Also, I can access homeseer form the web interface when I am connected to my network does that mean anyone connected to my
home network has access to it? Is there anyway to limit this?

Welcome to the world of HomeSeer!

You can limit local LAN logins through the Tools/Setup/Network page an untick the "No Password Required for Local/Same Network Login (Web Browser/HSTouch)" option

[freddie_m]

Thanks everyone.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I was able to activate login for the web interface. I need to remember about the 32bit compatibility.

Is there any advantage to using myhomeseer service over a openVPN?

[sparkman]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I was able to activate login for the web interface. I need to remember about the 32bit compatibility.

Is there any advantage to using myhomeseer service over a openVPN?

I use my own VPN. For me, it has much less latency than using the homeseer service. If you're comfortable setting up OpenVPN or you already have it running, I would use it.

Cheers
Al

[freddie_m]

I use my own VPN. For me, it has much less latency than using the homeseer service. If you're comfortable setting up OpenVPN or you already have it running, I would use it.

Cheers
Al

Thanks Al. I already have OpenVPN , though I don't find any difference in latency I feel comfortable using VPN.