It’s important to know your IP address when setting up a home network, configuring port forwarding, or even when calling MHA for support. Luckily finding out your IP address is pretty simple.
The Easy Way:
Type “ip address” into Google search.
Another Easy Way:
Go to WhatisMyIP.com.
The Hard Way (Windows):
Go to Start
Click on Run
Type cmd and hit enter (use command in Win98)
Type ipconfig and hit enter
The Hard Way (Mac):
Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Select System Preferences
Select Network in the Internet & Wireless field. Your Mac’s IP address is displayed under “Status.”
When Mile High Automation was founded in 2005, we were a strictly a DIY automation company that focused on state-of-the-art programming for our systems. Over the past six years, we’ve grown and used our experiences with clients to develop a DIY package that gives customers everything they need to install their systems on their own.
We know how important it is to provide clear and easy-to-follow instructions, so we make sure to document every device, wire, and connection in the plans we include in our packages.
Our unique, one-on-one approach guarantees that your plans will be for your house and your house alone. We base our design off of your input and your floor plans, so they’ll be no surprises when it comes time to install.
And while you may be doing it yourself, you won’t ever be left on your own—Mile High Automation offers free lifetime support and we’re only ever a click or call away. No question is too big or too small for our support team, and we always provide quick turnarounds for broken products.
With Mile High Automation you get the best of both worlds: a DIY price backed up with expert support.
Start your project today!
There has been a lot of discussion over Cat5e and Cat6, and since most of our systems run on Cat5e/Cat6, it’s important to know which to use.
What’s the difference between Cat5e and Cat6?
The main difference between the two wires is bandwidth. Cat5e supports a bandwidth of 100MHz, and Cat6 runs at 200 MHz. While both systems support Gigabit networking, Cat6 is able to handle it in an easier way.
It’s easiest to think of bandwidth in terms of cars on a highway. Both a Ford Escort and a Corvette can ride along at 70 mph, but the Corvette does it much easier than the Escort.
Why wouldn’t I use Cat6 in my home?
There are 2 main reasons that we like to use Cat5e for most of our equipment. First, Cat6 is about twice the price of Cat5e. Second, the connectors for Cat6 are much more difficult to install then the connectors for Cat5e.
Additionally, we use Cat5e for many devices that have extremely low bandwidth requirements such as touch screens and thermostats. For devices like this, Cat5e is more than enough. In fact, we only recommend using Cat6 for data and video networks.
Final Thoughts
We prefer to use Cat5e due to its low price, ease of use, and that it is the standard. Most equipment is being designed to run on Cat5e. That being said, it does make sense to run some Cat6 especially for your data network in large homes that will have extensive data requirements. The average home automation system we do requires about 6,000 feet of wire. Upgrading 1,000 feet of that to Cat6 will cost you about $100, but it is a smart upgrade.
In this video we demonstrate the HAI OmniTouch Camera Server and show how it is displayed on you touch screens, iPhone, and computer.
Watch as Matt shows you how to the HAI Video Server integrates into your home automation to create a more complete system
Designed to integrate up to 4 cameras into your user interfaces throughout your home.
It can also integrate up to 4 cameras on your iPhone.
It is easy to integrate your security cameras into your HAI home automation system. For more about home automation and control visit milehighautomation.com
It is our goal at Mile High Automation to make the Do-It-Yourself installation process as easy and problem free as possible. This is why we dedicate so much time creating guides that are simple to understand and easy follow.
Once you have finalized your home automation system with your Project Manager he will send your plans to our engineering department where they will create Wiring Guides for your system.
Wiring Guide
Running wires guidelines
Audio wiring rough-in guide
The Wiring Guide is essential to the DIY installer; this is the guide that will tell you how and where to run wires from your automation panel or A/V Rack to each device. The Wiring Guide takes you step by step using your floor plans to map out each device in your system and explain how to wire for that device.
This eliminates the need to read through tedious instructions for each device and eliminates any questions on whether you wired your system correctly.
The Wiring Guides were created to ensure your home is wired right the first time. But if you do run into any problems just give our support team a call or email them at support@milehighautomation.com.
In order to enable us to interface with home automation systems devices like the OmniPro II and Omni IIe we need to know the external IP address of your home. While this can be done by typing in the actual IP address (EX 64.234.182.24), that number is difficult to remember.
Even if you can remember it, the bigger problem is that your ISP will change that number from time to time.
The solution is DDNS. Dynamic DNS allows your IP address to be translated to a domain name such as myhome.homeip.net. This is both easier to remember and always stays up to date with your changing IP address.
In this blog post, we will walk you through setting up DDNS.
To use DynDNS service, you will first need to register with them.
Step 1: Go to DynDNS.com. You will be presented with screen that looks like this:
Step 2: Notice the highlighted part in the above screenshot. Enter the subdomain of your choice and select the domain name from the dropdown given. In the screenshot shown below, we have entered “myhome” as our subdomain and selected “homeip.net” as domain name. We typically will use the naming convention familyname.homeip.net. Once done, press “Add” button.
Step 3: After this, you will be presented with a simple form like the one shown below. Here you will need to enter the username and password that will be used to access your DynDNS account. You would also need to enter your email address. Before clicking on “Create Account” button, make sure you have entered the text shown in image captcha and agree with AUP and privacy policy of DynDNS.com.
Step 4: Now you will receive an email from DynDNS.com. Click on the link given to confirm your account.
Step 5: Clicking on the confirmation link will take you to the page that looks like the one shown below. To start using dynamic DNS service, click on “Activate Services” button.
Step 6: Your dynamic dns service is now be activated. You will be shown your hostname with IP address in details field.
Step 7: The final step is to add our DDNS account information to our router. This will be slightly different on each router. Below is a screen shot of a Linksys router. Follow the steps in Part I of this guide to log into your router. Then click on the DDNS option under the SETUP menu. Select DynDNS.org as the DDNS service and enter your DDNS account information. When done click on SAVE SETTINGS. After a minute or two the status should save “Update Success†or similar.
The following guide will show you how to set up port forwarding on your router. This will allow us to connect to your system to make changes, as well as allow you to access your system over the internet.
Open Internet Explorer and type 192.168.1.1 into your address bar. A login window will pop up. Enter your user name and password. By default the user name and password are “admin” and “admin”. If 192.168.1.1 does not work, try 192.168.0.1. Some routers default to the .0.1 subnet.
- Application:HAI
- Start:4369
- End:4369
- Protocol:Both
- IP Address:155
- Enabled:Checked
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A new client of ours is doing a large system and was nice enough to send a few pictures of his pre-wire. Take note of the excellent organization of the wiring, this is the type of effort that will save you hours on the trim-out phase of the job. On these automation systems nothing is more important than labeling and organization, you have wiring going to hundreds of locations and all for different services. Taking the time to make sure it is all done right the first time is well worth it. Nice work!
This video is a user guide on the general operation of HAI’s award winning thermostat, the Omnistat2. This product recently won “Best Green Product” at the tenth annual Electronic House Expo this past
March! This expo commemorates the finest achievements in home electronics products, services, and installed technology and is attended by the majority of home automation manufacturers.
One cool new feature that HAI added to this new model thermostat is you can set the backlight display color from a set of 100 colors. The Omnistat2 can also display a graph of your heating and air conditioning usage over the past 4 weeks. This graph can help give insight on what HVAC settings work best for your house and ultimately can help save on energy bills.
The Omnistat2 has replaced all of HAI’s older model thermostats. They have simplified their climate control product line by offering only two thermostats. In situations where you’re using either a multi-stage system or you’re controlling a humidifier that’s integrated into your HVAC system, you will require the Omnistat2 RC-2000. In all other cases, the RC-1000 will suffice. HAI is also developing a wireless version of the Omnistat2 which is expected to be released later this year.
This video user guide highlights the various features that our Omnitouch touch screen has to offer. My demonstration covers how to control the many different subsystems integrated in your HAI home automation system (lighting, security, climate control, multi-room audio, irrigation, preprogrammed macro buttons, surveillance video, and other integrated products).
One cool feature that I discovered when preparing this video was the “Clean Screen†feature which essentially freezes the screen temporarily so that you can clean it without accidentally pressing any buttons.
The Video feature was one category that I was not able to cover in detail since we do not have cameras and video hub hooked up to our automation system. You can get a better idea of what the Video feature looks like by visiting our online touch screen demo on our website at:
http://www.milehighautomation.com/demos/omnitouch/OmniTouch.htm
Also use this online demo to test your new knowledge and get a better feel for HAI’s award-winning Omnitouch touch screen!
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