By Mark Tallent, Crestron International.
The automated lighting business has traditionally been dominated by new builds because solutions for existing homes have not been an easy step for dealers to take. Crestron has addressed this market demand with the introduction of the infiNET EX range. This new and extremely robust range, offers the home automation professional a whole new market to operate in. The time is right for integrators to embrace wireless lighting control because there has never before been such an opportunity to retrofit the home with a complete automation offering.
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The Crestron infiNET EX range includes a choice of wireless keypads.[/caption]
Benefits of infiNET EX
Built on steadfast infiNET technology, infiNET EX is the new standard in two-way wireless connectivity, and has a number of major benefits. Firstly, while many companies have adapted similar technologies to offer some products to integrators, they do not cover the whole spectrum of home control suitable for retrofit projects. The infiNET EX range on the other hand, is complete and comprises a full range of dimmers, switches, remotes, touchscreens, shading solutions, remote control nodes and thermostats - in fact, everything the system integrator requires for a fully-functional total home lighting control system.
Secondly, infiNET EX lighting products will work straight out of the box as standard dimmers. And finally, the third, and main strength to this network, is that each device can act as a receiver and repeater of data, resulting in faultless operation - something that is of the utmost importance when it comes to lighting control and home automation. After all, whilst satisfied clients may well tell their friends and families, dissatisfied clients will definitely talk about it! So integrators cannot afford to install systems of inferior quality or performance.
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The infiNET EX range includes dimmers, switches, remotes, touchscreens, shading solutions, remote control nodes and thermostats.[/caption]
Robust Networking
The infiNET EX system uses a mesh network topology that Crestron has successfully been implementing in its product portfolio for over nine years. It is designed to be extremely robust, so much so, that it can handle installations in even the most urban settings, or buildings that include ancient concrete walls. Indeed the redundant nature of the infiNET EX mesh networking technology means that a command will never be missed.
Unlike more traditional wireless communications devices which could often be 'best guess' in their positioning, Crestron offers the free InfiNET EX Diagnostic Tool for viewing gateway and network routing information. These tools allow you to reliably configure and troubleshoot devices on an infiNET EX network. Upon connecting to the control system, the tool will detect the RF gateway and all acquired devices, and display the following information:
• Total acquired devices - the total number of infiNET EX devices connected to the gateway, excluding the gateway itself.
• RF Channel - the current RF channel that the gateway is using to communicate.
• Model - the Crestron model name of the device.
• ID - the RF ID of the device.
• Firmware - the device firmware version.
• # of Hops - the number of devices that are between the current device and the gateway, including the gateway. For example, if the device is connected directly to the gateway it will report '1' hop. If instead the device is communicating with another device that is between the first device and the gateway, it reports '2' hops.
• Link Quality - the quality of the link between the device and the hop with the worst link quality. The overlay colour indicates whether the connection is Excellent (green), Good (green), Satisfactory (yellow) or Poor (red).
• Neighbour Count - the total number of neighbouring devices, including the gateway. In a mesh network all devices keep track of the other devices within its range, in the event that they need to re-route communication data through the neighbouring devices.
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The robustness of the infiNET EX network ensures that a command will never be missed.[/caption]
Summary
How many homes want automation and lifestyle technology, but without the expense and significant disruption of having to rip the walls apart to run new wires? How many office lights the length and breadth of the country are left on unnecessarily 24/7?
Automation makes buildings more intelligent, efficient and responsive to their occupants. Crestron infiNET EX supports this without the need to re-wire, thus expanding the scope of projects that systems integrators can bid for, whilst providing a robust solution that keeps clients happy and protects the professional's reputation.
Crestron infiNET EX has already been installed in a wide variety of projects including homes, listed buildings and offices. It offers a very attractive proposition for installers of Crestron technology and brings automation and control of the built environment to a wider market.
Mark Tallent is the International Product Manager of Lighting & Building Controls for Crestron International, a leading provider of control and automation systems.
www.crestron.eu