Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How does the Control It All Remote work?
The Control It All Remote consists of the app and the Transceiver. The app sends control signals to the Transceiver. The Transceiver converts the control signals into infrared (IR) signals that control your AV equipment. You can think of the Transceiver as a conventional remote, without buttons, that is is controlled by the iPhone via Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a wireless communication standard known for ease of setup and use. Because the Transceiver is controlled by the iPhone, Control It All gives you true “remote” control (untethered by line of sight limitations of conventional remotes) of your AV components.
Q. What iOS devices are you compatible with?
A. The Control It All App is compatible with devices running Apple iOS 4.3 or higher.
Q. My cable box does not show up under the list of cable brands. For example, there is no AT&T cable brand. Do you support my cable provider?
A. Cable boxes are listed using the manufacturer brand. You can usually find the manufacturer on the front or rear panel of your cable box. For example, the manufacturer brands for AT&T U-Verse is either Motorola or Cisco.
Q. What AV devices are you compatible with?
A. The app contains a list of 10 device types, and over 200 brands. If a brand is not supported, you can use the learning capability to capture codes from your existing emote–that came with the AV equipment.
Please Note: A listed brand does not imply support for all types and models for that brand. No vendor can claim support for all components. If Control It All’s IR code data base does not support a particular component, you can Learn (capture) the code from your existing remote.
Q. What is Bluetooth and do I need additional hardware similar a Wifi router?
A. Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard for exchanging information over short distances. The MiCommand Transceiver communicates with the iPhone using built in Bluetooth radios. No additional hardware is required.
Q. Do I need Wifi and does the Transceiver connect to my network?
A. The Control It All remote and Transceiver is a complete system, no additional equipment or networking is required. The Transceiver does not connect to or interfere with home networks.
Q. Are their any limits on the number of components that Control It All can control?
A. There are no practical limits on the number of components that can be controlled.
Q. Can Control It All control rack-mounted and behind-wall components.
A. The Transceiver requires line of sight “visibility”. Depending on your component placement, you may be able to place the transceiver in your equipment room and achieve line of sight visibility. If you can’t, you can purchase 3rd party repeaters to propagate the IR from the Transceiver to your equipment.
Q. Do you support non-Apple smartphones like Android, Blackberry, Nokia, or Windows phone.
A. Today, the Control It All Remote supports only Apple iOS devices. Stay tuned for news here as we expand platform support.
Q. Can I have more than one Transceiver in my home?
A. Yes. The Control It All Remote app supports communication with multiple Transceivers. (i.e. Transceivers in different rooms–den, media room, bedroom, etc.). Multiple transceivers are given room names to identify which transceiver will receive commands at a given time. Selecting a room connects the app to the Transceiver in a room. Once connected you can control AV components in a room subject to Bluetooth range restrictions (up to 10 meters through walls and floors).
Q. Can the Transceiver communicate with multiple iPhones and if so how many?
A. The Transceiver will maintain Bluetooth pairings with up to 8 iPhones. The Transceiver will maintain connections with up to 4 iPhones–meaning up to 4 phones can simultaneously interact with a single Transceiver.
Q. Can I use a mixture of iPhones, iPods, and iPads?
A. Yes, the Transceiver treats all compatible iOS devices the same.
8 Comments
Hi:
I have downloaded the iphone app and love it. Easy to setup and use just like all Apple products.
I called on the day of the Austin Statesman ad and talked briefly with Jeff Roane about coming up to your location to pick up the device. If you have some available for sale I would be very interested in coming in for one.
I have one technical question. I have an IR repeater system but would like to take the ir signal off of your box directly to the IR distribution block with a miniplug cable. This would require an output on your box. Is there one available?
Thank you. Hope sales are good:-)
Hi Chris,
Thank you for the feedback. Glad you like the app and found the setup easy.
Regarding the question on IR repeater systems: The current version does not have an electrical IR-out connection. To feed an IR repeater you could use an IR capture/repeater system like the Smarthome Hidden IR Repeater System.
I’ll email you to arrange a time for you to pick up a unit.
Best,
-Jeff
Above you say the Transceiver can communicate with multiple iPhones “simultaneously”. Do you really mean simultaneously, or do I somehow have to tell it which one is the master? My wife and I have iPhones as do our kids. How does the Transceiver determine which iPhone to connect to?
Cheers RobK
The Transceiver does handle simultaneous communication. Here’s how it works:
The Transceiver maintains communication links with up to 4 iPhones/iPods/iPads. Each device can send commands at any time. The commands are serviced by the Transceiver on a first-come-first-serve basis. So if you and your family are all switching channels at the same time, the Transceiver would send the (rather confusing) series of channel change commands to your cable or satellite box.
In this situation, parental authority would have to intervene to restore sanity, but the Transceiver does handle the chaos quite nicely:-)
Thanks for the rapid response. One more question. Do you limit the number of phones that can talk to the Transceiver to 4. The reason for my question, is that my family has 4 iPhones, but we also have an iPad?
Thanks RobK
Hi Robert,
The number of phones that can *simultaneously* talk to the Transceiver is 4, but I think your real question is how many devices can I have in my home that can be used with a Transceiver.
If the latter is your question, then the answer is different. There is no limit on the number of iPhones/iPads/iPods you can use with a Transceiver. You just can’t have more than 4 connected at the same time, and you can’t have more than 8 paired at any given time.
Note the connections (a Bluetooth mechanism) happen in the background. i-thingy’s are automatically connected when they are within range (30-ft). When they go out of range (people leaving the house for example), they are no longer connected, and other devices are free to connect.
This works quite nicely in a typical home environment where people come and go, and you switch between iPhone and iPad to control your AV equipment depending on what you’re doing.
No network music players? Lacking Logitech squeezebox is a deal-breaker for me. When do you plan to add this device category?
Hi Joel, we introduced with the intent to support the significant majority of home AV equipment. Our support for over 200 brands of Blu-Ray, Cable, CD, DVD, DVD/VCR Combo, Projector, Receiver/Preamp, Satellite, Set Top Box, and TV’s is evidence of this.
Regarding support for networked Music players. Suffice it to say that you are on the right track, although our tack here will be a little different, but when you see it I think you’ll like what you see. One of the huge advantages of launching an app-based HW accessory is the speed at which you can deliver new capabilities to your customers. Stay tuned for more. I’ll contact you personally just before our announcement to get your take. I think/hope you’ll be pleased with what you learn.
One more thing: We do support networked music and video streaming devices, if they have IR control capability, even if we lack the specific code set. Streaming devices are typically classified as Set Top Box. With our most recent v2.1 release you can add Brands, then learn the codes (capture them from your existing remote that came with your device). This allows you to use that streaming device, along with all the other devices for which we have built-in support. The reality is that no remote will support everything out of the box, but Learning and proper device classification will allow you to handle almost everything. Our philosophy and design goal is to let you Control It All–no one device should be a show stopper.
Thanks for your comments,
-Jeff