Ring vs Nest Differences - San Diego Ring and Nest Installers are here!

UPDATE! The below is from a previous article that we completed. Above is another reason to go with Nest. That's right...chunks of alligator lizard tail.

The other day, I opened my front door and surprised a roadrunner on my front porch who was participating in consuming my favorite alligator lizard. He jumped over the rail and ran away with my friend in his mouth. After I chased him unsuccessfully, I hoped to have video footage of the assumed epic battle. Unfortunately, I have a Ring doorbell and it doesn't have continual live recording. The motion may have been too brief or the roadrunner may have been too small to trigger the recording function of the Ring doorbell. However, if I had a Nest doorbell camera in place, I would have been able to see what happened as they have up to 30 days of LIVE recorded history.

I was disappointed that I couldn't watch my friend get devoured. If you like the idea of live recording, Nest cameras may be the choice for you. 

Which camera is better, the Nest Cam or the Ring Camera? To us, there really is no right or wrong answer.  Each security camera has its pros and cons compared to the other.  Figuring out what features are important to you is going to be the key factor in choosing one of these over another.  So I thought it would be nice to go over a few of the key features of each of these cameras for you. We have personal experience with both of these. I have a couple of the Nest Indoor Cams in my house and we have an installer here that has a couple of the Ring Cams at his home. I am simply going to compare these side-by-side and give you some important notes as needed.

San Diego Smart Home - Smart lighting, smart thermostat, smart audio, video and smart TV all in one picture!

The new catchphrase regarding today’s technology is equipment that turns your house into a “Smart Home”. Walk into most big-box stores today and advertisements for this gear bellow ”Smart Home Smart Home Smart Home” everywhere you look. If you’re wondering what a “smart home” can do, see our earlier article here:

https://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/item/215-san-diego-smart-home-installation-smart-home-information

However, there are some key points to consider when adding this smart home technology to your home that isn’t being discussed. Here are some elements that need to be considered when outfitting your home with today’s technology.

Your Network: Most of today’s smart doorbells, cameras, Smart TVs, whole-house music systems, etc. all run off of your wired or WiFi network. Got a good network? You may be OK. Are you using the cable company-supplied router? You may run into issues with slow speed, limited functionality or both. Adding a better WiFi network will help to ensure that these smart technologies will work reliably in your home. See post below for some details.

https://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/item/213-better-wifi-san-diego

Off-Site Visibility: Are you a technology genius? If so, congratulations. If not, you’re probably like most of our clients. You don’t necessarily know or want to know how this stuff works…you just want to use it and to enjoy what the electronics provide. There are a couple of things that we do to guarantee your optimal experience. Initially, we install equipment in tandem with smart home products to ensure that we can “see” if your WiFi network is operational. This allows us to troubleshoot your system, even if we’re on vacation in Costa Rica! We also have pieces that will allow us to power-cycle your equipment remotely so you don’t have to figure out how to unplug your AppleTV, cable box or TV to watch Netflix. NOTE: We consider this off-site visibility to be the most IMPORTANT element to supply when we are putting a smart home system together. There is no way we or other home automation companies can adequately support you without this crucial element.

Future Support: This industry is vastly different than it was 20 years ago. Back then, we would sell you a turntable, a CD player and a home stereo and we’d see you in 10 years. These days, you will be married to the company that you choose to provide your smart home services. We would recommend going with a home automation business that has been around for a long time (like us) and someone that specializes in home automation and smart homes (and not security, an electrician or your contractor). Go with a business that has a showroom or store vs. the trunk of their car. Opting for a smart home professional will ensure that these electronic toys bring the enjoyment and convenience to your life that they are supposed to. We have performed MANY “take-over” jobs from people that started with one of these trades and got frustrated quickly when the technologies didn’t work, they couldn’t reach the business again or both.

San Diego Smart Home Installation

Sounds complicated? Fortunately, it isn’t because this is what we do and you now know about us. If you’re interested in some of these smart home technologies for your house, give us a call and let San Diego’s audio, video and Smart Home Installation experts show you what’s possible today.

UPDATE: See some of the latest smart home products and ideas at the link below.

https://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/services/smart-home-installation

Smart Home San Diego installation with Lutron Caseta lighting, RTI universal remote app and Nest thermostat

The term “Smart Home” is everywhere today. However, depending on who you talk to, the definition of “Smart Home” can have many meanings. Here’s our take on “Smart Homes”, how to get one for yourself and some of the pieces and parts that make up this category.

We’ll cover three types of Smart Home solutions. These will be:

Smart Home DIY: These are products for people that would like to install some of these smart home conveniences on their own. We love DIY! (with limits…see below) so we carry many of these products for this reason.

Smart Home Installation LIGHT: These Smart Home solutions provide home automation solutions for audio, video, lighting, climate and more.

Smart Home Installation GENIUS: This type of installation is truly intuitive where your home environment changes automatically as you move from room-to-room…read on!

Smart Home DIY

What’s great about DIY smart home products is that they are prevalent now whereas 5 years ago this category didn’t exist. Some of these solutions offer price-points 1/10^th of what they used to be. This allows you to experience comforts such as front door cameras, whole-house lighting control, whole-house music, room-to-room intercoms and more. Some of these brands and solutions are:

Sonos: This wireless music solution provides a ton of today’s music apps, easy set-up and good sound utilizing your existing WiFi.

http://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/itemlist/tag/sonos

Lutron Caseta: This whole-house lighting control allows you to control the lights in your house ALL with a single touch. You can also have your lighting system do things like automatically turn on when you pull into your driveway, turn on/off at specific times of the day and more.

http://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/item/153-san-diego-home-automation

Nest Thermostats: Hate coming home to a 90 degree house in summer? Like the idea of turning your AC on BEFORE you get home? Nest thermostats allow for this! They also help to save money by automatically turning off when no one is in a specific area.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXG4FuqDvmt/?hl=en

Yale doorlocks: Want to open the door for a babysitter or houseguest while you’re at work? How about knowing when people go in-and-out of a particular door? Add Yale WiFi locks for some awesome home automation capabilities!

Here are some of the possible issues with Smart Home DIY products.

1. WiFi Network congestion: Most smart home DIY products utilize WiFi to communicate. The more products you have, the more difficult is for ALL of your WiFi devices (including iPads, computers, etc.) to communicate. Optimizing your WiFi network is crucial if you want all of your WiFi devices to play nicely.
2. Capabilities: These products are inexpensive and are meant for a here-and-there DIY solution. Got one door that you’d like to add a WiFi lock to? Sounds great! Got 20 doors? Not a good solution. Want to add 100 wireless Lutron light dimmers? Don’t go DIY. These solutions are NOT meant for large homes and encompassing solutions.
3. Lack of robust WiFi network: Your off-the-shelf or cable-supplied modem/router is not a god choice if you want to cover your home with DIY solutions. See our blog post about better WiFi networks.

http://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/item/213-better-wifi-san-diego

Smart Home Installation LIGHT

This is the type of Smart Home installation that we perform for most of our clients. This makes up solutions such as universal remotes that control your surround sound and TV, seamless whole-house lighting control, whole-house music, climate control, etc. The big difference between Smart Home DIY and Smart Home Installation LIGHT is that with the latter, all of these Smart Home elements work in tandem as opposed to having to

1. Elements work in tandem: Smart Home DIY elements are all separate apps. If you like opening 10 different apps to control your house, DIY may work for you. However, if you prefer (which most people do) having ONE screen that allows you to access Lutron lighting WHILE controlling your audio/visual system WHILE seeing who is at the front door WHILE controlling your Nest thermostat, our installed smart home solution may be for you.
2. Robust smart home products: The products that we use for our Smart Home solutions are typically more robust and better-built than the DIY counterparts. This provides much better reliability that DIY products can’t match.
3. Better CONTROL: Ever have a universal remote that doesn’t work? That’s one difference between a DIY product and an installed, professional model which works EVERY time. All of our Smart Home Installation products are engineered with control protocols. These allow us to program these devices to behave correctly. This helps to simplify your audio, video and home automation devices. See post below for details.

http://www.airetheaterdesigns.com/blog/item/176-harmony-vs-urc-san-diego-universal-remote

Smart Home Installation GENIUS

Smart Home Installation GENIUS systems are truly a smart home where your house (equipped with our programming and products) “knows” what is going on as you go from room-to-room. Do you and your significant other like different music? Your Smart Home knows this and turns on different music for each of you as you enter the room. Want your TVs to display art when you walk in the room and turn it off when you leave? How about when you pull up in your driveway, your favorite music comes on, the temperature and lighting changes and the Jacuzzi jets turn on? Smart Home installations at the GENIUS level do this and more.

Smart Home GENIUS installations also use one app to control all of your household systems. Do you want to go in-and-out of your audio/video app to control your TV, lighting app for your whole-house lighting control, security app to see your CCTV cameras, pool app to turn your Jacuzzi on, etc.? If you have a Smart Home GENIUS installation, you don’t have to.

Smart Home Installation San Diego

Got questions about Smart Homes San Diego? We’ve installed these types of Smart Home products in thousands of homes over the last 12 years. Give us a call and let San Diego’s smart home experts guide you in your quest to have the smartest home on the block.

Looking for smart home products San Diego? Aire Theater Designs proudly serves all of San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, El Cajon, Blossom Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Alta Del Mar, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, Torrey Pines, Carmel Valley, Carmel Mountain, Coronado, Fairbanks Ranch, La Jolla, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too. House by Lennar, Shea, Pardee or other builders...we can help!

Control your Smart Home with an iPad, phone or hand-held universal remote

A Smart Home brings simplicity, peace of mind, convenience and security to your life.  What if your home seemed to move and change around you as you walked through it?  What if it responded

Come experience URC Total Control in our San Diego showroom - TRC1080, TRC820 and iPad app

There is a lot of useful and FUN stuff that the pieces above can accomplish. Here's what URC's Total Control universal remotes can do for you and your family:

Simplify your audio/video systems: Tired of juggling 7 different remotes to make your surround sound operate? Is it a 50/50 proposition that your whole-house music will work when you try to turn it on? If so, you need URC Total Control. ONE remote will make everything in your system work flawlessly. Ex: You push the Total Control button listed "Cable TV" and your TV turns ON, audio/video receiver turns ON, satellite box turns ON, DVD player turns OFF (because the housekeeper accidentally turned it on), TV goes to the correct input, audio/video receiver goes to the right input, audio/video receiver goes to the correct sound mode and the URC remote now has all of your TV-watching functions such as your DVR, recorded list, etc. EASY! We also provide cheat sheets and off-site management with your system so if something isn't working as expected, we can take you through it on the phone.

Home Automation: Adding a URC Total Control system provides a "gateway" to home automation. URCs advanced processor allows you to add and integrate things such as:

1. Nest Thermostats
2. Lutron lighting
3. Ring doorbell cameras
4. Pool and jacuzzi controls
5. Sonos whole-house music systems

"Integrating" means that these elements all work in concert so you don't need to open 9 different apps to make your systems behave.

Ex: When you pull into your driveway, your whole-house music system goes to your favorite Pandora station, the lights turn on to the desired levels and the Jacuzzi starts heating up WITHOUT LIFTING A FINGER. This is home automation and the addition of URC Total Control allows for this.

Alexa Voice Control: URC Total Control and Alexa work in tandem to provide voice control for your surround sound systems, whole-house lighting and more. Make controlling your smart home a breeze without even touching a remote or iPad.

Ex: "Alexa...turn on Bob" triggers your lights on, turns on your surround sound system and fires up your Pandora Bob Marley station. For one of our particular clients with 8 children, having your hands free for other things is very convenient.

Like the idea of simplifying your smart home or adding smart home elements? Give us a call and let San Diego's URC Total Control dealer of choice show you what today's home automation can do for you. NOTE: We have this on display in our San Diego showroom. Call for an appointment.

San Diego URC Total Control dealer and home automation company proudly serves all of San Diego County especially the communities and cities of Central San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Olivenhain, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, Alta Del Mar, La Jolla, Poway and Rancho Bernardo. We aren't forgetting about our East County friends in El Cajon, Blossom Valley, Lakeside and Alpine. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too.

San Diego Home Automation - Control your audio/video, smart home, thermostats, lighting, cameras and more from anywhere!

What if your smart home seemed to move and change around you as you walked through it?  What if it responded to your movements and changed its state to complement your schedule and your life?  In the past we had to take the time to change our home environment the way we wanted at any given time.  We would have to walk to each light switch and turn it on, go to each blind and curtain and open/close it, walk to the thermostat and turn up the heat/air when we got home from work, turned up the heat in the spa so it was hot for an evening dip, do a walk around the house to each perimeter door to make sure they were locked, etc.  What if your home did all these things for you without you even lifting a finger?  What if simply pulling up into your driveway activated your home to welcome you in with the perfect amount of light, the perfect air temperature and with inviting background music playing throughout?  Today, we can make all this possible for you through "home automation".

There are many different types of systems that are available now that fall into the home automation world.  There are smart lighting systems from Lutron, smart blind/curtain systems by Lutron as well, smart HVAC systems by Honeywell and NEST, smart home systems by URC and RTI, smart Pool/Spa systems, etc.  Now even though all these systems may be made by different companies and all seem completely isolated from the other, we can setup them all up to respond to each other and work together.  We can program your home to respond to your movement or to your voice.  We can program your home automation devices to run on customized schedules or patterns that you want.  It is incredible what we can do with these systems these days.  All you really need to do is have the initial meeting with us.  We can then gather exactly what kinds of things you are looking for, how you would like your home to respond to you and form to your life and schedule.  With that, we can design the home automation system that is perfect for your specific needs and lifestyle.  We design these systems around you.  Home automation is no longer in the future.  The future is here now.  Give us a call and allow us to bring the future to your home today. We are San Diego's Home Automation experts!

San Diego's home automation experts proudly serve all of San Diego County CA especially the communities and cities of Central San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Olivenhain, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Alta del Mar, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway and Rancho Bernardo. We aren't forgetting about our East County friends in El Cajon, Blossom Valley, Lakeside and Alpine. Need help in Murrieta, Temecula or Wildomar? We're there too.

Ring vs Nest - San Diego Ring and Nest Installers are here!

Which camera is better, the Nest Cam or the Ring Camera? To us, there really is no right or wrong answer.  Each security camera has its pros and cons compared to the other.  Figuring out what features are important to you is going to be the key factor in choosing one of these over another.  So I thought it would be nice to go over a few of the key features of each of these cameras for you. We have personal experience with both of these. I have a couple of the Nest Indoor Cams in my house and we have an installer here that has a couple of the Ring Cams at his home. I am simply going to compare these side-by-side and give you some important notes as needed.

Home entertainment is very cool and enjoyable for the entire family. Here are a couple examples of things that we can provide with audio, video and home automation to make your house more FUN!

SantaLuz Outdoor Theater

1) Installation of an outdoor theater: There are many options available to have your own outdoor theater that sets up and breaks down quickly. Want to provide TONS of fun for the whole family on warm summer nights? Your own outdoor theater is a great way to do this.

Murrieta surround sound and multipurpose room

2) Transform your living area to a surround sound room: Make your living area a surround sound/"fun area". Got kids that play high school sports? Have this be the meeting place for your kids and their friends to watch Prep Pigskin Report. This provides the fun of the theater without giving up any functionality in the room.

San Diego Game Room w/Xbox and Playstation

3) Set up a dedicated game room: Game systems are all the rage these days. We can set up a dedicated game room for your kids and their friends. Your house will be the talk of the neighborhood. NOTE: Make sure your kids do their homework before they enter!

Sound like FUN? Let San Diego's home entertainment experts help out. Aire Theater Designs is San Diego's audio, video and home automation one-stop shop. 

San Diego's home entertainment experts proudly serve all of San Diego County especially the communities and cities of Central San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Olivenhain, Escondido, Encinitas, Torrey Pines, Alta Del Mar, Carmel Mountain, Carmel Valley, Coronado, Fairbanks Ranch, Cardiff CA, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway and Rancho Bernardo. We aren't forgetting about our East County friends in El Cajon, Blossom Valley, Lakeside and Alpine. Need help in Murrieta, Temecula or Wildomar? We're there too. House by Lennar, Shea, Pardee or other builder? We can help!

See the above? This is what our new client was using last Wednesday to control their television before they met us. Two hours later, this is what they used after we provided them with a new solution.

 Rancho Santa Fe High-Speed Internet

If you live in Rancho Santa Fe and want high-speed Internet, you know that the Internet speeds enjoyed by 99% of San Diego aren't available to you. In fact, many areas of Rancho Santa Fe have maximum speeds of only 3 Mbps! To the uninitiated, think of this as miles-per-hour. Most areas of San Diego get anywhere from 25-200 Mpbs (megabits per second), depending on the area. Imagine if you had to drive everywhere at 3 miles-per-hour...pretty frustrating? This is what many residents of Rancho Santa Fe have had to deal with for years. This makes things like streaming Netflix, Amazon Prime or using most basic forms of home automation and universal remote an impossibility.

The good news is that a contract has just been signed with the R.S.F. Covenant that will bring high-speed Internet to the area. The bad news is that it is realistically years away. However, we here at Aire Theater Designs, Rancho Santa Fe's technology company have found some options for you.

1) HughesNet: This company offers solutions that provide speeds of up to 5X what ATT provides (the local Internet company).

2) Exede: This company offers solutions that provide speeds of up to 8X what ATT provides.

Have questions about what solution is right for you? We have helped clients in the area for years with their audio, video, home automation and Internet and WiFi options. Give us a call and let us assist with your high-speed Internet needs.

Rancho Santa Fe's home automation and High Speed Internet resource proudly serves all of San Diego County especially the communities and cities of Central San Diego County which includes Del Cerro, Allied Gardens, Talmadge, Kensington, Hillcrest, Mission Valley, Fashion Valley, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Friars, North Park, Balboa Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Pt Loma and Downtown San Diego. We also gladly serve those in North San Diego County which includes Carlsbad, San Marcos, Vista, Elfin Forest, Oceanside, Olivenhain, Escondido, Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, Santaluz, La Jolla, Poway and Rancho Bernardo. We aren't forgetting about our East County friends in El Cajon, Blossom Valley, Lakeside and Alpine. Need help in Murrieta, Wildomar, Temecula, Fallbrook or Bonsall...we're there too