Logi Harmony Hub relies on the Internet
Discussion
As most users of the Harmony range of remotes will know, logi stopped support and will be shutting down their servers at some stage. Their website says they've already done it (as of May this year) , you can't log in, and you wont' be able to add any more devices or do any changes - but that's not correct in the UK for now. It still works.
However, on top of this, I think they'll be bricked when it does happen. I had a weird network issue all weekend. On Friday the remote hub (harmony hub) stopped working with a solid red light. Lots of resetting and it plain refused to connect. I also could no longer launch the My Harmony app on my pc with a server error coming up (unreachable). Oh s
t! That's is - dead!
So.. I went through a bit of trouble, routed my AV devices through the TVs HDMI "ARC" feedback function - (so no need to change sources on the AVR), then tought my STB remote to also power on and off the TV, and, also, control the AVRs volume (well, in truth, it's controlling the TVs volume, but as it's AVR and "CEC?" that actually controls the AVR volume - same goal achieved. I also did the same with the LG remote (that was fun - not!).
So now we can control the TV, STB, and amp volume all from either the STB remote, or the TV remote - with the STB remote being the clear winner as it can control the STB! Still need the Denon AVR remote to power it off. Bit of a step backwards but it works.
Then..... today I noticed no pages on Aliexpress would load, and, my Dropbox PC client went offline. Turns out my ISP (Three uk 5G) have fked something up and theri forum is filling with posts. Did a quick temp fix (changed my APN for Three ) and everything works again...... including the Harmony remote and hub.
So a log winded way of saying, if they shut down the back end, your Harmony hub will die. Which really surprised me. I thought it would be independent, and run on, as long as you didn't want to change anything.
The net result is now at least I've gon through getting HDMI ARC / CEC to work properly so down to 2 remotes if and when the Harmony goes down
However, on top of this, I think they'll be bricked when it does happen. I had a weird network issue all weekend. On Friday the remote hub (harmony hub) stopped working with a solid red light. Lots of resetting and it plain refused to connect. I also could no longer launch the My Harmony app on my pc with a server error coming up (unreachable). Oh s
t! That's is - dead!So.. I went through a bit of trouble, routed my AV devices through the TVs HDMI "ARC" feedback function - (so no need to change sources on the AVR), then tought my STB remote to also power on and off the TV, and, also, control the AVRs volume (well, in truth, it's controlling the TVs volume, but as it's AVR and "CEC?" that actually controls the AVR volume - same goal achieved. I also did the same with the LG remote (that was fun - not!).
So now we can control the TV, STB, and amp volume all from either the STB remote, or the TV remote - with the STB remote being the clear winner as it can control the STB! Still need the Denon AVR remote to power it off. Bit of a step backwards but it works.
Then..... today I noticed no pages on Aliexpress would load, and, my Dropbox PC client went offline. Turns out my ISP (Three uk 5G) have f
ked something up and theri forum is filling with posts. Did a quick temp fix (changed my APN for Three ) and everything works again...... including the Harmony remote and hub.So a log winded way of saying, if they shut down the back end, your Harmony hub will die. Which really surprised me. I thought it would be independent, and run on, as long as you didn't want to change anything.
The net result is now at least I've gon through getting HDMI ARC / CEC to work properly so down to 2 remotes if and when the Harmony goes down
Yeah - I didn't like the general feedback on the sofabatton, and hence I focussed on getting my existing remotes to work with each device and HDMI ARC.
It seems to get very mixed feedback. And I'm also hesitant to trust another company not to leave me in the lurch.
Let us know how you get on - will be very instested to hear.
I'm just thankfull ARC solves the big issue with AVR of multiple sources. Still, I love having one button to "watch TV" and another to power the whole lot off, and another to "watch Nvidea Shield" - Guess I'll have to plug the sheild into the TV to carry on using ARC, but that's a fight for another day.
Thinking about it, the big catch with using ARC is you have to run multiple HDMI cables to the TV instead of just one. Still, I'm down to Sheild, STB, and... that's it now.
It seems to get very mixed feedback. And I'm also hesitant to trust another company not to leave me in the lurch.
Let us know how you get on - will be very instested to hear.
I'm just thankfull ARC solves the big issue with AVR of multiple sources. Still, I love having one button to "watch TV" and another to power the whole lot off, and another to "watch Nvidea Shield" - Guess I'll have to plug the sheild into the TV to carry on using ARC, but that's a fight for another day.
Thinking about it, the big catch with using ARC is you have to run multiple HDMI cables to the TV instead of just one. Still, I'm down to Sheild, STB, and... that's it now.
Some misunderstandings here.
Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
monthou said:
Some misunderstandings here.
Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
I have a hub harmony. If my WiFi works, but the internet is down it doesn't work.Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
davek_964 said:
I have a hub harmony. If my WiFi works, but the internet is down it doesn't work.
My understanding was that without internet the remote would work but the app probably wouldn't.And when I tried this morning (I physically unplugged the internet from my router) that's exactly what happened. Harmony happily working away without internet, phone couldn't see the hub.
Then I read your post and tried again. The upstairs hub (bedroom tv) isn't affected by removing internet.
The hub in the lounge absolutely freaked out. No communication with the remote, and when internet was restored it still didn't work until powered off / on.
So my conclusion... it probably should work without t'internet, but possibly won't. Depending.
monthou said:
Some misunderstandings here.
Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
Understood on all the above apart from the net dependency . Mine 100% died once we lost the net. Don't know how long it took . And then you can't reconnect to your WiFi if there is no internet on it as there is the login account login stage to go through.Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
Griffith4ever said:
monthou said:
Some misunderstandings here.
Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
Understood on all the above apart from the net dependency . Mine 100% died once we lost the net. Don't know how long it took . And then you can't reconnect to your WiFi if there is no internet on it as there is the login account login stage to go through.Logitech stopped selling harmony remotes a few years ago.
They recently killed the website for updating the older (non-hub) remotes. Those still work but you can't make changes.
The hub-based remotes are still supported - for now, hopefully for a good few years. They need internet to set up, but not to work. If your internet goes down but your wifi is working your harmony will work.
Logitech have no interest in fixing stuff like this, which is a pity - there's still no remote to touch a harmony.
monthou said:
- there's still no remote to touch a harmony.
Agree - its such a shame when small co's get gobbled up by big ones, then get shut down.But - with soundbars and ARC its easy to understand why its gone this way. Race to the bottom when people think a bar can give 7.1 surround. Much like most kids have no idea about mono vs stereo (which a lot of DAB has gone back to)
I do remember a situation a few years back where the Harmony backend servers got messed up and pretty much all hub based remotes were bricked until they fixed it.
CEC isn't really anything like a full solution/alternative to a Harmony but it's got better over the years. It used to be flaky and device-dependent but now it's much more consistent across new kit. eg. I can more or less use it to control the basics of my PS5 via the TV remote codes which is just as well because it doesn't support Harmony at all, unlike the PS3 which was brilliant with Harmony and the PS4 which had basic usability. I still ended up buying the official PS5 remote (which doesn't actually do all that much extra).
I can't believe that Logitech couldn't at least have made a viable business out of a subscription model for Harmony remotes but there you go - maybe they took a strategic decision on the future direction of their business and Harmony remotes weren't in it.
I do wish that they'd open-source the software or at least publish full specs on how to program the hubs/remotes so that 3rd parties could have a go at open-source apps and integrations into home automation software.
CEC isn't really anything like a full solution/alternative to a Harmony but it's got better over the years. It used to be flaky and device-dependent but now it's much more consistent across new kit. eg. I can more or less use it to control the basics of my PS5 via the TV remote codes which is just as well because it doesn't support Harmony at all, unlike the PS3 which was brilliant with Harmony and the PS4 which had basic usability. I still ended up buying the official PS5 remote (which doesn't actually do all that much extra).
I can't believe that Logitech couldn't at least have made a viable business out of a subscription model for Harmony remotes but there you go - maybe they took a strategic decision on the future direction of their business and Harmony remotes weren't in it.
I do wish that they'd open-source the software or at least publish full specs on how to program the hubs/remotes so that 3rd parties could have a go at open-source apps and integrations into home automation software.
GuyW said:
That looks nice but is predictably expensive, what was the harmony hub and remote back in the day, £110 or something?Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff