What GHL programing improvements would you like to see?

[vangvace]

A couple things to keep in mind, but not negate feelings:

The app and web interface are both relatively new and updating. A year ago so many options and functions were not available to us. The process and product is maturing and expanding.

Setup wizards and guides came from years of crowd sourced how to Apex for those looking at the orange pastures. Things like cameras are still very reliant on finding someone in the community that figured it out and shared. Heater control and the like used to be just as difficult, let alone connecting the "Classic" wirelessly.


That said, having the same menu options on the app, myGHL, and GCC would be nice and more FAQ videos would be great, though they do take quite a bit of time.

@TheOne do you still have your GHL gear or did you sell it off already?

 

[EmdeReef]

This is how the P4 sends email: P4 -> GHL Cloud servers -> Your source SMTP account (the one that you enter into the interface with the password and port) -> Destination SMTP account (an e-mail address you want to recieve the notifications to).

The WiFi module in the P4 is not able to send encrypted emails directly, it just doesn't have the grunt to do ssl, so that's why it relays everything through the german servers.

It's a very-very big stretch to say that it can't send emails _at all_ because your isp blocks it, because that's not the case. You can easily set up for example, a gmail account dedicated for the P4 (as the SOURCE), and use literally ANY destination e-mail address as the recepient - so basicly your everyday email account.

So let's just say, it's 100% independent from your ISP, and unless you want to send emails like: [email protected] -> [email protected], BUT you're okay with [email protected] -> [email protected], then it's really stretching/whining.

Edit: sorry 'bout the phrasing.

With respect, you are presuming too much in your responses. I’ve created separate gmail accounts, yahoo and event an outlook account. Played with 2 way authentication on gmail, tried all sorts of different ports in GHL Connect and went back and forth with GHL customer service for a while on this to no avail. This happened after I changed my ISP but whatever the reason getting alerts SHOULD NOT be this difficult, installing updates should not be this difficult etc etc.

I respect you’re an engineer and 10-15yrs ago I would’ve enjoyed tinkering with A P4. But with a crazy travel schedule and 80+ workweek I bought P4 to save time, streamline tank maintenance and warn me about potential issues - for me it’s failed all that. I basically use it to control my slave doser and as an overpriced heater controller. Eventually will be cutting my losses. I bought their leak detectors too but kind of pointless when you can’t get an alert and not to mention that you have to waste a lot of time setting them up to begin with...the bottom line is this is not a user friendly product unless you have lots of time on your hands, I wish I had known that before purchasing...

 

[TheOne]

I sold it all over a year ago after running it for about 6 months so the software may be a little more up to date now. I have since invested into the entire neptune ecosystem. I started with an apex classic, then swapped over to ghl and finally went to the new apex. The build quality of the ghl equipment was definately of higher quality than my apex stuff.

Honestly, I know there are alot of people that are into tech and programming. I even setup my own house to be a smart home but I just could not find myself enjoying anything about the setup process/software that ghl uses. I feel like it just needs a complete overhaul to cater more to the everyday aquarist.

 

[LC8Sumi]

With respect, you are presuming too much in your responses. I’ve created separate gmail accounts, yahoo and event an outlook account. Played with 2 way authentication on gmail, tried all sorts of different ports in GHL Connect and went back and forth with GHL customer service for a while on this to no avail. This happened after I changed my ISP but whatever the reason getting alerts SHOULD NOT be this difficult, installing updates should not be this difficult etc etc.

I respect you’re an engineer and 10-15yrs ago I would’ve enjoyed tinkering with A P4. But with a crazy travel schedule and 80+ workweek I bought P4 to save time, streamline tank maintenance and warn me about potential issues - for me it’s failed all that. I basically use it to control my slave doser and as an overpriced heater controller. Eventually will be cutting my losses. I bought their leak detectors too but kind of pointless when you can’t get an alert and not to mention that you have to waste a lot of time setting them up to begin with...the bottom line is this is not a user friendly product unless you have lots of time on your hands, I wish I had known that before purchasing...

Sir. Sincerely, it's not difficult to set it up. You create a dedicated gmail account - 3 mins. You enable unsecure apps for that dedicated account - 3 clicks. You input your newly created account info into the P4 - 3 clicks. You input the address you want to recieve notifications to - 3 clicks. All done in about 5 minutes. This is ISP independent, it only depends on gmail, and if gmail is able to recieve emails from the GHL cloud servers (it is, because it works for lots of us), and if gmail is able to send email to your everyday e-mail address (doesn't have to be gmail)..
I can give you a step - by - step guide with screenshots if you want to give it a shot.
Or, you can get an apex & hope your powerbar doesn't die when you're away & come home for a nuked tank, like many have had. And on top of that get a customer service with a bad attitude & shady forum posts by neptune employees.

Here you go, if you want to give it a try. post #10 - also I've found that I have to power-cycle my unit after a change in the email settings for the new settings to come live

Email password length

Any idea when we can use long passwords for email? The german email servers communicating with Gmail is so hit and miss (with way more misses than hits!) - I really would love to be able to use a true email service - problem is they all force passwords longer than 16 characters and Profilux...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[EmdeReef]

Sir. Sincerely, it's not difficult to set it up. You create a dedicated gmail account - 3 mins. You enable unsecure apps for that dedicated account - 3 clicks. You input your newly created account info into the P4 - 3 clicks. You input the address you want to recieve notifications to - 3 clicks. All done in about 5 minutes. This is ISP independent, it only depends on gmail, and if gmail is able to recieve emails from the GHL cloud servers (it is, because it works for lots of us), and if gmail is able to send email to your everyday e-mail address (doesn't have to be gmail)..
I can give you a step - by - step guide with screenshots if you want to give it a shot.
Or, you can get an apex & hope your powerbar doesn't die when you're away & come home for a nuked tank, like many have had. And on top of that get a customer service with a bad attitude & shady forum posts by neptune employees.

Here you go, if you want to give it a try. post #10 - also I've found that I have to power-cycle my unit after a change in the email settings for the new settings to come live

Email password length

Any idea when we can use long passwords for email? The german email servers communicating with Gmail is so hit and miss (with way more misses than hits!) - I really would love to be able to use a true email service - problem is they all force passwords longer than 16 characters and Profilux...

www.reef2reef.com

Again what makes you think I haven’t found the same thread and tried the same thing? I had several tickets open with GHL and it didn’t work. Ihad multiple tickets open to get charts to show values that aren’t hours or sometimes days late. Once GHL CS ends going through their usual troubleshooting templates they always stop replying and close my tickets even though the issue hasn’t been solved.

As far as Neptune’s Powerbar exploding, I guess at least I’d get a warning that something is wrong I don’t want to go into customer service quality comparisons as I don’t have a good frame of reference for Neptune but will say my experience with GHL hasn’t been stellar.

At this point we’re hijacking this thread (apologies to the OP).

 

[LC8Sumi]

Again what makes you think I haven’t found the same thread and tried the same thing? I had several tickets open with GHL and it didn’t work. Ihad multiple tickets open to get charts to show values that aren’t hours or sometimes days late. Once GHL CS ends going through their usual troubleshooting templates they always stop replying and close my tickets even though the issue hasn’t been solved.

As far as Neptune’s Powerbar exploding, I guess at least I’d get a warning that something is wrong I don’t want to go into customer service quality comparisons as I don’t have a good frame of reference for Neptune but will say my experience with GHL hasn’t been stellar.

At this point we’re hijacking this thread (apologies to the OP).

Okay. Also, I'm sorry for being rude.

 

[Samina]

To be fair, you could install windows, either virtualized or parallel booted on a mac as well to do that 1 time setup when an usb cable is needed / fw upgrades.

That’s what I did but it’s a lot of extra steps in order to do that. But that’s not how it should be; in today’s age of technology, Mac OS vs Windows should be a non issue. Technology needs to be cross platform and intuitive in today’s digital environment.

 

[Kyl]

If you're looking for an agile and fast moving platform, ProfiLux is never going to be that. GHL are somewhat insular and methodical, operating under a completely different development mindset than those based on the west coast. That's not to say progress doesn't happen, as I was contemplating a switch for almost a solid year I saw a number of improvements to the equipment platform and web/app solutions during that humming and hawing period.

There are aspects of the platform that I do not enjoy (PL gates), but in some of the switch over I've come to realize that personally, less is more. I will say in the months I've been running ProfiLux, there hasn't been a 'regret' event take place, and I'm not finding myself checking myghl throughout the day to make sure things are as they should be. I can't say the same when I was checking fusion multiple times a day to keep an eye on things.

For the OP, my list includes software optimizations and feature improvements, almost solely around the dosing behavior and logic available.

 

[second_decimal]

I like GHL. I think they spent a little too much effort on complex light features instead of making things simpler because more often than not, it’s operator error that’s causing the issue. The message board has become much more responsive so that helps on the customer service side. It’s a little different but if you take the time to wrap your head around the thing it’s solid as a rock.

 

[second_decimal]

Although I must say that some things like not having a record of high and low sensor measurements on their mini WiFi units is unacceptable.

 

[Michael Gray]

All in all should I buy a KHD. Will it actually.dose and keep my alk at say 7.8 and keep it from not lowering or rising more tha. .2. So would it consistently keep it from 7.6-8.0. I wouldnt want any more swing than that

 

[Kyl]

I am pleased with my KHD, though I am not using it to automatically intervene with dosing. I would say its worth will be versus your SPS load, and durability. Personally I'm going to pick up another for my display tank once funds allow, it's already proved itself cost wise in averting major losses from a STN/RTN event that was taking place. Being able to see that dKH trend shoot up over a day or so with frequent testing was enough to alert me that something wasn't right and keep a close eye on things.

 

[Michael Gray]

cool.. I guess ill be building a cabinet and getting this.. and I guess sets me up for ion too... if ialready need a cabinet

 

[Aheinz]

I have a ghl sitting and waiting for my new tank I probably should start looking around for crash courses, and learning the system

 

[Tristren]

I have a ghl sitting and waiting for my new tank I probably should start looking around for crash courses, and learning the system

Here ya go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/with-headaches-and-lessons-learned-a-new-tank-build.366880/

 

[Ditto]

Quick Tutorial Thread

Official Usage Example Reference Thread

Here is where we will be sharing direct links to valuable resources related to our products. Check back often to see what's new! ProfiLux: First time setup via Web browser (Mac, PC, Mobile) (How-to video) First time setup via GHL Connect app (How-to video) ProfiLux 4 / 4e Reference Guide (PC...

www.reef2reef.com

Some good Examples also in this thread:

Switching Controllers from Apex to GHL

The title of the thread says it all. I am not going to bash Neptune systems, all I am going to say mine crashed again, and the word fluke in the technical response left me going I cannot take any more chances. This was my second hard crash of the system, where both time the system came up in an...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Aheinz]

Here ya go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/with-headaches-and-lessons-learned-a-new-tank-build.366880/

Awesome thank you I'll take a gander at it once I can

 

[ingchr1]

These documents will help as well:

User Manual: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-4e-manual/
Resource Guide: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-resource-guide/
Programming Guide: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-programming-guide-v7-02/

 

[ingchr1]

Although I must say that some things like not having a record of high and low sensor measurements on their mini WiFi units is unacceptable.

What the Mini Wi-Fi needs most of all is the ability to send out notifications. It's really the only negative I have with the controller.

 

[ingchr1]

These documents will help as well:

User Manual: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-4e-manual/
Resource Guide: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-resource-guide/
Programming Guide: https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/downloads/profilux-4-programming-guide-v7-02/

They have a YouTube Channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/user/ProfiLuxGHL