Just out of interest. How long will it be before marklin and others have a hub connection with your layout and therefore no longer any use for. Cs2 just an iPhone or tablet instead!
I am waiting myself for this as I like tech which is multi use

Smartphone as an option : I say OK !
Smartphone as main control: I say NO , thank you ! (I don't like)

I think using a smartphone as a loco controller has some way to go before it is mature enough to use on a daily basis.

In my experience it is all too easy to accidentally set the loco speed to maximum - can be done unintentionally by bumping the phone (and that's with all motion sensing turned off on the phone)

Applications will often exit for no reason - I have experienced this with both an ipod and S3 android phone.

Whatever will happen, I personally hope that Märklin will build a Windows Phone and Windows 8 app before ditching the CS2 and MS2. I will not buy an Iphone og an Android device just to be able to run my trains.

My greatest concern about the Z21 is that many people do not necessarily have smartphones or the skills to setup a wifi router etc. I think its a deal breaker when you need an Iphone or an Android device to run trains. They should include some sort of handheld controller with every startset instead of relying solely on smartphones.

Don't get me wrong, the smartphone is a cool alternative, but I currently do not think it should be a requirement.

As others have mentioned, the Z21 is the first system we've seen without any other controller than what's on the network. Allegedly the Z21 accepts all kinds of other connections, but I have not seen test reports about how that works, and the system does not come with a hardware based controller out of the box.

Looking at the market, I think other manufacturers are watching how well the Z21 is doing before trying anything similar. The major obstacle is that the IPv4 networking protocol was never built for everyday people to use, and although there are higher layer protocols to overcome some of the problems (PnP and Bonjour/zeroconf/Avahi), compatibility is an issue. My largest support issue by far is networking - especially when users have a setup that is not straight forward.

The next generation network devices using IPv6 should have zero configuration networking built in, but I haven't investigated the matter further than that. Hopefully that will make home networking as plug-and-play as USB is today. By then, you'll probably also be able to operate the layout from a touch screen on the door of your refrigerator ...


Anyway, as I see it, the market must first mature to the point that home routers and the things that people attach to the network at home are all using IPv6. I do think the manufacturers are paying attention, though, because there is a lot of money to be saved if they don't have to make the hardware and mechanical parts for dedicated handhelds.

Just FYI, you are reolying to a 6 year old topic.

My oh my, time certainly flies by.........

2013 that was my second year into Märklin model trains and I do recall I was using TouchCab on my iPhone controlling my trains from the ECoS. All that was required was a router. Worked great!

What about today? Not sure as my layout is being rebuilt and I haven't had the pleasure to run my trains. Hoping TouchCab is still active. Anyone know?