It would be good if this thread could be split off at the point where we talk about Pat versus WOZ issues. (Hiring someone like Pat might in a weird way fix some of these issues. (see bottom notes later in green).
Just saying cause I wanted to add some input about data lines n anything controlled thru anything with a data plug/pinned connection/socket on the end of it.
People have tried "moving to this technology" in the Alarm industry with disastrous results n I found out why. Data cable/connectors hate heat. As soon as the cables get hot, nothing but problems n if the socket connectors are also hot, nothing but unexplainable random ghost signals start to appear.

Sometimes old school (copper) cables are true, tried n tested over many decades. Moving too fast to anything data cable wise with heat or multiple signal path (signals going both ways versus one way only) can be massively problematic.
I could write 20 sentences about the telephone and alarm industries n the massive problems with some companies attempting this new way of running cables, with nothing but ongoing issues...... the problem is the sockets at both ends n the data cables themselves do not like heat or too many signals at once. They just don't handle high traffic in any industry. If you look at a modern data telephony base station, they don't run many connections (signal points) per data cable. They just don't handle more than basic signal traffic without basically shutting down n restarting sending scrambled data. What Gav has said is spot on for the sparky industry as well.

Hope some of the Pinball designer dinosaurs like Pat Lawlor say to JJP lets go back to basics. Lets use what we know what works. Being space age cutting edge is useless unless you have massive reliability. This is where hiring people like Pat could work out in JJP;s favour. He might say lets scrap some of these ideas u guys are trying to use. Hard to argue with a guy like Pat who has been designing truly reliable systems n pinball machines for 30 plus years.....food for thought.