To Insteon or not to Insteon...

[Osler]

To all Insteon users (Steve Horn, roussel, bjlamarca, et al.), what has been your impression of Insteon as a viable lighting control solution? Do the V2 products suffer from the same issues many people bemoaned a year or two ago? Any thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Osler

[roussell]

I'm actually still in a holding pattern. I have 6 or 7 of the original stuff. in December '07 and January '08 I had to replace two Keypad Links and one V2 Dimmer. From everything I've heard, it's better now, but it's also more expensive than when I bought my original stuff. With my wife being a real estate agent, our disposable income (my toy fund) has dried up so as of late I've been doing more planning than executing. I'm curious as to the functionality of the new PLM-based hardware interface, but alas I still have an old serial PLC that requires the SDM to function.

I've been toying with the idea of trying some zwave stuff (when I can) as I'm not sure how well HB handles link management within the Insteon network. It seems like I remember reading that Scott's home ran on zwave, so that makes me think that zwave support may be a little more mature. At any rate, link management seems to be an important issue once you have more than a few devices. PowerHome has excellent link-management, but I'm not leaving HB for PowerHome and don't wish to run both apps. I've also noticed on the Insteon boards and on Cocoontech that alot of people are moving Insteon management to the ISY family of controllers, but again, I don't want to buy another controller (~$300) to manage Insteon links, also with that route there is the issue of getting the ISY and HB communicating.

I know this post probably isn't much help, but that's my current stance on the issue. I want to love Insteon, but I'm still not there...

Terry

[Osler]

roussell:

Many thanks. I have had major headaches with my Z-wave stuff (intermatic) and was not overly impressed with the Vizia RF when it was demo'd to me by a Vizia rep. The ultimate goal is reliability and, after 6 failed intermatic switches at $35 a pop, I need something that I can actually consider an investment. Vizia may be the ultimate for Z-wave...but at twice the cost of Insteon I need to be sure this is the path to take. If Insteon has solved all of their initial "growing pains", it may be a viable alternative. They appear to have a much better offering than Z-wave as well (I/O type devices most specifically).

The ISY stuff is interesting and it appears you can access their functionality via TCP/IP and XML. But I agree with you...$300 is a bit steep just to get into the pool.

Osler

[Steve Horn]

I'm happy with the Insteon product line... except for the price. Its been virtually 100% reliable here. I still have a handful of X10 switches that I'll replace with Insteon (or Icon) over time as each X10 device's intermittent reliability irritates me to the point of spending money on an Insteon or Icon equivalent. I do wish that the Insteon platform/protocol was available through other brands, like Zwave is. I'm not fond of relying on Smarthome as the sole supplier, especially in these economic times when a business can go belly-up virtually (and sometimes literally) overnight.
I'm still using the SDM as an interface, as I have not seen a 'hard trigger' to migrate to the PLM interface.

[Osler]

Steve Horn:

Thanks for the input. I went up to Automated Outlet today with the intention of picking up some Insteon switches to play with. I was informed that the product has the highest rate of RMA request of their lighting control lines. The Vizia RF and Cooper lines (Z-wave) as well as all of the UPB stuff had RMA requests infrequently. As a result, I didn't pull the trigger today. I picked up a bunch of UPB literature and will take a look at it. Getting it integrated with HB is a different story...Why can't there be a reliable lighting control option that doesn't cost you nearly a Benjamin per switch?

Osler

[bjlamarca]

August marked two years since I installed all my Insteon stuff. Overall, I have been very happy. Of 26 devices (10 different types of devices), I had one KeypadLinc fail. Signal reliability is near 100%. We really like the look and feel of the switches.

For control of the devices, the PLM with Housebot works very well.

There is an issue with status updates. If you turn a device on or off directly from that device (ie. tap a SwitchLinc), the status update happens in HB. But say you turn on that same SwithLinc from a linked button on a KeypadLinc, HB does not know that the SwitchLinc has been turned on. There is a workaround: Following the example, you would set a task to ‘listen’ for the KeypadLinc’s button to be pressed, then have task switch the status on the SwitchLinc. The problem with this is double Insteon traffic, a signal goes out when you press the button on the KeypadLinc, and then again when HB changes the status of the SwitchLinc.

As for linking, you need to look elsewhere.

[Steve Horn]

Osler, and others, I've had no problems so far with Insteon switches. But I only have wall switches(5), wired-in (3), and plug-in (2) switches; no keypadlincs. Has anyone else experienced significant quality problems? I wonder if your local store was just blowing smoke to get you to buy something different (z-wave,UPB...) with more mark-up.

[Osler]

It appears that by-and-large the current users of the technology in this forum have had a good experience. That is reassuring to me. Automated Outlet could be trying to push me away from Insteon for reasons of their own....but I doubt it. The guy has always been honest with me and that has to count for something. I may very well give it a try with a small set-up for the much needed lighting control and live with it for 6 months. If I don't like it then be on the lookout for some half-price, lightly used Insteon equipment....

Osler

[Osler]

bjlamarca:

If you are using HB, couldn't you do all of your linking via tasks and eliminate true hardware linking?

Also, can you detect a keypad link press if it isn't linked to anything....instead using it to control volume or mute for a sound system from within HB?

Osler

[Steve Horn]

Not that it matters...but my Insteon reliability experience is such that I'd trust it to control things like an electric water heater etc - stuff felt to be more critical than lighting. I'd NEVER consider using X10 for that. I have no experience with zwave, though I hear that its every bit as reliable as Insteon. When I decided on Insteon I could have just as easily gone with zwave. But frankly I was impressed with the Insteon white papers.

[bjlamarca]

If you are using HB, couldn't you do all of your linking via tasks and eliminate true hardware linking?

Also, can you detect a keypad link press if it isn't linked to anything....instead using it to control volume or mute for a sound system from within HB?

I do not want to rely on HB for linking. If HB goes down, all my links would be gone, then my wife complaining....

You can detect KeypadLinc presses to trigger anything you want.

[Osler]

Thanks, folks. This has been a big help.

Osler

[ericvic]

If you have a PLM not a PLC then you should take a look at Insteon Explorer http://www.forefronttechnologiesinc.com ... nExplorer/. I have my PLM on order so I can't tell you if Insteon Explorer works or not.

I have about 10 switches in my setup with only one having a problem. Up until this time I have not had any computer control of the lights because I never could get the PLC and SDM to work very well and there was not any good link management but I am working on a kitchen remodel where I will need a couple of keypadlincs and many switches linked together and I didn't want to have to use the TAP-TAP method of linking.

Eric

[Steve Horn]

Ericvic, Insteon Explorer looks interesting. May be a good reason to migrate to a PLM. Please report back on your experience with it for those of us still using the PLC/SDM.

[Osler]

Well, on the good feedback from the users on the forum, I have been using insteon for nearly the past 5 months. I have a total of 5 dimmer switches, a keypad linc, and an RF bridge installed at the moment. I have to say that the responsiveness and reliability has been perfect. The only hiccup I had was when I put some new christmas lights on a dimmer switch and it go extremely hot and became flakey. It turns out I inadvertently exceeded the 600W rating of the switch, likely causing the issues. All in all I am very happy with Insteon and will be acquiring more switches in the future.

Osler