HouseBot

I was browsing smarthome as I'm looking to finally jump into home automation and I saw INSTEON. I was wondering what they are and if they are better than x10 communication. Would they work in housebot?

Check out: http://www.insteon.net/

A lot of good information there. I do not have any hands-on experience with Insteon, but from what I get from their website they should be a lot better than X10.



I have already put a post in Meedio HouseBot Feature Requests Forum asking for HouseBot to support it. I would suggest adding a reply to it to show Meedio the growing interest in its support.

I've been looking at them and was wondering how they compare to zen-sys. Things I want to know are not in the press release. They are backwards compatible with x10 so I'm guessing any x10 pc controller can communicate with them. Problem is I'm guessing you lose the encryption (and possibly speed?), which is what I really like about Insteon.



Also are they planning on releasing a pc controler, because the ones they offer are $100 and are actually developers kits. And can those controlers control x10 devices? I have googled till my hands hurt. Hopefully more info will be know when I go to make my purchase.

Ok, I finally figured it out. Looks like insteon is able to receieve both x10 and insteon commands without need to switch over. insteon commands take ~.04 seconds to recieve and ~.04 seconds to send back confirmation. Time increases if you have to jump networks, by wireless repeaters. To recieve an x10 signal is .66 seconds.



Current software can control insteon modules but you do lose all the features (speed and encryption) as they act just like an x10 device. Couldn't find any info on how they encrypt the signal ie... encryption with a key or some sort of allowed serial numbers that you register.



The SwitchLinc Dimmer and Relay (no dimming) are scheduled for shipment after the 4-July holiday. The new PowerLinc series of interface for computers won't be out till the end of August. They have pallets of them, but no software yet so they are only selling the developer kits ($99) with them.



So unless people buy the developers kits, they can't really get the computer interface anyway for at least 2 months. I'll definetly be keeping an eye on this stuff, and maybe I'll bite the bullet and pick up the developers kit. Its cheap and comes with the computer interface and light module.

The PowerLinc V2 (INSTEON) USB controller has officially been released. It would be great to see INSTEON support in HouseBot.



For more information and reviews on INSTEON products you can visit:



http://forums.accessx10.com/forumdispla ... forumid=29