snownh2o2

Update 07112013: pictures of the 4 button frame located below in post #5 Update 07132013: a link to the frame files is located below in post #6 While I am thinking of it, I just signed up for a course in October at the local community college to learn Solidworks and using 3D plastic printers. I currently only know the outdated (3D) AutoCad. I have been wanting to build a RepRap MendelMax 3D plastic printer for a while, so I decided to learn to do it the right way. It will have tons of uses for my obsession to create. Two of them being related to the ISY. The wall mounted Ipads ($200 w/ GPS on cowboom) that I am using for control pads look a bit too much like a picture frame. I am going more for the professional look similar to the bezel of the Russound TS3 will multiple curves. More relavant, is that my KPL8s have been converted to KPL4s. Though not an Apple fan, I have recently been going for the less buttons that do more theme, rather that my old, more buttons that do less. Too confussing for other users. Since Smarthome does not produce a 4 button KPL frame, I am currently using 6 button frames. Hence the back lighting on the middle two button has a dark line through it. On a side note, using blank buttons and adding a clear printed label is often spoken about in the forums. However many recommendations say that 1/2" tape is almost the same size as the KPL button. What I have found is the the 1/2" tape is a bit too small and over time, the edge of the tape collects dirt. Using 3/4" clear label tape with black lettering seems to be better. Fully covering the button and then trimming with an exacto blade solves the dirt issues if done correctly. Also note that the Smarthome buttons are printed with a dark charcole gray color. Label printed buttons will not prefectly match unless you do all of the buttons. I have yet to find a dark gray tape. I will be scanning in the 6 button frame and modifying it to a correct 4 button frame. Before I go through all of the effort, just checking to see if this has been done before. If not, get back to me toward November and I will likely be able to post a copy of the file I made for the 4 button frame. You will need to have someone print the part for you or get a 3D printer. DIY RepRaps are in the neighborhood of $400 if you are will to search around a bit. Matt

Good moring everyone. As always, I am starting a new project before finishing all of the rest. On work days, every morning, I wake up, turn on the radio, open the garage door, remote start my truck located in an unattached garage, shower, remote start my truck again, get dressed, and finally leave for work. It takes about a half an hour. I now have created a KPL button to handle turning on the radio and opening the garage door, however to take it to the next level, I would like the system to remotely start the truck also. Security/saftey is not an issue in my situation. The OEM GM remote start feature has a few flaws. It turns offf after 10 minutes which does not allow enough time to get the truck warm/cool. Also it will only allow for the vehicle to be started twice for a maximum of 20 minutes. Twenty minutes is enough even on the extreme cold or hot days, however it must be done twice. I have tried getting RF codes from both the dealer and online with no luck. I definately understand the security reasons that they may have. How would I go about getting my truck's RF codes and then having the ISY send or activating something that sends the codes to the vehicle. The key FOB procedure is LOCK the doors, then press and hold the START button for 5 seconds. Doing this sequence again while the system is remotely started will add 10 minutes to the run time. Example: I the truck was remotely started at 8:00am and the key FOB sequence was pressed again a 8:04am, the truck would shut off at 8:14am. Thanks for any input, Matt PS...The vehicle is a 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche LT equipped with Onstar (subscription not active.) I think that the Onstar system can also remotely start the system. I am not sure if that uses a seperate system from what the RF key FOB uses to start the truck, nor if it could be another viable way to access the start fuction for my project.

Bcrawfo2, Sorry for the double post. My lightening fast copy and paste skills must have failed me. Actually, I have no clue what happened. Thanks for all of the info. Some of it I understand, yet other things are still a bit foreign to me. I am going to study and research what you have posted before I ask any elementary questions. From what I can initially tell, it is written in the exactly way I was hoping. Scanning for each person will allow different settings depending on whos home. Me, Her, Both, None, & Guest/!Intruder! Now I ?-simply-? need to GET the info from each of my access points. Have you found any usefullness for the knowing of what AP the phone is entering? At first thought, it sounds like it might be nice to know that I am out working in my shop (Shop AP) and since she isn't home, the house is in Energy Saving mode. At my second thought, I know that my APs often fight to hold onto there 'customers' before handing off to the next AP. I currently run 3 APs on staggered channels. One on each floor, plus one for the Shop and the back yard. I will be adding a forth AP (far enough from interfering channels) in a new, larger shop that I am building. A proud picture is attached. From Rubble to a soothing yet manly mix of steel, wood, brick, and concrete. Notice all of the conduit that will be headed to the house. Opps soory for the side track. Thanks again, Matt

Bcrawfo2, Sorry for the late replay. Can you elaborate a bit more about how you monitor connected Mac addresses. I had thought that creating something along the lines of an auto profiler, which bases my phones ring/vibrate upon wifi or cell towers might be a helpful insight as to setting scenes and managing energy conservation. However Mac addresses would really be the way to go since it can look at several users and determine who is home and who is not. My initial solution was phone based, being that each phone had to run a command. Your idea is system based which potentially is much more robust. I've love the concept. Its got my wheels turning. Note: I still do see use for phone location based programs. An example being that as my phone enters cell towers increasingly closer to home (at certain time of the day) the driveway lights fade on and the garage door opens. Please know I am more concerned with convenience than security (cameras and locks take care of that), my garages are separated from the house, and my house is hidden a 1/4 mile away from the publics eyes. Thanks, Matt

I use a leviton whole home surge protector. If u search around long enough they are about $100 or 170 from smart home. U still should use sesperate protection for other vitaul equipment assuming spikes could enter from other sources. Conditioners will kill your insteon signal. Let me know if u need more details. Matt

The ISY, and this post, NEEDS to come with a bright orange warning label. !!!WARNING!!! If this post seems spotty, I was 'locked in' (corny Social Network reference) from 10 last night until I rushed into the shower and off to work early this morning. For a guy that that normally gets up at 6am, works until 5pm, heads to night classes just for the fun of it, and finally goes home at 930 to blab about 'wires' before falling asleep at 10-1030; last night was a fun rarity. I felt like a college kid again. That being said, I fixed my ISY firmware r3.2.6 upgrade issues, before deciding to contumplate an entirely new automation structure for my ISY. Again I said contemplate, not execute. Seemingly 7 minutes of deep comtemplation was in reality, 7 hours of rapid mouse movements and arrow key pressing. It was only interupted by the sun peeking into a 2'x2' window in an attic crawl space. I sat with a laptop to my right and an insteon 'set' button being pressed with my left hand. A time lapse video of it would have made an excellent ISY advertisement. Especially seeing the beautiful blonde that entered the frame at 11pm, 12am, and then again at 3am, before greating me with an obscure smile at 5:15am. One of those, your crazy but I still love you smiles. Almost a smirk. Ok, the overview: ISY would not upgrade over several attemps preformered during the last week or two. It lock up at around 10-13% at ...WEB/cache.jnlp Multiple computers and connection types were tried. Java updates and temp files were removed several times. All of the different admin console login methods were attempted. Errors show invalid space (read a few posts above for the specifics.) The SD card was formated via telnet to the ISY. All of this was done with no apparent luck. Now the fix (and the troubles): When I arrived home last night (10ish), I did an ISY backup, unplugged the unit, and pulled the SD (256MB) card due to a concern that it became corrupted. I plugged into a Windows 7 laptop, 64 bit (not that it matters), and did a quick format. Reinserted the card and powered up the ISY. Unfortunately I could no longer see the ISY Admin Console locally or remotely. I soon located it in my network with its normal ip http://192.168.2.99 Telnet proved it was still there and responsive, though the login didn't work. Trying the defaults got me in. (admin/admin) It could be seen that all settings had be set back to default except the local IP. I have no idea what prompted this. I changed the ports to 4443 and 8887 and exited telnet. I still could not access the Admin via My Network, My Lighting icon, though I did succeed using http://www.universal-devices.com/99i. Everything inside of the Admin Console was gone except my original IP and my newly changed ports. I changed my login and password, and then did an ISY restore of my most recent backup. The ISY rebooted and I was able to use the My Network, My Lighting icon for access. On a side note: Why is it that the find my location button never works for me? Bath, PA 18014. Though the time does seem to be up to date. Sorry I have both ADD and OCD traits! Anyway...I tried the auto-update. Success, and frankly it seemed faster that normal updates though that is not confirmed. Another quick backup. This in now where the begining of this very very long post began. A vitrual ISY blur. Hopefully it will help out someone else. Thanks for a great product, great support, and a great gathering of creative people on this forum, Matt PS....My new structure seems to function amazingly well considering I remember very little of it whatsoever. Honest to god truth, it was litterly a blackout, hold the alcohol. Over the next few weeks I find out via WAF and ease of trouble shooting. In the mean time I will be challenging Zuckerberg to some speed chess! Even with the multiple references, I am not a current Facebook user.

I remotely connected to a machine local to the isy. Formated SD via telnet. I used the FS command, it asked me if I wanted to proceed. Typed Y, it gave me a new prompt. See below. Exited (XS) and reopened the Admin Console. Tried the update and had the same failure. I will try a new SD when I return home. Matt

I tried to update via https://..... with no luck fully remotely (not via remote desktop) from class. It failed at 11%. Same errors. Same file. I will try the SD format next. Thanks for the link, Matt

I'm currently taking a Home Automation class at the local community college to unleash the power of my home. The professor is the best I've ever had in over 300 credits. Making subnet masks seem interesting is a feat on its own. I kinda figured by taking this class, if I learn the more technical stuff, I can will able to use some of the more sofisticated commercial pulls that sell for pennies on eBay. Okay back to the point: I can replace/format the SD when I get home in a few hours. By trying the update via httpS, are we talking about loading the firmware from a remote source? Outside of the modem, https//......? or does the S mean something else? Sorry for possibly being nieve. As a note, I had never used (for my own purposes) the SD card until recently. While the running the previous firmware, I did load some pictures on the card. Could this be the issue? I was able to view the pictures both locally and remotely. They are still on the card. Finally is it possible to wipe/format the card via the ISY. I don't necessarily need the specific details, I can search that, however can it be done. Thanks again, Matt

I just turned off the admin console. Cleared the temp files in Java. Deleted all IE temp/cache files. Closed all IE windows. Redownloaded the firmware zip file retaining the original name. Opened the admin console via http://www.universal-devices.com/99i/admin.jnlp. MS Security Essentials remained off. My isy info is located below. Computers are running Windows Vista and 7. A mix of 32 and 64bit. Connection is DSL. All wired computers and ISY are connected to the same HP Procurve switch. A Belkin wireless rounter and two Belkin APs (same model routers in AP mode) are attached to the switch as well. ISY has static IP. WAN is dynamic from ISP. Remote access (not used for update) is update via DYNDNS. Using ports 8887 local and 4443 remote. Have tried both wired and wireless updates from local computers. The error has occured at both 12% and 13%. 13% is the more common. This time it failed at /WEB/chart.jar 12%. The errors when the two posted above. I will have to check the LED status upon failure later on tonight. I am currently remotely connecting to a home desktop from work. The home desktop is wired to the same network switch as the ISY. Previously had the same failure from wired computers while local to the ISY. I am rather sure using a remote in this manner that I am is not the issue. I have done it sucessfully numerous time in the past via both windows and ipad as the remote. Thanks for the quick reponses and assistance, Matt

The Java version that threw these errors is Java 6 Update 33 (build 1.6.0_b03). Matt

I did see some talk concerning firewalls. The only thing that I am running is Microsoft Security Essentials. I just disabled real time protection. The following is the error that I recieved. Note that this error also was recieved during the other attempts, however it was hidden behide the last error. Thanks again, Matt

Hi, I have been trying to upgrade for the last few days with no luck. I have tried multiple computers, accessed the admin console various ways (local, remote, wired, wireless, my lighting, & UD jnlp), and have updated and cleared java. I have recieved a few different errors. The following is the current one and also the most common. I have never had a problem in the past. Am I overlooking something this time? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Matt

A thanks to both of you. The giving forum reads the required password is the deal breaker. I will have to see what Verizons new deal is for personal file uploads and if not I will try the free hosting site. If multiple user passwords are ever added, consider a provision for a GUEST password which would bring up a login with a customizable question such as: 'Matt's dog's name is?' or 'Matt's middle name is?' It would allow for semi-restricted access intended for friend's and family instead of the entire universe. Multiple answers may be needed for to this to really work such as hanna, hannah, Hanna, Hannah, HANNA, HANNAH or Sam, Sammy, SAM, SAMMY, sam, sammy (being that I have two dogs) OR MOOSE (Sam is 160lb bull mastiff with not an ounce of fat.) Seperate user priviledges would also be great. First thoughts being Administrator: all access; Resident: wife, kids, parents, friend, person looking over the house while on vacation, gardener, pool guy,...: they can use controls but not make changes; General Public: can see shared content on web server but not any automation contols. Maybe it could even ask a user (webpage, mobilic setup, conductor setup, ...) what type of access they would like and what type of guest the are (have user name or need answer question about ??Matt??) Sorry for the rambling, I get excited easily. Thanks again, Matt

I am writing an installion review on a different type of forum. I went to load pictures to my Verizon account, however it turns out they shut off FTP capabilities. Without spending too much time looking for a way to deal with the Verizon problem, I decided to try out the ISY webserver. Is the 16GB SD card limit still valid? I am running the latest firmware on an newer isy99i-ir. From what I gathered, to install a bigger card, it must be first formated by the isy (telnet?). Next a backup of the isy must be copied to the card. Finally the isy must be restored to the backup contained on the new card. Is this correct? What is the minimum speed the card should be to get the obtain the maximum speed of the web server? I want to continue to maintain at least a bit of security on my home network. Previously my router was setup with a virtual server on port 4443. As far as I know this was a secure port. The isy uses local port of 8887, and a remote port of 4443. Loading a picture to the isy and then remotely accessing https....com:4443/USER/WEB/Pictures/*.jpg allowed me to view some test pictures, however it asked for a user name and password which is not ideal when posting pictures in a form. I then tried opening/using port 8887 from http....com:8887/USER/WEB/Pictures/*.jpg It also worked but also requested a password. When I think about it, it make sense because no matter how I log on to the isy I am required to input a username and password. The question is, is there a way to allow outside users to view my photos from links embedded in the writeup? Securely, or at least keeping everything else secure, (isy and home network) is definately preferable. Is it possible to keep the web server activity seperate from the isy automation activity? If not, does anyone have a simiple solution for self hosting a few pictures besides all of the free hosting sites. My router (Belkin) does have a USB port, however I am not sure it can be opened up to be remotely accessed. On a final note, I was wondering if it is possible to create multiple user names for the isy. When entering my user name and password into the beautiful blonde who sleeps beside me's ipad, phone, or laptop, I often get leary about what could result in a few accidental taps when in a purse, pocket, or briefcase. Can a 'no changes' user name be made for her. This may also be userful for web server access for friends. Thanks, Matt

Jack, Sorry I had not subcribed to my own thread and did not see your post until now. I will check out the new thread over lunch today. I did a bunch research on the CAI, but still have been holding out to see what new products will appear. Also wanted to wait until the boiler was done being used for the winter. In the mean time I have been playing with the automating the audio system and a HD (hdmi & component) video system to be able to select the music from the closest monitor/tv. Its been slow. I keep picking projects that are a bit out of my league. Thanks again for you contributions, Matt

That sounds great. I will have to take a look at it. Not sure if it is above my skill level. Please send me a message when you make your post. I will brush up on REST in the mean time, yet I still hope that the UD guys chime about doing it with the ISY. It sounds like a you are doing your logic in Linux and then outputting a single value to the ISY, which is fine, however I haven't played in Linux for years. And the all-in-one-ness of the ISY has been what's really made my system sooo much more reliable as compared when I ran my system with a computer. A parts list would be great for comparitive trouble shooting. PS...What audio system are you using? I currently am using a Russound CAV, however plan on upgrading to the C-series w/ a Media Streamer before month end if I find the right price because the new Streamer and the iPad app look very intriguing. Thanks, Matt

Expensive but creative....I like it! I may have to go that route, however I still would like to try to use the full capabilities of the main thermostat. Keeping inteon traffic at a minimum with fewer adapters would be nice, especially since I poll it fairly often (cast iron radiators can be very touchy). Also I didn't mention it before but the t1800 can also handle two wired remote sensors. And while wireless simplifies temporary setups and mobile devices, I am one for minimizing wireless signals in the house when possible. Thanks for the suggestion, Matt

I've been looking around for some info on reading multiple tempature values from both the T1800 programable thermostat and attached wireless tempature sensors via the insteon thermostat adapter. Has anyone else done or discussed this? Functional Example: The thermostat reads the temp in the family room of my old drafty farm house during the day. However at night I when we are in bed, an extrnal wirless sensor mounted in the bedroom would provide temp values from the bedroom and would be where the isy would draw its values from at night. To take it one step further, an outside mounted sensor would give another value, outside temp, and allow for further programming on extreme days. I know this is possible with weatherbug, however doing in with local sensors provides realtime data and works even when an internet connection fails. Thanks, Matt Note: Sorry, I previously posted this in the wrong board. My original post has been deleted and reposted here.

I have been slowly programing my ISY for years now, so many of the exact details of all of my scenes/programs have become blurry. In the admin console, on the main tab, each device's association as a controller or responer can be seen in the membership section. Is it possible to also see all of the programs that have an effect of a device? I often find that my biggest source of errors is making a device change (scene or programing) that conficts with another program that I no longer remember (which can be a good thing...if I don't remember it, I might be working well) However somethimes this is also due to finding a better way to do something, but then not remembering all of the original intricacies originally created to do the task in the past and not getting rid of them all. If this is not currently possible, it would be a nice feature. It could allow a quick reminder to check all programs that the new programming/scene may impact. Similary in the programs tab it would be nice to see a reference to other programs that are associated with the current program. Thanks in advance, Matt PS...If my explanation is confusing, please let me know and I will try to explain it in a different way. Thanks, again.

4 quick questions: 1) Is there a way to create programs, create scenes, change names, ...., without sending the updates to the system immediately. It seems that I spend more time waiting for the system busy status to clear, than I spend time actually accomplishing anything. It would be nice to send everything at one shot at when I have made all my changes. Example: It takes 5 minutes to change the names of all 5 buttons on a controlLinc. 2) Can programing, scene creation, name changes, ..., be done when not logged into the ISY? This would really make the most of waiting rooms with no WIFI. 3) Though I am ashamed to let anyone know that I own one, is there a way to write programs, make scenes, ..., with an iPad? 4) A while back I recall another interface (I think made by UD) posted on the forum to access the ISY. I can't recall/find the name of it. Can someone refer me to those post and give a quick summary of it. Thanks, Matt PS...I did spend some time searching the forums for this info with no luck, so I apoligize in advance if I missed it. Thanks again.

I just saw that I never posted my solution to this. Please note I am kind of new at this, so if there is a better way to do this, please let me know. Also, I only included a few devices to save space in this post. Here it is: First, I have a program folder that allows the programs to run at sunset and also in the early morning. I only allow it to activate for 10 seconds because of a clash I was having with another progam. (Some of you may have read my 'I can't turn my lights off' post) Folder Conditions for 'Night Glow - PRGM' Add conditions to limit when programs in this folder are allowed to run. If From Sunset For 10 seconds Or On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri From 5:00:00AM For 10 seconds Or Program 'Night Glow - Control Flag' is True Then Allow the programs in this folder to run. The control flag gives me a 'one shot deal' to turn ON the program, which I guess makes it similar to a scene. I use this flag so I can also activate the program from certain switches around the house at my discretion. Night Glow Control Flag: If Control 'Breazeway -A- Night Glow' is switched On Then Wait 20 seconds Run Program 'Night Glow - Control Flag' (Else Path) Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Next, I turn ON my devices. Before I actually turn them ON though, I check to see if they are at a level greater than the level I want them to turn ON too. If so, I leave them ON, figuring that if they are already on, someone must want them to be that way. If not they would dim to the 'Night Glow' level and the old lady will yell at me because she was reading or putting on her makeup or ...... Here is an example: If Folder 'Night Glow - PRGM' is True And Status 'Stairs - 1st (top)' < 20% Then Set 'Stairs - 1st (top)' 20% Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Ok. Now my lights are on, and my house has what I refer to as a 'night glow'. 'Night glow' is my fancy term for being a geek and instead of spending $2 a piece for dusk / dawn night lights at Walmart, I programed my existing house lighting to do the same thing at 10X the price. Hence 'Night Glow' convinces the old lady the the cost was justified. Anyway, The problem I was having is that every time I would turn a light ON to do some sort of task, then turn it OFF when finished, I would eventually lose the 'night glow' as the lights would turn completely OFF instead of going to the 'night glow' setting. The following programs solve this problem. First I designate when this function is approperate. Folder Conditions for 'Night Glow Return' Add conditions to limit when programs in this folder are allowed to run. If On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri From Sunset + 30 seconds To 12:10:00AM (next day) Or On Sat, Sun From Sunset + 30 seconds To 1:10:00AM (next day) Or On Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri From 5:00:30AM To Sunrise + 20 minutes (same day) Then Allow the programs in this folder to run. Next I add the what I can the Return function. Here's an example: If Control 'Stairs - 1st (top)' is switched Off And Status 'Stairs - 1st (top)' > 21% Then Set 'Stairs - 1st (top)' 20% Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') As you can see, if the light is above the 'night glow' level, as it dims it will stop at that level. If it is already there, it will turn off. The ramp rates on my devices are mostly 2s and 4.5s. At both of these rates the program works perfectly. I have not tested any rates that are faster, but I assume it would be possible for the light to turn OFF too fast and therefore bypass the program. That would be something that needs to be experimented with. I hope maybe this can be of use to someone else. If anyone comes up with a better solution, a different way to use this, or any additions, I would love to hear about them. Matt

Mike, This week I tried changing everything on my network with no sucess. Ports, IPs, .... No matter what I changed, I couldn't not see the ISY locally on my laptop. When I setup the ISY, its original IP address was 192.168.2.6 as assigned by DHCP. I soon changed it to a static address for ease of setting remote acess. As I think I mentioned before, even though it was now on a static IP, the DHCP client list would still show the ...2.6 address also. Resets to both the router and ISY did not change this. As I was just about to give up all together, I thought in one last ditch effort, I would waste sometime and fully restore my router. Well, I am not sure why, but that solved my problem! Now I can officially antagonize the old lady from anyroom in the house! Thanks for effort you put into assisting me. It was greatly appreciated. I can now finally spend some time on some other HA ideas I have in the back of my head. Thanks again, Matt

Over the last couple of days I have been goofing around with some outdoor flexible LED strip lights that I had laying around. With the holiday season on the forefront, they seem to be begging me to incorporate them into a interactive holiday scene. I have been using a cheap, low end controller with a RF wireless remote to do my playing. I think I could rather easily make a PC controller that would allow for much more advanced features. However, I would rather integrate them into my Insteon / ISY system. The problem is that all of the insteon controllers seem to only output open / closed signals. My LEDs are RGB, so I will be severly limited to only 6 colors and white (all on) and dark (all off). I would need to vary the output on each of the 3 channels to be able to utalize the full color spectrum of the RGBs. My strips are wired V+, R, G, & B. On a side note, RGB LEDs under certain wiring configurations can have even greater potential. Though I currently lack the understanding, LEDs can be controlled in much more complex ways. Imagine a vertical stripe of RGB LEDs that initially are all blue. As the outside temperature rises (weatherbug plugin) the bottom LEDs begin fading to red. The red migrates up the strip until a present hight is reach according to the temperature. We have just built ourself a LED thermometer. LEDs wired in a matrix are capable of doing this on a 2 dimensional scale, so a square array could start one color and migrate to another as if it was being heated. As I said, this is currently above me, but could be more attainable in the future. In my present future, I could see, LED lit, low level landscape lighting (warm white) that strobes to red when the alarm system trips. Or lighted walkways that follow a person (a few motion sensors calculating speed) as they walk down the path. For holidays the posibilities are huge. Imagine the Trans-Siberian Orchestra christmas house that was all over the TV a few years back. It was done with single color lights dimmed at various rates to the music. Now add to that the capability to change and/or 'run' the colors! As you maybe can tell, the more I type, the more excited I become. What I am looking for is any ideas / products that will help me intergrate something like this into my system. I currently am using and ISY26, so I have no IR capablilites. I could probably be talked into one, however I must keep my budget within reason (it is just holiday lighting after all) or I will have quite a bit of explaining to do to the 'boss.' For some reason we have differing views on the value of automation vs. jewlery.

Mike, Thanks for your contributions. Your suggestions to try are things I was planning to do this weekend. I'll let know no how they turn out. Hopefully positive, however if not I think I will just resolve that the laptop just is not a piece of my automation system (at least locally). As a long time fan of Linksys (probably have 12 different models between work and home over the last 12 years), I just recently made the switch to Belkin. The last couple of Linksys routers were very troubled products for me. That, coupled with my want of a USB networked hard drive, Gigabit ethernet, and 802.11n made me choose the $79 Belkin over the much less graciously reviewed $199 Linksys. Besides the laptop issue, the Belking has been preforming excellent. As an unkown bonus, it is preconfigured to work with DynDNS! Matt