mvgossman

Thank you, "Geddy", I've been fat dumb and happy for a long time with the system I have. I wasn't aware of the new PLMs, that was a crisis for the unlucky people whose systems were hanging by that crucial device as I recall. I guess I'll go whole hog with the eisy and get a USB PLM. I've got too much invested in Insteon switches to bail on it, nothing I've found has the functionality I want. I'm finding Insteon switches and other things to be pretty easy still on eBay, thankfully.

Thank you, I'm afraid Nodeserver is greek to me, will look into that. Mobillinc does seem rather dated. What is the app on the iPhone called that allows access to the full range of features?

My ISY994 works perfectly, no complaints. The only reason to upgrade to the eisy for me would be for irresistible features, and I suppose better stability and room for growth in the future. Naturally, I'm worried about encountering a major problem and wishing I hadn't undergone the major surgery. SO! 1. Is the interface for programming scenes, devices, etc. still done through the iOx Launcher Admin panel via Java? A nice new feature would be a more robust Admin panel. 2. Is the MobilLinc Pro app still usable? 3. And while I'm at it, is there a way to interface to a different PLM? I've been fortunate, my two PLMSs (two homes) are going strong, but my luck could run out. 4. Any other great features to be gained?

I agree... I was joking about the cost because it's so reasonable.

Thanks! I didn't find anything specific in a search with respect to the VTEXT for Verizon being down, but now that I know it's truly down, and possibly no workaround, I just installed Pushover, and it is great. I suspect I'll find this useful in other situations. I just realized that you can set the Mail app to put up on alert notification whenever an email is received by a certain email address. One could have a special email address only used by the ISY. I'll have to think about this before I put forth that massive cost of $4.99 for lifetime Pushover use. Still, Pushover also integrates with multiple devices very nicely, although I can't get the notification to work yet on the Mac, I've got a support question to Pushover in for that.

I use Gmail to send text messages from the ISY994 to my Verizon cell phone. Not long go, it stopped working, and found out about the Advanced Security issue at Google that required you to set up a unique password to allow an external app (like the ISY's email capability) to use Gmail as the email client, and it started working again. Within the past week, I stopped receiving texts again. I researched it, and supposedly Verizon has stopped passing through to Verizon's "2125551212@vtext.com" email to text feature. It also doesn't work with an email client on a regular computer to send a text to the vtext email address when using Gmail, but when using an alternative email address service (in my case, my office's domain name that uses Microsoft, I receive a text just fine. Is there a workaround to salvage the Gmail method? If not, what's the SMTP configuration for an alternative email address? I only have one other email, a Yahoo address, and I've tried everything and it won't work.

There are some PLMs with the USB interface (2413U) for reasonable prices out there. The ones with the ethernet connection are outrageously expensive. So if the new Polisy Pro works with the USB, maybe this is a good time to upgrade from the ISY994? Or is it a foolish time to upgrade because of the lack of availability of replacement Insteon switches, and especially because of the entire thing hanging on that PLM which isn't being made now? Universal Devices is very straightforward about this risk, pointing out that they are not available and accepting requests for one that they'll provide when they have a source for them. Or does the Polisy provide an interface between Insteon and other networkable switches that will fill in the gaps smoothly? By "smoothly", I mean is there another brand of switch and alternative technology, with ready availability, that will instantly participate in a Scene with Insteon switches?

I confess I hadn't heard of Polisy, will check it out.

Thanks for that UD Mobile reference, looks interesting. Is there a way to use the USB version of the PLM with the ISY994i?

Where does one access these? Are they manufactured in another facility??

Well unless someone here has millions in capital to take over and move the brand forward, there's nothing us end-users can do except hope, wait, conserve switches, dig deep in the wallet on ebay, etc.

It's unfortunately probably so, but even that second post doesn't specifically say that they've stopped their manufacturing, or provide the source for the information. For all I know, you yourself work for Insteon but I'm curious if this has been confirmed. I don't see any alternative but to continue with what I have and hope that switches and the PLM don't crump. I'm sure there will be further posts on how to react to this in terms of replacement technology, hopefully one that will work alongside existing Insteon switches. The 8 butt Insteon Keypad is a great piece of technology and there's nothing like it that I've found out there, and I would be glad to be corrected, that there is something as good.

I have seen that and from what I can see, it refers to the Insteon Hub cloud server that they operate. It doesn't say if it's deliberate due to closing down, or simply that they are down which could be a glitch. Or maybe I missed something. Of course, if this is permanent, that they have turned their back on all the Insteon Hub owners, that's sad for those who invested in it, but that's business sometimes. I'm not a Hub user, so I'm more interested in the health of the company that produces the Insteon devices for all of us, plus the ISY994 from Universal Devices does a good job and can step in to replace the Insteon Hub. If the tech is dead, that's bad because of the investment we've all made in it, and we'll be forced to hang on, replacing switches as they die and hope we can find them on ebay, or move switches around the house, replacing seldom used ones with something else. Or maybe another company will step in and take over the production, like Nokia perhaps. Mitch

Facebook Insteon chat group reports that Insteon Hubs can no longer access their servers. It’s being claimed that the whole company is now out of business. Since switches break, and the PLM is, I believe anyway, the critical link between the ISY994 and Insteon switches, we’d be needing spares when they fail. Am I understanding the situation correctly? I just verified that the PLM and even a basic white dimmer switch are out of stock. This has been blamed on supply chain problems, but is it in fact that they were selling their existing stock in preparation for going out of business? I shudder to consider having to put manual switches in or spend thousands on replacement technology.

I've had some glitches with my T1800 Venstar thermostat which I use via the ISY994 and Mobilinc. It's not pleasant when I'm heading to the cabin 6 hours away and it's 50 degrees in there. So I'm considering replacing it with something else, anyone had a positive experience with one? There are a couple Honeywell ones. There's the Nest which I figured I wouldn't want in the cabin setting since I'm there irregularly and have no need for it to learn my temperature habits, but it does have a manual mode I just learned. There are many others. Mitch

I figured out the problem after searching for others who have had this issue and drilling down to the specific issue of the motion variable appearing as a light. I have the Alexa ISY Skill V2. I just updated to V3 and it works perfectly Thank you very much for the help, now I have to figure out what else I've been missing out on. Here's the thread that clued me in, even though going to V3 didn't seem to help this chap.

Tmorse305: That's a good clue that the description differs radically from yours. I flushed everything on the ISY itself, the ISY Portal, and Alexa app and started from scratch. Pic 1 is the entry on the Variables page for my ISY Console UI. It appears on the ISY Portal as Pic 2. It appears on the Alexa app as Pic 3. Note that the description is nothing like yours, it's the same name on all three, yet yours says ISY State Variable Address. I sense that I'm missing a step. I read something about "exposing" the variable, is there this step or some other step I'm missing? I don't know if it matters, but I am running UI and Firmware 4.7.3. I see there's a 4.7.5, but doesn't appear widely adopted yet. One thing I have not done is cycle the ISY. Mitch

I may have found an important clue to what's going wrong, last paragraph But first, I definitely did remember to do "discover devices" before and it showed up in the devices list on Alexa app as it should. Most definitely it was a variable defined as a Motion sensor, and as a "state variable" on the ISY Console. To start from scratch, I deleted the device from ISY Portal, and did a "discover devices" fully expecting nothing to happen since it doesn't tell you that it notes that devices have been deleted, and checked Alexa app to verify that the device was gone, and it was. I re-added it it, see pic 1. I went to the online Alexa.amazon.com and the Alexa app and verified that it re-appeared as a motion sensor variable, and it did, see pic 2 and 3. But when going to create a routine, and selecting "when this happens", then "Smart Home" where the doggone thing should appear, it just doesn't, see pic 4. I even removed it from the ISY and re-installed it, and nothing appears in the Smart Home Alexa list on the app when making a routine. See pic 5 and pic 6 though for a clue that something's wrong. This is what you get when on the Alexa app you go to "All Devices" (pic 5) and select the motion sensor, and when you touch the GEAR ICON upper right you get pic 6. I see that the descriptions says "Motion (variable)" no doubt because that's what I named it on the ISY Console, but the "Type" is "Other"on the Alexa app. Should that say "Motion Sensor" as type since that's what's selected on the ISY page (Pic 1)?? If so, why doesn't it?

I did confirm that it is designated as a Motion Sensor on the ISY Portal. Can you show a shot of you "When this happens", which button you select (I assume it would appear under "Smart Home", and what it looks like there? See screenshot on computer of the ISY Portal definition and its definition on the ISY console.

Incidentally, the whole range of my Insteon Devices is there which is handy. I don't know why my August lock is there magically, but I like it. I just programmed a routine to turn on a local radio station when the door is unlocked.

I'm stuck again. I finally got the Variable to appear as a motion sensor device (#1). Clicking this produces this screen (#2). I proceed to the Routine definition (#3).Add new (#4). On the "when this happens" page (#5) I don't see anything about a motion sensor or variable or anything else under any of those categories. What am I doing wrong? If I click Smart Home, I get seen #6, nothing there either.

Thanks for taking the time, I see it now, I was looking on the Alexa website, I see routines are only on portable devices.

I'm mudding around in circles trying to make this work. Can you help me with the particulars? I've got my ISY Admin console, I created a variable called "motion". How do you expose it so that the ISY Portal/Alexa Echo detects the variable? My goal is to have a motion sensor detector change the variable, ISY Portal detects it, and causes Alexa to speak "Hello Mr. Burglar, Sheriff is being summoned". I assume that you'd have to manually change the variable, wait a minute, and change it back manually in that program so it's ready for another detection? The program would also do this only when the "someone's home" KPL button is on. Once I understand this, I can see this as being extremely powerful.

No way would I go cheap on Amazon's Smart Plug or any other plug that is not ISY controllable unless I absolutely know I will not need to control it. The price difference is not a meaningful one worth sacrificing functionality that might be nice to have later. I went cheap this once just because it is absolutely one that would be turned on and off in the room with its Echo Dot and nothing else. I also don't need dimming. Having said that, you can set up some simple routines for the Amazon Smart Plug, such as turning off at specific times and sunrise/sunset. Nothing like the ISY, not even close, but there's a role for the Amazon Plug here in this one situation. Has the price of the Lamplinc gone down? When I went to verify the prices, I found $24.99 for the Amazon and $49.99 for the Lamplinc. I could have sworn the Lamplinc was more in the past, maybe they're feeling the competitive price pressure. If you need dimming and ISY control, being twice the price is well worth it.

I bought an Amazon Smart Plug for $24.99 because I know that I will not need to control it with the ISY994i, and it costs less than the Insteon Lamplinc. It's a neat little device, and simple to set up. So is there in fact a way to control is from the ISY994i in case I need to have another controllable outlet and want to use the Amazon Smart Plug? I searched for inquiries on this matter in the forum, I'm kind of surprised that hasn't come up! Mitch