HTTRC

(1) The only reason bought my original isy over 25 years ago for the purpose of creating/maintaining my Insteon network. It’s the only method (I’m aware of) to link switches together, set ramp rates, dim level, etc. (2) Since then I’ve been using it to replace dead switches. A (mostly) simple process, but has some infuriating quirks you must follow. Still, the best way to replace dead switches. (3) I never meant to use the isy as a SmartHome hub, but with the advent of smart speakers, the isy portal and HomeAssistant I started using it to simulate the results of pressing a light switch using GoogleHome/HomeAssistant. Throughout the years, Universal Devices has released several (how many) successors to the ISY. I never upgraded became functions 1-3 are all I need. In addition, I really dislike the Java interface that each version inherits. So I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of shelling out a few hundred bucks to get no new Insteon functionality, and had all of the same flaws of the product I’m currently using. Right now, I’m unsure of the technical problem I’m having with my Insteon devices. Maybe upgrading might help. Or maybe going the ebay route is the better approach. I can imagine getting so frustrated that I want to rip everything out and start over. But that’s a waste of resources. I just want to maintain what I have. But what’s scaring me the most is the fear of doing an upgrade, only to find out a crucial feature like “swap Insteon device” didn’t get ported over. I’m sure I’m not the only person who argued with themselves over doing an upgrade. Am I right to be skeptical?

I followed the instructions here to the letter https://wiki.universal-devices.com/ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Resetting_Your_Userid/Password I used the physical button method. My old Admin username / password still worked, not admin/admin as I was expecting. Java cache has been cleared, browser cache, etc. Has this ever been reported before?

When you set the admin password (and change its name) with the Java admin utility, is that username now supposed to now appear in the interface? My Admin user always says “Admin” despite me changing it. And I know exactly what it is because I just busted it to log in. The same holds for creating users.

My father gave me his old isy and polisy devices. I have an isy which has my Insteon (and other) devices mapped out such that I can replace a dead Insteon device with a new one and it will restore its links to other devices, restore ramp rate and device levels etc. I was going to save the isy in case mine dies. I also have a new (couple years old, unused) PLM in case that dies. I make periodic network backups so I can restore to a point to “running” as close as possible. Can I use the polisy in the same use case? That is replace the isy with polisy and restore a backup? More importantly, is there any advantage of using the polisy over the isy?

i3 lol, Insteon is getting big for its britches are they? I see they have a new hub. I’m so glad I skipped their last iteration. I remember when the UDI portal launched. I hooked up my “Barry White” scene with “Alexa, let’s get it on!” It was like the angels singing, voice command like you’d only see in the movies. While the portal was nice for a couple of years, I eventually off loaded to HomeAssistant. While UDI has the only viable solution for programming Insteon switches to work together without a hub, there’s too many workarounds needed for my likes. But it’s nice to know that if push comes to shove, I can just throw some money at the problem and get my network running again. Fortunately, as long as there are houses with Insteon switches, and they pay to keep the lights on this place will outlive me.

Is this not an issue for anyone else? It makes any attempt to use a folder hierarchy practically impractical. Replacing dead switches is a royal pain in the ***. It shouldn’t be. ETA: disability issues compound the problems.

Coming from an ISY994i perspective, what am I gaining by moving to eisy? Please don’t give the marketing pitch. Speed, performance,chipset, HDMI port, etc. The hardware platform doesn’t interest me whatsoever compared to the software. What is my experience going to be like? I’m only interested in maintaining my Insteon devices. Not interested in Zwave, Zigbee, Matter, Thread, or any other dongle tech. At least not eisy approach. I’m all about managing my Insteon network. Adding, removing, linking devices creating scenes etc. Is eisy running a Java app built from what the ISY used? Is it the same look and feel as the Java app? If there was a delay in showing a menu when doing a “right click” in the ISY gui, will that also be in eisy gui? If one were critical of the ISY gui, will they be likely to be critical of the eisy? Can you easily replace Insteon dimmer switches? Do you have to remove an item from it’s folder before you can issue the replace command?

After last weeks lightning strike fried my ISY or PLM (or both) I managed to restore an old backup of my network. All of my switches appear and they seem to have the proper links on the ISY side of things, however it seems I have a lot of switches that are not physically in my network. Thats simply due to me having replaced dead switches a time or thousand. I’ve replaced a lot of Insteon dimmer switches. Burned out / bad design, who the F knows why but it’s just the truth. So I have a lot of switches that appear to be installed but are not. I used to have to take the plates off the wall if I didn’t have a picture of the addresses, but using the original Insteon linking method by holding the paddle down will be caught by the ISY if you do a link management | start linking. A hell of a lot easier than taking plates off

Is it supposed to appear under lighting? Funny, it didn’t show until I rebooted the ISY.

I’m doing a “Start linking” then holding down my Insteon paddle for 5 seconds and I get a popup saying “device already added” and showing me the address. How can I find which node in the ISY tree that address belongs too?

So all I have to do is replace the current PLM with the new(ish) one, and do a Restore PLM?

I’ll try and skip most of the TLDR that brought me here. But after last week's lightning strike, I have a backup ISY994i running with a restored backup which is mostly an accurate representation of my Insteon network. I have about a dozen switches that have been replaced since that backup was taken, but I can live with “adding” those switches and doing a replace command. However I’m trying to do a restore devices command first, just to get updates written to my devices. But here’s the rub. Many of these devices aren’t being “seen” by the admin Java app. IIRC I had a similar problem years ago, and my solution was to bring the ISY/PLM near the devices in question, and that did the trick. Of course that meant I had to have Ethernet nearby. Back then a long cat5 cable worked. But so did a WiFi repeater. Unfortunately the GL-INET things aren’t passing my MAC address along so I can get my desired reserved ip address. It was just easier to take an old EERO router and use that as my “long cat5 cable” When I say I used my backup ISY, I used one my dad gave me when he sold his Insteon house. I used that ISY and the PLM he used together. So I restored my backup to the ISY, then restored the PLM. I’m wondering if the PLM is the culprit in the proximity issue. I also have another PLM that I bought as a backup years ago when a PLM up and died on me. I tried restoring to this PLM with my original ISY but that didn’t work. My PLM prior to the strike is 100% dead (no lights when plugged in) and I think the ISY is also toasted (couldn’t read the backup without getting errors. So I’ve got 3 PLMs. My fried 2413S rev 2.4 My backup 2413S rev 2.3 My dad’s 2412S rev 3.1 Right now I’m using the 2412S PLM, for no reason other than once upon a time it was working with the ISY I’m now using. How much better, (if at all) will the 2413S rev 2.3 work than the 2412S? Is the Dual Band going to address possible proximity issues?

Michel has been great over the years, but I wouldnt open a ticket because of the EOL. I just get frustrated how trying to find specific firmwares is a needless hassle.

This brings back unpleasant memories. My firmware is 4.5.4. In order to install 5.3 I apparently need 4.6.2 (according to the Wiki). Why the wiki doesn’t have a link to that is unfortunate. A Google search finds the wiki but not the download location of 4.6.2. Will one of you regulars point me to the download? Hey, give me credit for reading the notes before upgrading to 5.3

I have 2 ISY units, each with their own PLM. I have a backup PLM. Only 1 ISY/PLM was in use. The other was leftover stuff my dad gave me. Had a lightning strike, fried the PLM. Tried restoring a backup to the ISY and that was getting errors. Now I want to see if I can switch over to my dad’s ISY combination, restore a recent ISY backup, then restore the PLM. In the process of restoring to the ISY