Buzzhazz

Hmmm. Good point. I have a stash of products from a couple of previous sales that I brought with me. Hadn't realized that the Insteon shortage ran way beyond the PLMs. Perhaps it's time to just wait and see what happens when and if this chip shortage is over (assuming that's the cause of the shortage).

Rather than create a new and somewhat similar thread, please permit me to tag on here. I've previously been an ISY99/994 user for many years, but I was never a power user. I viewed the ISY worth the price just for Insteon device/scene management and to run what many here would consider to be a few pretty straightforward programs. Early last summer, we moved, and I left the ISY 994 with the new owners. With the common history of failure of the PLM serial modem and it's complete lack of availability, I decided to start fresh in the new home with Home Assistant. At that time, it was not clear how soon Polisy might become the new home for ISY. I purchased a Home Assistant Blue when it became available and set it aside. Now, nine months later, I'm in the new house and ready to start setting things up. I stumble back here to find the significant advances that have taken place with Policy to include IoP, and I am thinking I jumped the gum with the Home Assistant Blue. Home Assistant has many more integrations than Polisy has node servers, but Insteon sure seems infinitely easier to manage with IoP. I have the advantage now of starting from scratch! My new home will incorporate Insteon primarily for lighting/scene control and I do have three Schlage Z-wave locks I'd like to incorporate. There are a lot of smart devices within the home (Ring, Nest E thermostats, smart TVs, AV equipment and even SolarEdge), but like I said, I've never been a power user, and I'm not a fan of automation for automation's sake, so I'm not sure how fancy I'll get, but I do like to tinker, and I do intend to expand the Z-wave network where it makes sense to do so. Enough background. Just a few questions, some of which I think I know the answer to. The Polisy Pro is only slightly more expensive ($30) than the base unit, and for that reason alone, I'm leaning toward it. But I have data ports throughout the house and will connect Polisy with ethernet. I know Pro has BT capability, but can anyone provide a real life or even possible future example of how one might incorporate BT capability into anything? I am starting from scratch so I'll need a new PLM. I plan to use the USB PLM though I see Polisy supports several PLM models. Any reason NOT to go with the USB PLM? And along that same line, I see the 2413u is sold out at SmartHome and other places I've looked. Any insight on how long they will remain out of stock. The PLMs sure seem to be the Achilles' heel of any Insteon control system, ISY 994, Polisy, HA or otherwise. Along with the Home Assistant Blue, I purchased an Aeotec Z-Stick 7 Plus. The Zooz Z-7 add on to Polisy is dirt cheap, but I do like the smaller footprint of the Aeotec. Is anyone using the Aeotec, and if so, how is it working for you? Thanks in advance.

Good idea. Done. Thanks

Hi Michel (or anyone else who can chime in quickly) My portal license runs through Jan 2023. I'm not sure if I will meet the new owner or not, but if I add him, and delete me, does the license stay with him? It's no big deal if it does. Just curious about the mechanics. Conversely, if I don 't meet the owner and cannot add him, is the second best to revoke the portal in the admin concole and delete the ISY from the portal? We close tomorrow, so just trying to leave the new guys with a functional ISY without me having access to it.

Many months ago, I posted asking about forum members' thoughts on how to handle my current home's Insteon and accompanying ISY system when I move. Well, we're in the packing stage, so it's time. The prevailing wisdom seemed to be to just leave it in place and let the new owners have at it if they choose to do so. That's what I'm going to do. I'll print out a network topography and a hard copy of the current ISY manual. I'll leave a link to this invaluable forum I'll disable the few programs I have because I don't want to assume the new owners will want the same programs I'll change the logon information to the ISY defaults (admin and password as I recall?) I have an existing subscription to the ISY Portal which I only use to control Insteon with the Google Assistant. Do I contact UDI to administratively decouple the service from my ISY? Honestly, my biggest concern is not the ISY, but that the PLM will fail again (it's been several years) or that individual Insteon devices will eventually fail as I'm sure many of us have experienced over the years. Good luck finding an electrician who knows how to deal with an Insteon 4-way virtual circuit when the load bearing device craps out. I know it will be the new owners' problem, but I try to view it from their position. Once at the new home, I'll start fresh with a new system. I know nothing about Polisy other than at some point, I understand it will replace the ISY 994. In the new home, I'll have a mix of Insteon and Z-Wave (mostly for doors and maybe blinds). Should I build my new system around the Polisy? Thanks in advance.

Thank you. That's very helpful. I expect the Schlage locks will work, and as for window shades, it probably depends on the brand. I'll do my research.

And adding extra layers of complexity is what I am trying to avoid. It would be nice to have a dynamic evolving list of what z-wave devices DO or DO NOT work with ISY but that might be a sizable task.

It would be a new ISY with Z-wave that I'd be starting with. I'm not familiar with Polisy at all, so I guess I better become familiar if it's going to "take over for the isy."

Thanks Lilyoyo1. I did read your very through post before I created this one and it answered several other questions I had. I was confused about hub/controller and still am about multiple controllers. For example Brand X of window shades might come with a controller that allows my wife to use an included remote to operate the blinds, but I might want to also control them with the ISY based on time of day or sunset sunrise for example. From what I gather, that may or may not be possible depending on whether the blinds allow primary and secondary controllers. Do I have that right? In the case of the Schlage locks, I'd only being using the ISY as a controller, so hopefully that would be an easier setup with the thought that I'd use KPLs to control the locks. I still have very much to learn in the Z-wave arena. I'm fairly tech savvy but not like many here.

I've been using an ISY-994i for several years in my current house. We're building our retirement home, and I intend to leave my current ISY with the current home along with some reference material and links to this sit and the Wiki sight. And I'll hope for the new owners that the PLM or an Insteon device never fails again in the event they aren't technically proficient, but I digress. When we move to the new home, I want to buy another ISY with Z-wave capability. My only experience with Z-wave is reading about it. My thoughts are that I want to add 2-3 Schlage locks and some Z-wave compatible window shades and of course Insteon devices for lighting control. I'm pretty confused, so my first questions will probably be dumb ones. Will the ISY be the Z-Wave hub or is it simply a controller? Will that be the ISY or do I need some other dedicated hub that the ISY can control? Are the terms hub and controller synonymous in the Z-wave world? IOW, when researching window shades, I see I need a hub for the shade motors (the Samsung Smartthings hub was mentioned as an example). I told you it would be a dumb question. More to follow. P.S. I've read through several topics and the Wiki pages, but nothings really clicking for me. If someone wants to take the time to explain how they would set up the equipment described above, I'd love to read it.

Here's an update: I originally posted that I was using brand name LEDs in my two sets of lights that were flickering. That was not accurate. During replacement of those bulbs with Philips Warm Glow lights, I discovered I had used TCP branded BR30s and NewLeaf A19s for the front porch, both provided at a discount through the energy company. You get what you pay for. When I replaced the bulbs, the flickering issue was resolved, and I love the warm glow effect as the bulbs dim. On what APPEARS to be a related note, I created a new scene last night to turn all the lights off only on the main level. Two Insteon dimmers would not take the update, and the ISY Write to Device effort would time out. I tried for a long time last night and again this morning. After I replaced the TCP bulbs with the Philips bulbs, I decided to try again. The Writes too almost immediately. The two switches in question were physically located near the KPL where I had flickering lights and on the same circuit. It's anecdotal, but is it possible that the cheap bulbs were somehow (even when off) interfering with the Write process? Thanks for the advice! You guys are great!

Good background. Thanks. I have some of the bulbs Bumbershoot recommended waiting for me at Home Depot. I'll report back. When I read things like this, I have to wonder how much extra the KPL would have cost the consumer to build the switch using a better micro-C. Rhetorical question I guess.

Thanks. I'll experiment. I hate being the guy who starts a new topic about things that have already been covered, but I apparently did it anyway.

Hi all. I'm the kind of user who comes here once in a blue moon because I'm an amateur ISY user. I don't get really fancy with anything, and once things work like I want them to work, I disappear from here until I have an issue and need the advice of the many experts here. I'm back. I have a porch light controlled by a 6 button KPL. And I have hall lights controlled by an 8 button KPL (with two other Insteon dimmers linked as a virtual 4-way for the hall). All the bulbs are dimmable name-brand LEDs and are the same type of bulbs I have elsewhere throughout the house. Whenever there is Insteon traffic, the porch lights and the hall lights will flicker during the duration of the traffic. If I turn on a switch or adjust a dimmer, the flickering is brief. If I create a new scene on the UD Admin console that takes, for example, 20 seconds to write to the devices, rapid flickering lasts for the duration of that time. I haven't tried replacing the KPLs yet. I'm planning on selling the house this summer, and I would hate for a potential buyer to notice this and think there's a serious electrical issue. And frankly, I'd also hate for someone to buy the house, and think they have a serious problem after they move in. Has anyone else experienced this, and more importantly, found a proper remedy?

Will do

Thanks. I issued that command to my phone and then again via the Hub. I got confirmation of "Sure . Synching devices for universal devices. No change in the error messages unfortunately.

Hi Michel and others I just returned home today to test. I WAS able to control the Google Hub using the Google Home app. Today, I unlinked Universal Devices from Home and then removed the hub from Home. Home only showed my Chromecast at this point. I then added the Hub as a new device and then linked Universal Devices to Home, all per the Wiki instructions. All my devices imported from UDI into Home and the ones I have tested seem to work from both my phone and the Google Hub. However, whenever I try to add a spoken to an existing device, I get the "Error sending your spokens. Google home API returned: PERMISSION_DENIED The caller does not have permission" message . . . BUT the spoken has in fact been sent to Home, because it works when I use it. My google account is the only account on both Home and the Hub. And to add to the confusion, when I issue a command on my phone or on the Hub to turn an ISY scene On or Off (setup as a GH light categor, I get a message on the Hub saying "This Mode is Unavailable for [Device name]" though the command does turn the scene On or Off. Maybe I shouldn't worry about any of it since things are otherwise working, but it bugs me. Thoughts?

When I try to add Spokens from the ISY Portal, I am getting an error message: Error sending your spokens. Google home API returned: PERMISSION_DENIED The caller does not have permission The one change I did make is that I physically moved my Hub from the office to the master bedroom and changed the Hub location to master bedroom in the Google Home App. Could that have caused the problem? In any event, how can I fix this? EDIT: I have unlinked and relinked Universal Devices in the Home app. No help. Also when I control a device from my phone or the Google Hub, it's working but at the same time telling me Universal Devices is not available

I'll do it. Thank you.

Thanks Michel. One last question. When I powered back up, my user name and PW had reset to default and my location/time zone showed LA vs Cincinnati. Everything else in my system seemed ok. I thought that was odd. My "failed" supply was putting out 4.7 volts for some period of time. Hours or a few days (I was out of town, so not sure). Does it seem reasonable that the reduced voltage somehow caused this? The ISY lights were flickering a bit during this reduced voltage period, so it was getting some power.

I found a reference in the Wiki that the old ISY 99s could use a a power supply in the 5-30v range. Is that also the case for the 994 series? I have several 12v ones lying around.

Thanks. I should have thought of that first. One of my network switches also uses a 5v power supply and when I swapped it out, the ISY came to life. The only strange thing is that my user name and password were somehow reset to default settings even though all my other settings and topology seem to be intact.

Hi All. I hope this is the relevant forum. Last night, my exterior light program failed to activate, and later, a KPL button I use to turn off all lights (Goodnight) failed to activate. I visited the ISY 994 and found the normally blue Power LED fading, then pulsing then returning to bright blue. I am unable to access the ISY via my home network. The only thing I have done recently is replace a few Insteon devices (which I have to do every year it seems. Thank you China) and add the ISY Portal to configure my Google Hub Christmas gift. Is there anything else you guys can think of before I plop down a couple hundred bucks? I did create an ISY backup in late December, so at least there's that. Frustrated . . .

MWareman, just one question. If your lamp is on, along with the KPL button on and the SwitchLinc, and then you use GH to turn the LampLinc Off, the SwitchLinc will be turned off via the THEN statement. What about the KPL button? Won't it still be On? Don'y you need an extra statement like: Set 'Main / Kitchen / SC - FamilyFloor-KPL' Off I see that in the ELSE statement, the KPL button will be turned Off anytime the LampLinc status is changed to 0.

Thanks for posting. That sounds like an interesting and effective way to get the job done. My scenes have a combination of KPL buttons and dimmers as scene controllers as well. I'd be very interested in seeing what you come up with when your schedule allows. I will follow this topic. Thanks again.