gadgetfreak

Thanks for the input. Is it true that dual-band systems don't need phase couplers since the signals are amplified over RF and can "jump" to the other phase that way? I guess these dual-band 2443s can't hurt but I am curious. Thx.

Now that I did a Google search, I found this: http://www.smarthome.com/access-point-insteon-2443-range-extender-dual-band.html. I guess that means it is dual band and it can only help?

Sorry. Access Point #2443.

I started out with an X10 system including a phase coupler. I slowly upgraded to original Insteon using 5+ boosters (one set specifically at my dryer as a phase-coupler). I then converted around 40 of my 50 or so switches to dual-band with the remaining switches single-band. There are no more x10. I am not having a problem now but I am wondering if I should leave all the boosters plugged in. Do you think it helps or hurts (if there is any sort of failure in the device) my network? I could probably unplug a few and run some tests but I am curious as to the general consensus on this. Thx.

OK, here is the update. Took about an hour + and two tries but the restore completed. I was left with around 20% of the devices with either red exclamations or green flags. I went through each of those and did a "write updates". All but one device cleared. Under diagnostics, it looks like I have V9E. Is that good? And the big test is when I launch the admin console. I always hold my breath to find out how many devices will have problems on startup that I will need to manually fix. I tested twice and there were no errors on startup. This is a good sign but, when I unplugged the old one on Sunday and rebooted it, I also was OK for a while so only time will tell. As I wrote this, a final write update on that last device was successful and I am now free of all flags. I logged out and back in and still have no errors. I will stay cautiously optimistic that my issue was solved. I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your help. I have certainly tried to provide information to help others but clearly received more help than I gave. And you are all so patient and kind (unlike other boards I have seen). I look forward to continuing to be a member here and appreciate all of you.

Instead of editing my last post: I take it back, as I try to control any of the devices, I get errors and they turn into red exclamations. I guess I will do Restore now and see what happens.

OK. I am home and I followed the steps to physically replace the PLM. It took about 5 minutes and I had 5 errors for devices that it couldn't communicate with and now show red exclamation points. I am now on the admin screen where it says system ready. I did NOT yet do replace modem yet all of my devices (except for those 5) are responsive to commands and are properly reporting their state. So what happened? Why didn't I need to do the Replace PLM? Should I do it now? Thx.

Why is that bad? Why would I want the old PLM address in each of my existing devices?

Thanks for the link but I was actually wondering if there were some more pointers. For example, is it better to delete the existing PLM first to clear out any "junk"? I am worried that with all the errors, it is possible some of my devices actually have some bad programming. I would love to start fresh (though not by going to each switch and certainly not by rebuilding my ISY file). Thanks. Also. the PLM was just delivered to my office from Amazon. It is the 2413S. V2.1 and says 1505 under it. I will do the replacement when I get home tonight. Is that the newest version?

For those keeping tabs, taking the PLM out of the unfiltered outlet on the filterlinc didn't work. Well, it worked for a few minutes but that was probably because I had unplugged it and plugged it back in. I lost connections to over 75% of my devices and querying them doesn't help. My new PLM from Amazon is expected today. Does anyone have any specific advice on the best way to install the replacement?

I definitely agree about the borrowed time. The seller on Amazon is listed as "Insteon". Neither the Amazon listing nor the SmartHome one specifically says it is V.2. We can assume that the one from SmartHome is V.2 and you are correct that I am taking a chance with the one from Amazon. But for a $20 savings and faster shipping, it is worth it to me to try. I can always return it through Amazon if it is V.1. As a side note (in case this helps others), for the last 5+ years I have had the PLM in the unfiltered outlet of a FilterLinc (with the filtered outlet being used for the UPS and then all of my Den A/V equipment. I only have one double wall outlet and I couldn't fit the PLM in on and the FilterLinc in the other. But now I am thinking that maybe the FilterLinc is broken. So I put the filterlinc on a short heavy-duty extension cord connected to the top outlet (and the UPS is in the filtered outlet of the filterlinc) and the PLM is now connected directly to the bottom outlet. This is the final piece to do troubleshooting with process of elimination. Again, I am just letting others know in case it helps them. I will probably order a new PLM anyway (after so many years and the availability of a newer version, it may ease my stress) but we will see if this also helped.

This is just out of control. Now the issues have become even worse. Programs show as run (with devices showing as updated) in the admin panel but the devices didn't change at all. Every time I connect to the admin panel now, it says that it fails to connect to nearly all of the devices and I get red exclamation points. I did a query last night and it took an hour to clear those exclamations. Things worked well overnight until this AM and I am having the same problems again. I confirmed that I have version 1 of the 2413S. I guess I am going to try a new PLM. Does anyone know if the one at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Insteon-2413S-PowerLinc-Dual-Band-Interface/dp/B002X8W4SI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439737204&sr=8-1&keywords=Insteon+2413S) for $62 with Prime Shipping is the same as the $80 one from SmartHome (http://www.smarthome.com/powerlinc-modem-insteon-2413s-serial-interface-dual-band.html) which usually takes over a week to arrive? Thanks.

We all made a lot of assumptions . I checked last night and I have the 2413S and I do have a separate power cable going to the ISY. But we still have confirmation that it is v.92. I still don't remember how old it is. I am scared to do a restore modem because, if it fails, I will be without anything until I get a new 2413S delivered. So any other ideas? Ironically, last night and this morning everything worked perfectly.

All the PLM Info/Status says is F.9G.6D v92/Connected. How can I tell how old it is or whether it is even single or dual band?

Got it. I was wondering what the difference was between the USB and serial. I gather by your comments that I must get the serial one. Thanks for the warning not to delete the PLM. 1) Any idea how to check which version I have now (remotely)? 2) Can I do a restore PLM remotely from my office? 3) But you all believe that my newly sporadic issues as well as the failure to connect to three devices is all related to the PLM? Thanks for all the help.

definitely more than 2 years old. I would say at least 5 but I wouldn't even remember. I don't even know if it is single band or dual. Is there a way to check that from the ISY? I assume this is what I would need? http://www.smarthome.com/powerlinc-modem-insteon-2413u-usb-interface-dual-band.html Also, is there anything I can do now to try to correct this before spending $80 on a replacement? As we speak, I just connected to the ISY remotely and three devices can't communicate (not the new ones). A query, which usually works, isn't helping now. Could this all be related to the PLM?

I don't know if my issue is the same but I noticed that this thread was relatively new and the subject line is exactly what I wanted to say so here goes.... I recently replaced 5 single band switches (2 KPLs and 3 dimmers) with dual-band ones. I wiped the new devices first, did a discovery through the ISY and then did a replace. Switches are fine. But right around that time, other scenes and programs that have nothing to do with these new switches started failing sporadically. In some of them, some of the lights respond while others don't. These scenes/programs were working 99.9% of the time before I installed these new switches. Everything in the ISY seems to be set up fine. So what does one do? Should I update all devices through the ISY? What about doing something with restoring the PLM? Does that "clean" everything up? And can I do it remotely while I am connected to my home's ISY from my office? Thanks for any help.

Here is an interesting situation that I came across. Let's say I have a program folder which is set to ONLY be active from 12AM on Sunday through 11:59PM on Sunday. Let's also say that, inside that folder, I have a program to turn on a light for 28 hours. Will the light go off after 28 hours (since the program folder will no longer be active?

Good to know (for next time ). Thx.

They were all brand new devices. But I hear what you are saying. I also wonder if a "reboot" of the ISY should be SOP when you do big installs like this.

Thank you both so much for your responses. I am not sure what I did but I got it to work. For both the keypadlinc and basement playroom, I removed all devices from the scene, deleted the scene, queried, restored and wrote updates to all the individual devices, recreated the scene and added one device at a time back in. Both are working well now. Thanks again.

I just swapped out 10 Insteon switches for dual-band ones today (in addition to 2 new ones installed) and I am having a serious problem with scenes. For the last 10 years I have had Basement Play 1 being an on-off switch set to a load (fluorescent lights) and Basement Play 2 being a "slave" (not connected to any load). They were both in a scene called Basement Play Room and were both controllers for that scene. Pressing either of the switches controlled the load as well as the other switch. I just swapped both those switches out for dual-band ones and did the replace feature. The scene setup is identical. When you control the scene from the console, everything works fine. When you press on at switch #2, the console shows both switches are on but switch 1 is NOT on and the load didn't go on either. This is VERY peculiar. Then, onto a more complicated one: I had new high-hats installed in my Living Room today (the load). They run to an 8-button keypadlinc (button A for load). Works fine. I have two existing lamplincs in my LR (Lamp 1 and Lamp 2). I created two new scenes called Lamp 1 Scene and Lamp 2 Scene. In Lamp 1 Scene I have Lamp 1 and button C - both controllers. Similar setup for Lamp 2 Scene. Buttons C and D work fine. Then I wanted to make button B be an on-off for EVERY light in the LR. So I made a new scene call LR-ALL and I put buttons A, C, D, E, F, G, H, lamp 1 and lamp 2 all as responders and button B as a controller. I would assume that when I press button B all would go on and off. But it is NOT working. When I press off on button B, the two lamps go off but buttons C and D stay on. On the console, when I press B, it shows that everything is on. What could be happening? This is getting me very aggravated. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Unless I am missing something, in your example above using the TimeTrigger, you still told me that I needed 4 .

But is there a reason why 2 programs (using THEN and ELSE) is better than 4 (using just THEN)? Would there be more stability or is it just "cleaner"?

Wow. That is extremely interesting. 1) So the ELSE command is really just a trigger that occurs at the TO time? 2) It is not that the system is always monitoring the time? 3) Your explanation makes much more sense as, now that I think about it, how could the system be constantly checking if it is between (or outside) a certain time range, right? 4) But, if the command doesn't trigger for one reason or another, how can I build in a fail-safe? Thank you so much for your assistance.