Teken

As Stu indicated there are two basic methods to help determine noise makers / signal suckers in the home. The most direct approach is of course to unplug all devices in the home that are accessible. The secondary choice is to turn off all the breakers and see if communications return back to normal. In my personal experience and travels I use the breaker method as a secondary choice. The reason I do so is that it allows me to keep proper bridging / coupling in place. Anything that is hard to unplug like a fridge, freezers, stove, microwave, etc are of course turned off (temporarily) via the breaker method. Key things are trying to determine if there is a frequency of communication issues. Are they more common during morning, noon, evening, etc. Does the comm issue persists only during peak periods of occupancy? ie. Every night you're sitting back in that big aszz recliner. Watching the news at 5:30 PM. What is on during those periods and what other appliances are over lapping during that time? It should be noted that often times as electronics age they start to spew noise on to the line. This is why even if a device was fine last month, year, it may not be anymore. Also keeping in mind given the vast amounts of dual band hardware now in the market and in the homes today. This dual band technology has literally made homes which before using single band tech operate fine. But, only so far as being *teetering* on operating with in the 3 hop maximum that Insteon allows. In closing I can assure you if you invest the time over the week end to unplug every device you can and turn off the breakers you can't unplug. You will find something that is causing noise / or sucking the signal from the network. It goes with out saying remove the CFL bulbs and go from there first . . . NOTE: Smartlabs recommends XX dual band devices per every 1000 square feet. In my installs we always try to have a plugin dual band device at every corner of the home on all levels. At 6000 square feet and if your PLM is single band and the other gear is single band. Coupling - bridging is extremely important to insure consistent comms in the Insteon network.

As a data point I had a single band Insteon relay switch that controlled my front outside lights. All of the lights used incandescent bulbs and later I migrated them all to proven working LED's. This past year I noticed that I was able to locally control the lights but using any other KPL that was linked to this switch failed to operate at all. I did the famous hard reset, restore, and finally delete and remove and recreating the scenes. Ultimately, I found there was just something wrong with the switch which for what ever reason would not accept a linked command from other devices to activate it. This issue was extremely hard to diagnose and identify root cause as the ISY Console still was able to turn the relay switch on-off. Yet any linked devices in various parts of the home would not control the blasted thing. This past few months I was very fortunate to be able to replace a few of these single band devices with the much newer dual band versions which also offer dual color LED's to indicate same phase / opposite phase when the 4 tap beacon test is initiated. With out doing anything else besides adding this brand new dual band switch every KPL in the home was able to activate and control the new outdoor switch?!? I currently have this switch on my test bench and intend to take it apart and see how it reacts in a mini set up I have downstairs. I offer this insight because sometimes ultimately there is something wrong with the hardware that just doesn't work inside.

Hello Mitch, The older 2443 AP (Access Point) at that time offered the strongest RF coupling - bridging of any Insteon device for that period. The stated RF range was 150 feet, with 1.46 watt power consumption, along with a 150 volt surge rating. The latest 2992 RE (Range Extender) indicates 200 feet of direct line of sight RF, 0.8 watts power consumption, and the same 150 volt surge rating. Besides a smaller and much pleasing form factor that extra 50 feet may make a difference on a Insteon network that is teetering on poor coupling / bridging. It should be noted that all the coupling / bridging in the world will not supersede the need to identify, remove, filter noise makers / signal suckers.

Speaking from personal experience there is a model year that when power is applied the KPL will cycle and flicker the LED buttons and it will also flicker the attached load. These are just issues related to that early production year and newer units offer better PSU and wider supported voltages. They also incorporate much higher surge resistance in the design of the hardware. A Smarthome representative has also taken the time to respond to a customers review in the Smarthome website affirming the same. Like Paul I would inquire if there is anything they can do if these devices are out of warranty. I've seen them offer a larger discount for next purchases and given the 20% sale is on now you just might get a little extra? Asking is free and you never know who you may get on the other side of the line that may understand the huge investment you have made etc. Keep us all in the loop . . .

Understood if this is a rental property I would probably lean your way also. I thought this situation was a sell and go opportunity so given the new information I see value in spending the time to remove all and replace with common style switches. If going that route as a good balance you could sell some of them and keep those you feel are worth keeping. Given this week Smarthome is having their annual Black Friday event you should definitely take advantage of buying all the hardware you need for the new home. As an aside if you have any dual band KPL's for sale give me a shout, ha!

To be fair to UDI lots of this is due to the fact most of these TSTAT's insist upon providing access via cloud hosted services. Also, some of these companies do not offer full access to the units API. Those that offer a API offer limited access or features that are too basic to the average HA guy. Keeping in mind the ISY does in fact support all Insteon TSTAT's, more than a few Z-Wave units, and one ZigBee model. But, more to your point it would be great to see more resources directed toward popular TSTAT's so long as they meet the requirement of open API access and don't rely on the cloud. These two requirements sadly, reduces the chances UDI could or would be willing to spend time to develop support. Just my counter point on that . . .

May I humbly suggest unless finances are an issue that you leave the Insteon hardware in place and ensure mechanically everything operates as a normal person would expect? - Doing so will save tons of labor time and retrofit of old switches. - Unless your devices are less than two years old buying new ones will offer more features, lower power consumption, robust power supply, and increased surge resistance within the hardware. - All Insteon hardware should be hard reset upon receipt to insure any test links and programming are removed. This ensures each device is operating in the default OEM state. - With respect to the ISY Series Controller this link will offer the guidance you seek: http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Advanced_Configuration_Guide#FR_.E2.80.93_Factory_Reset

If you require a Insteon TSTAT that supports a heat pump this item just came out: http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-2732-242-thermostat-for-heat-pump.html

You can access your 994 Series Controller with out the aid of port forwarding. You can control two or more units from the web portal and review logs etc.

This information was posted in another thread but since this is new I will relay the same for those wanting to know what devices are supported via the HUB II / Echo: http://www.insteon.com/support-knowledgebase/2015/9/10/supported-insteon-devices-with-amazon-echo This resource link also provides some details and insight about the various models of HUB's that are and were in production and how to identify them: http://www.insteon.com/support-knowledgebase/2015/4/13/identify-your-insteon-hub-version

The current HUB II (Square body) does not support X-10 any longer but the older HUB v2 (Rectangle Body) still does.

I think that would be a great test if somoene who has one could try and follow the OP's lead and report back. I really do believe we are all on the cuspid of voice control where its more streamed lined and does not require so much coding and middle ware and endless trials. Don't get me wrong I really appreciate those who have blazed a trail for others to follow since these solutions were not known or present before. A few things for me is to see a reduced price for the Amazon Echo along with it being actually sold in Canada! Next, that they expand on their current API and what access is allowed in their current system etc. Lastly, I am really hoping to see a much tighter integration either from Apple, Amazon, Smartlabs with respect to the above method.

I believe you mean the HUB Pro? I don't believe the HUB II allows Siri access even with the generation 3 Apple TV. I believe Siri access is only available via the HUB Pro but I could be wrong but that is what I have read over the last 14 months.

I'm sorry can you rephrase that again?

Stu, Thanks for the quick over view of the basic elements. I can see quite a few people who have a HUB II still in the closet enjoying this simple integration method. When I look at what is currently out there this method even though limited does in fact allow the most basics to be added in and the use of the Amazon Echo voice system.

I wanted to start a new thread about how a very clever and smart Insteon user has been able to use the power of the HUB II, ISY, and the Amazon Echo so it works almost as one system via voice control. The direct thread is listed here: http://forum.smarthome.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17353 I believe the beauty of this method is that it does not require all of the hoops, middle ware, and endless coding to get something basic up and running. This information came at the perfect time as I am currently running a demo system for a project. Our resident Stu has alreay completed the above and perhaps he can chime in to the pro's and con's of this approach over the other two methods which are under development by UDI and forum members like Barry.

One of them has the following information, revision 2.0 production date 1810. Unfortunately the ISY does not show the firmware because it was added to my system long ago before the polling feature was made available in later firmware which shows the common v.00 Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

That was a great step by step and excellent way to repurpose a used 9 volt battery cell. I know from personal experience that once in awhile pulling apart the cheap terminals often times results in ripping the wires clean off of the connectors. This happen to me on my Liftmaster outdoor wall mount remote key pad. To be fair I can't fault Liftmaster on providing a poor quality connector because the battery was actually fused and rusted together when it broke loose.

It's both actually as some firmware does not activate a link to a ON position when a low battery condition is presented. By default lithium batteries have a lower VDC when compared to standard alkaline cells. This is why fresh cells and those that offer higher current output is important to have and use. I've been using rechargeable lithium cells with 750 mAh output for a few years now with great success. Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

Yes . . . Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

My reply should have been more specific so I apologize if I was unclear. The over all intent with the portal is that some elements of the service would make controlling another 994 Series Controller some what easier. Those who are using the 5.XX Beta platform and 4.3.26 as far as I am aware already have this ability as I have read. Clarification will need to be provided by UDI as to the amount of over lap and control the portal will have over the (native) controller based system. With respect to third party control via the 994 Series Controller? It would depend upon whether or not this device has the ability to take network commands etc. If it does and they are documented I am sure lots of folks would be able to provide some insight and feedback as to what the network resource structure would look like to control the 3rd party system. I know from casual reading that lots of folks have had great success with iTach, Sono's, RPi, Onkyo, etc. My belief and (limited) understanding is that once the 5.XX platform has matured and developed a lot more, is lots of these things will be quite doable natively with out the aid of the ISY Portal.

This is just a quick summary and Michel will need to affirm or clarify anything I stated here: 1. Allows remote access to the controller with out the need to complete port forwarding in the router. 2. Allows multiple users, accounts, and control of multi ISY controllers to be managed. 3. Allows two or more ISY Series Controllers to be connected and bi-directional control via network resources / programs. 4. Will allow more cloud based services to be connected to the hardware not available before: Echo, IFTT, etc 5. Allows 3rd party branding of the web portal to meet their companies needs etc.

Nope that's about it and ensure the parcel has tracking . . .

Yes, you can definitely use the Range Extenders (RE) to enhance the RF range of your Insteon network. But I would humbly suggest you purchase either a plugin Lamp Linc / On-Off Relay module instead. As it provides bridging / coupling but also offers dual use for light - appliance control. The RE only couples / bridges the Insteon network and relays RF to powerline communications and offers no secondary use. So if you're going to spend $40.XX Plus already might as well get dual use when and if you need it in the future.

Given the distance and required service life you expect it would only make sense to install and deploy a 3rd party wall mounted motion sensor switch in conjunction with a Insteon device which has a sense input. That can be the Inline Linc module or the Micro On/Off relay or dimmer style. It really comes down to where these integration will take place and the amount of room that is available. Normally both devices are placed at the fixture point and unless the JBOX has lots of space shoe horning a Micro module might prove very difficult and tedious.