Teken

This might come as a shock to many of you but at this very moment I am OK with the general pricing of the Insteon product. As its clear to me Smartlabs has been steady in working toward more integration with new and popular hardware and cloud hosted services. This has been seen with the inclusion of the Harmony remote, Amazon Echo, Apple Home Kit, Apple Watch, etc. I expect to see them adding in more network support for other similar networked products. As posted in the past by me here in these forums the Insteon hardware side is getting another round of upgrades which many of us have been waiting for years for. Off the top of my head the big hitters are the expansion of more base hardware for the EU market. Next, the soon to be released global PLM which in my mind will surely help out UDI in selling more 994 Series Controllers. This infusion of cash for this little company will surely reflect more resources being made available to perhaps hire a short term contractor to work on low / high priorities features etc. Lastly, as indicated the list I found in the Insteon NET site indicates many updates and products soon to be released to the market place such as the dual band I/O Linc, Global PLM, iMeter strip, iMeter Breaker, GE Usnap, etc. OK, enough of the warm and fuzzy which I have written above! Ha . . . Did you guys really think I wasn't going to throw a few jabs at Smartlabs / Smarthome?!?! M-ahahahahahah . . . One of the biggest pain points for me with respect to pricing is the custom KPL keys! I've said this 999999999 times leaving it at the $19.XX price point sold more (steady) sales of this one item in one month then they would have sold in an entire year at the inflated and bloated $49.XX they are trying to rape you for 8 pieces of plastic! The other day I decided to see what the current feed back was for this product and (IF) others shared the same views. Below is just a small snippet of what like minded people had to say. LMAO . . . Price hike is outrageous Review by Brian Rating I bought several of these a few times over the years as my system expanded. They looked great and really finished off the install nicely. The product should get 5 Stars. However, they used to be to be less than $20 and that seemed a little pricey. $50 is just outrageous. How can six or eight buttons be worth as almost as much as the keypad link itself. I cannot believe this item is flying off the shelf anymore. Posted on 5/13/2015 Um what??? Review by Joe Rating These were always $20, now $50???. WTF?!!?! Posted on 4/28/2015 Why $50 Review by Arizona-Automation Rating These used to be so much cheaper, $50 is way to much for this product. The cost increase has deterred me from expanding Keypadlincs to other areas of the house. Posted on 4/27/2015 $50....are you kidding? Review by Pster Rating The price on these custom etched buttons is just over the top. Hard to understand....I've bought them before at less than half this price. Smarthome is just plan greedy. Posted on 4/25/2015 INSTEON 2401C8 Custom-Etched 8-Button Set for KeypadLinc Review by Smokegrub Rating Outrageously expensive. Won't be buying anymore until the price is reduced. Posted on 4/22/2015 Review of 2401C8 Review by POLO Rating Just WAY too expensive for 8 little pieces of plastic. Brought in the past for a much more reasonable $20. Would buy at least 7 more sets if it were not for the outrageous price hike!!!! Posted on 4/18/2015 Um What? Review by Chris Rating $50??? These used to be $20, how can you justify that insane of an increase??? Posted on 4/15/2015 Ripoff pricing Review by Al Rating Way too expensive Posted on 3/8/2015 Nice, but too expensive Review by Paul Rating This is way more than I'd pay for this kind of product no matter how nice it looks. Sorry, Smarthome, you need to reduce the price on this. Posted on 1/23/2015 Look nice but pricey Review by Michael Rating These are a nice product and looks very professional, but they jacked the price up over the years. The 8-button set used to sell for around $17. Now they are the standard $50! They look nice and really finish off an install, but I'm not sure they are worth the cost any more. Keep your eyes open they just ran a sale for a free button set with a purchase, unfortunately I bought mine the day before the sale came out and when I reached out to see if they would extend the sale to me the answer was NO! Posted on 1/23/2015

Latest 4.4.1 Beta firmware allows the user to change the font size in the Admin Console now.

For the benefit of others how far were you from any dual band device? [emoji53] Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

I know it doesn't make sense but some where down the road it appears either the 2413S PLM is over powering the Remote Lincs or there is some kind of odd interaction that does not allow common linking as you noted in the past. Trust me, this has been well documented by dozens of people from all across North America. I would ask you to even go further and see if it allows the linking process to start and complete.

At $6.74 per bulb do you even have to ask? Just buy five cases and run out the door matter of fact buy me some too and toss it over the great wall you guys are building to keep the rift raft out of America! Ha . . .

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At $14.47 per bulb before any tax's that is really a good deal. Why not buy a box and test them out and let us know? It would be great to read a review of how they perform with Insteon and also know how they dim and if they buzz / hum etc.

I would like you to be at least 30-45 feet away from any Insteon device and try again.

Please note that Google has changed one key thing in their system. Meaning in the field where you indicate the *FROM* this must have the email address you're going to use. In the past this FROM field simply used what ever (friendly name) you wanted which could be like My System etc. Now you will enter for example My System: Johns@gmail.com Failure to enter the domain will result in no mail being received by your Gmail account.

Personally I would use a dedicated Gmail account to avoid the random failures sometimes seen by using the default UDI mail server.

Assuming you have good RF coupling from any dual band device. Take the Remote Linc as far away from the 2413s PLM and try again as this issue has been well documented.

The lamp linc is NOT like a Insteon On-Off Relay module because the ladder has a relay which can handle large restive / reactive loads. Whereas the former is designed to dim a purpose built light fixture which uses a incandescent load. A lamp linc dimmer even when full on does not provide 100% power when comparing the two hardware devices. Because the On-Off Relay module uses a purpose built relay this is why it can be used on motors, etc. Do not attempt to plug in a device like a hair dryer, fan, heater, etc to this device because (regardless of power handling) doing so will damage the appliance never mind the actual lamp linc module.

I have looked over the last few months and to date I have not been able to find the video for EVIL Petes demo. Perhaps he can chime in when DEFCON will make that video available for the general public to view.

http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=Main_Page#Migration

When I first moved into our brand new home one of the first appliances we bought was a dehumidifier for the basement. Our POCO at that time (she) edumecated Mr. Teken that our first year and a half worth of heating / cooling would be double to triple due to the extreme humidity being generated by the curing basement foundation walls. Armed with those facts it required double to triple the energy to heat up moist damp air that exceeded 75% humidity. It really was a no brainier to run that brand new dehumidifier 24.7 for those 3-4 months until winter came upon us. By the time winter came to our local area with the combination of a dry cold season our basement was hovering around 55-60% relative humidity. Upstairs it was a very nice and comfortable 45-50% relative humidity. Almost 7 years later the home has been able to sustain that same value by basic active / passive heating, cooling, and proper use of air circulation via HA elements and venting control. This year my goal is to keep the basement around 45-50% like the upstairs as I am trying to see if it will help me reduce the amount of telepost adjustment which impacts the two entrance doors leading to the home. [emoji53] Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

Larry, That is an excellent example of going to far and what the negative outcomes will be. I believe in another related thread with Paul Bates I indicated how I *cheat* a little in the winter to fool the (human) into thinking its warmer than it is by keeping the humidity slightly higher during the long 7 month, cold, dry winters here. Thus far going on seven years in this custom home has been fantastic while balancing my energy consumption and the human factor. With respect to things moving around and shifting for me this past (2014) winter proved even with 50 plus piles driven 100 feet into the ground building on silt, clay, mud is a never ending battle with Mother Nature. Adjusting supporting teleposts are a seasonal thing for me moving forward due to heaving and frost that exceeds the 12 foot frost line.

As Stu illustrated there is a work around but it would not be a smooth transition. I am unsure if this would be a big issue so long as the lights started to dim in a step fashion which is ultimately what the OP wanted anyways. I just took what the OP had asked at face value and literally and did not consider using other methods to extend the time frame. Stu's suggestion is a great work around for this and to me would fit the OP's needs.

Not to take this thread too far into a tangent but I tend to agree with the above as well. Given all of the hoopla of Apple Home Kit, and various other HA protocols the home automation industry continues to be a very small market place. There are lots of examples from Control 4 / Creston, to installation we all can relate to which use Insteon, Z-Wave, ZigBee, X-10, UPB, etc. Many people that I have seen basically fall into two basic categories once they have tasted the HA tech. The first buy a small starter kit and pretty much don't move past this and essentially the novelty is lost on them. Next are those that see value in incorporating the next level of HA into their lives not only to make it fun but useful. Afterwards there are those like us that see greater potential not only to make our lives better but to help manage energy consumption, efficiency, and long term cost(s). At this point its very much a integrated lifestyle with the various HA systems in the home. Having the ability to harness basic elements of the home that add safety, security, and over all status awareness is simply outstanding for me and for millions of others. Having said all of this over the years I have moved to a more conservative view and approach about HA and what role it plays in my home and lifestyle. With the advent of every increasing threats of hackers, and Government spying in all aspects of a persons lives with out their knowledge. I have purposely removed key systems from being controlled by HA elements. Even though I still monitor them they have no direct method to impose their will onto another sub system. With so many companies now being acquired by massive companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, etc. Letting corporations monetize and profit from knowing your habits along with status of occupancy. Never mind having the direct ability to over ride a persons TSTAT or any other connected cloud hosted service is simply not worth the privileged of remote access and integration with HA. You can mark my words the very first time we see a You Tube video of a drop cam, nest tstat, smoke, unit all indicate the movement, travels, and occupancy of a home owner. You will see the HA industry implode onto itself . . . The reality is TSTAT's have been in use for decades and they have operated just fine with out any user interaction. I can count on one hand the people I know that have on a daily basis had to operate their TSTAT. Those that do, do so out of that geeky want and not so much because of the need. The bulk of it is simply a fad that will in time wear off like that shiny squish toy the dog used to bite on. *Hey look, squirrel* Ha . . .

Absolutely agree on these points made above . . .

No thanks needed just returning the favor! [emoji4] Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

Ramp rates in the past were defined as 9 minutes max. But most recently it has been changed to 8 minutes. The 994 Series Controller can not extend that time to 30 minutes though.

I believe this is the old manual: http://www.manualguru.com/insteon/2420m/users-manual This is the newer manual: http://cache.insteon.com/pdf/2420M.pdf

Well, that is kind of a loaded question, no? Ha . . . There are lots of LED bulbs on the market today and many are not dimmable. Others do not play well with Insteon so it comes down to trial and error for the most part. Many people have had excellent results with the HD Cree style bulbs only to to find out later on others had negative results with the same. Mostly in part to variability of the hardware etc. I've personally had great success to date with Lighting Science, Sylvania, Luminus, and Phillips. My recommendation is to purchase an entire box of any flavor of LED bulb you like. Doing so insures the same production run and hardware with in. Install them and see if the Insteon devices operate as expected and if so continue installing until each room is complete. If you find that you have too many simply return them to the store for a refund. Going this route saves time, travel, fuel, and your time because you got the box at one time.

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.