NHWA

Not sure if it's the same issue but my alexa started acting up a few days ago also with no programming changes or devices additions/deletions. There are now some devices on the isy portal that do not show up in my alexa that did (and rediscover doesn't work). On top of that, alexa has some devices listed as offline although they are online and remain accessible through the isy portal. I noticed in those cases the alexa as them listed as "other" type instead of light for some reason now. I checked the portal and it seems to be functioning. I also disabled and re enabled the skill and rediscovered devices without luck. I wonder if something broke with the skill.

I think something is wrong with the portal. Just starting this morning I can't connect alexa or mobilinc.

I personally find the portal and the echo integration very useful. I like being able to turn on the lights or the house music if I am working and my hands are occupied. I'm looking forward to how this evolves. While I also am not a fan of subscription services, I am a fan of the ISY and all of the excellent support that comes with it and willing to support that. I do not think $25 a year is unreasonable for what is offered. Automating your drapery with a somfy drapery set up will run you $600-1200+ for each one. A gefen HDMI matrix to send signals to different rooms costs $2000+. Many controllable home audio sound systems with built in amplifiers cost $1500-5000. While there are some amazing features that are available with technology that has made life easier for those with disabilities, many of us use these features for convenience, and it is a luxury item that comes with a cost. The $25 a year I have to pay for the portal is such a very small part of the costs of my total system, and I receive much better support from UDI than any of the other products I use. Plus, minimum wage in Seattle next year is going to be $15 an hour so that puts things in a different perspective.

I have to start off with saying that I love my ISY, but posts like this are becoming more common and for a reason. The home automation industry is picking up steam. Controllers are coming out every day that are paired with very nice GUIs. So far, the controllers have been less sophisticated and the GUIs lacking customization. However, at the end of the day, the company that will succeed will have an ISY like level of customization paired with a more robust mobile GUI that is easily customizable without requiring advanced programming. I know resources are limited and I don't want UD to be less available but the last few months are really indicating that without a software companion solution, ISY is vulnerable to a disruptive force in the industry that can enter and quickly gain market share.

I have two of the RCS thermostats that are linked in the prior post and like them. They are zwave and appear to be fully functional with the ISY. I have programs that turn them off when the Elk is armed away and then turn them back on upon our return in addition to various hot and cool settings based on time of the day.

I had the exact same problem and I solved it by changing the PLM. It was a bit disturbing to come home to an open garage door .

I would come back a bit to the concept of a end user interface. All of us computer geeks would love more features that allow us more control but really a clean end user interface that unifies all of the home automation that the ISY can control is a different issue. It's pretty much the opposite of the detailed programming ability. It's making a simple interface that allows any random person to pick up a tablet and control our systems--something that looks like those interfaces that HAI, crestron, control4, etc all offer. I'm curious if there are others out there that would support a third party software project that did this for us? I think something like this would encourage more use outside of our tech savy base. Despite everything our systems can do, when someone comes to the house, all they see is whatever GUI is present and that can influence their decision of what to buy. The more people that purchase the systems we have the more likely that this becomes the go to setup and future development can then occur more rapidly.

I just have to say I really find myself thinking the same thing often about the interface. I'll start off by saying UDI has a great product and in a day and age where support is not existent really set's itself apart from other companies with a level of help that is simply unparalleled. I invested heavily in an insteon (40+ switches), Elk M1, etc rather than bringing in a company like control4 or crestron in because I like tweaking my systems as many here do to meet my exacting needs which change--and keep the wife happy. The only thing that I think keeps back friends I know from such a venture and my only regret currently is the lack of a clean interface like control4 has. I understand the issue with applying resources, and I don't know if it is feasible to have a 3rd party create a more robust app/interface (we have mobilinc but it lacks android dedication) but I think that would make the total package that much more appealing to that many more people. I can control my lighting with mobilinc, my cameras with the dahua apps or ip camviewer, my elk m1 with another app, etc. I would love an app that had a clean interface with security, lighting, automation, cctv, and audio all in one. Something that would be easy to program and put together to give a feel like control4/crestron. Although this is a small niche market, most use HAI or ELK for security, the isy for lighting, russound or htd for audio, and programs like ipcamviewer already have figured out how to view cctv cameras. The similarity of source items should make creating such an interface possible. I have looked at commandfusion, irule, etc but still haven't found that holy grail of interfaces. Again, I understand resources and a small market, but I do wonder if a clean interface product could exist and be profitable. Many of us have universal remotes that are quite pricey. For the right app, I would pay a few hundred dollars. It would after all complete my system.

I use mobilinc without mobilinc connect. I just forward the ports on my router and use dyndns (many other companies out there) so that I can type in a specific web link that forwards to me ip address (DNS forwarding service). Port forwarding isn't that hard and it's good to learn how to do it since you may have to do it for other things. It can be confusing at first but there are plenty of resources out on the web and you'll find this community here is very helpful for questions.

Is there a way to insert a picture from a local drive into a notification? I have programs running that txt me when someone comes to the front door. I have a CCTV DVR that independently sends me an email with a picture of the front door when motion is detected. I was going to set up the DVR to take a "snapshot" of the door every second or so and then save that to a local file on my hard drive and then rewrite that so the picture is always pretty close to realtime. Now, I want to be able to take that picture and include it in my isy notification txt so that I only get one txt. Is this possible?

I just got the networking module and now have my URC MX 3000 remote controlling my XBMC on my HTPC. The TCP route did not work for me but then I went the HTTP GET route with posting something such as below in the path: /jsonrpc?request={ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "Input.ExecuteAction", "params": { "action": "down" }, "id": 1 } This was the command for down. This is now working well for me. I was using my tablet to control xbmc before but now it works seamlessly on my remote so for the average person who comes over, it is no different than any dvd player or cable box playing. Thanks to everyone who posted the info on xbmc and the networking module. I doubt I would have gotten this going without all of your help and it is a great addition to my setup.

I have URC MX 3000 with an MSC400 controlling my TV/HDMI matrix/Audio. I also got the ISY with IR input and have an IR lead going to my ISY from the MSC400 and then programmed the MX 3000 remotes with the IR codes (and the ISY to set on and off certain lights with programs for the respective codes). It isn't URC's total control and it is only a one way system but it is one work around.

This also happened to both of my new thermostats (hooked up to two different AC/heat units) before any linking to any devices or to the ISY. I basically hooked them up and waited and they randomly went to energy saver mode. I also noted that they intermittently go from auto to heat or cool but this is less frequent. I'd be happy to talk to someone at smarthome with exact specifications of my a/c equipment and any other details that would help isolate this problem.

Another update. I received my two new insteon thermostats. Unfortunately, the exact same problem is present. The thermostats randomly enter energy saver/leaf mode and change the temp settings. I also noticed that I did a review of the thermostats on smarthome describing the energy saver problem I was having and it was up for one day and then removed. My guess is that this is a more widespread problem than smarthome acknowledges. Anyone know if the new Zwave add on being worked on for the ISY will support any z wave thermostats and if those would be accessible with mobilinc?

Ok here is an update. I updated the ISY and the problem kept happening. I then completely removed the thermostats from the ISY and had the same problem with them going into energy/leaf mode randomly. I called smarthome again today since I was worried that there is something wrong with all of the thermostats since it would seem to be really bad luck for two thermostats ordered to be both defective. Apparently, they have had some issues with thermostats made in the batch I ordered. I now have two more thermostats on the way. I will say that smarthome needs some serious work on how they handle these issues unless they want to return to the paddle problem days that made people stay away from insteon. Telling me it was the ISY off the bat was not appropriate. Not notifying everyone who ordered those thermostats that there was an issue was not appropriate. Making me pay for two new thermostats and then having to apply for a refund when I send these back so I don't have to put my old thermostats back up is not appropriate--especially since I am still waiting on my refund for the last defective item from lst month. I'll let everyone know if these two new thermostats work but since I've now had to replace a light switch, garage door opener, and two thermostats (out of around 30 items ordered), I do wonder about smarthome's quality checks of their items. It may be time to pause these purchases for a few months until they can straighten things out.