larryllix

That is where the old Insteon SwitchLinc Dimmers come in. Although I cannot command any coloured lights my RGBWW lighting can still do white levels from ISY. If I want automatic lighting that follows the outside levels and tints into sunset colouring at nights I use the SwitchLinc dim (long press down). If I want party lighting, I use the brighten (long press up). My TV and Movie lighting scenes toggle back and forth for normal On (tap up), and all lights turn off on a single tap off (short tap down). Those Insteon SwitchLinc dimmers put out 6 different commands that can be used effectively. Cloud (vocals) can give me all the colours and a few dimmer settings, but I only use cloud things for special effects and non-necessary lighting and functions. My festive outside lighting is all automatic from ISY still and honours about 10 occasions with coloured lighting. No cloud required.

I was using GH also. The syntax is the same. You define the program as a switch (on/off device) in the ISY Portal, and use the same old syntax. Hey Google. Turn on/off the XXXX I have a hundred or more comands and they are all the same. Alexa, Turn On/Off Louder Alexa, Turn On/Off Muting Alexa, Turn On/Off Softer

You, me, and anybody else that uses cloud services. We have to expect more problems as there is much more complexity and devices in the data paths that are beyond our control. (routers, cables, connectors, ISPs, servers for ISY Portal, Alexa servers, pathways back and forth between our ISYs and the two. Totally local and self dependent is the better way, and the cloud services may be very awesome but the lesson we may need to learn is, not to be totally dependent on cloud things for serious control. I try to always have a local switch or other control to backup important functions of lights and other devices. I avoid mobile dependence also. They are mostly cloud based data pathways and very inconvenient to use.

Hi Fred. The easiest way I can think of is, to let Alexa control a program instead of the device directly and put the On in the Else, and the Off in the Then sections.

I have a few of my manual switches taped over (so people do not turn the circuit off) with white electrical tape and control my WiFi bulbs with Alexa voice control. I do have some Insteon SwitchLincs disconnected from their loads but a manual switch is always ahead of the lightbulbs in a multi-gang box. Double tapping a switcLinc up or down can serve as a trigger for other devices without interfering with normal Insteon SwitchLinc dimmer operations. In my ensuite I control RGBWW strip lighting with a double tap Off for 7 different colours as well as On/Off from one main light SwitchLinc. All based on timing and assumption the main lights will be off when colours are wanted.. A switch is needed ahead of all light fixtures so you do not have to change the wet bulb while it is alive.

We are using a cloud service. This is typical and a good lesson for us all. Sounds like it was Amazon servers. Mine was intermittent in Ontario but came back last night.

I haven't used Hue devices, except for their early development bulbs. There will always be more delay than a direct link between devices that Insteon can do. How much? I don't know. ISY doesn't add much delay time but the protocl channels do sometimes.

That is a nasty situation. The Insteon MS original had some minor problems but it has become extinct and now the Insteon MS II has become the only one now. Many people are not to thrilled with this unit as it presents some logical problems with timing and usage in ISY. It can still be used however. These guys have them in stock. Remember you would be dealing in CAD bucks. https://www.aartech.ca/2844-222/insteon-motion-sensor-ii.html

Yes I use 12v for my strips. I have about 20 of them now. I use this 5 channel controller https://superlightingled.com/dc1224v-wifi-amazon-alexa-google-home-rgbww-led-controller5-channels-control-4a5chtimer-music-group-sync-controller-apply-to-5in1-rgbww-led-strip-light-p-1345.html and 12v, some at 2 amp (24 Watt) and some at 5A (60 Watt). The strips never draw that much. IIRC the max draw on my RGBWW strips was about 20 Watts for 5m strips.

LIkely to upgrade your ISY, it will be less money than one Zwave dongle. Check it out.

The mounting channels or lots of clear (silicone usually) mounting clips are needed. Do NOT trust the sticky backed ones as it never works! As soon as the strip gets warm (LEDs do get warm) the sticky lets go and the strip falls off. I have run my 5m strip off 12v 1 ampere wall-wart power supplies. I wouldn't recommend that small for a 5 channel strip though. I had posted a power consumption measurement chart for various colour combinations in this forum but I cannot find it now.

Yeah, I have had bulbs that put out much more (lux) for the same power used (I dislike improper tech slang like "wattage" ). In case your power rant wasn't rhetorical, these bulbs can light up both WW and CW LEDs simultaneously so they should be almost double lumens (different colours do not add arithmetically).

Yeah...all good points. I have never bought or used just RGB bulbs or strips. My RGBW strips are four channel RGB and WW. However the aprox 3000K WW is a good all around working light in my kitchen as it is all indirect off the ceiling and I have other lighting for working on the counters The LEDenet controllers shown in my photos are 5 channels with the CW (cool white) not used for that application. All my recent bulbs are RGB WW & CW. A few older bulbs are only RGBWW and I use them on my deck and porch lighting where CW isn't needed and probably shouldn't even be used. I have a few neighbours that used CW bulbs outside and everybody wants to get a BB gun...massive glare at night so you cannot see at all. Early in the game I spent a few hundred dollars on Hue bulbs and they tried to use only three LEDs to create all the colours. They now sit in a junk box that should be in the bin and I feel very ripped off by Philips for that one. Hue is way too expensive but an easy go to for the non-techie HA enthusiast. I hear they have fixed their bulbs to display proper colours, as advertised, and I also have one of their IRIS? boxes. Huge clumsy ball with about 2W of light. All my newer MagicHome bulbs (< $10 each) are 9W of WW or CW + RGB. The bulbs can actually put our about 18W of WW+CW light but I am not sure the bulb enclosures or electronics can actually accommodate that for very long. I try to avoid over-driving them in ISY programs. A better NS for them is currently under foot. In the end the common advice to users wanting colour lighting is Avoid RGB only products! They cannot properly create nice white lighting of any colour temperature. RGBCW bulbs come capable of both WW and CW lighting. Note this bulb (labels on each LED) has a complete compliment of WW, separate CW, and separate RGB LEDs. No mixing of any RGB colours is done or needed to produce white lighting of any colour temperature. Much better lighting. Right now WiFi is the easy way to go. Other protocols do not support this technology well, or not at all yet. WE already know some may have plans but who can wait for years on promises? WiFi bulbs are cheap and as your bulb count increases you may need a router less than a few years old. You will anyway as the newer WiFi6 and WiFi6E comes out. If you do any streaming for entertainment you will need it shortly anyway. I am running about 35 bulbs and strips now. They do not consume bandwidth but as @MrBillposted above it may tax your tables inside your router. That may become a non issue later, as MagicHome protocol has a self discovery that doesn't require your router to have tables to accommodate IP reservations. Other protocol bulbs likely do too.

There are a few old threads here on RGBW strips and controllers including pictures of mounting styles, power supplies and all the items to install it with many different options. Most of them are MagicHome Pro app compatible and run about $30-40 per 5m strip, much cheaper than other brands. These controllers go by many different brand names and are mostly compatible, and work on 2.4GHz WiFi. Most of the strips can be wired into any brand of controller. Sometimes the RGBW wiring may be confused but is easy to straighten out to match the software. Most will just plug together with a fairly standard 5 pin connector and the strips can be cut every 2-3 feet where there are cut marks that won't injure the LEDs.

Yeah. When I bought them it was advertised they could control almost anything and propaganda on the box stated it had eight hardware modems inside. It was sent from God. When I actually tried it out, it had videos popping up for everything and was extremely well done. Then when I actually tried to connect to a hub (I forget which one now), the video showed getting a cord and plugging it into the existing hub. Then I tried a half dozen other protocols and the videos all showed the same thing. I returned them to the Home Depot store immediately. About a few months later, Wink went belly up, but about another year later, somebody else bought them and tried to resurrect the thing. I never looked back.

The two Wink hubs I owned that had interfaces to 8 different device protocals turned out to be just another hub that could talk to the other 8 hubs, making nine hubs. Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

Oh Gawd! I had two of those in their early daze, and after all the cool app videos how to setup eight different interfaces it was supposed to contain, I discovered it contained no hardware at all, but would connect to many brands of hubs. What a crock! Great! Just what I needed was another hub! They went back for refunds.

Maybe SDK? I did a short look but find nothing about REST so far.

I have no idea. I just know that 3 or 4 pieces of software can reboot ISY and AFAIK they are all dealing with ISY's REST interface only. Perhaps there is a standard somewhere that lists common REST style commands.

Have your ISY send itself an NR to it's own REST input to accomplish that task.

My answer still stands as well but I was answering his question. Perhaps it wasn't worded the way he meant it or his intent has changed.

He asked about a TCP/IP command to reboot ISY. Many pieces of software indicate there is, and it isnot related to with the operating system (freeBSD or linux or Win) it is running under. Not a related factor. I believe it is in the REST command set but UDI did not want it used anywhere, if possible so may not want it out there.

Look in your polyglot menus or NodeLink menus.

It can be done, and has been, in NS software but it may not be TCP/IP protocol.

I see lots of brag and negative propaganda of everything else on the Lutron website, but no actual specification of any level of their protocol, only theoretical and proposed concepts as whitepapers are designed to do. I see a firm "we are considering 434 MHz" but no commitment. Anybody have actual links to real specs?