ctviggen1

Is Insteon actually back? That would be great, because almost all of my house is Insteon, but I have maybe 10 more switches that aren't Insteon.

Well, I just installed this, and when I tested it (with a scene), it worked. But then when we actually went to use it, only one (of two) came on. That's odd. I guess that's one benefit of using a program instead -- you could add a short delay between them. (Not sure why I'd need a delay, though.)

Hi All, I have a number of multiple Insteon lights I control by Alexa. Right now, I'm controlling two sets of lights at the pool. I'm using two Insteon outdoor on/off switches. I want to say "turn on pool lights", and have Alexa do that. There are two options: 1) create a scene with both outdoor on/off switches (I'm using this one); or 2) create a program with both outdoor on/off switches, where the "then" part turns on the lights and the "else" part turns off the lights (the "if part has no conditions). I've used both of these (not at the same time) for groups of Insteon switches. Is one way better?

Sorry, I am using the latest version of everything. I don't know what you mean by "UI". I am using the Admin Console via a computer in my house, if that's what you mean. "You can check to see what the neighbors are by right-clicking on the device, then Z-Wave> Show Information In the Event Viewer, then watch to see the nearest neighbor. " I cannot get this to work. Nothing at all happens for any zwave device when I do this. I think it's a horrible design that the zwave components are not marked. That means I'll have to manually go through and put "z" or "zwave" in front of everything that's zwave. Terrible. If I say "zwave", "update neighbors", again, there's nothing that ostensibly happens. Does it update neighbors? I have no idea, since there's no feedback. I have two of these: https://www.kwikset.com/products/detail/916-smartcode-traditional-electronic-deadbolt-with-z-wave-technology One in the basement near the ISY 994i, which works fine. The new one is on the first floor, in the front door, on the opposite side of the house from where the ISY 994i is. On the second floor, I have three zwave ceiling fan controllers. In the basement, I moved one of these as close as I could to the front door: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B3PGK61/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have another one of these (Honeywell) only 5 feet away from the lock on the first floor. I have at least another Honeywell somewhere else on the first floor. I put two of these (minoston) in closets, each device is about 2 feet away from the lock: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LN2NPZ3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I can ALWAYS get to the Honeywell that is 5 feet away from the lock. The two new ministons are more problematic. Could be the devices, as I've just installed them. I had to take them near the ISY 994i to get them connected correctly, brought them up in the closets (which have LEDs that come on when you open the closets, yes I have an MSEE and have done this in all the closets in the house). They seemed to work, but now are more troublesome. The problem I'm having is the software gives no feedback. Does the "update neighbors" do anything? No idea. Nothing in "show information in event viewer" works. The log uses command numbers, which are meaningless. There's no way to figure out whether something is zwave without manually going to every single device. There's no way to see who is connected (or able to connect) to whom. I could go on...

Hi All, I have the upgraded zwave board in my ISY 994i, which is in the basement. I have a door lock there, about 5 feet away from the ISY. I have several plugin repeaters/lamp controllers on the first floor of the house. I have three zwave fan controllers on the second floor. The rest of the house is Insteon. I just installed a zwave lock on my front door. The reception is intermittent. I have programmed all the codes, though. I have a repeater/lamp controller that is about 5 feet from the lock. - Is there a way to strengthen the zwave system? Such as by synchronizing nodes? - Is there a way to see just the zwave devices? - When I go to the lock, I can set codes for users, but there does not appear to be a way to see what the codes currently are. Is that possible? Thank you.

I just recently updated my ISY, and came here to learn that Insteon was no more. (First Logitech remotes are no longer made, then Insteon is gone...bummer.) Anyway, I still have a few Insteon switches I have not installed, but I would like to install at least 8-10 more switches. Are there z-wave switches that are similar? For instance, with LEDs to tell you at what level dimming you are, and the ability to program the brightness of the LEDs? Any benefits to Zwave over Insteon for light switching? Thank you.

I have a 3 story house (basement, first floor, second floor). I have a mainly Insteon system, but I have 4 zwave ceiling fan controllers on the second floor. I was having an issue with communication with these, as my ISY994i is in the basement, so I bought three zwave plug-in light switches/extenders: Honewell Zwave plug in module I put these at the two "ends" of the house and the middle, on the first floor. That solved the communication issues. I had a system of outdoor motion sensors. I used version 1 Insteon, which I thought were great and lasted a long time. I switched some of these to version 2, which I hated. They did not last and were much harder to point. (They might not be bad for inside applications, but I have yet to have any of those.) All my outdoor Insteon motion sensors are now dead. I'd like to recreate the system. Is there a zwave motion sensor people can recommend for outdoor use? I'm in Connecticut, so it has to weather below freezing and 90+ degree temperatures. And last a while, hopefully multiple years, and with an easy to replace battery. Is there a zwave plug in module that's also an extender/repeater, which is good and I can actually get? The one I linked above now has a 1-2 month ship date. (Or at least did, last time I looked.) (I'd add zwave plug in modules at the closest outlets to the outdoor sensors. The modules shouldn't be that far away from the sensors, though they will be in the basement/garage.) Thank you.

I can't figure out where to put this, so I'll put it here. I have mainly Insteon switches. We had a set of basement double doors installed in our basement to replace the original ones, which leaked. If you are looking at the double doors, the original doors opened in the middle and there were two switches on the "left" of the doors. We were able to get a deal on a mis-ordered set of doors. The left side is fixed and the right side opens from the farthest right (and not in the center). This means the switches to turn on the basement lights and the outside light near these doors are relatively far away from where you enter/exit the basement. The entire set of switches in the basement are Insteon. The basement is unfinished, so I can add two new switches on the "right" side of the doors, near where you're entering/exiting the basement. Do I: 1) Assume someone in the future won't have Insteon and assume they'll have normal switches. Run wires with this in mind. 2) Assume Insteon or some other controllable switch will be used. Run wires with this in mind. #1 entails a lot. The current system is 4-way, with three switches, for the basement lights. To run this with normal switches, I have to figure out the original wiring and run another 4-way switch. That's probably at least one 14/3 romex, or maybe more, depending where the power comes in. The outdoor light for the basement doors is simple, as it's currently only a single switch. But that's 14/3 romex for 3-way switch wiring (assuming someone in the future uses 3-way switches). I have to run the romex from the original box to the new box, too, and this is an outside wall. I'd likely have to diagram the original wiring, cut out the plastic box, run new sets of romex (2 or 3 of them), add in a new plastic box, then configure/test everything (including setting up Insteon and ensuring the wiring makes sense for normal 4- or 3-way switches). #2 is a lot easier, since I just have to have one 14/2 romex run from really anywhere. NOTE: We hope to finish the basement at some point, and whatever I do will be fixed at that point. What have others done in this situation?

Hmm....That last picture at the bottom shouldn't be there.

Thank you, gzahar. I figured it out I have similar Insteon in-wall on/off outlets. The colors threw me off. Here's the set up: The two in blue are zwave for the plug-in on/off module. The next one down (in pinkish) is Insteon for ceiling lights. The next two down (Living room near shelves) are Insteon in-wall outlets, and there's one for the upper outlet and one for the lower. The Living Room On-Off Power Swit is the root node of the zwave plug in on/off module. I guess these are in alphabetical order (?), but I can't figure out why some are blue and some are pinkish. The Main Foyer Lamp here is a dimmer, zwave plug in module, and the root node is in blue: I'm not sure why these are all blue and grouped together, but my "Living room" zwave plug in module nodes have different colors and aren't grouped together. Weird. Maybe since the root node for the on/off module is only on/off, it's not considered to be a scene?

To strengthen my Zwave network, I bought 3 Zwave plugin modules. I actually use one for a "main foyer lamp", and I turn on/off/dim this one: This has what I'm calling a "root node", which I've named "Main foyer lamp" and two "scene nodes", which I've replaced the preamble with "Main foyer lamp". (By the way, I have no idea what these are.) This is dimmer. This is one of the two other plugin modules: The "root node" is missing. That is, there should be a "Living room" here. (The blue = zwave; the reddish = Insteon.) The other plugin module is the same way. This one is an on/off module, as is the third one. I do not actually use this one or the other on/off module. Where did the "root node" go? By the way, if I want to use these in a program, I can select the "Main foyer lamp" and I have the option to turn on/off (or dim too). But since there is no "Living room", selecting a scene like "Living room basic scene ctl 2" only provides the option of query.

Thanks, that did work. I was trying to use the log and not the event viewer.

Thanks. How do I change my log level? I'm on 5.3.3. Or at least when I choose tools, about, both firmware and UI are listed as 5.3.3. I believe I have strengthened my Zwave system. Or at least when I go into the admin console, I don't get random errors associated with the ceiling fan controllers. Or I haven't yet, anyway.

That did work. I went to that website and deleted all the references, except a scene/program I forgot about. We used my wife's phone to delete that reference and it finally works. Thank you.

I think you are correct about it being in the event log, which does show some "ZWCMD" commands, though I don't know what is what. There is [ZWCMD cmd.67] and a .51. Though there are more 67s than 51s.

I have been having trouble with a discordance between Alexa and the ISY portal. I have two devices (Insteon) I originally grouped into one scene, but I also had the individual devices addressable via the ISY portal and Alexa. So: Scene = Device 1, Device 2 Alexa lights = Device 1 and a few names for it; Device 2 and a few names for it. I decided to axe this, since we only ever used the scene, by instead using a program to turn on and off both devices. On the Admin console, I removed the scene, and created the program. On the ISY portal, I removed the scene and the devices and their various names. I added the program and its names. On my wife's phone (she has the real Alexa connectivity), I went in and deleted everything that I could find having the old names for the scene and the devices. I then had Alexa search for new devices... And the scene and devices showed up again. Oddly, the new program I created does not show up as a "scene" and instead the old (actual) scene shows up. I went to the ISY portal, downloaded the CSV file, and searched through this. The names that found on the ISY portal are the names I want for the program and its names. Each of these uses the same keyword as part of the name, KeyWord1. What I am doing wrong?

By the way, for the "update neighbors", there doesn't seem to be an response, such as "neighbors have been updated". You say "update neighbors", get a warning about battery-powered devices, say "proceed", and that's it. Should there be a response?

So, I bought 3 zwave plug in modules. One is a dimmer, which I used to replace an Insteon dimmer for a lamp we use in a foyer on the first floor. This is in the middle of the first floor. The other two are on/off modules with nothing plugged in. One I plugged into a not-used outlet in the living room, so about 15 feet away or so from the lamp. The third one I thought did not work. I had a hard time with it. But it did seem to work after a while. I stuck it on the other side of the house from the one in the living room. Since these are all on the first floor, the ISY 994i is in the basement, and the ceiling fan zwave controllers are on the second floor, I'm hoping this helps strengthen the zwave network. Of course, when I opened the Admin console, before putting any of the zwave plugin modules into outlets...there were no error messages. Since there errors are intermittent, it'll be hard to tell whether I've succeeded. I'm going to try the "update neighbors" now, and then back up both zwave and the ISY.

This is the program I ended up using. I'm using zero and 100 percent: My only other program for LEDs is one where I run it only after restart/power loss, and it (re)sets a number of LED lights to zero. I never turn them back on. I have not done more than this, as most of the time, I don't mind the 100%. The "basement" light switches are near the projector/screen, so I want them off at night. The other switches are in bedrooms or in the hallway of bedrooms (my daughter doesn't like the looks of two glowing LEDs across the hall, thinks they look like eyes). So, I set them at zero, and leave them there.

Will do. I have four plug-in modules added to my cart, and when I get them, I'll install them all on the first floor. This should provide a "bridge" between the basement (where the ISY is) and the second floor (where the ceiling fans are).

I will order some of the Z-wave plug in modules. I find the Insteon versions to be sketchy. I've had to go to outlets instead. For instance, I had a plug in module for a towel rack heater. It was always coming on at random times. I replaced it with an outlet and haven't had any troubles. I currently have another lamp with an Insteon plug-in module that's coming on at random times. I could use an outlet, but I could also get a few Z-wave plug-in modules to test them and get a stronger Z-wave system.

Thanks, Asbril. I'll put those on my Amazon wish list. I have multiple plug-in Insteon modules, so I could probably replace a few of those with these (and these are cheaper). I wrote the original post while in the basement and testing the system from there. Even though the Admin console said I could not communicate with the ceiling fan, my wife came down and asked me why the ceiling fan went on and off. So, even though the ISY admin console said it could not communicate with the ceiling fans, it did.

I upgraded my zwave board and also the software. I do not have much Zwave, only 3 ceiling fans on the second floor of the house, and the ISY 994i is in the basement (vertically) on the wall. I also have a basement door lock, which is about 5 feet away from the ISY. With the previous zwave board, I never had issues with the ceiling fans. With the current board and software: - One of the ceiling fan controllers was not found until version 5.3.3, no matter what I did (I did everything, including resetting the controller) - Now there are issues with not only that ceiling fan controller but also another one. So, 2 of 3 ceiling fans get "lost" periodically. Right now, both the 2 of the 3 are lost, meaning I got warnings I could not communicate with them. Trying to contact one of them, I get "No network connection [[DHCP] state = RENEW]". Oddly, for the second one, the admin console originally said it could not communicate with it, but just now, it could. I have a ton of Insteon switches, but no Zwave switches. I did not like the Insteon fan controllers, so I went with Zwave for those. These are the fan controllers though technically mine are labelled as GE (but made by Enbrighten): Enbrighten fan controller Do I have to "strengthen" the zwave network, such as by adding something on the first floor to help bridge the gap between the first floor and the basement? Do I have to move the ISY 994i to the first floor? (Possible, but a pain, and what about distance now to the basement door lock?)

What I ended up doing was create a "basement access" program. So, we can say "enable basement access" (or "turn on basement access") or "disable basement access" (or "turn off basement access". It's basically like this for the program, where "normal locking program" locks the door after 10 minutes: Basement access { If { } then { Disable Normal locking program, wait 3 hours, lock the door, enable Normal locking program } else { Enable Normal locking program, lock the door } } For the lock I bought, I believe it only locks electronically via Zwave but does not unlock via Zwave. You have to enter a code to get it to unlock.

Thanks for those comments, they were helpful. Sorry, I finally got around to doing this, since we had two sets of kids over. One set (older) was in the garage. One set (younger) was watching a moving outdoors on the projector. The projector screen was set up right near and in front of the basement door. We walked around the screen and into the basement, but had to enter in a code every time. I disabled the "lock after 30 seconds" mode on the door lock. (This is a switch you have to move.) I set a program to lock the door 10 minutes after it's unlocked. Call this the "normal" program. I'd love not to use Alexa to operate the doors, but I don't know how else to make it easy for my wife to use. Right now, I have one program (enabled via Alexa) set to disable the "normal" program for 3 hours, then lock the door and re-enable the "normal" program. I have another program (enabled via Alexa) to lock the door and re-enable the "normal" program. I have another program that locks the door at night. Since we were out until about 10pm last night, I chose that time. Dbuss, what kind of door sensor are you using? If anyone has any ideas as to how to make this safer, I'm all ears. I'd love to not use Alexa, but I don't know how to achieve that while making it easy for my wife to use. I could set up a variable and run it, but even I would likely forget how to do that for the few times we do this. (I could be wrong, but we've had people over outdoors only twice since the pandemic started, once last year and once this year. We obviously think this will happen more often, but in CT, it's luck that you get a good night with no wind to allow you to have movies outdoors.)