NewTech

I will say that moving my PLM was the single most improvement I made to my system. Although I still have it plugged into a fifty-foot extension cord that runs down the hall out to the great room I am in a better position to move my PLM to that location because our computer is on the other side of the wall. All I will need to do is run the data cable through the wall through a hole that is already there for speaker wires. Right now my PLM is actually sitting on top of my desktop computer with an access point plugged into the pass through outlet. Be careful if/when you move your PLM if you have your access point plugged into it because you could wind up having both access points on the same phase. I have removed my dryer coupler, tested my system and noticed somewhat lowered response issues so I plugged it back in and I'll probably just leave it there "just because"! This is EXACTLY what I have been experiencing. It never seems to be the same devices that do not respond from the ISY. This is really what prompted me to move the PLM, which greatly improved communications You and me both. I am by no means a computer whiz but usually don't have a problem understanding this stuff. I am the lighting director at our church and our system is 10 times more complicated than Insteon and I seemed to pick it up right from the get-go! If the folks at Universal Devices and SmartHome weren't so helpful I'd surely be returning all of my devices. If it wasn't for their dedication to assisting me on an individual basis I would probably be going to my large box of retired X-10 equipment and begin using that system again. I have gained a much better understanding of the whole Insteon process and the ISY and I can now safely say that I feel my system, although small, is beginning to meet my expectations. It is fun and useful to folks like us. I just wish my wife was more tolerant of my hobby. She is tired of me complaining all the time about this not working today but yesterday it worked fine! This is a very interesting forum topic and I hve gained a lot from it! Thanks to all who have contributed! Mike R.

I, too, had a good deal of time tonight to try some things with the ISY while trying to correct some communications issues. I discovered that moving my PLM away from my desktop computer greatly improved communication. Also, moving the access points around also helped. I plan to leave the PLM in its new (but temporary) location to be sure it continues to work. I'd say that my reliability has improved from 60% to about 90% - 95%. I don't want to settle for even 99% reliability so I plan to add additional access points in the near future. I also have the leftover X-10 TW-523 interface in my system but only to control some master bedroom lights while I await more Insteon modules. I'm wondering if this is causing problems because sometimes the lamp(s) in the bedroom turn on after an ISY command? It's getting late now but I plan to try unplugging it tomorrow. Mike

Thanks, Mike. I see your point. Case closed!!!

Do you have any X10 BoosterLincs or other X10-type amplifiers (perhaps an active phase coupler)? I did have a phase coupler on our dryer before switching over to Insteon but removed it since all of my remaining X-10 modules are in our bedroom areas which is where the TW-523 interface is located. So no signal problems now or before. Mike R.

I might be missing something, but you can certainly do this with the ISY right now. As a matter of fact, I use similar logic for IR control in my theater. I use a single IR code to turn a light ON or OFF depending on its current state, such as: If IR 'IR_005' is Pressed And Status 'TheaterDisplayCase1' is On Then Set Scene 'TheaterDisplayCase' Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') If IR 'IR_005' is Pressed And Status 'TheaterDisplayCase1' is Off Then Set Scene 'TheaterDisplayCase' On Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Yes, I am aware of this but to sum up what I was talking about: With Plato the conditions were a part of the actual scene and you didn't need to create a separate program. Oh, well, as long as the end result is accomplished all is well!!! Mike R.

Ditto on X-10 working better than Insteon. I too have experienced this. I'm still using X-10 in parts of our home as I fade over to Insteon. My X-10 modules RARELY fail to respond but Insteon modules are really giving me headaches especially when controlled directly from the ISY's GUI. (Note: My X-10 modules are not included in any Insteon programs because I'm still using another software package to control them.) My Insteon devices will respond about 98% of the time when truned on individually with a mouse click in the GUI but that drops down to about 40-50% if I try to activate a scene from the GUI by mouse clicking the scene's ON button. And, the real issue is that it is RARELY the same modules that refuse to turn on or off. About 90% of the time at least one module will NOT respond to the mouse click and it usually requires several mouse clicks to get it to turn on or off. This has become a very frustrating issue for me. Tonight I plan to move the PLM closer to the circuit breaker panel but if this fixes the problem I don't know how I'll get the PLM's data cable to the PLM's new location because we're on a slab and and there is another condo above us! Wireless PLM?!?!?!

I've read with interest all of these posts concerning the proper ON/OFF status of KPL's. I guess the reason I am (was) confused is because I am an old Plato HouseLinc user having used this system for well over 20 years. They say the it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks! In Plato, conditions (such as "if [light] is on activate this [scene] when this [button] is pressed, otherwise if [light (same as above)] is off then activate this [scene]. I used the above example in this type of Plato X-10 scenario: Scene Title: Mood Lighting. This scene would turn on certain lights throughout our home such as kitchen indirect, fireplace lights and other "accent" lights but would NOT turn on the table lamps in our great room or the foyer/hall lights. This scene was activated by the SINGLE press of a wall remote. A second press of the wall remote button (after the first scene had finished) would add lights to the scene already on (the same scene as above but would also turn on the lamps in the great room and foyer). The condition I set was, "If fireplace lights are already on then add great room table lamps and foyer/hallway lights when button [button number] is pressed. I also had to set up conditions where if a second press of the button on the wall remote was received do not change the light’s setting if it is already on because without this I had ALL lights in the scene dimming down then back up to their original level. This took far too much time because if you recall X-10 did one module at a time. Ah, yes, the good ‘ole days of X-10! I realize the ISY allows this using programs but being able to add individual conditions to individual lights IN THE SAME SCENE is a benefit to me! Insteon has much improved this since it already knows that if a light is already at 50% and another command to set the same lamp at 50% is received the lamp will NOT change. Now, it's very possible that I've overlooked something in the ISY as far as programming this so, if I have please direct me but, if I haven't overlooked something, maybe Universal Devices might look into this! One last question: What does ISY stand for? Are they the initials of something? Just curious!!! Mike R.

Michael, I see where you're going with this. I should first turn OFF the scene that is activated by sunset trigger then turn ON the Goodnight scene. It's all in my getting to know the ISY. I can say there is a learning curve for me at least! Your idea will work and I guess I was just thinking too much into the problem to figure it out myself. Actually I have a lamp on our dining room buffet that turns on at sunset and then turns off when the Goodnight scene is activated. So, the KPL for this lamp is turned on at sunset and the KPL responds with the LED on. It's when I press the Goodnight KPL button that the LED for this lamp doesn't turn off because the ISY is telling the Goodnight scene to turn ON which sends an on command to the KPL LED. However, your idea of a separate scene to control the KPL's is exactly what I need! Thank you, Mike R.

I have a scene I call "Goodnight" that puts the house to sleep for the night. When I press the KeypadLinc button “C†on the dining room KPL, any lights throughout the house that were on, turn off. Also included in this scene are a couple of lights that are supposed to be set at 10-20% to act as night-lights. My problem: The KPL’s that control individual lights (of lights that are set to go off when the Goodnight scene is activated) do NOT turn off. These KPL’s must be manually turned off. I want to know if there is a way to have KPL LED’s turn OFF when the ISY turns ON a scene. Am I maybe overlooking something in my programming? I have the respective KPL LED's included in my Goodnight scene. Any help is greatly appreciated. My apologies if this is already on the forum but I have not been able to locate it when I do a search. Thanks,

These problems sound a lot like mine! Here is a link to my posts: http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?t=2636 I can say that the folks at UD have bent over backwards to resolve this problem and I have faith that it will be resolved with my replacement ISY and a new PLM.

The customer service at Universal Devices is the best. I cannot believe the amount of time they have spent with me on a personal level trying to resolve a pretty serious communications issue. I felt as if I had several different UD personnel working with me via this forum and through phone calls. It’s a shame that more companies don’t model their customer service after Universal Devices. Thanks, guys… Keep up the great work!

Hi NewTech, You can find the address under the menu item Help | About. See this Wiki page: Remotely_Connect_to_Your_ISY to help set things up. Rand When I do this I get the IP address to access the ISY through the LOCAL HOST (or my home network). I need to see what the REMOTE ACCESS IP address is (outside of my home network). I think it may have changed because I can no longer log into my ISY from work, church or any public hotspot. Either that or I have firewall issues which could be very true. Thanks!

I'm not real savvy when it comes to computer technology so this is why I'm asking what may be a dumb question. Please forgive me but what does "i1 and i2" mean? Thanks to those who help to educate me!

Thanks, Michael. I'll probably wait until this weekend since I'm still not getting around too well yet.

Michel, Thanks for the info. I didn't realize there was a version higher than my 2.7.0. I am recovering from knee surgery and haven't been able to spend as much time with my ISY as I would like but now that I am beginning to regain some sense of a normal life (whatever that is! ) I should be able to get busy with the ISY. I'll try to download version 2.7.2 in the next few days. I am a little concerned that I may/may not remember how to do it especially when it comes to making the backup and then reloading it. If I have problems I'll be sure to post! Thanks so much for your assistance. It is great to receive such quick and accurate responses.

How do I find out what the remote access IP address is of my ISY so I can access it from a computer outside of my home network? Thanks!

Additional note: Doing a query on the entire system will return the LampLinc's correct setting but I really don't want to do a query everytime we dim the lamp.

I’m very frustrated and I know I’ve seen this on the forum before but I can’t seem to find it now. Is anyone else having issues with LampLinc’s reporting false levels to the ISY? Here’s what happens: When I dim a lamp already on at 100% to about 75% the ISY will not show the lamp to be on at 75%. Instead it shows somewhere around 40%. If I dim the lamp a little more (say an additional 10%) the ISY reports the status to be OFF. I have some “control scenes†that change their status if the lights are on at 50% or greater and when the ISY thinks the light is off when it actually is ON the ISY sends false signals to my control scenes. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong or does anyone have a fix for this?

Good morning, Mike! I have no idea what is going on but this morning I WAS able to log in remotely to my ISY. I think the problem must have been with our ISP because we were having very slow speeds on websites we access all of the time. Anyway... It's working now! I guess we can consider this a done deal. Thanks!

After all the problems Cincinnati Bell and ZoomTown had yesterday afternoon port forwarding may very well be turned off. Now, I don't remember how to log into my router. I have the Westell router. Thanks for your usual prompt response, NewTech

Hey, Mike... I verified the IP address is the same one I use to use to remotely access my ISY and I reset my router- still can't log in outside of my home network. Our neighbor's have a wireless signal I can receive and I've logged onto their network and still CANNOT access my ISY. Now what? I am able to access the ISY within my LAN so I know it's working! Thanks, Mike

Hey, Mike... I verified the IP address is the same one I use to use to remotely access my ISY and I reset my router- still can't log in outside of my home network. Our neighbor's have a wireless signal I can receive and I've logged onto their network and still CANNOT access my ISY. Now what? I am able to access the ISY within my LAN so I know it's working! Thanks, Mike

Is this where I go to set up account? https://www.dyndns.com/account/create.html This is all very new to me. Will the website "walk" me through the setup? As I said before I'm not that knowledgeable when it comes to networks and how to do things! Thanks so much, NewTech

aLf... How do I access this DYNDNS? Is this a piece of hardware? When it comes to networking I'm still very, VERY much a novice!!! There's no way I'm going on a business class with my ISP just so I can access my lights from work! My wife already thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this. She tells me all the time The Jetson's are no longer a dream!!! Thanks, NewTech

Thanks, Mike... I'll try that when I get home tonight.