DAlter01

Thank you Tom. Was afraid of that.

Thank you. This is a new house that has an existing Lutron system but no ISY device or other logic system. My prior house has the ISY994i I was/am hoping to use an ISY based platform for the logic since I'm reasonably proficient in programming it. But, I haven't yet picked a logic system. I think I'll explore the native Lutron RA3 logic systems first and then if that isn't sufficient figure out a new solution.

It seems I'll need to find that I need to source a good logic system for RA3 using LEAP ....... assuming Lutron's expanded RA3 programming is insufficient. Probably the first place to start is to definitively know how capable the RA3 programming has become. I know it is expanded from RA2. But, once someone has had a fairly robust HA logic system with the ISY software, it gets a little hard to settle for something less.

Was afraid of that. Thanks

So, I did learn that when converting to RA3, you eliminate the processor and bridge (telnet) for RA2 and replace it with the RA3 processor which has its own built-in bridge (LEAP). So, it will be 100% LEAP. The telnet aspect of RA2 is completly eliminated. It becomes an RA3 system. The RA2 part is the processor and bridge and those items are eliminated and the rest of it is just switchgear which is using their clear connect RF system to communicate between the switchgear and the RA3 (or previous RA2) processor. That clears up the path for integration with an outside logic system as long as that logic system can communicate with Lutron's LEAP API. There are a few legacy devices that are not RA3 compatible but regular wall switches, motions, drapes, companions, all of that is compatible.

I'm going to research that further. RTI may also be a good logic system for it. Though, I am hopeful that Lutron itself has sufficient programming options for if/then lighting control. I did learn that companion dimmers in Lutron do not count against the 200 device limit. With this benefit, I do not expect to approach the 200 device limit. Many of my devices will end up being companions.

Thanks. I will likely want to us RA3 for any new equipment to make it a little more future proof and take advantage of the increased device count within RA3. There is a fair chance I'll go above the RA2 lmit which I think is 200 devices if my memory serves me correctly from several years ago. After getting your comment I looked at Home Assistant and on the surface it looks like it might do what I want. Though, based on what @bpwwer mentions with the use of different technologies between RA2 and RA3, it may not work, or it might not work as well as one might hope.

Good point on the different technologies. Lutron makes them compatible with each other natively but that doesn't mean an integration can work with both systems operating seemlessly as one. And, thanks for letting me know the ISY platforms are not going to be an option. I figured that was my go to solution as I have some experience with programming within it. Darn. Do you know anything about the new native Lutron programming options in RA3? I understand it is more capable than what could be done with RA2 but RA2 couldn't do much so doing "more" isn't necessarily saying much.

I just bought a house that has a 2016 era Lutron RadioRA2 system of about 50 devices, a couple repeaters, and 8 keypads that control about 1/2 the lighting and fans in the house. It is a "dumb" lighting system in that it is just button control of the scenes it has and there isn't any HA if/then logic, voice control, etc. I am leaving a house that has a highly automated Insteon house (over 200 devices) controlled by an ISY994i where I rarely have to touch a switch and it uses motion sensors, time of day/sunset offset, and voice control through Alexa to control my scenes with a lot of if/then programming. It is a highly reliable system and makes for convenient living. I did the install and programming a few years ago but my knowledge is stale as I haven't stayed current with technology changes and have forgotten half of what I learned implementing and programming the system. My current belief is the best path to automate the house is to finish the install of Lutron devices with RA2/3 hardware for the switchgear, repeaters, and keypads and do any upgrades that may be necessary to make the RA2 system front end systems work with the RA3. But, the question becomes one of what HA logic system to use. I'm familiar with ISY994i and it seems installing the new EISY to control Lutron is probably a viable path forward. However, it sounds like Lutron can work with other HA logic systems also that may, or may not, be a good control solution. And, maybe even Lutron's native logic system is sophiscticated enough now to allow good automation with the RA3 system using geofence and time of day/sunset offset for scene toggling and voice integration with Alexa or some other system. I will not likely want to integrate more systems than lighting and ceiling fans into my HA system as my alarm and thermostat systems already have good standalone solutions that seem sufficient for my purposes. I might attempt control of the alarm, thermostat, or some other systems (Sonos) but this is going to be a lighting control automation and anything else that gets controlled is of zero consideration on choosing the best way to control the lighting. I don't mind taking the Lutron class(s) to allow access to their programming functions and I may even be fine with having a Lutron integrator do the bulk of the heavy lifting on programming the system if the Lutron RA2/3 logic systems are sophisticated enough to do a fair amount of if/then programming. I believe that back when I did the Insteon/ISY install a few years ago that RA2 native software was lacking in its sophistication and I would have needed Homeworks. Though, I may be wrong on that memory. Can some of the HA pros on the forum provide a little guidance on what might be a good path (or path options) to consider as i determine how to integrate the homes lighting control?

Well, hopefully it's someone's brother in law and has been demoted to refilling staplers? One can hope.

I'm sure they don't even know when things will be back in stock. Order sizes, vendor relationships, negotiations, production times, all of that will need to be worked on. I'm sure there is thoughts on all of this already and the old vendor relationships may be revivable, but it will be a minimum of 1-2 quarters I'm sure and probably more. I'd venture that some items will be over a year.

Well there you go. The good old power cycle. Guess what, it worked. All those times I told my wife, have you power cycled it? And, I didn't follow my own advice. I guess I have to be a little more understanding with her from now on given I failed to follow my own advice. I did power cycle the ISY and it appears to have resolved the issue with those repeaters. I've closed and relaunched the UI several times and the issue has not returned. So, maybe it is behind me. Though, I have ordered a USB stick and will update the firmware anyway. Thank you

I'd read somewhere from someone (you know how reliable that is) that onboard transmitters are typically weak so it is good to have a repeating device within a few feet of z-wave hub. I'll wash that memory from my head and move that first repeater out a ways. Thanks!

Excellent, I'll do it today. Thank you!!

Aeotech got back to me. There isn't a v2. That was something erroneously labeled by a retailer. However, there is updated firmware to v1.05 that resolves a lot of "issues". I think I am experiencing on of the "issues". I gather my new (fourth) one has v1.05 firmware and the three with an issue are an earlier firmware. Since the ISY994 and Polisy do not currently support Z-wave device firmware update, I guess my options are 1) purchase new repeaters 2) wait until Polisy is released with its new Z-wave imbedded controller 3) purchase an inexpensive Z-wave hub that will allow updating the device firmware and go through that bit of brain damage.

Upon closing the UI and re-launching it, those three Aeotec 7 repeaters are giving me the write pending indicator again. I do know that these three Aeotec 7's are early releases. The fourth one, that is working correctly, is only about 2 months old and was labeled as v2 when I purchased it. Since the three wiht a problem were purchased when this repeater was first released I believe the three with the write pending issue are v1. I'll reach out to Aeotech to see if they can shed some light on the issue.

Thank you for your help @Techman I do intend to upgrade to Polisy soon. I picked up a USB PLM last year when they were still available directly from Smarthome. After that conversion I'll have a couple of high priced serial PLM's to sell on Ebay, amazing prices. FYI, on one of the Aeotec 7 repeaters, I couldn't get it to exclude until I plugged it in 18" from the ISY. It wouldn't exclude 10' away either. The others I was able to exclude/include from their installed locations. That one was acting a little different from the others so maybe it is a little suspect.

So, it seems I got those repeaters working, hopefully. I excluded them, factory reset, and then included them. They don't show a pending write anymore. Hopefully, that holds true over the next 48 hours or so. I thought I had done that previously but realized I had only done that to the three devices that are having comms issues.

Thank you. I have a repeater 18 inches away from the ISY. And, I have a fairly well developed mesh. I just counted, I have 31 wired devices (along with over 150 Insteon ones). Three Z-wave devices are having intermitant comm issues and then I have these three repeaters with the green indicators which are located less than 10' from fully functional in-box devices (plastic boxes). The three devices with intermitant comm issues are all less than 15' from at least two other fully functional devices. I can't understand how I have weak coverage, but the proof is in the pudding, it seems. Thank you for confirming the green 1011 means a pending write. I figured that was the case but wasn't 100% sure. With that confirmed, I can focus on how to solve. I guess I'll pick up a few more repeaters and see if I can figure out where my bad spot(s) are. One of the repeaters that has the green 1011 is 18" away from the ISY and it's dongle. Something in the back of my mind is telling me my dongle is having trouble talking to the Aeotec repeater 7. That repeater should not have difficulty receiving anything from the dongle.

500

I have roughly 25-30 Z-wave devices and several are having connection issues reported to the ISY994. In trying to figure out the comm issue, I think a point to start is an issue I have with 3 of my 4 Aeotec 7 repeaters. They appear to show a pending write update, though maybe I am misinterpreting the green indicator flag. I've tried update neighbors and write updates. Neither resolves what I believe is a pending write/update. The problem has existed for some time so the indicator flags are not going to self-heal. Does anyone have info on what the ISY is trying to tell me with this indicator flag on these devices and how I might resolve it? These three repeaters are not the devices experiencing the comms issues mentioned above, but these repeaters were installed strategically in order to resolve the comms issue. The comms issue persists, though seemingly to a lesser degree. I'm running 5.3.4 on my ISY994 for UI and Firmware.

Time to find a new analyst? This one seems to get things wrong.

Well, I think Lutron is better and, while not having any experience with C4, it is probably better also. But, for something accessible to the ordinary man and for its price point, it is much better than everything else I've tried. And, without UDI, it would have failed many years prior. I know I've bought about 300 + Insteon devices between my two houses that I would not have bought if UDI wasn't the brains of the operation. The HUB was nowhere near versatile enough to do any serious integration. I'm just one person, but there are more of me out there. How did Rob think he would succeed if he intentionally tries to keep buyers like me from having a use for his product. Buyer's like me don't require any marketing costs and, really, any customer service support. That all came from UDI.

I don't think Rob intended to just buy and milk Insteon. I don't think it was profitable and certainly didn't have enough inventory/assets to buy it just to sell off assets. I'm sure the plan was to re-envision and update an existing technology and to feed cash to the business until the time the business was cash-flowing, at which time he would sell it to Nokia or some other entity. It is essentially the model I use as a rental real estate investor. I take properties that are running poorly, re-envision what they can be, implement the changes which allows them to cash flow much better, and then sell them to someone who likes a nice pretty thing and they pay full retail price (or sometimes I keep them). BUT, he made a mistake and that mistake might not have come to the surface if it had not been for the pandemic. The lesson he didn't know or respect is "The best plan in the world is a bad plan if you don't have the capital to complete it". I learned that lesson early on, barely escaping a catastrophy, and have been very cautious since then. If the pandemic hadn't hurt cash flows of the legacy Insteon brand, he might have made it through. But, in addition to the pandemic issues, he orphaned the legacy Insteon brand far too early. If he had streamlined the legacy Insteon business by eliminating some of the "waste" we have heard existed, and not abandoned all marketing efforts on that brand (stiffing integrators by eliminating their discount, dropping critical products, alienating UDI, not making any marketing "puff" statements on their website and to the media, etc, etc.) he might have cash flowed enough from that legacy product to see his plan through to a better outcome. The business had to be flushing huge amounts of money down the toilet since it didn't have any product to sell for the last 12 months. How do you "sell" a business losing that much money to anyone? Well, it seems you don't. The pandemic was certainly a factor in the demise of Insteon. But, it probably didn't have to happen. Ignoring/alienating the legacy Insteon product line that could pay the bills to keep the lights on (or at least minimize negative cash flow) was the real reason Rob failed, IMHO. Hopefully, this will just be a pause in the story of Insteon and a new life will come up from the ashes of Rob's era. There may be a new life to the IP from someone with a better business plan (vision) and has the capital to see the plan through to a better outcome.

With as much money is floating around in the investment world, I think there must be a buyer for the intellectual property to throw some of the equipment into production and milk sales for many years to come like X10. It can't be a lot of money since it seems the enterprise value is completely gone as nobody would be foolish enough to do a full install at this point, but why wouldn't they extract some remaining value? Hubris?