matapan Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 For those with a mix of old and new Insteon devices, which support the ever-evolving Insteon protocol, how does one know if one has a configuration which supports the mix of devices? Is this a function of the PLM version one is using? Link to comment
oberkc Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 configuration Configuration of which device? PLM? ISY? I have insteon devices that go back about 5 years and newest less than a couple of months. Never have I noticed an issue with any device being unable to be used in my system. All appears to continue to communicate. Perhaps if there was a really old PLM that did not support that v2 insteon protocol, one could have a problem. Otherwise, my personal practice is to not worry about such things. Link to comment
LeeG Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 matapan Depends on how old 'old' is. I have devices going back to the beginning of Insteon. These very old devices that do not understand extended messages and do not repeat them. Of course they do not block them but an important part of Insteon reliability is that each device is a repeater. Not so for the very old device where extended messages are concerned. How much of an impact depends on where the new I2CS devices are installed in the network. A few months back I replaced a failing KeypadLinc with a new KPL that is I2CS. Happened to be installed at the very end of a circuit with several very old Insteon devices along the circuit that do not repeat extended messages. The I2CS device requires extended messages for link database management. I could not create the link database in the new KPL because the Insteon powerline signal level was too degraded by the time it got to the new KPL. One solution would have been to replace the very old ICON devices but they have been discontinued. Another solution was to replace the ICONs with SwitchLincs but the current White SwitchLincs do not match any other White switch or cover plate I have. As a temporary solution I installed a Dual Band device at the KeypadLinc location to allow RF to get the extended messages to the KPL. This is an extreme case for sure. Not likely many folks will have such an inventory of very old Insteon devices and it depends on where the new device is installed. However, they were/are very reliable devices from that vintage of Insteon devices. The PLM itself has little to do with this. There was a user a few weeks ago with a very old PLM, firmware in the 6x range, which worked with the new devices. I have a PLM with v.72 firmware that works with the new devices. Having said that, the evolution of PLM firmware has been in its basic functioning, not adding new features. I think it best to have a PLM with one of the latest firmware installed. Link to comment
matapan Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 I have a mix of v.1.0, v.1.3, v. 2.x, v.4.x, v.5.x devices, with a PLM v.63. Does the capability to support extended messages allow any such devices to repeat messages the device itself doesn't support? Link to comment
LeeG Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 The very old devices are not extended message aware. They cannot repeat extended messages because they have no idea what they are. Devices such as the RF SignaLinc (with the black external antenna) do not phase couple extended messages. Smarthome had a program that was aimed at replacing the old RF SignaLincs with Access Points but there are still users who have SignaLincs for phase coupling and they are happy until a new I2CS device has to be installed as a replacement for a failed device. I guess there could be devices which repeat extended messages but did not yet have the device specific firmware updated to support extended configuration. It is the internal PLM firmware that has the extended message awareness and PLMs did evolve ahead of specific device firmware but it would be all but impossible for a user to detect this situation. Link to comment
LeeG Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Unless you plan not to install any new Insteon device it really does not matter. If the new device does not have reliable comm then look at what is necessary, what needs to be replaced/upgraded, to get reliable comm with the new device. The more very old devices are replaced the less this is potential problem. Also, the new device might have good comm to start with. Link to comment
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