Difference between device links and groups (scenes)

[chadg]

* new user warning... *

 

From what I understand about Insteon there is a difference between setting up a direct link between two devices and setting up a controler for a scene. My understanding is this:

 

Direct device link: When the controller is triggered it tries to communicate with the responder N times until it gets an ACK.

 

Group link: A message is sent to the group without getting any ACK from devices. It then goes through some sort of clean up to catch any devices that did not respond. If there is some type of other Insteon traffic though, the clean up may get intrupped.

 

Bottom line: A directl link is more reliable.

 

Question (Finnaly ): There seems to be only one way to setup linking in ISY. That is through scenes. So, how is the Insteon connection actully made? If there are only two devices does it do a direct link and if there are more than two it does a group link?

 

Thanks for any clarity anyone can provide on this.

 

Chad.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello chadg,

 

 

A point of clarification:

There's really no direct link between switches even if you set them up manually; they are all group links (based on the button number). There's, however, a direct command which can be sent from one device to another. So, for instance, when you send turn on a device from ISY, you are sending it a direct command. For direct commands to work, there must be at least one link record in the responder with the address of the controller.

 

So, in summary, when you put controller/responders in the same scene (in ISY), ISY actually creates all the links as they would've been created manually.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

* new user warning... *

 

From what I understand about Insteon there is a difference between setting up a direct link between two devices and setting up a controler for a scene. My understanding is this:

 

Direct device link: When the controller is triggered it tries to communicate with the responder N times until it gets an ACK.

 

Group link: A message is sent to the group without getting any ACK from devices. It then goes through some sort of clean up to catch any devices that did not respond. If there is some type of other Insteon traffic though, the clean up may get intrupped.

 

Bottom line: A directl link is more reliable.

 

Question (Finnaly ): There seems to be only one way to setup linking in ISY. That is through scenes. So, how is the Insteon connection actully made? If there are only two devices does it do a direct link and if there are more than two it does a group link?

 

Thanks for any clarity anyone can provide on this.

 

Chad.