Insteon with no PLM

[sanders2222]

Does anyone think there will ever be a day where the ISY will not need a PLM to communicate with Insteon devices.  When I think about this possibility I get all fuzzy inside.

 

Now I admit that I do not have a full understanding of the technology.  But I know to well the problems with power line communication (remember X-10) and Insteon provided some sort of wireless connection to overcome most power line communication issues.

 

Then the "dual band" device came out which seemed to strengthen the wireless connectivity and eliminate the need for Access Points. Plus my t-stat never has connected to a power line and it still works .(I must admit that while most my devices are dual band, I haven't had the nerve to unplug my PLM or Access Points.)

 

Back to my point.  It would seem some sort of dongle/module plugged into the ISY could provide the only bridge needed to communicate with any dual band device within range, which in turn communicates with other devices.  This new dongle/module would not have to plug into an outlet and there would be no need to duplicate link tables already stored in the ISY.

 

IS there hope for a simpler Insteon future without the PLM?  Just an idea.  Did I mention I hate wall warts?

[Scottmichaelj]

I am not an Insteon expert but at the end of the day you need some device to connect to and control the devices. So the ISY has to connect to something to tell the switch to turn on and off so if not a PLM then what? Just an antenna that works only with the dual band devices like ZWave? Then you alienate the devices that are not dual band yet and customers who havent upgraded. As a business this wouldnt be prudent to do as much as we can probably agree we all hate PLMs and the short life span.

[mwester]

The short answer is "no".

 

The longer answer depends on exactly what it is you wish to eliminate - the actual PLM device itself, or the physical lump that plugs into the wall?

 

If the latter, then yes, it is conceivable that someone might move that hardware/firmware into a box with an ISY and a power supply, so that you would have only one things to plug in.  But it's important to note that you still need a PLM to speak "Insteon", even if you restrict it to RF-only -- so there's not much cost advantage to that, and to be honest, the ISY marketplace is not so much aimed at the "sex and sizzle" design sort of stuff that would make it a marketing advantage to repackage those devices into one box.  But, it could be done if someone really wanted to do it.

 

If, on the other hand, you want to eliminate the PLM's functionality, no, you can't do that.  It's the only currently-available interface for non-Smarthome companies to talk to any Insteon device, and they don't seem to be willing to open up on that.  In fact, there was talk that UDI might manufacture their own version of the PLM, but that seemed to have stalled, and my understanding is that's because SmartHome hasn't been willing to provide UDI with the custom chips required to speak "Insteon".  So, you need a PLM to speak "Insteon", no matter if it's Power-line, or RF, or both.  And right now that's proprietary, and single-sourced, and poorly documented...

 

...which is a really good reason to start looking hard at z-wave devices.

[Brian H]

The serial PLM has the Link Database Memory in it. Without a PLM. You would have no Link Database for the required links.