Why My ISY Portal disables MobiLinc?

[rafarataneneces]

I paid for MobiLinc and I liked it and I also bought three Amazon Echo (one Echo, two Dots) and I would like all of them to work happily.

 

However, UDI recommended in the Wiki to email them to disable MobiLinc.

 

Apart from my frustration, (I've had to re-download EVERYTHING 3 times in the last week, meaning I lose my hours setting custom icons), I would like to have a technical reason of why it can't be done.

 

From what I understand, all it does is connect to the MobiLinc servers and then to my phone.

 

If I disable, I have to do port forwarding but at the end the program runs exactly the same.

 

Any ideas?

[MWareman]

ISY can only connect out to one URL to dent it's data - either Mobilinc server (for Mobilinc Connect) or UDIs server (for ISY Portal).

[rafarataneneces]

ISY can only connect out to one URL to dent it's data - either Mobilinc server (for Mobilinc Connect) or UDIs server (for ISY Portal).

 

Yes I see that but do you know why it can only connect to one?

 

For example IFTTT connects to many different things

 

So What happened with the $29.99 that I spent for MobiLinc Connect?

 

More than anything, if I paid for something, then I have to pay for something else that disables that, what if they come up with a new thing and I have to keep buying and buying and never enjoy anything more than 6 months.

[MWareman]

Two different companies. It's clearly spelled out when you buy ISY Portal (a purchase from UDI). They also have a very generous refund policy if you don't want to keep ISY Portal and put back Mobilinc Connect.

 

It happens the other way as well - if you already have ISY Portal and then buy Mobilinc Connect, then ISY Portal will get disabled. I'm not sure Mobilinc (a separate company) spell this out very clearly, if at all.

 

If you want to keep ISY Portal, I suggest you contact Mobilinc about a refund of that service. I'm not sure what their policy is though.

[G W]

 

 

Yes I see that but do you know why it can only connect to one?

 

For example IFTTT connects to many different things

 

So What happened with the $29.99 that I spent for MobiLinc Connect?

 

More than anything, if I paid for something, then I have to pay for something else that disables that, what if they come up with a new thing and I have to keep buying and buying and never enjoy anything more than 6 months.

You don't have to buy anything. It's a choice you made. Just stick with MobiLinc if that's what you want.

 

Best regards,

Gary Funk

[rafarataneneces]

Two different companies. It's clearly spelled out when you buy ISY Portal (a purchase from UDI). They also have a very generous refund policy if you don't want to keep ISY Portal and put back Mobilinc Connect.

 

It happens the other way as well - if you already have ISY Portal and then buy Mobilinc Connect, then ISY Portal will get disabled. I'm not sure Mobilinc (a separate company) spell this out very clearly, if at all.

 

If you want to keep ISY Portal, I suggest you contact Mobilinc about a refund of that service. I'm not sure what their policy is though.

 

No the problem is MobiLinc didn't refunded me anything so their refund policy is zero.

 

I am more happy with UDI than with MobiLinc

 

I wish they would just be one company providing a iOS APP and the ISY994 software.

[MWareman]

 

 

No the problem is MobiLinc didn't refunded me anything so their refund policy is zero.

That's a shame. I wouldn't blame UDI for that though.

[rafarataneneces]

That's a shame. I wouldn't blame UDI for that though.

 

But that's not the point, the point is

 

WHY UDI does not allow IFTT + Amazon + MobiLinc

 

You are helping me a lot and I understand for some reason it can only be connected to ONE service.

 

My question is, why??

 

I don't want to deviate about the refund, that's money that I lost, but I am upset because I REALLY liked MobiLinc and I REALLY REALLY like Amazon Echo.

 

What I don't like is having to chose between two services that I need.

[MWareman]

 

 

You are helping me a lot and I understand for some reason it can only be connected to ONE service.

 

My question is, why??

 

It was only designed to support one service, because for years only one service existed.

 

Now, two exist. ISY still hasn't been redesigned to support more than one.

 

It's like buying a car that's designed to be able to go 80mph, and then asking why it dosnt go 100mph... (legal limitations aside). It just wasn't designed to do that.

 

Pretty soon you'll be able to link two (PRO) ISYs together as if one system. When this becomes possible, you would theoretically be able to have one pointing at each portal to get the best of both. Hopefully...... I also hope UDI considers expanding support of Portals to allow more than one...

[rafarataneneces]

It was only designed to support one service, because for years only one service existed.

 

Now, two exist. ISY still hasn't been redesigned to support more than one.

 

It's like buying a car that's designed to be able to go 80mph, and then asking why it dosnt go 100mph... (legal limitations aside). It just wasn't designed to do that.

 

Pretty soon you'll be able to link two (PRO) ISYs together as if one system. When this becomes possible, you would theoretically be able to have one pointing at each portal to get the best of both. Hopefully...... I also hope UDI considers expanding support of Portals to allow more than one...

 

So for years only MobiLinc existed??

 

Do you think in the future, they will allow us paying customers to keep using technology we already paid for?

 

I am doubting if I should buy Weather Module, precisely because of this.

 

What if it stops working three months from now??

 

Do you think with 5.x it will finally work again??

 

[MWareman]

Everything we buy in tech is a lease, with a time limit. Is it any wonder most modern electronics only have a one or two year warranty? We hope it will work longer, but (I, at least) budget for replacement. I don't expect anything I buy to work permenantly.

 

Question is - for the expected lifetime does it give you sufficient value? If not - don't buy it.

 

I had a Mobilinc subscription in about 2013... So, yes. Years... I don't anymore... Because I'm Android and Mobilinc (as a company) appear to be dismissing Android as a minor thing.

[rafarataneneces]

Everything we buy in tech is a lease, with a time limit. Is it any wonder most modern electronics only have a one or two year warranty? We hope it will work longer, but (I, at least) budget for replacement. I don't expect anything I buy to work permenantly.

 

Question is - for the expected lifetime does it give you sufficient value? If not - don't buy it.

 

I had a Mobilinc subscription in about 2013... So, yes. Years... I don't anymore... Because I'm Android and Mobilinc (as a company) appear to be dismissing Android as a minor thing.

 

Yes I paid for 1 year I used it 2 months.

 

Again, let's not deviate for the subject, money is lost, it sucks, but the point of the topic is

 

Any hope of having the service connected again?

[MWareman]

 

 

Yes I paid for 1 year I used it 2 months.

 

Again, let's not deviate for the subject, money is lost, it sucks, but the point of the topic is

 

Any hope of having the service connected again?

You chose to buy ISY Portal, with the description giving explicit notice that Mobilinc Connect (or, more precisely, the ISY module that allows Mobilinc Connect to function) would be disabled. You accepted that by choice.

 

Technically, your Mobilinc Connect account is still active! It's just not very useful without an active module on the ISY to send data to it.

 

As far as getting it re-enabled - I believe that's already answered. Contact UDI, they'll give you a refund of ISY Portal, disable it and re-enable the Mobilinc Connect module.

 

Remember, the Mobilinc module you purchased for Mobilinc Connect was $1. The $29 was something you paid to another company. If I were you I'd be applying pressure to MobiLinc to:

 

1) Fully support the use of ISY Portal in their app (rather than telling people Mobilinc does not work with ISY Portal, which they are currently doing in their forums)

2) Have a better refund policy, even partial refunds for those that use partial years

3) Get better Echo integration (a proper Smarthome skill, rather than the general skill they currently have), and an IFTTT integration that dosn't require giving your password to a third party

 

None of these things are in UDIs control.

 

Personally, I think ISY Portal is a much better product. Better security (with its IFTTT implementation), better Echo integration. Now that we have a fantastic app (Agave - Android) that supports ISY Portal it's so much better.

 

Michael.

[rafarataneneces]

You chose to buy ISY Portal, with the description giving explicit notice that Mobilinc Connect (or, more precisely, the ISY module that allows Mobilinc Connect to function) would be disabled. You accepted that by choice.

 

Technically, your Mobilinc Connect account is still active! It's just not very useful without an active module on the ISY to send data to it.

 

As far as getting it re-enabled - I believe that's already answered. Contact UDI, they'll give you a refund of ISY Portal, disable it and re-enable the Mobilinc Connect module.

 

Remember, the Mobilinc module you purchased for Mobilinc Connect was $1. The $29 was something you paid to another company. If I were you I'd be applying pressure to MobiLinc to:

 

1) Fully support the use of ISY Portal in their app (rather than telling people Mobilinc does not work with ISY Portal, which they are currently doing in their forums)

2) Have a better refund policy, even partial refunds for those that use partial years

3) Get better Echo integration (a proper Smarthome skill, rather than the general skill they currently have), and an IFTTT integration that dosn't require giving your password to a third party

 

None of these things are in UDIs control.

 

Personally, I think ISY Portal is a much better product. Better security (with its IFTTT implementation), better Echo integration. Now that we have a fantastic app (Agave - Android) that supports ISY Portal it's so much better.

 

Michael.

 

Yeah that would be awesome could MobiLinc connect be rewritten so it uses ISY Portal?

 

that would be the solution!

[stusviews]

WHY UDI does not allow IFTT + Amazon + MobiLinc

 

The ISY does allow the Echo and IFTTT. But IFTTT is not, in general, portal dependent for many devices/uses. The portal adds IFTTT to the ISY The difficulty is that the ISY is capable of only one portal. You may just as easily ask the same question of MobiLinc.

[rafarataneneces]

The ISY does allow the Echo and IFTTT. But IFTTT is not, in general, portal dependent for many devices/uses. The portal adds IFTTT to the ISY The difficulty is that the ISY is capable of only one portal. You may just as easily ask the same question of MobiLinc.

 

Yes but my question is

 

ISY Portal Allows TWO (not ONE) but TWO technologies to interact with the ISY994

1) Amazon Echo

2) IFTTT

 

Could the My ISY Portal be configured so it also works with MobiLinc Connect?

 

I understand that both companies would have to work together, but isn't that a selling point?

 

I bought the ISY994i ONLY because I saw the MobiLinc app on iTunes store first, when I googled for 'Insteon' and then I learned that there is another (more advanced) app.

 

That's how I started

 

Has anybody spoken to Michael about this? Any words from him?

[rccoleman]

From a functionality perspective, what do you want to get from the Mobilinc Portal that you can't already get with the ISY portal? Apart from some specific Mobilinc features (like notifications, I believe), you'll probably find that the ISY portal is *better* than the Mobilinc portal and you'll lose almost nothing. The Mobilinc app works fine through the ISY portal, for instance.

 

The ISY portal is cheaper over the two year subscription, also gives you access to the network module, and has additional benefits for IFTTT and Echo, as described above. It's not clear to me why anyone would choose the Mobilinc portal over the ISY portal, to be honest.

[rafarataneneces]

From a functionality perspective, what do you want to get from the Mobilinc Portal that you can't already get with the ISY portal? Apart from some specific Mobilinc features (like notifications, I believe), you'll probably find that the ISY portal is *better* than the Mobilinc portal and you'll lose almost nothing. The Mobilinc app works fine through the ISY portal, for instance.

 

The ISY portal is cheaper over the two year subscription, also gives you access to the network module, and has additional benefits for IFTTT and Echo, as described above. It's not clear to me why anyone would choose the Mobilinc portal over the ISY portal, to be honest.

 

No MobiLinc Portal was flawless when I connect directly every time I do major programming I have to Download EVERYTHING again and lose icons

If I don't re-download, the program crashes

 

So I lose ALL my icons ALL my Dashboard ALL my voices ALL my today widget and ALL my location settings

 

And APART from ALL of that, I use to LOVE LOVE LOVE Notifications when variable changed

[rccoleman]

I'll grant that Mobilinc has some problems with the alpha 5.0.4 software on my ISY, and I've had to do the same as you when I make any significant changes. I don't see how the Mobilinc portal would fix that, though. Wes said that the ISY was periodically sending garbage data and I would expect that to affect any app. He waived off the crashing as it being impossible to parse the garbage that Mobilinc was getting.

 

It's easy enough to use the ISY network to send notifications through a free service like pushover or pushbullet, but I understand that it may be more convenient through Mobilinc.

[rafarataneneces]

I'll grant that Mobilinc has some problems with the alpha 5.0.4 software on my ISY, and I've had to do the same as you when I make any significant changes. I don't see how the Mobilinc portal would fix that, though. Wes said that the ISY was periodically sending garbage data and I would expect that to affect any app. He waived off the crashing as it being impossible to parse the garbage that Mobilinc was getting.

 

It's easy enough to use the ISY network to send notifications through a free service like pushover or pushbullet, but I understand that it may be more convenient through Mobilinc.

 

How do you configure My ISY Portal to send notifications every single time a variable changes through Push Bullet?

 

I added Push Bullet (just a test, using Network Resource), and I got a text in the app

 

But I don't know

1) How to get a Notification on iOS Today screen Notifications

2) How to configure that as soon as a variable changes, then I should get a notification

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi rafarataneneces ,

 

First of all, I am so very sorry for all the trouble. I can definitely answer your question with regards to why ISY cannot support multiple services:

1. Connection to ISY is ONE socket from ISY to the Portal (secure)

2. Adding more connections to the external world from ISY uses more resources since it's https

3. Connection to Echo, IFTTT is ON the PORTAL and not ISY. ISY only makes one connection

4. We spent a lot of time ensuring that ISY Portal can support MobiLinc app. The only remaining issue would be the notifications through MobiLinc which we could not address since we do not know what MobiLinc Connect does

 

MWareman has suggested an innovative idea which we'll investigate (no guarantees though).

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[rafarataneneces]

so in order to preserve CPU/RAM the decision was made.

 

Is the ISY994i CPU/RAM limited or is the 5.0.4 more power hungry?

[rafarataneneces]

What are the specs of CPU and RAM for the ISY994?

 

I was unable to find them online

[rccoleman]

How do you configure My ISY Portal to send notifications every single time a variable changes through Push Bullet?

 

I added Push Bullet (just a test, using Network Resource), and I got a text in the app

 

But I don't know

1) How to get a Notification on iOS Today screen Notifications

2) How to configure that as soon as a variable changes, then I should get a notification

You would need to create programs to monitor state variables, and add notifications where integer variables change. Here is a description of how to send notifications using several different services.  Incidentally, it's possible that that's how Mobilinc is doing it. It supports a "Resource Manager", which is really a separate folder of programs that are automatically created through the app.  It's advertised as a way to turn devices on and off during specific time periods, but perhaps it's also being leveraged for notifications.

[MWareman]

ISY is a custom OS /hardware combination and yes, the resources are limited. The specific resources are not published, and it wouldn't be much use either. The ISY does not run Linux, Windows, OSX, or any other OS. It's unique in its needs, so cannot easily be compared to the needs of other systems.