Echo Dot / ISY Portal / On/Off Outlet

[toflaherty]

I hope I'm putting this topic in the correct sub-forum.  I'm not completely sure if it's an echo issue or a portal or ISY issue (meaning I'm possibly doing something incorrectly with either one of those).  I'm trying to control an Insteon dual on/off outlet 2663-222 with my echo dot and having trouble.  I'm on Firmware/UI 4.5.4.

 

I have set up a spoken word of "kitchen plug in" which controls the bottom outlet of my on/off outlet.  This outlet works fine on mini remote control, KPL control, as well as via programs and scenes.  Alexa hears me correctly when I say "Alexa turn kitchen plug in on."  She responds, however, with "That command doesn't work on device kitchen plug in," but then a second later, it switches on.  Sometimes it works faster and she just says "OK" like normal.  The same thing happens when I try to switch it off.  Usually it switches off after hearing "that command doesn't work on device kitchen plug in" but sometimes it doesn't turn off at all.

 

Every other spoken word I have set up is working flawlessly.  This is the only one giving me trouble.

[toflaherty]

Well I grabbed a level 3 log file, and as much as I don't really know what I'm looking at, I think I can confirm that I posted in the wrong forum, so I apologize.  If a moderator could please move this to where a communication problem is more appropriate, I would appreciate it.

 

It seems to be that when I request the outlet to turn on or off, nothing really happens for 10-20 seconds.  At first I was only noticing the "hops left = 2," which I thought meant good communication.  What does it mean when it takes multiple INST-TX-I2CS/INST-ACK before getting the INST-SRX and then the outlet actually turning on or off?  In the log below, I used the admin console to turn it on, then off, then I used alexa to turn it on, then off.  Turning it on, Alexa responded with "ok" and it was instant, but turning it off I got what appears to be an alexa time-out of some sort, saying "that command doesn't work on device kitchen plug in," but it did actually turn off afterwards.  The on command was ~1 second, almost instant it seemed, but the off took ~19 seconds.

 

Please help me understand this, as I thought poor communication would be reflected in the "hops left" being <2.  My issue appears to be that it takes a really long time to even attempt the hops.

 

Thanks in advance.

Tue 11/29/2016 08:02:47 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE

Tue 11/29/2016 08:02:47 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE 06 LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:02:56 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE

Tue 11/29/2016 08:02:56 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE 06 LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:05 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:05 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE 06 LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:06 PM : [INST-SRX    ] 02 50 42.00.88 40.D3.C1 2B 11 FF    LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:06 PM : [Std-Direct Ack] 42.00.88-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:06 PM : [D2D EVENT   ] Event [42 0 88 2] [ST] [255] uom=0 prec=-1

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:06 PM : [   42 0 88 2]       ST 255

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:17 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:17 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB 06 LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:26 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:26 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB 06 LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:28 PM : [INST-SRX    ] 02 50 42.00.88 40.D3.C1 2B 13 00    LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:28 PM : [Std-Direct Ack] 42.00.88-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:28 PM : [D2D EVENT   ] Event [42 0 88 2] [ST] [0] uom=0 prec=-1

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:28 PM : [   42 0 88 2]       ST   0

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:42 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:42 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 11 FF 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EE 06 LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:43 PM : [INST-SRX    ] 02 50 42.00.88 40.D3.C1 2B 11 FF    LTONRR (FF)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:43 PM : [Std-Direct Ack] 42.00.88-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:43 PM : [D2D EVENT   ] Event [42 0 88 2] [ST] [255] uom=0 prec=-1

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:43 PM : [   42 0 88 2]       ST 255

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:54 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB

Tue 11/29/2016 08:03:54 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB 06 LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:03 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:03 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB 06 LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:12 PM : [INST-TX-I2CS] 02 62 42 00 88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:12 PM : [INST-ACK    ] 02 62 42.00.88 1F 13 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EB 06 LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:13 PM : [INST-SRX    ] 02 50 42.00.88 40.D3.C1 2B 13 00    LTOFFRR(00)

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:13 PM : [Std-Direct Ack] 42.00.88-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:13 PM : [D2D EVENT   ] Event [42 0 88 2] [ST] [0] uom=0 prec=-1

Tue 11/29/2016 08:04:13 PM : [   42 0 88 2]       ST   0

[stusviews]

You are doing nothing wrong. That's not unusual behavior for the Echo. Sometimes a different spoken helps, sometimes not. Try, "kitchen plug."

[toflaherty]

You are doing nothing wrong. That's not unusual behavior for the Echo. Sometimes a different spoken helps, sometimes not. Try, "kitchen plug."

stusviews, I appreciate the reply, thank you.  I would like to point out that the echo heard my request correctly though, and immediately the ISY responded.  The first few lines in the log above was me simply clicking "on" in the admin console.  It took 19 seconds after clicking the button for the outlet to actually turn on.  This is why I think I was incorrect in thinking it was an echo problem at first.

[stusviews]

Your log shows "Hops Left=2" so it's not a communication problem. I don't know why it takes so long to respond.

[toflaherty]

OK thanks again for your reply and for confirming that it's purely the "hops left" that identifies communication problems.  I just wasn't completely sure as I'm not very familiar with what the rest of the messaging means.  Maybe this is a hardware problem with the outlet.

[stusviews]

I'm using an Echo to control the top outlet. The load responded nearly immediately.

[toflaherty]

yeah, I may have to contact support.  It appears to be random now.  Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it's 10-20s as reflected in the log.  Doesn't matter if I command it on/off with Echo or straight from the admin console.

[toflaherty]

To follow-up, UDI support was very helpful in confirming that this appears to be a device issue.  The PLM is sending the command, but not hearing anything back sometimes for a long time.  The bottom outlet is much more problematic than the top outlet.  It turns out that someone else is having the exact same issue as I am with this device (more trouble with bottom outlet than top, and only trouble with this device).  I have contacted smarthome support to see what they say...

[larryllix]

Just another cloud service that can suddenly take minutes or respond.

 

I have one dot that seems to have poor comms with my router and it sometimes decidee to just stop reponding in the middle of a sentence or takes 30 seconds to turn off a light, at times.

 

They will update the system with more hardware and then everything will be like new for a few months, again.

[toflaherty]

Just another cloud service that can suddenly take minutes or respond.

 

I have one dot that seems to have poor comms with my router and it sometimes decidee to just stop reponding in the middle of a sentence or takes 30 seconds to turn off a light, at times.

 

They will update the system with more hardware and then everything will be like new for a few months, again.

 

Although it may be possible that some people experience a similar issue due to the cloud service taking some time to respond or a poor quality home network, this is an isolated device issue with the insteon on/off outlet.  In this case, the ISY/PLM responded immediately every time to the echo/cloud service, it was just the insteon device not responding.  The exact same behavior occurred when commanding the device on/off through the admin console of ISY.  The on/off outlet has been replaced with a traditional outlet and a plug-in on/off module.  Everything is working flawlessly now.  Smarthome has been contacted, hopefully I can get the outlet warrantied (although I heard from UDI that other people are having the exact same problem with the bottom outlet taking a very long time to respond).

[larryllix]

Although it may be possible that some people experience a similar issue due to the cloud service taking some time to respond or a poor quality home network, this is an isolated device issue with the insteon on/off outlet. In this case, the ISY/PLM responded immediately every time to the echo/cloud service, it was just the insteon device not responding. The exact same behavior occurred when commanding the device on/off through the admin console of ISY. The on/off outlet has been replaced with a traditional outlet and a plug-in on/off module. Everything is working flawlessly now. Smarthome has been contacted, hopefully I can get the outlet warrantied (although I heard from UDI that other people are having the exact same problem with the bottom outlet taking a very long time to respond).

Strange!

I had another one today where the light responded immediately and the "OK" came from 45 to 60 seconds later.

 

I assume you have tried to factory reset the receptacle?

[toflaherty]

Strange!

I had another one today where the light responded immediately and the "OK" came from 45 to 60 seconds later.

 

I assume you have tried to factory reset the receptacle?

Yes sir.  I feel a little silly for posting this in the echo forum now after learning what I have learned for troubleshooting, but I don't know what else I can do other than how I immediately asked for it to be moved...

 

I factory reset it, moved it to another circuit, tried powerline only, rf only, etc... everything resulted in the bottom outlet working less than 10% of the time and the top outlet working about 90% of the time.  Michel agreed that I did everything possible to prove that it was an isolated device issue and not a signal/wiring issue.  The key point here being that the bottom outlet was significantly more problematic than the top.

 

I have now actuated the plug-in wall wart on/off module on a regular outlet that replaced the on/off outlet about 100 times through the admin console and a KPL, and about 20 times through the echo.  Even through the echo it responds instantly, every time.  I'm quite disappointed in the on/off outlet, especially hearing that others are having the same trouble with it, as it's the newest device I have, built just a couple months ago...

 

I didn't think it was really worth mentioning, but after the 2nd or 3rd factory reset (which sucks with this module, you have to remove power), it took MANY tries to get it added back to the ISY.  Kept failing with communication errors.