Advice on communication issues with wireless devices

[epete]

I have never really gotten the hang of implementing the  2845-222 Hidden Door Sensor and 2241 TigiierLink sensors and even my water leak sensors.  I would love to be able to use the Low Battery trigger to send a notification to Alexa so I can see the orange ring glow in Alexa and can ask for the notification and be alerted to the device with the low battery.   

I am hoping this would resolve half of my problem as I think my problems are generated by low batteries.

When I look at a Hidden Door Sensor on the Admin Console v5.0.16B, a majority of my wireless sensors do not show any status for Low Battery or Heartbeat.  I am wondering if this is related to battery level, however I have just replaced my batteries and see the same issue on most of these sensors.

When I trigger the sensors, I do get the overall Off or On status and can see it change in teh admin console as I trigger the sensor.  If I try to make changes within the console I frequently get a cannot communicate with device error.

I also see various icons on then such as the "!" or the icon that looks like it is writing updates to device icon.

Has anyone had success with the wireless sensors and what are the best practices in coding for these.

 

Also note I have many wired Insteon devices around the house.  All wireless only devices have at least 2 wired devices in teh same room to support close communication with the network.

 

[MrBill]

v5.0.16B has issues with wireless sensors.  you need to move up to 5.0.16C

Here is the low battery program i use for my Hidden Door Sensors, I also monitor heartbeat for each.
 

AllRecessedDoorSW - [ID 0044][Parent 0037]

If
        'Door Switches / Barn Walk-thru Door / Barn Walk-thru Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Costco Rm NEW - Door / Costco Rm NEW Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Front Door / Front Door- Low Bat' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Garage to House Door 2 / Garage to House Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Green Rm Closet Door / Green Rm Closet Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Laundry Rm Door / Laundry Rm Door - Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / MBR Closet 2 Door / MBR Closet 2 Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Playroom Door / Playroom Door Low Battery' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Pool Closet - Door Sensor / Pool Closet Door - Low Batter' is switched On
     Or 'Door Switches / Pushbutton Block / Pushbutton Block.3 - Low Batt' is switched On
 
Then
        Send Notification to 'Bill' content 'DoorName'
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

Edit to add:  just using doorname notification works in this case because it sends the node name not the door name, by default the node names, node names include the words Low Battery.

Specifically this is the notification being sent:

Which is sent both to a special email box that i used for the ISY and to an SMS gateway address which arrives on my phone as a text message.

 

Sorry, I don't know how to teach Alexa to do what you want.

[Teken]

5 hours ago, epete said:

I have never really gotten the hang of implementing the  2845-222 Hidden Door Sensor and 2241 TigiierLink sensors and even my water leak sensors.  I would love to be able to use the Low Battery trigger to send a notification to Alexa so I can see the orange ring glow in Alexa and can ask for the notification and be alerted to the device with the low battery.   

I am hoping this would resolve half of my problem as I think my problems are generated by low batteries.

When I look at a Hidden Door Sensor on the Admin Console v5.0.16B, a majority of my wireless sensors do not show any status for Low Battery or Heartbeat.  I am wondering if this is related to battery level, however I have just replaced my batteries and see the same issue on most of these sensors.

When I trigger the sensors, I do get the overall Off or On status and can see it change in teh admin console as I trigger the sensor.  If I try to make changes within the console I frequently get a cannot communicate with device error.

I also see various icons on then such as the "!" or the icon that looks like it is writing updates to device icon.

Has anyone had success with the wireless sensors and what are the best practices in coding for these.

 

Also note I have many wired Insteon devices around the house.  All wireless only devices have at least 2 wired devices in teh same room to support close communication with the network.

 

Insteon Wireless FAQ & Best Practices:

1. All hardware should be hard reset as outlined by the full Users Manual prior to enrollment.

2. Battery powered hardware must be placed into linking mode anytime you want to update the sensors. Failure to do so will result in "!" and error messages.

3. Node State: All previous node states of On, Off, will be lost upon the controller being rebooted.

4. Heart Beat: Depending upon hardware version, firmware, and production date. The hardware can send either a On vs Off so its imperative to monitor for both state changes.

5. HDS: The Hidden Door Sensor is the only battery operated device that will allow you to change the heart beat status update interval - Follow the manual to do so.

6. Battery Writes: The ISY Series Controller has the ability to write changes to a battery operated device once the heart beat has been received. This feature is very much YMMV so don't count on it if a device is critical to your installation.

7. 1011 Pro Option: When you have lots of battery operated devices enable this feature at the top of the header. Doing so will allow you to right mouse click on the device tree and update a single device instead of letting the controller do the same thing. Going this route allows you to manage your time and pace to insure each device is given the proper amount of time to complete the write update of any changes you made.

8. Beacon Test: Do not assume because you have lots of dual band hardware that you have proper coupling / bridging in all areas of your home. The 4 tap beacon test is outlined in the fulls users manual for all Insteon hardware. Always complete the 4 tap beacon test both ways to confirm your single split phase electrical system is bridged. Keep in mind no amount of coupling / bridging will supersede the need to identify signal suckers & noise makers in the home. Any of the two or both can and will impact your network and that includes power line devices in the home. If the room which has hardwired Insteon equipment and they are being impacted by noise makers / signal suckers any Insteon RF based device will not be able to relay the signal to a hardwired device effectively.

So your choices are to identify and filter, replace, remove . . .  

[epete]

Wow, thanks.  Lots of points I had been missing.  Too bad I need to unscrew the hidden links and remove from the wall to put them in linking mode.  Good to know.

[epete]

...and Mr Bill, thanks I have just updated my FW to 5.0.16C.

[epete]

I am intrigued; What is a Costco Room?  I need to get one of those.

[MrBill]

4 minutes ago, epete said:

Wow, thanks.  Lots of points I had been missing.  Too bad I need to unscrew the hidden links and remove from the wall to put them in linking mode.  Good to know.

Actually you can reach linking mode without taking the sensor out of the wall.  see Page 11 of the full device manual.

4 minutes ago, epete said:

I am intrigued, What is a Costco Room.  I need to get one of those.

it's a storage room in the basement.  it has a lot of things besides Costco merchandise (like Christmas decorations, paint, etc) but it has a deep freeze and alot of costco merchandise.  Reason: Costco and Sam's are across the highway from each other but about a 50 minute drive each direction, making the Costco/Sam's run a minimum of a half day project... as such... we stock up.   That particular door sensor is primarily for the light (on when open, off when closed), but has secondary function activated sometimes too.

[gzahar]

On 6/27/2020 at 6:29 PM, MrBill said:

Actually you can reach linking mode without taking the sensor out of the wall.  see Page 11 of the full device manual.

Save yourself the frustration and just unscrew it.  Trust me, you will spend a lot less time.

[MrBill]

14 hours ago, gzahar said:

Save yourself the frustration and just unscrew it.  Trust me, you will spend a lot less time.

I had trouble at first, but I started using that method with it out of the wall until I learned how, then it became easy to do without removing.    I used to have to do it a lot because of the wireless scene re-write bug, but I finally just eliminated the scene re-write until that gets fixed.

[gzahar]

4 hours ago, MrBill said:

I had trouble at first, but I started using that method with it out of the wall until I learned how, then it became easy to do without removing.    I used to have to do it a lot because of the wireless scene re-write bug, but I finally just eliminated the scene re-write until that gets fixed.

You should make a YouTube video!  I tried numerous times with the device sitting in front of me trying different speed presses and holds; but could never get it to work consistently.

Glad someone could figure it out.  I also could never get a heartbeat response from the device, so maybe it's defective (but there are a number of other posts with this same issue it seems).