Currently have old ISY-944i without z-wave or other add-ons. What are your thoughts on the best system to upgrade to?

[mclowejr]

Hello everyone,

I currently have an ISY-944i that I bought about 9 years ago.  It does not have z-wave or other support, only the base model (insteon, etc.).  I would like the ability to utilize other platforms like zigbee, z-wave, etc.  Can you recommend a best approach for this?  I can add a z-wave board to my ISY but it isn't that much more to purchase a newer ISY with the z-wave plus/IR/Pro.  Or, would you suggest going a different route using a different hub altogether?  I have sever insteon switches currently.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[MrBill]

It depends on your timing, in other words how fast you want to move forward.

Today you can buy a 500 series Z-Wave board from UDI and upgrade your current ISY.

If you want to wait a bit, then you would buy Polisy and Zooz Series 700 series z-wave stick to go with it.

ISY running on Polisy is currently in development.  (the polisy hardware is already available for nodeservers and Alpha testing of the ISY on Polisy software.  I understand they are pretty close to making z-wave on polisy a thing, but there just not quite there yet.

neither option currently supports zigbee.

[mclowejr]

Thank you for the recommendations.  I appreciate it.

[larryllix]

Polisy with a USB Zwave dongle ( I use the SiLabs 700 dongle as it is reported upgradeable) and an Insteon USB dongle or your existing serial PLM for now.

[danbutter]

https://www.home-assistant.io/

It is software rather than hardware, but it can be run on a raspberry pi or a NUC or...

Very flexible.  Worth a look in my opinion.  I use the ISY integration in home assistant and have the best of both worlds.

[upstatemike]

Depends on what constitutes an upgrade for you? Many people find that Alexa routines coupled with Yolink LoRa sensors and switches can provide a good experience at low cost. LoRa is the only radio protocol with better coverage and penetration than Clear Connect A... it just works, always. Alexa voice control gives you some pretty fancy features at a good price if you buy the Echo voice assistants on sale. The Alexa ecosystem is evolving rapidly and Yolink is very tightly integrated with it. Yolink will also be releasing a general API in 2022 so there may even be a NodeServer for it by the end of next year.

[mclowejr]

Thanks all for the input.