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Insteon HUB (2245) cloud servers shut down

MrBill

By MrBill
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dotScott New

dotScott

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8 hours ago, gscottmalibu said:

You don't need to spend $400 dollars on a new hub guys, just use OpenHAB, it will communicate with your existing Insteon hub and it works with alexa/google home assistant. Hopefully you haven't factory reset it, because then you'll have to go back and re-add all of your devices by their ID's (this means pulling out all of the light switches and reading the labels, fun right :)? Read more about how people did that by clicking here. 

On another note, a lot of the older Insteon hubs (who knows if they're still selling defective ones) had problems where they would stop working (the company would send you a free replacement, but now that they're out of business, they won't be), supposedly something to do with a bad capacitor - but more likely a design issue that causes the capacitor to blow. It hasn't been researched enough. So what i'm saying is, if you have an older hub, you may want to get a new one if you have a lot of Insteon devices so it doesn't randomly stop working. You may also not want to invest in other gear as you might not be able to get replacements for it when it breaks anymore. Now that Insteon servers are shut down, and trust me, they're not coming back, you'll probably want to use OpenHAB, even though there are other options, this is the most logical, free option (but don't take my word for it, i'm just a engineer/programmer).

From the research that i've done, the Smarthome/Insteon CEO, CIO, and COO have all removed Smarthome and Insteon companies from their LinkedIn profiles. They are likely trying to avoid bad PR for just turning the lights out on all of their loyal customers without any warning. This is a complete slap in the face to anyone who has even a couple of Insteon devices. Some people have over 30 devices, imagine how they feel. The president (Rob Lilleness) who owns Insteon is now investing his time and money into a new company called Nokia Smart Lighting by Smarthome, trying to hide his past with what he did to his loyal customers at Insteon. Read more about that by clicking here. I'm sure none of us will be buying any of those products after what he did with Insteon...

I have 40+ Insteon devices that I've accumulated over the years.  19 of them were purchased in the last year for a my kitchen remodel (expanded to entire downstairs).  I still have a huge box of X10 devices if anyone is interested in them. 

Yeah, you are correct.  I am PISSED to say the least.  Just finished all my scenes and Alexa integration.  Now no app or voice control.  I have a ISY994 and Insteon PLM that I hadn't connected yet but when everything stopped working I figured now was the time to connect it.  Unfortunately, I found that the USB PLM isn't compatible and couldn't be found by the 994.  I ordered a Polisy Pro that says will work with the 2412U so we'll see. 

What a shame too as Insteon was really working well for me.  I still haven't found another technology that is as responsive and reliable as Insteon.  

You are also correct that I WILL NOT be purchasing any Nokia devices.

Edited by dotScott
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mmb Advanced

mmb

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19 minutes ago, mwester said:

You'd be far better off with a 2-meter (6 foot) USB2 extension cable for at least one of them.  Ideally for each of them, and keep the two radios several meters (10+ feet) apart.

Thanks initially that was exactly my setup but this is working quite well and it's covering the whole house. I'm also quite familiar with RF and 900 Mhz has roughly 400 channels so I assume there is separation between them.

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MJohnson05 Newbie

MJohnson05

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Well, the last few days have been fun. I haven't been on this forum in YEARS now, and my old login doesn't work. I have an Insteon Hub and specifically used it just for Alexa and Google Home integration, because when I bought it, the only Universal Devices option (that I knew about) was the Network Module that was like $50/year. I didn't want to pay that much.

I keep the ISY994i running to automate a lot using schedules, conditions and API calls (from Tasker via my Android phone) and IFTTT. Android 12 added a nice shortcut in the pulldown menu, so I had been using that for a few lights via the Hub.

Well, that stopped working... so I dug into it, set up an ISY Portal account, paid the $23 for 2 years of service (not a bad rate, IMO), updated firmware and got it all set up and connected to my Google account. Now the quick settings in my pulldown menu work fine again, and I added a couple scenes to add to Routines.

It's nice to see the Portal stuff... the ISY has always seemed to me to be much more of a "tinkerer's device" than anything that could be mainstream. The Portal makes it a bit more consumer-friendly, IMO, but it's still pretty advanced.

 

It's still kinda a pisser that Insteon just shut down Hub connection with NO communication. I remember last year or so, they sent a few emails saying they were working on the mobile app to try to improve the experience. That was kinda nice, as Insteon seemed to have a "don't give a sh** about the consumer, buy our stuff or don't, we don't care!"  attitude. I hope they do continue to exist and produce hardware... I don't want my ISY setup to go to waste or have to be replaced as I go. The whole setup just gives me functionality that I think would be a bit difficult to duplicate elsewhere.

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MrBill Advanced

MrBill

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6 minutes ago, MJohnson05 said:

I hope they do continue to exist and produce hardware...

They don't.  California users have reported the offices are empty and unlocked.  CEO Rob Lilleness , and other now former executives,  have removed Insteon/Smartlabs from their  linkedin profile.

10 minutes ago, MJohnson05 said:

I don't want my ISY setup to go to waste or have to be replaced as I go. The whole setup just gives me functionality that I think would be a bit difficult to duplicate elsewhere.

You'll be able to use it for years to come.   In another thread Michel indicated they are trying to get their hands on PLMs from the Chinese producer.

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MrBill Advanced

MrBill

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8 minutes ago, MJohnson05 said:

Wasn't there something on the Smarthome site about Insteon and Nokia teaming up?

Is that kaput now, too?

That appears to be the case.  The partnership news release and products no longer show up on Nokia.com's site.

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MrBill Advanced

MrBill

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46 minutes ago, JRM said:

Just checked eBay and the Insteon PLM 22135s are in bidding war for $255 plus. Is this the right interface for the Polisy to control my Insteon devices,

OUCH

2413s only will work with an ISY994

Polisy has more options 2413s, 2413u, or 2448A7 (which is not dual band)

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apostolakisl Advanced

apostolakisl

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52 minutes ago, MJohnson05 said:

oh geeze... yeah... we're dead in the water if a PLM fails. I think I've gone through three of them in the last 10 years.

Hopefully you have the old ones.  Replace the capacitors for perhaps $10 total (mostly shipping) and you'll have $500/ea items to sell on ebay.  99% of the time they fail because of the capacitors and it just isn't very hard to replace them.

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MJohnson05 Newbie

MJohnson05

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1 hour ago, apostolakisl said:

Hopefully you have the old ones.  Replace the capacitors for perhaps $10 total (mostly shipping) and you'll have $500/ea items to sell on ebay.  99% of the time they fail because of the capacitors and it just isn't very hard to replace them.

Nope... threw em out years ago. I think I've been on the current one for 2-3 years now. If I had dug into it more and found that I could repair them, I'd have kept them around! 

 

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MrBill Advanced

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2 hours ago, MJohnson05 said:

Nope... threw em out years ago. I think I've been on the current one for 2-3 years now. If I had dug into it more and found that I could repair them, I'd have kept them around!

If you're not handy with a soldering iron lookup PLM repair on on ebay.  He currently charges $55 or or $75 based on whether it gets no power or doesn't communicate.

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MJohnson05 Newbie

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3 hours ago, MrBill said:

If you're not handy with a soldering iron lookup PLM repair on on ebay.  He currently charges $55 or or $75 based on whether it gets no power or doesn't communicate.

I have a degree in that stuff... I just never bothered to investigate whether or not my bum PLMs could be repaired! 

My loss. :(

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dblee1950 Member

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I pulled out my isy plm setup and got it working last couple of days, until disaster, I thing my plm died.  It had been sitting for a couple of years.  Is there a test or more info on how to repair if indeed it is bad?  I'm one of those that went through several steps when the insteon hub went down, that led to factory resetting my hub, I think, so don't think the HA route will help any at this point.

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Athlon Advanced

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17 minutes ago, dblee1950 said:

I pulled out my isy plm setup and got it working last couple of days, until disaster, I thing my plm died.  It had been sitting for a couple of years.  Is there a test or more info on how to repair if indeed it is bad?  I'm one of those that went through several steps when the insteon hub went down, that led to factory resetting my hub, I think, so don't think the HA route will help any at this point.

Did a quick search here - came up with this:

You may want to start a new thread in the appropriate section and ask for help in diagnosing your issue just in case it's not your PLM. Be sure to list your equipment along with your current firmware in your first post.

 

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g800 Newbie

g800

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I have no idea how these things work so if this sounds stupid that's why:

Isn't there a way for anyone that wants to pay for server space to have their data on a server and restore the hub to its old functionality? The amount of server space needed and the cost would be correlated to the amount of people that wanted to do this

I assume we'd need Rob or someone to facilitate it but if it's no cost to them, would be great to have. I don't really change my devices anymore, pretty static, so it's just a matter of accessing the same data on a server?

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Athlon Advanced

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16 minutes ago, g800 said:

Isn't there a way for anyone that wants to pay for server space to have their data on a server and restore the hub to its old functionality?

No.

Among other things - it's their proprietary software. You'd have to at least purchase the rights to do that.

It would be easier to use Home Assistant - and that would sort of be like your own server.

Edited by Athlon
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MrBill Advanced

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1 hour ago, dblee1950 said:

I pulled out my isy plm setup and got it working last couple of days, until disaster, I thing my plm died.  It had been sitting for a couple of years.  Is there a test or more info on how to repair if indeed it is bad?  I'm one of those that went through several steps when the insteon hub went down, that led to factory resetting my hub, I think, so don't think the HA route will help any at this point.

Is the light green?  Why do you think it died?  as @Athlon points out you may want to start your own thread in Questions and Answers or Communication issues.   Your post here will get lost.

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MrBill Advanced

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1 hour ago, g800 said:

I assume we'd need Rob or someone to facilitate it but if it's no cost to them,

Yes we'd need Rob Lilleness or someone with access to their server.   We'd really need to get THAT server back online, but if it was no longer available we'd at least need the software. 

"No cost to them" is alot of big words in a small space.  It's fairly expensive to keep a server online.  There's the server, or rented space itself and then someone to maintain it... and that's just the start.  We'd need at least 1000 users signed up that were willing to pay $20/month to break even.

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LFMc Advanced

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As an Insteon only on ISY user for 10 years, I understand the vitriol against Insteon/Smarthome for the "sudden" shutdown and abandonment of their user base.  But if they were going to pick a time to do it, then they may not have picked a better time based on Ebay prices for Insteon. What could be a better time to sell off 20 year old technology at almost or more than what you paid for it?  If you don't like dealing with Ebay, PM me a list and I'll buy it for as good or better than a pawn shop price.  ?

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