What is the EISY?

[jlegault]

I feel so behind the times. I was about to start migrating to my Polisy and have a matter/zwave card ready to install, but got an email about the EISY? Is that the future? If I'm mostly zwave, should I just wait to migrate IoP to the EISY instead? It looks like a different software stack and platform than the Polisy. I have found little info on it, so if anyone can put some light on this, please do!

Edited December 13, 2022 by jlegault

[lilyoyo1]

28 minutes ago, jlegault said:

I feel so behind the times. I was about to start migrating to my Polisy and have a matter/zwave card ready to install, but got an email about the EISY? Is that the future? If I'm mostly zwave, should I just wait to migrate IoP to the EISY instead? It looks like a different software stack and platform than the Polisy. I have found little info on it, so if anyone can put some light on this, please do!

Both eisy and polisy operate the same so unless you simply want newer (and higher spec'd) equipment, you'll be fine with polisy. 

eisy was created due to parts shortages to make polisy so it is the future. However both will see the same development over the next few years

[vbPhil]

1 minute ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Both eisy and polisy operate the same so unless you simply want newer (and higher spec'd) equipment, you'll be fine with polisy. 

The Eisy email today didn't really emphasize much about it being a home automation controller. No words about Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee or Matter. It doesn't even have antennas or a serial port for the serial PLM.   I wasn't swayed to upgrade from my Polisy Pro anytime soon.

[lilyoyo1]

3 minutes ago, vbphil said:

The Eisy email today didn't really emphasize much about it being a home automation controller. No words about Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee or Matter. It doesn't even have antennas or a serial port for the serial PLM.   I wasn't swayed to upgrade from my Polisy Pro anytime soon.

The eisy webpage does though. I'm sure it's implied as well since they talk about being a replacement for the Isy and such

Edited December 13, 2022 by lilyoyo1

[vbPhil]

3 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

The eisy webpage does though

That helps.

https://www.universal-devices.com/product/eisy-home/

 

[jec6613]

43 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

eisy was created due to parts shortages to make polisy so it is the future. However both will see the same development over the next few years

It honestly looks a ton like a NUC 11 Essential, right down to the price point.  It looks like UDI only put in a small markup (or got a good deal on trays of 1k units): https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/217669/intel-nuc-11-essential-kit-nuc11atkc4/specifications.html

The N5105 has an extremely long support tail, since its target markets include embedded, IoT, and routers.  Long term prospects are much better than Polisy, not the least of which is because it has enough CPU power and RAM to go forward with.

For the curious, the Atlas Canyon CPUs are basically one of the quad E-Core bundles lifted out of Alder Lake (12th Gen), with an 11th Gen dual channel memory controller, and modern Intel GPU onboard.  Unlike the AMD chip that runs Polisy where it was a modestly updated older design, this Intel chip is really cutting edge.

Edited December 13, 2022 by jec6613

[ryan.mercer]

"

Discounts?

Yes, of course but only for our loyal customers:"
 

I love how they determine 'loyal' customers as having purchased in the last 4 years. I been using my ISY for almost 10 years and added to it over the years. Maybe the definition of 'loyal' just means 'spent money with us lately'?

[Dean]

I just purchased the zmatter board for the Polisy and had planned to upgrade. I do want to be on the right bus for the future, so I would think long-term the eisy would be a better choice? Am I wrong or do I even need to concern myself with it. If I switched to the eisy, what would I do with the zmatter board for the Polisy. I'd still have to purchase the zmatter board for the eisy. Will there be a swap program, as mine is still in the envelope waiting for the bios fix.

[jlegault]

^^^^What he said....

[Bumbershoot]

16 minutes ago, Dean said:

If I switched to the eisy, what would I do with the zmatter board for the Polisy.

I think you just need to get one of these: https://www.universal-devices.com/product/zmatter-usb-enclosure/

[lilyoyo1]

19 minutes ago, Dean said:

I just purchased the zmatter board for the Polisy and had planned to upgrade. I do want to be on the right bus for the future, so I would think long-term the eisy would be a better choice? Am I wrong or do I even need to concern myself with it. If I switched to the eisy, what would I do with the zmatter board for the Polisy. I'd still have to purchase the zmatter board for the eisy. Will there be a swap program, as mine is still in the envelope waiting for the bios fix.

In addition to the link Bumbleshoot gave, see my post above

[ctviggen1]

I'd also need the Zwave module, though I'm not sure about the sales pitch here:

https://www.universal-devices.com/product/zmatter-usb-z-wave-matter-module-for-polisy-beta-copy/

"INSTEON got you down? Z-Wave range and limited functionality issues?"

Actually, I have nothing but good to say about Insteon...except for their fan controllers, which I thought sucked.  For a long time, the only Zwave I had in my house was fan controllers.  Then I got two zwave door locks. 

What I really have a problem with is Zwave.  The fans took a long time to get working, and the locks were horrendous.  I had to buy many Zwave extenders/lamp switches, and even then Zwave is sketchy. 

My ISY 994i works (almost*) perfectly for Insteon, but I will likely upgrade for Zwave improvements. 

*Almost: at some point, I'll have to debug an issue where when I say "turn on/off rear dog lights" to Alexa, every once in a while, not all lights go on/off.  Maybe I need a delay or two?  Right now, I just say the command again.

 

[Hunter Aviator]

I, too would like to know where this fits in along with Polisy. I just put in a substantial amount money into the Polisy (new SSD, zmatter board) in anticipation of migrating off the 994 where I'll also be putting in substantial time (lots of Zwave and Insteon.)  I've been with holding many new device additions in anticipation of this move to avoid complicating it or having to recreate my zwave network if the migration doesn't pan out, but am now questioning if this is already an antiquated product and I should be looking towards the EISY.  it does look sexy and powerful, but also seems to take a step backwards from the Polisy in requiring USB Zwave rather than the internal Zmatter module. I'd also be curious as to the range without any antennas.  My ISY994 and Polisy sit in my basement in my networking closet inside a rack (they sit on the top shelf) so I'm always concerned as to how the range might be impacted.  I think a simple side by side comparison along with an explanation of long term goals with those devices would help us better plan out any migration.  Overall UD has been fantastic to work with since my days with the ISY 99i in 2009/10 --> ISY994 --> Polisy so hope that continues on with a clear understanding of the long term platform support considerations.

[lilyoyo1]

16 minutes ago, Hunter Aviator said:

I, too would like to know where this fits in along with Polisy. I just put in a substantial amount money into the Polisy (new SSD, zmatter board) in anticipation of migrating off the 994 where I'll also be putting in substantial time (lots of Zwave and Insteon.)  I've been with holding many new device additions in anticipation of this move to avoid complicating it or having to recreate my zwave network if the migration doesn't pan out, but am now questioning if this is already an antiquated product and I should be looking towards the EISY.  it does look sexy and powerful, but also seems to take a step backwards from the Polisy in requiring USB Zwave rather than the internal Zmatter module. I'd also be curious as to the range without any antennas.  My ISY994 and Polisy sit in my basement in my networking closet inside a rack (they sit on the top shelf) so I'm always concerned as to how the range might be impacted.  I think a simple side by side comparison along with an explanation of long term goals with those devices would help us better plan out any migration.  Overall UD has been fantastic to work with since my days with the ISY 99i in 2009/10 --> ISY994 --> Polisy so hope that continues on with a clear understanding of the long term platform support considerations.

See the second post.

They were unable to source the components for polisy so they created a new box. Both will be developed together over the next few years. The zmatter board works with both polisy and eisy. 

Unless you just want to spend money on a new controller (with updated specs), you'll be getting the same thing. 

At some point a few years down the road, polisy will be sunset (by that time it'll be 6+ years old), and work will continue on with the eisy until eisy 2 comes along with the ZMatter 2 board that has a 900 series zwave board and supports Matter V2. 

You can't really do a side by side comparison of range since everyone's environment is different. Range will come down to the devices a person has, the amount, makeup of home (walls, floors, etc). 

The eisy will be faster than polisy naturally since it's a faster processor. However, that's like saying the iphone 14 is faster than the iPhone 13. Yeah it's faster, but how much of that you notice depends on different factors. 

How much of it you notice depends on your devices. If all of your devices are quality 700 series, you'll probably notice a huge difference from the Isy. If you swap over to the eisy and you have a mixed 300/500 series environment, there will be a difference but probably not as noticable 

Edited December 13, 2022 by lilyoyo1

[asbril]

15 minutes ago, Hunter Aviator said:

I, too would like to know where this fits in along with Polisy. I just put in a substantial amount money into the Polisy (new SSD, zmatter board) in anticipation of migrating off the 994 where I'll also be putting in substantial time (lots of Zwave and Insteon.)  I've been with holding many new device additions in anticipation of this move to avoid complicating it or having to recreate my zwave network if the migration doesn't pan out, but am now questioning if this is already an antiquated product and I should be looking towards the EISY.  it does look sexy and powerful, but also seems to take a step backwards from the Polisy in requiring USB Zwave rather than the internal Zmatter module. I'd also be curious as to the range without any antennas.  My ISY994 and Polisy sit in my basement in my networking closet inside a rack (they sit on the top shelf) so I'm always concerned as to how the range might be impacted.  I think a simple side by side comparison along with an explanation of long term goals with those devices would help us better plan out any migration.  Overall UD has been fantastic to work with since my days with the ISY 99i in 2009/10 --> ISY994 --> Polisy so hope that continues on with a clear understanding of the long term platform support considerations.

Some of us have the obsession of always wanting the latest  toy. The major difference of eisy is that allows integration of Zigbee as well as the upcoming common technology of Matter -Thread. If you are happy with your current setup and can live without Zigbee and Matter, then I would not worry too much. From what I understand Polisy will continue to be supported for the time being, so you have plenty of time to decide.

[lilyoyo1]

3 hours ago, ryan.mercer said:

"

Discounts?

Yes, of course but only for our loyal customers:"
 

I love how they determine 'loyal' customers as having purchased in the last 4 years. I been using my ISY for almost 10 years and added to it over the years. Maybe the definition of 'loyal' just means 'spent money with us lately'?

Makes sense to me. I don't think they mean it as a slight to someone having used the Isy for 10 years. Just that those who recently purchased a system may feel jilted at spending a few hundred bucks recently only for a new system to come out. 

[GQuack]

Wow, I have only been running the “new” Polisy for six months and now another new piece of hardware. If I had known the EISY was imminent, I would not have spent the money to move from the ISY to the Polisy. I understand technology marches on but this feels unfortunate. Did I miss that this latest generation was coming soon?

[lilyoyo1]

3 minutes ago, GQuack said:

Wow, I have only been running the “new” Polisy for six months and now another new piece of hardware. If I had known the EISY was imminent, I would not have spent the money to move from the ISY to the Polisy. I understand technology marches on but this feels unfortunate. Did I miss that this latest generation was coming soon?

It was mentioned earlier this summer (and quite frequently over the last few months with no date given. As previously explained a couple of times now on this post, they were no longer able to source the components for Polisy hence the new system

Edited December 13, 2022 by lilyoyo1

[dbwarner5]

1 hour ago, GQuack said:

Wow, I have only been running the “new” Polisy for six months and now another new piece of hardware. If I had known the EISY was imminent, I would not have spent the money to move from the ISY to the Polisy. I understand technology marches on but this feels unfortunate. Did I miss that this latest generation was coming soon?

As was said in earlier in this thread, my understanding is that the Zmatter board in the Polisy has the same capabilities as the Eisy, albeit with slightly slower (iPhone 13 vs 14) components.  So if you have a Polisy, running isy, pg2/ pg3, and you add the Zmatter board, you are relatively up to date and probably good for another 3-5 years. 

If you dont want to add the Zmatter board, you could eventually get the EISY for an incrementally higher investment than just the board, migrate over to it and maybe get 1-2 years more with slightly better performance, but most likely not noticeable.

 

[MJsan]

I have a 2413S PLM with the RJ45 interface cable that plugs into my ISY. The EISY doesn't have that port... how will I connect it? There's no info on the EISY page and it's not clear that the serial cable shown on the "additional info" screen will work. Is that what folks have used to connect PLM to policy?

I'll be running a hybrid Insteon + WIFI (Lifx modules) for a while until I migrate completely away from Insteon (years).

Thanks!!!

[gviliunas]

@MJsan, you also need to order the $26  "Serial PLM Kit" available (scroll down) on this page:

https://www.universal-devices.com/store/#top-row

[lilyoyo1]

 

13 hours ago, gviliunas said:

@MJsan, you also need to order the $26  "Serial PLM Kit" available (scroll down) on this page:

https://www.universal-devices.com/store/#top-row

He doesn't need that if he has his cable. He just needs an adapter. 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by lilyoyo1

[MJsan]

@lilyoyo1 What adapter are you mentioning? I've seen some posts talking about an RJ45 to USB (like the ones to enable console on some routers) but am hesitant on ordering anything that isn't vetted by someone smarter here

[Geddy]

7 minutes ago, MJsan said:

@lilyoyo1 What adapter are you mentioning? I've seen some posts talking about an RJ45 to USB (like the ones to enable console on some routers) but am hesitant on ordering anything that isn't vetted by someone smarter here

Check this product out:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Serial-adapter-DB-9-RJ-45/dp/B00006IRQA/

This would work. There is specific pin setup information though in posts that @Brian H has made in the past. Most frequently found here. 
 

[MJsan]

Thanks Geddy - that would get me from RJ45 to DB9... but the EISY only has USB so still need to get one more adapter. I've reached out to UD sales ... I can preorder the EISY but it won't let me add the $29 cable ... would have to order that AND pay another $10 shipping so hoping they can combine and save a little.