I am assuming that if an Insteon Range Extender is connected within range of other insteon devices - it is going to receive signals and then transmit them regardless of whether the Extender is tied to an ISY (eisy, 994, etc) system. 

Can anyone confirm or deny this assumption?

Thanks!

40 minutes ago, glsmith777 said:

Can anyone confirm or deny this assumption?

I'm not sure. Perhaps some on here can, but might be better to ask Insteon directly or check their forums. 

https://www.insteon.com/support

Looks like owner's manual is here: https://www.insteon.com/support-knowledgebase/2014/9/26/range-extender-owners-manual

 

Thank you Geddy

I did check the owners manual - it just says plug it in near one device to allow it to extend the range to another device - was not that helpful.  Not interested in bridging power grid legs -so its functionality should be pretty simple.

I will post to Insteon support .

Greg

 

 

Edited May 22, 20232 yr by glsmith777

The range extender, or any dual band plug in module, will relay the Insteon signal using both RF and powerline. It will also act as a powerline bridge if it's on the opposite leg of your powerline from another dual band device that's within range of the extender/module

Note: any plug-in module is more effective than an embedded module because the antenna is free of obstructions compared to switches which have the antenna located in the rear of the switch.

Edited May 22, 20232 yr by Techman

16 hours ago, Techman said:

The range extender, or any dual band plug in module, will relay the Insteon signal using both RF and powerline. It will also act as a powerline bridge if it's on the opposite leg of your powerline from another dual band device that's within range of the extender/module

Note: any plug-in module is more effective than an embedded module because the antenna is free of obstructions compared to switches which have the antenna located in the rear of the switch.

I can confirm this to be correct.  I have two separate Insteon networks in my house.  One system only has a couple of devices and and is used for text.  However I note that singles are echo'd (blink on traffic) by all devices in the main Insteon network.  

The Range Extender and the older Access Points. Are not added into the ISY configuration. They pass and receive Insteon commands to and from others. By RF and Power Line.

Tested with the built in communications tests and observing the LED flashing patterns on them and Dual Band devices. For communicating and on the same or opposite phase of the power feeding it and a module.

I agree with everything posted above regarding the range extenders.  In theory, they should be the answer to many powerline evils in a typical home (signal absorption and noise).

What I have seen in practice is that Insteon appears to have a "preference" for powerline signals.  One might think that would be a good thing.  Unfortunately, some devices seem to take this too far by attempting to discriminate low level signals from noise on the line, while rejecting a valid RF signal.  I have successfully demonstrated this by "jamming" devices with a low level powerline noise signal while providing them a valid RF command.  Curiously, high level jamming/noise is detected as such and the devices switch to RF. 

Caveat - My testing is already several years old.  Things may have changed with later hardware/firmware releases.

The upshot - If adding an extender does NOT work, you may need to investigate powerline loads near the target device (disconnect and test method).  I get that you are adding an extender to get around troubleshooting but life isn't always a box of chocolates (shameless plagiarism).  Improving powerline communications levels, or (counterintuitively) degrading signal levels may both help due to Insteons' preference for powerline.  I prefer improving the powerline signal levels, because I can measure them more easily than RF.  

 

Happly Automating,

IM 

On 5/24/2023 at 6:54 AM, IndyMike said:

  I have successfully demonstrated this by "jamming" devices with a low level powerline noise signal while providing them a valid RF command.  Curiously, high level jamming/noise is detected as such and the devices switch to RF. 

 

IndyMike,  

     Did you use one of the Israeli made Insteon Jammers  

If not curious how you accomplished the "jamming".