Dumb this down for me, switching from ISY to eISY...

[watson524]

Hi all,

Long time ISY user with a mix of insteon hardwired and plugins and also a filterlinc plugged in where needed and a "phase jumper" in the electrical panel (I forget what that's called), plus a few Z wave plugs and some locks (that are learned into our security system).

I am thinking of switching from ISY but have a question on the PLM. I have a PLM plugged in and I'd like to get rid of it because I don't like any extra wires than necessary and the outlet it seems to work best in makes the wire show across a wall.

Am I correct in my understanding that with any insteon, I must have the PLM no matter the system? So ISY or going to the new eISY I need it?

How easy is the conversion from ISY to eISY so I don't lose all my Christmas scenes, etc?

Thanks!

[Brian H]

If your system has Insteon modules. The eisy requires a USB 2413U or the serial PLM you are now using for your ISY994i with the UDI custom serial interface cable. 

I don't use ZWave but I believe you need an added device connected to the eisy.

Edited Tuesday at 04:42 PM by Brian H

[watson524]

2 minutes ago, Brian H said:

If your system has Insteon modules. The eisy requires a USB 2413U or the serial PLM you are now using with the UDI custom serial interface cable. 

So either way, as long as I have insteon, I need a separate box plugged into a wall and connected to the controller with either the custom cable or a USB cable. Thank you for that info. Now it's just a matter of if I want to switch from ISY to eISY now or wait until things die. I think I have a backup PLM here too (we moved into my parents house and both houses had the setup) but don't know how to test that to see if it works should my current PLM die and I need a backup

[Techman]

@watson524

If you move up to the eisy the best PLM to use would be the 2413U. It's an USB model that plugs into the USB port on the eisy using a standard USB cable.

The 2413U is currently backordered and will be available sometime in October.

In the meantime make sure you always have a current ISY backup.  There is no way to test your spare PLM without actually installing it on your ISY. For now it's probably best just to keep it as a spare.

What's the current firmware version of your ISY?

Edited Tuesday at 07:28 PM by Techman

[Geddy]

On 8/26/2025 at 12:44 PM, watson524 said:

So either way, as long as I have insteon, I need a separate box plugged into a wall and connected to the controller with either the custom cable or a USB cable.

No, if you want to stay with the ISY or eisy you need to have the PLM to communicated from IoX device to the Insteon devices. 

If you wanted to change to the Insteon Hub you don't need the PLM (it's built into the hub). However, you might give up much of the benefit of the ISY/eisy "power" for automation. Also, if you do update to the eisy you can begin to expand your system with any number of systems that developers build plugins for. 

But if you're desire it to ditch the PLM then going to the Insteon Hub is an option.

However, the problem then becomes what do you do to control the z-wave and alarm items you have? I don't think the Insteon Hub supports anything beyond the Insteon line. That's where the advantage really favors the UD products. 

On 8/26/2025 at 12:04 PM, watson524 said:

How easy is the conversion from ISY to eISY so I don't lose all my Christmas scenes, etc?

Very simple (see the wiki for method to migrate). UD has made it simple to backup the current (ISY994) system and restore it into the eisy. There are some issues people have stumbled into, but overall that's just the posts you see here trying to get help for those issues. I'm sure there are unknown many that have converted without issue so thus there's no real need to post here. If/when you're ready to migrate to an eisy make sure you read the wiki method completely. Don't try to move step by step until you've read it all the way through. Also, make a digital copy of your programs by copying the root program folder to the clipboard and pasting in a TEXT editor (for Windows use Notepad). The (Insteon) "scenes" will migrate over as part of restoring the backup. 

On 8/26/2025 at 12:04 PM, watson524 said:

some locks (that are learned into our security system).

Depending on your alarm panel it might take additional effort to move it to the eisy. What alarm system are you using? If you have the ELK module on your ISY994 then know it's been changed to a plugin. You will need to setup the plugin and reconnect the ELK system then recreate programs (I think...I don't use ELK so not 100% sure if the programs break in the migration - this is why it's important to have that digital "hard" copy of existing programs so you can use that to recreate any that do break and not have to go from memory from "long ago" when things were setup).

Or are you saying the locks are Z-wave too?

 

[watson524]

On 8/26/2025 at 3:27 PM, Techman said:

@watson524

The 2413U is currently backordered and will be available sometime in October.

What's the current firmware version of your ISY?

Looks like it's now in November according to the site.

My ISY is on v.5.0.13C

3 hours ago, Geddy said:

If you wanted to change to the Insteon Hub you don't need the PLM (it's built into the hub). However, you might give up much of the benefit of the ISY/eisy "power" for automation. Also, if you do update to the eisy you can begin to expand your system with any number of systems that developers build plugins for. 

 

Depending on your alarm panel it might take additional effort to move it to the eisy. What alarm system are you using? 

Or are you saying the locks are Z-wave too?

 

Sounds like I'm going to stay with the insteon hub then and just get the USB PLM when the time comes, and it's available.

My alarm is through Vector security. That won't get moved to the eisy. The 2 door locks are z-wave but they're learned into the vector system (along with 2 lamp type plugins that act as repeaters since the front door is about as far as you can get from the alarm panel). So I assume the 2 door locks and 2 repeaters that are learned into the Vector system will just have to stay there and not be part of my eisy setup.

[paulbates]

I just looked at Insteon.com and could add both varieties of PLM to my cart.

[oberkc]

Not mentioned is the reliance of the hub on the internet and cloud services.  Such devices run the risk of becoming a door stop should the cloud service cease to operate.  I have always considered local operation to be a major selling point of the ISY series of controllers.

[watson524]

Are there things a non-programmer can do with the eISY that I can't do on the ISY? Adding more of a variety of devices I'd imagine? I'd love to have some kind of leak monitoring on my water system other than the kinda dumb one I have from my insurance company now (tho I also would need to get my wireless pushed around better to certain spots in the house)

[Geddy]

40 minutes ago, watson524 said:

Adding more of a variety of devices I'd imagine? I'd love to have some kind of leak monitoring on my water system other than the kinda dumb one I have from my insurance company now

First, depends what you want to achieve with the eisy. Other than leak monitoring if you're happy with how your system works now then eisy is just going to get you to the currently supported hardware from UD. 

For leak sensors there are 3rd party options that are really good. Personally, I use the YoLink water sensors. That does require another hub (a YoLink hub), but the range of YoLink is wonderful. I have not looked at the recent hub options, but I know my hub is able to connect with ethernet or wirelessly so you can put the hub nearly anywhere (out of the way). Then you get the YoLink plugin and can bring everything into the IoX system for alerts and other handling. I think some said YoLink even has a water shutoff option that they incorporate into their system as well. I've not looked into that. 

Since you do run Z-wave you would also need to buy the ZMatter dongle for the eisy to keep running Z-wave. I'm sure there are z-wave leak sensors available as an option so you wouldn't need a 3rd party hub or plugin. I just have not explored those options so don't know of any suggestions that work well and work with ZMatter. You'll need a strong Z-wave network if the sensors are far from where you keep the ISY994 (currently). 

49 minutes ago, watson524 said:

(tho I also would need to get my wireless pushed around better to certain spots in the house)

If you use something like YoLink that system has LoRa so does not need your wifi to be improved it uses its own hub and devices to have very long range. However, like everything else building shape and material can hamper radio/wireless signals so no guarantee it would reach if very extreme distances or dense material to pass through.

 

12 hours ago, watson524 said:

My ISY is on v.5.0.13C

With this version that indicates you might have the 300 series z-wave module on the ISY994. According to the wiki it seems only the 500 series is able to migrate to the eisy. You might need to rebuild your z-wave side of the system. I haven't kept up with the z-wave progression to know if UD has found a way to also migrate the 300 series module. I think there's a post in the (old) z-wave area how to determine which board/series you have if you want to confirm what you have installed. If you find that you have the 500 series then I would suggest fully updating to the current ISY994 firmware for that controller before (if) you migrate to the eisy. 

[oberkc]

11 hours ago, Geddy said:

With this version that indicates you might have the 300 series z-wave module on the ISY994. According to the wiki it seems only the 500 series is able to migrate to the eisy.

This is a good point.  My experience with the transition from the ISYwas not exactly trouble-free, and much of the struggle was with Z-wave side of things.  You describe your z-wave devices as "a few".  If "few" means not to many, it may be easier and even beneficial to simply remove them from the ISY network, factory reset the z-wave devices, and add them back.