Got the ISY 994 , controlling Insteon and original smarthome X10 switches, but stray signals are occasionally causing strange things to happen with X10 controlled lights. Rather than replace the older X10 switches with Insteon, it seems like Zwave may be in my future. At a different location, I have a few Z-wave devices controlled by a Ring base station, and Alexa... but no X10 or Insteon at that location.

If I go with an EISY, will I also need that $152 bridge, and my existing Smarthome powerline adapter? And when that 15 year old powerline adapter dies, then what?

Is the EISY programming / software still similar to the ISY 994? In other words, 1970s?

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by arf1410

To use the eisy with Zwave, you either need the ZMatter dongle, or a Zooz 700 series USB stick (not sure if it's still available). The powerline adapter (2413S or 2413U) is needed if you want to control Insteon or X10 devices. New ones are still available. Most eisy users have Insteon, which is very versatile with scenes, etc. All my own wall switches and things like IOLinc modules are Insteon. I do have Zwave locks, a few appliance modules, and a water shutoff valve. You can probably create an all Zwave setup if you want to. The ZMatter dongle also supports Zigbee.

Yes, the programming is still very similar to the ISY994i. Not always sexy, but very functional.

Does the EISY really gain me anything over finding a cheap used z-wave dongle, or i994zw ?

Well, you get great support by UDI (isy994i is no longer suppoerted), free updates and ever increasing device support (Zwave, Zigbee, Homekit, Alexa, Matter still in beta), an upcoming web based console (eisy-ui), plugins for many popular devices or platforms (Hue, Elk, etc). Essentially, ongoing futureproofing.

More reading... it appears I may have to pay a $125 fee to "transfer" it to me if I buy a used ISY994ZW? on the other hand, I thought an advantage of ISY if it worked totally self contained... it didnt need to communicate with UD?

15 minutes ago, arf1410 said:

More reading... it appears I may have to pay a $125 fee to "transfer" it to me if I buy a used ISY994ZW? on the other hand, I thought an advantage of ISY if it worked totally self contained... it didnt need to communicate with UD?

It is self contained which is why yours has continued to work even though it's been over a year since support ended. The fee is for udi to manually transfer modules over from one to another since it's a device that they no longer support.

With that said, if you're buying an isy that already has zwave, there would be nothing for udi to do. You would just back up and restore your isy to the new. Once done, add your zwave devices.

The old X10 power line interface device will not be used with either eisy or ISY994i

Both require a 2413 PLM. ISY994i a 2413S serial port PLM, Eisy a 2413U USB PLM or optional USB to serial 2413S adapter UDI sells.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Brian H

I have a powerline interface that I'm using with my ISY994i. can I use the same one with an EISY, or will I also need to purchase a new/ different one?

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by arf1410

The eisy uses an USB port to interface with the PLM, you'll need an USB to serial convertor cable such as this one: Serial PLM Kit - Universal Devices

or you can use a 2413U USB PLM