matapan Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 Does anyone have any guidelines on what constitutes a "good" network? How much time should the all device query process take with ISY under ideal conditions, for each device? Are there people here running in the "ideal conditions" category, where they don't get sporadic "Cannot Communicate with ", or have responders to scenes that don't always respond to the scene command. No negatives here. Just wondering if anyone has reached the ideal, 100% reliable configuration. I have some v35 Switchlincs. Since there are 12 of them, I'm mulling over whether biting the bullet and paying the cost for replacing that many switches (god, that's a lot of money!) will resolve my own seemingly random network issues.
LeeG Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 matapan I don't think it is possible to reach a true 100% network. It is a 120/240V electrical circuit with relatively low signals superimposed. Lots of equipment generating intermittent interference that is generally well tolerated and/or compensated for. I consider my network very reliable. If something becomes unreliable I find the cause. The last was the flat screen TV that caused some intermittent problems which a FilterLinc resolved. The key is not to let things go. When a situation surfaces find the answer. They rarely go away on their own. A KeypadLinc in the garage stopped working. It went dark from the power interruptions during a hurricane and it lost all its link records. Many of my KeypadLincs are very old and do go dark or lock up from power interruptions. An air gap power cycle clears the problem. The garage KeypadLinc is the only one to lose its link records. Also lost an ICON Relay in the basement which was probably caused by the same hurricane related power problems. I cannot remember the last time I saw a communications error popup but they do happen. I have FilterLincs on the UPS and associated computer equipment, a flat screen TV and two other UPS devices located around the house. A few CFLs, all in the basement that have not caused problems although CFLs are a common source of interference. I have distant runs to a dock and a detached garage both with reliable Insteon communication. Two very old RF SignaLincs that I started with and two Access Points. Just realized a few days ago that one of the Access Points is no longer working for RF. Suspect it was damaged during various power problems during the hurricane but it may have just failed. A 2413 PLM is covering that function until a replacement arrives. Not everyone sees problems with the v35 SwitchLincs but more than enough have to suggest they should be replaced. Those that have replaced them report much improved communication. I have no v35 SwitchLincs. I have no timing information for a Query. Lee
ELA Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 Thanks for your response on this LeeG, I agree completely. I have to question when people state that their Insteon network is 100%. After all the work I have done recently to strengthen my network, and I thought I was done, yet another issue reared its head. A mood light lamp that I do not use that often failed to turn off as part of a scene off command. I am in the process of debugging that now. I also believe in not ignoring issues and addressing them when noticed. I have been surprised at the number of signal suckers that may be present in the average home.
matapan Posted October 26, 2011 Author Posted October 26, 2011 A useful feature enhancement, if cost effective would be to provide a visual indicator on each Insteon device which would provide immediate, intuitive, and simple feedback to the user when a device has marginal communication with the controller. A diagnostic mode providing the equivalent of a "toner" device would also be useful for the end user to quickly determine which devices are on a circuit. Yes, I'm taking wide brushstrokes here with implementation assumptions of how things work under the cover. Until these sorts of things are addressed, Insteon will remain a hobbyist or bleeding edge adopter type of technology. The user scenarios of the average homeowner still haven't been taken into account, even if a 100% reliable network isn't really a practical day to day goal.
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