What isthe advantage of the ISY99i Pro over the Smartlinc Central Controller?

I dont use smartlinc, but....

 

i understand that the smartlink has no, or very limited, conditional logic built in. Also, I would expect limited integration with other systems, such as weather, security, etc...

 

I am sure there are other differences that I am missing

I used a Smartlinc and upgraded to the isy-99i.

 

The isy-99i is completely programmable to "Events". The smartlinc was more better suited to timed schedules. With the isy-99i, I can say "if the hall light is turned on, and the thermostat is set below 65 degrees, turn it up to 68".

 

The isy-99i can also communicate with other network devices, and they can communicate with it. For instance, I have a Russound home audio system, with a RS232 port. I can send commands from the isy-99i to turn on specific zones, etc. I have mine set to turn off the kids bedroom zones at a specific time, if they left the music on when they went to sleep.

 

The isy-99i also handles all the physical programming between the actual insteon switches. For instance, if you have 2 switches controlling one light (a 3-way setup), you normally have to link the two together. That means walking to switch A to link to B, and B to link to A. If you have 3 switches controlling 1 light, it compounds the problems.

 

With the isy-99i, you do all the linking from 1 PC. You only have to link the switch to the isy-99i once, and then all links and scenes are controlled at the PC.

 

There is more to it than that, but those are the biggies for me.

Thank you! That was very helpful.