Switching to ISY994i from SmartHome controllers

[Denenstein]

I just switched my home control from X10 which I have had for 30 years to Insteon. My switches and modules were already Insteon compatible. I purchased a 2412n with SmartLinc and a 2413UH with houselinc and have them setup but am not completely happy with how they work. I am using MobiLinc HD with several iPods to control the 2412n and several 2440 controllers to talk to houselink. I just ordered an ISY994i/IR PRO (I have a Pronto IR remote that I want to use also) and plan to switch over to that because if I understand correctly it will replace both of the other controllers. I want to know what I need to do to switch over. Do I need to erase all of the existing links and scenes in the other two controllers and if so can I create scenes in the ISY first to see if I am happy with it? Thanks for any advice

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Denenstein,

 

From my experience, I have yet to see an installation take less time using crawl vs. starting fresh. The time you will spend in figuring out which scenes are supposed to do what and all associated inconsistencies is usually much more than if you start fresh.

 

And, by the way, welcome to our world!

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Denenstein]

Thanks for the advice. I guess what I will do is setup a few modules and a couple of scenes and play with the interface for a week or two to see if I like it and if the IR is happy with my Pronto. If I like it I will wipe everything and start fresh. All of the links to everything including the smartlinc 2412n appear in houselinc. If I just delete all the modules and controllers in houselinc will that erase the links from the switches and controllers as well?

 

Thanks again for your time

 

Burt

[LeeG]

When the Insteon devices are added to the ISY use the default option "Remove existing links". This insures the device link database is clean.

 

I used the crawl method once when setting up an ISY for the primary house devices. I wanted to see how it worked as all my tests up to that point had added devices with the Remove existing links option. Devices are named the Insteon address and Scene names are in the form Scene xxxx where xxxx is a number. It took days to get all the devices named, the Scenes named, and the Scenes cleaned up from bad link information. Was an interesting exercise and certainly doable but not the best approach.

 

Since the devices are known to HouseLinc note all the device Insteon addresses ahead of time with some meaningful names. Could save removing some cover plates down the line.

[Denenstein]

I actually spoke to someone named Ran at UD after my last post and he mentioned the option of removing all previous links at install time. I have an Excel spreadsheet with the Insteon address and location of every piece of Insteon equipment that I have in service. Looking forward to delivery of ISY on Wednesday from SmartHome - I bought the ISY994i/IR PRO so I can use my Pronto IR remote. I did not need the PRO option but SmartHome does not sell the IR unit in the standard bundled with the 2413S.

 

This is quite a different world than X10 which I have been using for 30+ years since the late seventies when it was introduced and sold by Radio Shack & BSR. Fortunately I am a computer consultant so all of this makes a fair amount of sense and I have an ethernet switch in the Living Room where the ISY is going to live

 

Thanks for the help

 

Burt