All of a sudden the ISY can communicate with my devices

[jmed999]

Well I had everything programmed and working great. Even this morning (early) I was able to control my lights via mobilinc. Then a couple hours later I couldn't control anything (I only have outletlincs and switchlincs). When I query it says it can communicate with anything. I unplugged the ISY and modemlinc and plugged them back in. Now my Insteon devices only work about every 5th time I try to change the status. This just started a couple hours ago.

 

It went from working perfect for a few days to not working good at all.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

[LeeG]

Look for something that was turned On during that time frame. Or perhaps turned Off if phase coupling has not been implemented.

[jmed999]

My phases are coupled. My devices work now but sporadically.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[jmed999]

Switchlincs and outletlincs on both phases are having a very difficult time communicating with the ISY.

[LeeG]

Look for a source of interference common to both 120v legs. Any PC/UPS/AV equipment on the same circuit as the PLM? Power supplies in these devices are common sources of signal attenuation or noise. CFLs, fluorescent lighting, are another source.

 

Run Tools | Diagnostics | Event Viewer with Level 3 selected. Send some traffic to the various devices and look at the Hops Left Count compared to the Max Hops count. A differential of 1 between Max Hops and Hops Left count is good communication. A Hops Left of 1 or 0 when Max Hops is 3 indicates communication at the end of the reliability scale. Also a varying Hops Left count communicating with the same device indicates a communications problem.

[jmed999]

Some of my switchlincs are dual band so I'm not sure if it's something else plugged in or not. Some of them are on the same phase as the modemlinc and have been working flawlessly for days. I don't have anything plugged in today that wasn't plugged in last night.

 

Sometimes the devices will turn on and sometimes they wont but this just started today.

 

My max hops is 3 and the hops left varies from 0 to 2. It varies by device and time. ie. If I turn the same device on and off several times within 30 seconds the hops left may go from 1 to 0 to err to 2 to 0. It's very sporadic.

 

I'm bummed!

 

Thanks for the help!

[LeeG]

Something on the powerline is interfering with Insteon communication. With the Hops Left count changing as it is something is attenuating (signal sucker) the Insteon signal or generating noise. If there are no appliances On now that were not On before, if there is no other electronic equipment powered from the same circuit as the PLM, turn all the circuit breakers Off except the one that powers the ISY and PLM. If any of the other Insteon devices are also powered at this point see if communication is reliable to those devices. If no other Insteon device is powered turn On one breaker that has other Insteon device(s) installed and see if reliable communication is possible. By process of elimination the source of the problem may be identified.

 

Unfortunately there is no magic bullet, no simple test that will find the source of the problem. I’ve covered the common sources in the previous posts.

[Brian H]

Was any new electronic devices added to the home or something moved?

Something a simply moving my favorite game console or cell phone charger. Could change things.

[jmed999]

No nothing changed. I woke up early and went outside before daybreak. I was controlling my outside lights at ease. My wife was the only other person at home but she was sleeping. I couple hours later suddenly nothing worked. She was still in bed asleep.

 

With that said I guess it must be some noise in the line so I'll have to see if I can find it.

 

Things were working flawlessly before and now my devices work about every other time I try to change state via the admin console and mobilinc.

 

Thanks!

 

BTW, what are the most common contributors to these type of communication problems?

[jmed999]

Oh and my devices are dual band so are powerline communication issues even possible? Seems like if the powerline was having noise or some other issue the device would know to use dual band instead.

 

Thoughts?

[LeeG]

Are all the devices in RF range of the ISY PLM? If not the powerline is used. Could be a baby monitor, cordless phone, anything in the 900 MHz range generating interference but I would start with the powerline unless you have a device (besides Insteon) that operates in the same frequency range.

 

The more common powerline interference devices are noted in my earlier posts.

[jmed999]

Thanks for your help!

 

Yeah the devices are all within 40 feet of the ISY and no walls to go through. We don't have a baby monitor or cordless phones. The only thing we have that is RF is 2 remote controls and google TV...they are all 3 RF.

[LeeG]

I'm still thinking powerline issue but note that my 900 MHz cordless phones works 1000' from the base. Could be a neighbor has something in the 900 MHz band but I think that possibility is low on the possibility list.