toymaster458
Active Member
I think you miss read my post. I was making a statement on what I felt was on the programmers mind when they designed the database structure for the lighting control of the M1. That might of been acceptable when they designed the M1 but with today's changing technology the database needs to change with it.Spanky said:I agree with Toymaster that all lighting devices should be individually addressable.
Today alone I have been fighting that database structure trying to get X10 motion sensors from a W800, INSTEON and native X10 devices all to be happy together in the database. I also had to explain to a prospective client that even though the M1 can work with multiple Lighting technologies it is difficult to get multiple working on the same M1 because they can conflict with each other. Pretty soon I will have to make a spread sheet of all the do's and don'ts and plot out my lighting placement and addressing just to make the database happy.
I am not sure if I am the only one that thinks this way but the way the Lighting database is done, needs to be changed as soon as possible. I know this would create a MAJOR undertaking but if it is not done it may be the downfall of the M1. Users are going to be wanting to mix technologies together to give them the best options for their needs.
I have over 60 INSTEON switches and it was not fun going around the house putting every one in link mode twice. I had to due it twice because when I got done I found that I forgot a light that should have been grouped with others. Then to get 2-way status I need to go back and link each one to the PowerLinc again (Which I have not done due to time). On top of this When my wife goes into the Web interface she has no idea on which page of lighting is the light she wants to control. She finds it easier to use the switch directly rather then use the M1 which defeats the purpose of the web interface.
Please do not get me wrong, I love the M1 but I am starting to hate the lighting portion. I started using the M1 because of the reliability but it is starting to be a pain in the butt. I am not looking forward to installing the M1 with INSTEON in a customers home, it will end up costing more in setup then it would just to use UPB. I am also not looking forward to the time you release a new firmware update or if a switch fails and I have to do this all over in the same order.We all know Elk can do a better job at implementing INSTEON because of the quality products they have and we see the features we want in competing products.
Wife factor: If my wife can turn on a light from a web page with out an index, then its good.