Hardware/Software Recommendation

[franknitty69]

First off let me start off by saying this is wonderful forum with a wealth of information. I have spent many nights up reading alot of the information.

I am new to HA and have read up on z-wave, x10, insteon and UPB.

I am a consultant and am away from my condo 4 days out of the week and i need to be able to control the power to 2 devices remotely. I also would like room to grow and maybe add some dimming. A plus would be having remote control via my logitech harmony 1100.

based on these requirements i decided on (have not purchased yet) Insteon technology with a plm 2413S (or plc 2414U) and homeseer. i have a dedicated computer to run homeseer so i think the plm should suffice.

Do you guys have any other alternatives or is what i have chosen good enough?

 

[etc6849]

You might also look into this free program: http://www.cocoontech.com/wiki/premise

If you go here, the download section has even more drivers than what's listed in the wiki included a beta zwave driver... http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showforum=51

 

[Rupp]

HomeSeer is a good choice but I'm curious about this question. Are you having issues?

 

[franknitty69]

HomeSeer is a good choice but I'm curious about this question. Are you having issues?

no issues yet. i'm just trying to get some insight on if this is a good path to proceed down or some alternatives.

i like homeseer and it seems to work with all tech and alot of different interfaces. and the hstouch option is simply amazing. i guess the hardware is where i have most of my questions.

 

[Rupp]

Insteon, Z-Wave, and UPB are all good "affordable" technologies. In addition the Insteon plugin is moving forward since Mark has taken it over and he's done a good job adding new device support. Early on Insteon was a problem child when it came to hardware issues but these seems to be worked out and getting better so if it's working well for you it sounds like a good fit.

 

[pete_c]

Ideally for me would be an all inclusive plugin to my OPII panel from HSPro.

Today I have my HVAC, lighting and security connected to my OPII. I can control the functions via HSPro via the current plugin.

Just purchased a Z-Wave controller and a serial cable to my Russound amp which I am pluggin into the OPII.

Kind of but not really pushing the OPII panel now with X10, Z-Wave, UPB, HVAC....Ideally with one "portal" or plugin from HSPro to the OPII panel to add an alternate method of control and running more complex HA scripts would be greatly beneficial. The OPII panel would just be another device to interact with the HA server and vice versa. The two devices would compliment each others functions.

I would then feel more comfortable building a small atom based low power HA server which primarily would be tasked with functions which are very HA unique. IE: the ability to utilize various TTS fonts, screen scraps of CNN, complex powerline scripts utilizing variables created by both OPII and HSPro boxes, etc....

I still have "duplicate" power line controllers on the HSPro and HA server. It would be of benefit to offset specific to controller events / commands to only one device (OPII) versus duplicating my efforts.

 

[cwintermeyer]

Insteon, Z-Wave, and UPB are all good "affordable" technologies. In addition the Insteon plugin is moving forward since Mark has taken it over and he's done a good job adding new device support. Early on Insteon was a problem child when it came to hardware issues but these seems to be worked out and getting better so if it's working well for you it sounds like a good fit.

I couldn't agree with Rupp more. I've been a Homeseer user for years, first with X10 and then switched to Insteon a couple years ago. At first, Insteon was very painful with Homeseer, but now it's extremely reliable and I couldn't be happier with the new plugins.

 

[franknitty69]

thanks for the all the recommendations. i'm currently running insteon with homeseer pro. i have the PowerLinc Modem dual-band 2413U, a few v2 appliancelincs and a few dual-band lamplincs.

 

[123]

This thread sounds like Rupp having a conversation with one of his "alter egos".

Just saying' ... each alter-Rupp has 3 or 4 posts apiece ... we've all seen this before.


---------------
No offense; just a l'il friendly kiddin' around there, Rupp (aka "NewAutomationUser").

 

[Rupp]

This thread sounds like Rupp having a conversation with one of his "alter egos".

Just saying' ... each alter-Rupp has 3 or 4 posts apiece ... we've all seen this before.


---------------
No offense; just a l'il friendly kiddin' around there, Rupp (aka "NewAutomationUser").

No offense taken. It takes much more than this to get me going and now that you mention it - it does sound that way

 

[pete_c]

BTW - saw a demo of the new IPAD HS Touch interface at our last Chicagoland Users group meeting. I was very impressed. The IPad is a work of art. The connectivity was via an IPhone 3G tether. The touch responses were quick and the screen layouts were very nice.

I can imagine that the Apple folks (MAC and Iphone users) start completing their HA stuff with IPads all over their home.

 

[ano]

Ideally for me would be an all inclusive plugin to my OPII panel from HSPro.

Just wondering, on HomeSeer is there a plugin that supports the OPII via TCP/IP and Ethernet? When I left Homeseer they used a serial connection via polling all the devices on the OPII, and it didn't work very well. There was "talk" of an Ethernet version, but don't know if it was anything more than talk.

I switched to CQC which has had the Ethernet TCP/IP non-polling interface for many years now and its SOOOO much better than polling via a serial connection.

 

[pete_c]

Just wondering, on HomeSeer is there a plugin that supports the OPII via TCP/IP and Ethernet? When I left Homeseer they used a serial connection via polling all the devices on the OPII, and it didn't work very well. There was "talk" of an Ethernet version, but don't know if it was anything more than talk.

Just the very "old" legacy serial HS to HAI plugin. There are issues with it. I still use the polling for HS events. It's a bit slow but does work. The plugin recognizes the UPB devices but doesn't work with them. It doesn't recognize Z-
Wave devices at all. The thermostat functions were a cause of some major WAF issues with odd pegging of the thermostat to temperature extremes. (Like setting the thermostat at 68F then noticing the house getting warm and looking at the setting oddly go to 90F).

ano - do you have some screenshots of the CQC HAI interface? I was looking yesterday but only noticed some basic stuff. Does the CQC interface work with all of the HAI plugged in devices (connectivity partners stuff?).

 

[sic0048]

ano - do you have some screenshots of the CQC HAI interface? I was looking yesterday but only noticed some basic stuff. Does the CQC interface work with all of the HAI plugged in devices (connectivity partners stuff?).

Well the good/bad thing about CQC is there are no "stock interfaces." So everything must be created. However, here is the CQC HAI driver page which lists all the commands that CQC uses to communicate with the HAI panel. Looking at it, it seems that it handles alarm, thermostat, lighting, and audio commands as well as allows you to speak messages, make calls, etc with the panel.

Creating the interfaces really isn't hard. Everything is point and click. It can take a little getting use to, but in the end it is infinitely customizable and therefore it is easy to get some very professional looking interfaces with it.

Although I don't have a security specific interface here is a set of my current interfaces I've designed with CQC. I use my Elk system to trigger a stuff in my system (like roll the HVAC setpoints back when armed at night or away - which I do have a template designed to change those settings), but I don't have a current need to arm/disarm the ELK or need other visual feedback regarding the ELK in my CQC system. Other users do want those capabilies and have added them to their templates.

 

[pete_c]

Thanks Brian.

Yes today its variables which I create with HS. These variables are derived from the polling of the panel. I use the variables to create events. A UPS delivery triggered by both PIR and doorbell connected to HAI panel. Read by HS.

On the other hand as you with the Elk I don't use HS to arm or disarm the panel but rather for just reading status or TTS voice announcements/events with whomever is shutting of the alarm.

Now as I expand into UPB and Z-Wave would like to utilize those features but am kind of "stuck" right now because the interface doesn't talk to those devices.

Your current interfaces look nice. Thank you for your suggestions.