HouseLinc vs Powerhome
- Thread starter jeffx
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upstatemike
Senior Member
I don't have both but I believe that PowerHome may have an edge on link management. It has been out longer and has already gone through a bunch of bug fixes and enhancements.
Maybe Dave could explain some of the key differences in the way PowerHome manages links v.s. HouseLinc.
Maybe Dave could explain some of the key differences in the way PowerHome manages links v.s. HouseLinc.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Is HB the same thing as HouseLinc?TonyNo said:
TonyNo
Active Member
I prefer PH for its link management. PH has some nice features such as a replace device utility that HL does not have. So for a large install, PH is the way to go for link management.
HL has PH beat when it comes to timers. Timers are very easy to set up in HL, where in PH you need almost do some programming. That is supposed to change in the next PH version.
If you have a small install( <20 devices), the HL should do fine. Over 20 and I would go with PH.
HL has PH beat when it comes to timers. Timers are very easy to set up in HL, where in PH you need almost do some programming. That is supposed to change in the next PH version.
If you have a small install( <20 devices), the HL should do fine. Over 20 and I would go with PH.
SmartLabsMike
Active Member
Hi Herdfan,Herdfan said:
HouseLinc has a SwapIDs feature similar to the replace device utility that PowerHome has. (Right click on the device and select Swap IDs)
The problem with HouseLinc's 'swap ID's' is that it doesn't attempt to clear out the links from the old device. And since it deletes the old device from the device list, you have to go and rediscover it and clean out the mess manually. If you don't, then it still responds to the group broadcasts from its old controller.
It's not a big deal, but I prefer PH's way of doing it. It leaves the replaced device in the device list until you delete it, and it also attempts to clean out its old links. This was convenient when moving keypadlinc1.3 and keypadlinc1.0 devices around to get the flickering keypad ones out of the bedrooms and into rooms where it didn't matter.
What bugs me about PH is that it stores so much stuff in a database (sybase) and you have to manually refresh various displays a lot - no auto refresh!
Houselinc has some annoying (but understandable) initial release bugs. The auto-detect didn't work properly in my case. The powerlincV2 that I let it use had every single one of the devices in my house registered on it from being used with powerhome. I started houselinc with a blank state and let it start discovering. It downloaded the devices from the powerlincV2, but only probed some of them. The first few were detected fine, but others in the list were completely ignored and I had to manually force them to be detected. Houselinc should have got them all because it downloaded the entire list. Instead, it only "detected" about 1/3 of them.
But powerhome doesn't have an autodetect mode...
It's not a big deal, but I prefer PH's way of doing it. It leaves the replaced device in the device list until you delete it, and it also attempts to clean out its old links. This was convenient when moving keypadlinc1.3 and keypadlinc1.0 devices around to get the flickering keypad ones out of the bedrooms and into rooms where it didn't matter.
What bugs me about PH is that it stores so much stuff in a database (sybase) and you have to manually refresh various displays a lot - no auto refresh!
Houselinc has some annoying (but understandable) initial release bugs. The auto-detect didn't work properly in my case. The powerlincV2 that I let it use had every single one of the devices in my house registered on it from being used with powerhome. I started houselinc with a blank state and let it start discovering. It downloaded the devices from the powerlincV2, but only probed some of them. The first few were detected fine, but others in the list were completely ignored and I had to manually force them to be detected. Houselinc should have got them all because it downloaded the entire list. Instead, it only "detected" about 1/3 of them.
But powerhome doesn't have an autodetect mode...
WayneW
Senior Member
I guess that depends upon your definition of "autodetect" because I think it does have this feature, at least as well as the Insteon protocol allows. You put PH in its autodiscovery mode and walk around a touch your devices once and they are learned.PeterW said:
Can HL learn all your devices without existing links and without you touching your modules? If so, what prevents you from learning your neighbors hardware by accident?
Yes, HL does what the docs call "spidering" to discover. It looks at any device it knows and uses any references in its' table, polls them, adds them to the list then does it again with whatever those know about.
It's a nice theory... but probably not all that realistic unless all your Insteon devices touch each other in some "six-degrees" sort of way.
BTW, I have both PH & HL... and have had a lot of trouble getting PH to work at all while HL works... uh... badly... but it works. There are a LOT of things I like about the basic link management and UI aspects of HL. Since I'm unable to get PH to work with Insteon thus far (still trying to figure it out), I'm left with what it LOOKS like it does... and it's just a funky UI compared to stuff I'm used to dealing with. That doesn't mean I won't prefer it once I get a handle on it, but... first impressions are worth something at least. B)
It may help to know that pretty much all the screenshots you get on the SH web site for HL are about ALL the screens there are. It's a pretty simple program. I've found it to be a bit crash-happy but works reliably on certain machines in certain circumstances. I've been trying it on four different systems and only one or two of them seem pretty reliable. It's no HomeSeer. It's no MainLobby. It absolutely ought to be included with the purchase of each PowerLinc (even if that meant they raised the price by... uh... $2... it's surely worth it
) so that folks could use - and clean up - their Insteon environment. Buggy as it is, it's a great start toward making Insteon a less expensive (and more featured in some ways like 2-way lighted switches) alternative to UPB.
I really wish there were one (XML?) format for sharing Insteon network details between software packages. A single file format that all Insteon programs could use to import knowledge about all the local Insteon network. Even better, perhaps the PLC could hold that knowledge as well... then as a software package talked to the PLC for the first time it could learn of all the devices, then learn of all their links by asking them. I really don't "get" why these things don't work this way. It seem the links can (should?) be in the PLC once it's been used by one software package and "spidering" would then be 100% effective.
It's a nice theory... but probably not all that realistic unless all your Insteon devices touch each other in some "six-degrees" sort of way.
BTW, I have both PH & HL... and have had a lot of trouble getting PH to work at all while HL works... uh... badly... but it works. There are a LOT of things I like about the basic link management and UI aspects of HL. Since I'm unable to get PH to work with Insteon thus far (still trying to figure it out), I'm left with what it LOOKS like it does... and it's just a funky UI compared to stuff I'm used to dealing with. That doesn't mean I won't prefer it once I get a handle on it, but... first impressions are worth something at least. B)
It may help to know that pretty much all the screenshots you get on the SH web site for HL are about ALL the screens there are. It's a pretty simple program. I've found it to be a bit crash-happy but works reliably on certain machines in certain circumstances. I've been trying it on four different systems and only one or two of them seem pretty reliable. It's no HomeSeer. It's no MainLobby. It absolutely ought to be included with the purchase of each PowerLinc (even if that meant they raised the price by... uh... $2... it's surely worth it
) so that folks could use - and clean up - their Insteon environment. Buggy as it is, it's a great start toward making Insteon a less expensive (and more featured in some ways like 2-way lighted switches) alternative to UPB.I really wish there were one (XML?) format for sharing Insteon network details between software packages. A single file format that all Insteon programs could use to import knowledge about all the local Insteon network. Even better, perhaps the PLC could hold that knowledge as well... then as a software package talked to the PLC for the first time it could learn of all the devices, then learn of all their links by asking them. I really don't "get" why these things don't work this way. It seem the links can (should?) be in the PLC once it's been used by one software package and "spidering" would then be 100% effective.
Powerhome seems to have a definite advantage with KeyPadLincs -- it can configure either 6 or 8 button mode and it can work with either toggle or non-toggle modes for the buttons. I am sure HL will resolve both of these eventually but rightnow it seems to be a plus for PH. I prefer PH's device rebuild and replace capability at present and I love how easy it is to clone buttons from one KPL to another.
The UI for PH linking is sometimes a pain - You constantly have to scroll or press refresh on many of the screens-- here I might give the slight advantage to HL.
The UI for PH linking is sometimes a pain - You constantly have to scroll or press refresh on many of the screens-- here I might give the slight advantage to HL.
Update after using both quite a bit more: HouseLinc is WAY ahead on UI and usability, IMNSHO; PowerHome is more consistent... I guess you could say "reliable", but... geez, what a miserable user interface. :blink:
I'm only using PowerHome to get the info into Elk. I'll be attempting that shortly.
I'm much more impressed with the usability of HL for managing links. I don't think the HL UI is fantastic - though I can't quite picture what the "better way" might be - but it's quite usable.
I'd love to see some of the "report" sort of things that PH has, but they're silly in PH since they are just a "report" and are not a functional interface.
In HL, if you have a device visible anywhere on the screen, you can control it, program it, learn it... whatever.
In PH, you have to move to a different element of the explorer tree to do anything meaningful or different. I keep right-clicking or double-clicking thinking it'll do something useful, but it's worse... it just goes to edit the field or eliminates the explorer tree.
I read in the PH forums that there's an update coming. I hope it's an improvement.
Back to HL: if they'll just get the reliability up a bit... good stuff.
I'm only using PowerHome to get the info into Elk. I'll be attempting that shortly.
I'm much more impressed with the usability of HL for managing links. I don't think the HL UI is fantastic - though I can't quite picture what the "better way" might be - but it's quite usable.
I'd love to see some of the "report" sort of things that PH has, but they're silly in PH since they are just a "report" and are not a functional interface.
In HL, if you have a device visible anywhere on the screen, you can control it, program it, learn it... whatever.
In PH, you have to move to a different element of the explorer tree to do anything meaningful or different. I keep right-clicking or double-clicking thinking it'll do something useful, but it's worse... it just goes to edit the field or eliminates the explorer tree.
I read in the PH forums that there's an update coming. I hope it's an improvement.
Back to HL: if they'll just get the reliability up a bit... good stuff.
dhoward
Member
Gregory,
Would it be possible for you to take a look at the new PowerHome beta (1.03.4.8) and once again give me your thoughts on the new Insteon Explorer UI and how it compares to HouseLinc (I don't have HouseLinc and have only seen screenshots). Ive been working hard on improving the UI and would like some feedback on how Im doing.
Many thanks.
Would it be possible for you to take a look at the new PowerHome beta (1.03.4.8) and once again give me your thoughts on the new Insteon Explorer UI and how it compares to HouseLinc (I don't have HouseLinc and have only seen screenshots). Ive been working hard on improving the UI and would like some feedback on how Im doing.
Many thanks.
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