Insteon and Homeseer - thumbs up

J

jhimmel

Member
Just wanted to drop a note here about Insteon and Homeseer. The plugin has just gone through a major rewrite - primarily to work around SDM shortcomings. I must say, this reworked plugin is just fantastic.

Besides improved reliabilty, it has added features such as device replace and communication reliability stats for each device. Great for finding weak spots in your Insteon network. The keypadlinc support is excellent. It works a lot faster now too. Deleting links and creating/modifying groups is MUCH quicker.

The new plugin is completing testing and not yet in the Homeseer updater, but I expect it will be soon.

Between the replaced hardware from Smarthome, and this new plugin, I am just thrilled with the way Insteon is finally working in my home. Now I'll just be watching for the release of new Insteon devices.

Jim H.
 
Will this work with PLC firmware 1.6 or do you need to upgrade your PLC to the latest firmware rev to use it?
 
There are firmware problems yet you have to pay for shipping. When that happens with a switch etc. you dont have to pay for shipping.

The policies are as inconsitant as the reliability of the product.
 
Digger said:
There are firmware problems yet you have to pay for shipping. When that happens with a switch etc. you dont have to pay for shipping.

The policies are as inconsitant as the reliability of the product.
Click to expand...
For those of us who invested heavily in Insteon, you are right that it has been a real drag to have to deal with all the replacement hardware - and in this case, the shipping expense as well. However, the real disaster would have been if, after all this, we never actually wound up with a working system.

I started to entertain the real possibility that this thing would NEVER get worked out and that I would have invested far too much in a failed experiment. I was an early adopter. I took a risk and I paid some penalties for that. At the time of my purchase, it is absolutely true that Smarthome did not have a finished, working product.

I'm not here to praise Smarthome. That being said, I am glad that they seem to be trying to bring the product to where it SHOULD have been at launch. I'm not going to make myself crazy over a couple of dollars shipping at this stage of the game. It's not worth it. Also, and the reason for my first post, I am just thrilled that Jon Ort was able to overcome SH SDM deficiencies and beat this thing into submission on the software side.

The fact is - at this stage of the game - I have a lighting system that is working better than my X-10 system ever did. I just am not seeing any failures at all. Maybe I'm just relieved after a long, tense, problematic initial experience that really had me worried. Right now I am happy that it is working, and working well.

Jim H.
 
I have over $1500 invested in Insteon. It doesnt work they way they claimed it would work. I have switches dropping dead. I have a serial Powerlinc that never worked out of the box. I am tired of talking to thier customer service who tell me I have to "Buy More" to strengthen my mesh if I want to to work.

As switches die I am not replacing them with Insteon I am putting in regular switches. I am going to exchange them for new ones and then sell them since the hardware and firmware have a lot of bugs that need fixing. I have seen to many recalls and I guess that they are not over yet.

For some people $1500 is a drop in the bucket. For me its a lot of money. I cant see pouring more and more money into this. Maybe in 3 or 4 years I will look at this again. For now there is no benifet of Insteon over other competing products with all of the equipment failures, firmware problems, reliability problems, and limited products.

It was my mistake to get into Insteon before the bugs were worked out. In the end I will have wasted a lot of time and some money.
 
Digger said:
I have over $1500 invested in Insteon.
Click to expand...
There's no such thing as "investing" in buying electronics. It is like buying an ordinary car--it looses half its value the moment you drive it off the lot. That's why you always need to do due-diligence before buying.

Every home automation strategy I've seen so far has had one major limitation or another. I like Insteon's approach on a lot of things, and I like that they are standing behind their products when issues come up, so I'm willing to be an "early adopter." To me, it beats the alternatives, and it *certainly* beats a house full of manual light switches (or x10 lights that come on by themselves in the middle of the night)!

Tom
 
Hope you're well. I was able to view your most recent posting regarding
INSTEON. I would have hoped that you would have brought any issues to my
attention first before making a post. If I am not aware of your situation,
I am unable to help you.

What can I do to get your INSTEON issues resolved? Most everyone is having
great success with INSTEON. Additionally, INSTEON just won Best New Emerging
Technology just last week.

Please let me know.

Thanks.
Ryan



OK I got spanked........ I will keep my yap shut from now on.

For the record I called tech support MANY MANY times.
 
Digger said:
Hope you're well. I was able to view your most recent posting regarding
INSTEON. I would have hoped that you would have brought any issues to my
attention first before making a post. If I am not aware of your situation,
I am unable to help you.

What can I do to get your INSTEON issues resolved? Most everyone is having
great success with INSTEON. Additionally, INSTEON just won Best New Emerging
Technology just last week.

Please let me know.

Thanks.
Ryan



OK I got spanked........ I will keep my yap shut from now on.

For the record I called tech support MANY MANY times.
Click to expand...
;)

I would not change your posing habits because of that last post. If you have called support and not had an issue resolved then you have the right to post a complaint (I suppose you do in *any* case). It is the same thing when you write good old fashon letters. First you do the right thing and write customer server and support, etc. Then you write the managers if you are not satisfied. Then you write the CEO of the company when that fails.

Trust me when I tell you that the only way to get a company that underspends on support is to make that lack of support public. I've spent quite a bit of time around executives of high-tech companies and it is a public image vs. cost issue. Make sure the balance is kept as the CFO is always on the other end of that scale.

Jon

PS: I had been over here once or twice before but there is usually so much going on elsewhere that I forget to see what is new here. Very busy board. Nice to see.
 
Welcome aboard Jon. Nice to have you as a fellow "Cocooner"!

I strongly agree with your opinions and statements above! It seems the trend these days is to provide a product "half baked", then let the masses perform free beta testing for you in order to solve all of the problems that should have been worked out during a "true" beta test within the company itself (I have stated this many, many times on this board).

I know I upset some vendors by displaying displeasure with their products. I believe people come here for true opinions which is why CocoonTech tries to maintain independence and allows posting of various opinions in order to help members see a product's true strong points and weaknesses.

Also, it's not like we have a bunch of neophytes giving their opinions here either! Many of our members are professionals in a related field, plus have vast experience with the subject matter.

The knowledge displayed by fellow members is truly the strength of this forum. Plus we also welcome vendors who decide to post their experience and knowledge with a product line here as well so one can get a more diverse opinion and hopefully be able to see both sides of any issues.

Again, welcome and hope you "hang out" with us more often! ;)

BSR
 
Another Insteon switch doesnt work Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

It worked fine over the weekend. Tonight I tried over 20 times to turn it on and off from the ELK Control and it doesnt respond. All of the other installed switches would work most of the time tonight but this one is dead as far as receiving commands. It is 6 inches from another switch that worked tonight (same circuit to).

Oh wait I wasnt supposed to tell anyone................ but I do have several witness's willing to sign affadavits that they witnessed the whole thing.

According to SH nobody else is having problems. So it must be me right guys......
 
Ok I must be cursed by the SH Gods. Yet another switch no longer responds to commands. Thats two in one week. I am down to 4 of the 8 remaining installed switches working. I have another 8 or 10 in my shop still in the boxes but I am hesitant to install them. I also have a few dead ones on my bench. I might disect one for the hell of it I know I cant retrun it once I open it but my curiosity is getting to me.

I tried relinking them etc and they wont link. I might pull the two that dont work out and put them together in a double gang box on the same dedicated circuit with one lightbulb (nothing else on the circuit) and try and link them that way. If they dont work then I cant see SH disputing that its the switchs. If the signal cant travel an inch or so they got to be dead.

Anyone else having problems like this?

Edit...... I set them up as described above. The one with the load controls the load but it does not link to the other and they are in the same box, same circuit etc.

Smarthome please release the curse and get rid of the voodoo doll :D
Not sure why this is happening. They were on differnt circuits when they were installed. Doubt it was a surge since I havent seen anything going on. I put regular switches in for now since my wife has had it with these.
 
I just totaled my Insteon losses. Out of 28 devices:

5 Still in Box
4 KPL exchanged for flicker-free ones
1 Switchlinc Relay Returned (completely dead)
1 Icon On/Off Switch returned (completely dead)
1 Switchlinc Dimmer will soon be returned (Lights flash whenever commands from the PLC are sent to it???)
1 Icon On/Off switch will soon be returned (Paddle not working right - takes 2-3 pushes)

I really like the Insteon concept and for the most part I'm happy with the switches. I do, however, dread the day when the warranty is up.....

Cris
 
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