More INSTEON quality control issues!
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Deane Johnson
Active Member
Interesting thread, and not surprising.
For once, I made the right decision, but it was based on not wanting to get burned twice by SH. I bought a bunch of SH X-10 switches back when X-10 was the only thing. Switchlincs, or something like that. All, and I mean all of them proved to be poorly made. For one thing, every time we had a momentary power outage they lost their programming. What a pain that was. I finally sent them to the land fill and installed PCS X-10 switches and dimmers. In 5+ years not one has lost it's programming or gone bad.
When Insteon came along, I knew I should stay away from it. Cheap is not cheap as I had learned.
I'm still sitting on the sideline watching what develops and what you guys have to say on this excellent forum. I'm thinking Z-Wave, but it's still too soon to declare a winner. I assume UPB is going to be good, but I suspect more limited than Z-Wave in the long run. One thing that is attracting me to Z-Wave is that I believe ESI is working on a small Z-Wave controlled motor for window blinds, etc. I like all of my blinds to be controlled by automation.
For once, I made the right decision, but it was based on not wanting to get burned twice by SH. I bought a bunch of SH X-10 switches back when X-10 was the only thing. Switchlincs, or something like that. All, and I mean all of them proved to be poorly made. For one thing, every time we had a momentary power outage they lost their programming. What a pain that was. I finally sent them to the land fill and installed PCS X-10 switches and dimmers. In 5+ years not one has lost it's programming or gone bad.
When Insteon came along, I knew I should stay away from it. Cheap is not cheap as I had learned.
I'm still sitting on the sideline watching what develops and what you guys have to say on this excellent forum. I'm thinking Z-Wave, but it's still too soon to declare a winner. I assume UPB is going to be good, but I suspect more limited than Z-Wave in the long run. One thing that is attracting me to Z-Wave is that I believe ESI is working on a small Z-Wave controlled motor for window blinds, etc. I like all of my blinds to be controlled by automation.
KenM
Active Member
Hi Deane,
My main reason for going Z-wave, at the time I did (about two years ago) was that UPB did not seem quite ready to produce the hardware I needed. I am no expert on this, but I do believe that the idea behind UPB is (roughly) just to send out a very large signal on the powerline. To me that sounds like a good approach. INSTEON's approach is to make every device a repeater, as stated in their own white papers. Too bad they broke that part of their own stuff, recall maybe? LOL ROTFL
I'm still a little 'miffed' that my original $600 (I feel your pain Sloop) INSTEON investment got turned into junk. The argument that I heard most about that (other than ebay it) was to return it while it still was in warranty (and get more of the same back). My thought was (and is), what about all of those good people, who paid for this stuff and do not realize that the flashing light or LED or ... is a design error? That, and if this stuff is broken, how come I did not get a recall/replacement notice? I purchased all of mine from the SH store. I could go on but that gets old, even to me.
As you mentioned, some of the old X10 stuff just plain works. My ten year old X10 floodlights. I am now controlling them with a INSTEON PLC. Even the the people who made the PLC, admit that it needs to be replaced (for being FUBAR). It looks as if the SH folks are abandoning any/all support for the PLC, and that just gets me PO'ed. The main reason that I got suckered into that 'money hole' was that I was promised a programmable, down loadable, device. The PLC. I did not want to have a 24/7 computer running so that I could save energy by dimming lights, DUH?
I joined the INSTEON 'secret hand shake club'. I from, time to time, get emails asking about that (because of the Inhomefre software that I spent a good solid year working on). My advice to them all is, "SH gave up support for the PLC and the SDK, well over a year ago, do not waste your money on anything INSTEON".
I really tried to not go negative on my reply. Oh well. Maybe the folks on the other end of this should make of a list 'of what gets everyone mad', and just stop doing that.
ken
edit corrected grammar
I have received a response, and they are interested in interacting with the community, but they are upset with the tone/content of some of the posts in this thread. If you want their attention, and their interaction, I'd recommend to keep things calm/civil. It looks like they are really interested in working with the community, so I'd like to ask you guys to give them a chance.
I personally don't have a stake in the INSTEON world, but there are many others who have spent thousands of dollars in equipment, so think of them when posting. If you guys think this is fair, then post here, as SmartHome is watching this thread, and we can get this ball rolling.
I personally don't have a stake in the INSTEON world, but there are many others who have spent thousands of dollars in equipment, so think of them when posting. If you guys think this is fair, then post here, as SmartHome is watching this thread, and we can get this ball rolling.
Really? Sounds like a cop-out to me. "We didn't like the tone of the posts" sure sounds like they are looking for any reason to ignore all the issues and point the finger at someone else. "We would have helped, but we just didn't like the tone of the conversation. It's your own fault this has happened and now there is nothing we can do about it. Thank you for shopping at SmartHome, have a nice day."
What is the proper tone? Should everyone say "pretty please"??
I agree, that does sound like a cop-out to me. I'd love to give SH the benefit of the doubt... But let's look at their track record. It isn't very good, is it? Who's fault is that? Not ours! How can you not expect to be mad/upset when a company continues to screw customers over again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again... And we have a company that has a history of ignoring issues and not coming clean about the problems. I'd even go so far as to say they have made an effort to hide the problems.
There's a lot that needs to happen to rectify this situation. They have every opportunity to make things right -- let's hope they take this opportunity and do the right things. If they don't, then they will only be hurting themselves further by losing more developers and customers.
There's just too much speculation going on and the only way to stop that is to get some official statements out there starting with Smarthome's answers to the following questions:
1. Which devices/firmware versions can repeat extended commands? Are you currently shipping any devices that cannot repeat extended commands and if so why?
2. Are there any known bugs in current/recently shipped firmwares?
3. What solutions are available for people with legacy devices who wish to have a network that fully supports extended commands (besides adding more access points)?
4. Are there incompatibilities between i1/i2 devices or is i2 fully backwards compatible?
1. Which devices/firmware versions can repeat extended commands? Are you currently shipping any devices that cannot repeat extended commands and if so why?
2. Are there any known bugs in current/recently shipped firmwares?
3. What solutions are available for people with legacy devices who wish to have a network that fully supports extended commands (besides adding more access points)?
4. Are there incompatibilities between i1/i2 devices or is i2 fully backwards compatible?
davefred99
Member
How about this for an Idea.
Start a new thread or open new folder for SmartHome/Insteon communications. Post the rules that all posts must be polite and instructive but constructive criticism is OK. Let SmartHome start the tread with an open invitation to carry on a constructive dialogue with fellow cocooner's here.
Monitor the thread and inform posters if they are getting out of line and see how it goes.
Dave F.
KenM
Active Member
Good idea, I would be willing to give up my $600 worth of INSTEON griping rights If some SH person would address those questions in a public forum, even if I do not (and I probably will not) like the answers.
Ken
edit corrected spelling
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Post deleted, (tried having a constructive Insteon thread ...)
KenM
Active Member
I am HOPING that the message was just a poorly stated way of saying. "Contact me , and I will try to clarify all of the 'stuff' (I love that word, 'stuff') in this thread", or not. It may actually be a valid line of communication being opened up, who knows? I do not currently have any INSTEON devices, except for an obsolete PLC, or else I would be temped to ask a question. OR it could be a spammer trying to not have his/her message deleted immediately. ? LOL
Ken
Edit added - after seeing BSR's post
BSR no problem, I will NEVER post here again. Thank you. I will not sacrifice my integrity for the sake of not hurting one's feelings. Bye.
Ken
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
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