Which system for me? Lighting for today, with the potential for further HA.

[ingeborgdot]

What kinds of things does UPB offer that insteon does not? Where do you buy your UPB items? Does UPB have anything like the ISY that insteon has? I am more confused than ever now and it is all because of you. You should be ashamed of yourself for doing this to me. :blink:

Reliability!

Look at Automated outlet.

http://automatedoutlet.com/home.php

Reliability, in what way are you speaking? For the switch failures? If so, you are probably right. For the connection itself with controllers etc. insteon is probably better in that respect. It is a dual mesh product and not a single one like UPB or Zwave.

 

[WayneW]

For the connection itself with controllers etc. insteon is probably better in that respect. It is a dual mesh product and not a single one like UPB or Zwave.

Unless things have suddenly changed, I believe that the AccessPoints / SignaLinc phase couplers were the only "dual mesh" products. The standard switches are single mesh.... no RF.

 

[Event5]

As Wayne says, Insteon is not a "dual mesh" product as their marketing has stated. Only their AccessPoints/SignaLinc phase couplers use RF to communicte with each other only. Their other products do not have RF and are only powerline.

 

[Event5]

I think one of the most importaint features UBP has over Insteon is the Free software setup Application, UPStart. This is a powerful tool for setup, trouble shooting, signal strengh amd noise meter. With UPStart, a pim and one lamp modual you can check out your property for signal strengh and noise.

You can also download UPstart and play with switch configurations without owning the switches. UPStart is available from all UPB manufactures. Each manufacture has a slightly different version tweaked toward their products.

Dave

 

[Digger]

As Wayne says, Insteon is not a "dual mesh" product as their marketing has stated. Only their AccessPoints/SignaLinc phase couplers use RF to communicte with each other only. Their other products do not have RF and are only powerline.

I know I beleived the marketing hype in the begining as well. Once I actually had a half dozen devices installed I realized a lot of what was stated in the marketing was not even close to what the hardware could do but the protocal could do if someone wanted to.

If the switches were in fact truly dual mesh there would be little need for accesspoints and "buy more" to get a signal from one side of a house to the other.

With UPB I do not have any of those ugly accesspoints using up outlets in the house. The signal the switches/dimmers put out is strong enough to get anywhere in the house with just a phase coupler at the main breaker box.

When you think about it with all of the "extras" you have to buy with Insteon the UPB system is probably cheaper.

 

[Event5]

What kinds of things does UPB offer that insteon does not? Where do you buy your UPB items? Does UPB have anything like the ISY that insteon has? I am more confused than ever now and it is all because of you. You should be ashamed of yourself for doing this to me. :hesaid:

I think another big difference is signal strength. Insteon uses the same signal voltage (4 volts) as X-10, where UPB uses 40volts pulses.

Dave

 

[Digger]

What kinds of things does UPB offer that insteon does not? Where do you buy your UPB items? Does UPB have anything like the ISY that insteon has? I am more confused than ever now and it is all because of you. You should be ashamed of yourself for doing this to me. :hesaid:

I think another big difference is signal strength. Insteon uses the same signal voltage (4 volts) as X-10, where UPB uses 40volts pulses.

Dave

That alone makes all of the difference in the world. There are far far far far less potential communication issues with UPB because of the greater signal strength.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Ok, can someone find me a good place to purchase all my needs. I look at some of the places and unless I am just out of it don't find a lot of UPB items. Could someone steer me please. :hesaid:

 

[Steve]

What are you looking for that you can't find? Automated Outlet was mentioned at the top of this page. Here is the UPB section. Just click into each brand and all the stuff is there. Nobody can *tell* you where to buy your stuff, but any of the CT alliance members would be good.

 

[Digger]

Ok, can someone find me a good place to purchase all my needs. I look at some of the places and unless I am just out of it don't find a lot of UPB items. Could someone steer me please. :hesaid:

What type of devices are you looking for? Many dealers sell several mfg's of UPB products. I currently have an extra 10% off of Simply Automated switches and dimmers (only) this month (any Simply Automated device not on my site I can provide) but also check out Automated Outlet, Home Controls, HNUSA, Smarthome, SmarthomeUSA, HomeTech, SETNET etc (not necessarily in any particular order. There are others out there as well those are the only ones I remember off of the top of my head and I hope I did not leave anyone out and offend anyone.

 

[speacock]

Ah, that makes things more clear, thank you. From my math the ViziaRF+ 600w switches are about $7 cheaper than the PCS UPB's and $10 more than the Simply Automated ones. My house has 44 light switches if I do them all and the difference of a few hundred dollars isn't worth swaying me for. So I guess I will order a PCS and SA and see which ones I prefer.

I've found I favor SA switches because the green/blue LEDs are a bit more subtle than the blue/red of PCS. Definitely test them in a dark bedroom. However SA has a protruding LED tab that can be felt if you hit the upper rocker with a glancing blow.

PCS 6 button keypads have an IR target that is missing on others but HAI buttons are staggered and easier to hit. I chose PCS.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Ah, that makes things more clear, thank you. From my math the ViziaRF+ 600w switches are about $7 cheaper than the PCS UPB's and $10 more than the Simply Automated ones. My house has 44 light switches if I do them all and the difference of a few hundred dollars isn't worth swaying me for. So I guess I will order a PCS and SA and see which ones I prefer.

I've found I favor SA switches because the green/blue LEDs are a bit more subtle than the blue/red of PCS. Definitely test them in a dark bedroom. However SA has a protruding LED tab that can be felt if you hit the upper rocker with a glancing blow.

PCS 6 button keypads have an IR target that is missing on others but HAI buttons are staggered and easier to hit. I chose PCS.

I think the SA switches "feel" better then the HAI switches.

 

[AnthonyZ]

PCS 6 button keypads have an IR target that is missing on others but HAI buttons are staggered and easier to hit. I chose PCS.

So does the HAI 6 button. It's located behind the Off button (IIRC).

 

[Digger]

Not Insteon. Still too many issues.

I have not heard of any issues as of late. All the issues I still read about on this forum and others are from the same people with the same problem. What problems are we talking about?

Check out Techmall today where there are still problems with Insteon devices (new ones).

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fasttimes
Junior Member

30 Posts

Posted - 05/11/2009 : 6:15:49 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Out of the 18 Icon swithes I replaced (new version I think is 4.2) 4 of them have died already.

They respond to linked commands but the not the local switch. The LED is out as well.

I'm not at all thrilled by this failure rate.

Techmall Thread

The original poster in the techmall thread is having more devices die and one of the replacements was DOA. The poor guy is spending so much time replacing replacement switches. Now not everyone will have this many problems but I dont think you hear of this many failures with other lighting systems. Unless there is a particular problem in his house (doesn't seem likely but anything is possible) then there may be more QC issues at SH surfacing.

 

[ingeborgdot]

But they are also the icon switches which are also a cheaper version. Digger, find me some more forums where there is such a problem with their main switches. I just can't find any.