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bpmcgee
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| Posted: February 29 2008 at 19:54 | IP Logged
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Okay guys. I'm totally frustrated with Insteon. Not that it doesn't WORK -- it seems to work great. It's just that I bought 6 insteon devices less than a year ago -- 3 wall warts, a relay switch, a dimmer switch, and a PLC. And ALL SIX of them are DEAD! The PLC, in fact, is dead twice! I replaced it once already and it's dead again.
There's NO WAY that I'm going to continue to expand the installation of Insteon into my house if I have to replace the devices more often than I replace light bulbs. It's not happening.
I read that we're going to get z-wave support here in Powerhome sometime (soon I hope). Any other suggestions for devices? I'd really like to continue using Powerhome, but there's no way I can rationalize using more crappy Insteon devices.
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bhlonewolf
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| Posted: February 29 2008 at 21:12 | IP Logged
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That's too bad! Not that I'm doubting your experience, but mine is completely opposite -- I have about 30 or so devices for about a year now (some less, some more) and had maybe one or two failures, both wall warts, no switches. Knock on wood.
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TonyNo
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| Posted: February 29 2008 at 23:10 | IP Logged
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I've had three Insteon failures (two wall warts and one dimmer). This is nothing close to what I've heard from the community at large.
UPB is what I hear about the most, followed by Z-Wave. There are complaints about all of these, though.
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ginigma
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| Posted: March 01 2008 at 17:03 | IP Logged
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I've never had a problem with the plug-in modules.
Are your switches experiencing the dreaded paddle problem, where it takes multiple presses to turn them on/off? Do they work remotely via PH? Smarthome will RMA the paddle problem switches.
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Insteon (40 devices) ^ PowerHome (435 links) ^ Logitech Harmony 880
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bpmcgee
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| Posted: March 01 2008 at 19:38 | IP Logged
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Ginigma,
Nothing is responding to commands any more. One at a time, several weeks apart, each one went dead.
Even if Smarthome would replace every piece that's failed, I'm just not interested. With 100% failure rate, it's only a matter of time before they fail AGAIN. And eventually Smarthome will refuse to RMA them and I'll be in exactly the same spot I am now.
And guys, I appreciate your condolences, and your experiences. I've already decided, though, that Insteon is NOT for me. I'm really looking for suggestions on what else to try.
Any idea where z-wave support is with Powerhome?
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tbeckman
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 14:29 | IP Logged
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Hmmm, I have over 60 insteon switches in my house and all appear to be working fine. I have only had them for about 4 months. On a related note, does anyone suggest or use whole house power line conditioners to reduce the risk of blowing out switches during a surge or has anyone has switches go out? Thanks.
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bpmcgee
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 15:30 | IP Logged
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tbeckman wrote:
| Hmmm, I have over 60 insteon switches in my house and all appear to be working fine. I have only had them for about 4 months. On a related note, does anyone suggest or use whole house power line conditioners to reduce the risk of blowing out switches during a surge or has anyone has switches go out? Thanks. |
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T,
As I said, I'm looking for suggestions for things OTHER than Insteon.
Also, please don't hijack my thread -- especially when I haven't gotten any (useful) responses yet.
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ginigma
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 16:03 | IP Logged
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Well, Powerhome only supports X10 and Insteon, so you're stuck if you want to continue using PH. I've heard of others moving from insteon to Zwave and they've been happy. Take a look over at cocoontech.com for some threads. UPB Gen 2 is supposedly good as well. I've never used either of those technologies. Just going by what I've read in other HA forums.
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Insteon (40 devices) ^ PowerHome (435 links) ^ Logitech Harmony 880
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bpmcgee
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 16:09 | IP Logged
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Thanks, Ginigma! I've done some reading about zwave, but I hadn't heard of UPB. I'll check it out!
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TonyNo
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 19:29 | IP Logged
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Heh. You didn't read my post then...
Quote:
| UPB is what I hear about the most, followed by Z-Wave. There are complaints about all of these, though. |
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bpmcgee
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 20:01 | IP Logged
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Sorry, Tony. I meant that I hadn't done any reading about it. Now that you mention it, I HAD read your post!
My mistake! 
Do you know, off the top of your head, the status of z-wave support in Powerhome? No big deal, I also posted that question in the "features request" area.
Thanks to BOTH of you!
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TonyNo
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 22:20 | IP Logged
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No, sorry. All I know is what Dave has posted...
Quote:
February 07 2007
[Z-Wave is] pretty high on the list. Ive got the Elk ethernet interface after this next version and then Ive got Stargate, Z-Wave, UPB, Global Cache, and Insteon PLM. Im not sure what order would be next though. Im open to suggestions from users as to which controller should receive priority. |
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tbeckman
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| Posted: March 03 2008 at 22:50 | IP Logged
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My vote would be Elk Ethernet then Insteon PLM. Thanks.
TonyNo wrote:
No, sorry. All I know is what Dave has posted...
Quote:
February 07 2007
[Z-Wave is] pretty high on the list. Ive got the Elk ethernet interface after this next version and then Ive got Stargate, Z-Wave, UPB, Global Cache, and Insteon PLM. Im not sure what order would be next though. Im open to suggestions from users as to which controller should receive priority. |
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TonyNo
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| Posted: March 04 2008 at 07:55 | IP Logged
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I believe the Elk Ethernet bit is already done.
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tbeckman
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| Posted: March 04 2008 at 12:07 | IP Logged
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TonyNo wrote:
| I believe the Elk Ethernet bit is already done. |
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It is? I Dave made it sound like he still had to do the interface after this next version... is there a beta version I don't know about?
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dhoward
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| Posted: March 04 2008 at 17:02 | IP Logged
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Heh, version 1.03.4.12 has support for both the serial and ethernet interfaces to the Elk as well as the Global Cache (another interface on the previous list). So the remaining ones are Stargate, Z-Wave, UPB, and the Insteon PLM.
Im working on the Insteon PLM at this very moment and plan to have at least some UPB support in the next beta (.13) so that will leave Stargate and Z-Wave.
So Z-Wave is still a little bit out...probably too far for you to wait .
Another possibility though is using the currently available PowerHome xPL plugin along with the existing Z-Wave xPL module. This combination *should* allow you to send and receive Z-Wave commands, however, it would take a little work and it wouldnt be integrated like a native Z-Wave interface will be. But it would be an interesting experiment and may allow someone to dabble with Z-Wave until the native interface is available.
Dave.
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bpmcgee
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| Posted: March 04 2008 at 17:18 | IP Logged
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Dave,
I'm happy to hear about UPB in the upcoming beta! From what I'm reading, I think UPB is going to be a better solution for me.
Any idea the time frame on the .13 beta? Weeks? Months? Epochs?
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ginigma
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| Posted: March 04 2008 at 21:58 | IP Logged
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It's been a while since the last release. I'm getting "upgrade withdrawals." Need an upgrade soon to calm my jitters. 
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Insteon (40 devices) ^ PowerHome (435 links) ^ Logitech Harmony 880
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Topic: Suggestions please -- Insteon is DNR
