Purchase Angst - Would welcome comments

[AtlantaMike]

OK, I've been wanting to purchase the Insteon system for some time and every time I read product reviews, I get scared off. I've already decided to abandon my hopes of a HomeKit enabled hub given the absolutely dismal reviews the Pro Hub gets. (If anything has changed there, please let me know!). Then I decided I was going to get the non-Pro Hub. I was all set to purchase and noticed people talking about a "new" version. (apparently, the original 2242-222 and now the "new" 2245-222). And, the reviews on the "new" non-Pro hub are consistently horrific as well. What gives? I love the device selection the Insteon lineup offers but I can't get past the consistent poor feedback on anything new from this company. Anyone have feedback to share here? I trust the people here more vs the general internet reviewers but I'm starting to give up hope.

Also, can someone clarify that "range" issue I keep reading about. For instance, I thought the system used both power line and radio frequency to communicate with devices. However, I'm seeing a ton of people state that they are constantly having trouble getting devices to register due to range issue. In fact, the manual says if the Hub doesn't recognize a device to add, move it closer which seems to tell me it can't or doesn't use the power line at all as a secondary way to communicate with devices. I also thought that each device acts as a range extender (my first purchase will be the 2466SW hard-wired toggle switches) so I would think the range issue should be a non-issue.

Any help on these topics would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[stusviews]

The 2242 Hub has been discontinued for quite some time, so the 2245 is not new, it's been around for a while. Most of the reviews I read concern the limited capability of the Hub. That's true.

If you have sophisticated needs, then you'll need to step up to a considerable more costly option, software or an ISY. But, if your needs are somewhat basic, for example controlling lights and appliances using a smartphone or scheduling lights to turn on or off at predetermined times or being notified of an event such as a leak and you want an easy way to accomplish that, then the Hub is a low cost option.

The primary means of Insteon communication is the power line. RF is used to supplicate that. Some electrical item in a home can, but don't always, interfere with power line communication. The more common items include computers, UPSs, TVs,and wall warts. If they're not on the same circuit as the Hub or the device being installed, then they're usually not a problem. In any case, they can be filtered. RF interference can usually be circumvented by adding more dual-band devices such as SwitchLincs, LampLincs and/or Range extenders.

Dual-band devices communicate via both the power line and RF. The 2466SW is a single-band device meaning that communication is via the power line only. With no other RF devices than the Hub, success depends on where you install the ToggleLincs. You may need to add a dual-band device or two. There is no way to tell in advance.

Insteon is a robust system successfully operating in thousands of homes.

[BLH]

Insteon RF can also have limited range. If the device like a SwitchLinc is mounted in a metal electrical box.
If there is any obstruction between the modules. Like a wall with metal sided insulation.
That is why the RF range specified on the sales page may indicate up to so many feet.

[EVIL Teken]

If home automation (HA) of your primary residence isn't just a fad I would highly suggest you consider this an investment. In doing so your long term goal should be to invest in a field proven controller like the ISY Series Controller from UDI. As you clearly indicated the Smartlabs HUB controllers either offer limited support or features.

If your needs are very basic both of them will meet your needs . . .

However, if your needs are only slightly above the basics and need something that integrates well with many other network devices / cloud hosted services than again the ISY Series Controller is the preferred choice by many. It should be noted if your finances are limited you can purchase the base ISY Series Controller and add the extra hardware / software when finances are available. This allows you to have one of the most powerful controllers in the market place while enjoying flexibility of its If, Then, Else, conditional logic.

The ISY Series Controller also natively supports X-10 and Insteon - with the addition of extra hardware it can also support either Z-Wave / ZigBee. Since 2007 Smartlabs has slowly but surely updated almost all the Insteon product line to be dual band. They have also updated most of the product line to have wider operating voltage (100-277 VAC) and dual frequency 50/60Hz.

Most of the hardware have also undergone improvements in their power supply to be more robust and efficient. In the last three and half years Smartlabs has also updated a few products to enable / disable RF & Powerline along with increasing its RF output.

The two products that support the above are the On-Off Module and the dual relay outlet.

[rgnet5]

If the bad reviews you are reading are mostly on Amazon.com, I'd take that with a grain of salt. I've been a happy Insteon user since 2012, first with the 2242 hub, and now with the 2245 hub. I have 45 Insteon devices spread out all over my house (2800 sq ft), with the hub centrally located, and I have no issues. I have leak sensors, motion sensors, dimmers, on/off modules and smart bulbs. With Insteon bulbs and motion sensors, the lights automatically turn on when we walk into the garage, open the garage door or walk into the basement. My outside porch lights automatically turn on at sunset, and off at sunrise. With the leak sensors, I get notified if the dishwasher, washing machine or hot water heater leak, or if a toilet overflows. My family room lights automatically turn off late at night (since my kids can never remember to turn them off before bedtime), and now thanks to the Hub's integration with the Amazon Echo, I can get into bed at night and say "Alexa, turn off the Bedroom lights". With recent updates, my Nest thermostat and Sonos sound system are now integrated into the Insteon system. I've linked in other things using OpenHAB, and am considering getting an ISY for more complex tasks. Insteon is at the heart of my Home Automation system, and even with all the newer stuff that is out, I am still very happy that I chose Insteon. Tech support has been great, and the system has proven to be very reliable for me.

[dxintel]

I too have been playing with insteon for some time (maybe 4 or 5 years) I have about 50 devices around my house and I even have 4 devices in a shop that is 50 feet from my main house and garage (it's on a sub panel but tied into my main house panel) and I have no issues with distance.

I did have an issue once with (what I thought was distance) as 60% of the time I had some devices that would not "get the signal" it turned out being a bad keypad link. The way I found out is it eventually would start to flicker the load light (living room) even when another "house event" ( kitchen or bathroom light) was triggered. I was also able to determine the firmware on the device was very old compared to all the other keypads I had. (Back to this latter on the software I used to tell) unfortunately there seamed to be no way to upgrade the firmware on a device even after reaching out to Insteon directly. Or they weren't going to tell me. Answer was pull the device and buy a new one at $89 CAD. Once the device was removed all my "signa"l issues where gone.

With that said the hardware works very very well, when I say hardware I am talking the switches, plugins, dimmers, motion sensors, etc. It's the hub's and controllers that seam to be problematic. I have used 3 different controllers.
1st was a smartLink phone device (this is what got me started) it was horrible and then was discontinued and then it burnt out on my.
2nd is a USB power line link connected to a computer using software called HomeSeer (still using it today) its very good but kinda complicated to setup, it needs a dedicated PC that's always running . And I am running an older version so some new devices like the dual switch link only control 1 out of the two plugs. But it is very very flexible. Even has ability to link to x10 and zWave and other 3rd party apps. I mainly use it for all my links programming and for creating if -or - else events. I think it would be very similar to an ISY device it's just a more of a do it your self setup.
3rd is a 2245-222 hub, I got it so I could integrate with Nest, Logitech Harmony Remote, and Sonos. Its very limited on what it can do, it's a very buggy at everything it does and in my opinion is not fully developed or ready for prime time it makese feel like a beta tester.

You can run multiple controllers together but it works best if the same button or link is not setup on both as it could forget what state a device is in. HomeSeer can pole device and find out the device states and you can work around some of the limitations.

All in all, my advice. Buy a couple devices and link them together manual without the hub, you will not be disappointed. As your system grows and the complexity requirements start to come budget for a really controller setup. I can not comment on ISY but from what I have researched it sounds almost identical to HomeSeer with the PLM. And I can program all my links from sitting on the sofa, monitor the number of hops required to reach a device, see the firmware Rev of all my devices and its nice to have everything in one big database.

P.S
HomeSeer makes a mobile phone app so I can connect to my PC server remotely (requires you to open ports on your firewall or VPN into your home network) and control all my devices. Even open and close the overhead garage door and unlock my doors.

Long post but hope this helps.

[dxintel]

Here is a screenshot of homeSeer device status, as you can see it list the firmware the number of hops and communication reliability.

Screenshot_20160830-011853.png

[dongreer]

Here is a screenshot of homeSeer device status, as you can see it list the firmware the number of hops and communication reliability.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n88150[/ATTACH]

Even though it's been a long time, your sharing of problems can still be used. I'm also having purchase angst issues.try dash lite