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Homekit Compatibility Running 2 Hubs?

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    Homekit Compatibility Running 2 Hubs?

    I am investing in a rather large whole house Insteon light switch setup. Have anyone ran both the hub and hubpro together?

    I like the general physical design of the Insteon switches so am planning to use them.
    However, I use Alexa for voice control but the family uses Apple Watch and ipad/phones so it would be handy to have them accessible through the home app for non-voice control since the Insteon app is horrible in terms of UI.

    Insteon said something that they are "committed" to homekit, but that is really an if or when thing
    https://www.iclarified.com/71249/ins...d-android-more

    The hub is compatible with Alexa/Google, the Hub "Pro" has limited function and is Homekit only.
    Insteon support told me that one can run both together so a single switch can be activated through Alexa, Google and Apple at the same time.

    Have anyone had experience with that?

    #2
    It can be done if you know what you are doing. However due to how homekit works, you'll run into issues when a device is controlled outside of homekit .

    Since insteon devices can be added to the homekit app, your limitations to homekit will come from homekits limitations not the hub itself .

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by lilyoyo1 View Post
      It can be done if you know what you are doing. However due to how homekit works, you'll run into issues when a device is controlled outside of homekit .

      Since insteon devices can be added to the homekit app, your limitations to homekit will come from homekits limitations not the hub itself .
      What kind of issues are you referring to?
      If the switch is connected via both the hub and hub pro, and then I use Alexa through the hub to control the light, would the state be reflected properly in Homekit, or would it become out of sync? Will device state change Homekit automation trigger still work if the device state change came from the other hub? I mean, other homekit switches have to deal with someone using the physical button on the switch itself, it doesn't seem to cause a problem.

      Tell me more. I want to use Amazon Alexa and Apple Homekit at the same time.
      Lutron Caseta supports both, but I hate the look of those switches.

      Comment


        #4
        Caseta uses 1 hub whereas you're talking about using 2 different hubs. All that you mention is what will happen. Insteon devices only report back to what controls them. If you use Alexa or anything else, homekit will not be aware so homekit automations would not run

        In the case of using Alexa, the hub becomes your controller so homekit would not get a response. The same thing happens when a device is controlled by another Insteon device that homekit doesn't recognize such as the extra buttons on a kpl.

        Manually controlling a device is different than a controller controlling a device. By default, a controller is also a responder so it would receive an update from the switch when you manually press it .

        Comment


          #5
          So is there a way for my box of 2477D switches to work with both Alexa and Homekit at the same time?

          My issue here is that Alexa / Google have good voice control but bad UX interfaces and automation. Homekit has good UX and reasonably useful automation. I want the lights to work on both sets, where I can set automation using Homekit, have the switches be accessed on the Apple Home app, but use voice on a regular basis through Amazon Alexa.

          I know the Lutron Caseta can do that, but I really don't like the look of their switches.

          Did you actually try running both the hub and hub pro? I was hoping that when the status of a device change, it would update all the hub / services that it is connected to. Is that not the case?
          Do we know if Insteon will release a SW update for the Hub2 to allow it to work with Homekit? It is silly to have two hubs that cannot work together.

          Comment


            #6
            They can work with both the results however will be unsatisfactory.

            As stated previously devices only talk to whatever controls them. If it's the hub2 they will report back to that. Since no commands came from the hubpro there is no reason for them to contact it. It's akin to having 2 bosses that don't talk telling you 2 different things. 1 simply won't know what the other is doing.

            While I have experience with the hub pro (beta tester) I don't use apple pproducts. Homekit (and the hub for that matter) are simply glorified remotes while I prefer true automation. I am however well versed in the intricate details of insteon to know how it works regardless of controllers.and the behavior is the same across across the board .

            There will not be a software update to the hub2 allowing homekit access. While apple did lower the requirements for homekit access, those do not extend to commercial use and hubs. Besides that, since they invested so heavily in apples chips, I highly doubt they simply throw it away.

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