Help communicating the Hub with a LED Bulb in a separate room

[Anton]

Hi,

I purchased the Insteon Hub and the LED Bulb to start with some time ago which I placed both in my study room. It's all working fine so far, but recently I decided to move the LED Bulb including the stand, in the Hall, which is just next door about 4 or 5 meters away.
To my surprise, the hub could not link to the LED Bulb, I tried switching the Hub & the device off & On, but still no Link. So I decided to delete the LED Bulb and all the Scenes and start from Scratch, but it still won't find it. I even entered the LED Bulb ID manually to make sure, but to no avail.

As I had the impression that the Hub also uses Wireless RF to talk to devices, I moved it about 2 meters away from the LED Bulb, just in case the problem lies in the Powerline, but surprisingly that also didn't work! So I took the LED Bulb back to the study and voila! it linked immediately. I even left the Hub where it was last, i.e. in the hall, but still plugged in the study room.
This means that I can only use the LED Bulb in the same room where the Hub is plugged in. I confirmed this by moving the LED Bulb back in the Hall, but this time I unplugged the Hub from the study room and connected it in another wall socket in the Hall, and it linked immediately! As far as I know, all the wall sockets upstairs are in the same circuit loop. I also have a Netgear Powerline in the study talking to another Powerline in the kitchen dowstairs controlling an IP Camera without any problems, (which of course I switched off for the Insteon tests)

I'm sorry for the length of this post, but I had to explain what I've done so far. So my questions are:
Is the Hub suppose to use Wireless RF to talk to Devices apart from the Powerline connection?
Does the LED Bulb also receives Wireless commands?
Do I maybe have a faulty Hub or LED Bulb?

One final note is that the internal walls of my house are all made of Plasterboard (or Drywall) so no bricks. I would be grateful if anyone could please help me in this matter as I would like to further expand my Insteon system.

Thank you in anticipation.

[stusviews]

RF communication is more easily interfered with than powerline signals and is more difficult to diagnose. Older cordless phones and baby monitors are a couple of devices that can cause difficulty. Sometimes standing between devices is enough the interfere.

Also, it you be unusual for electric outlets on different floors to be on the same circuit. One or two Range Extenders would probably help. Alternatively, you could install dual-band LampLincs or SwitchLincs, to name two, between the two locations

[Anton]

Thanks for your reply stusviews. I do understand the interference problems and it depends what frequency does the Hub operate on. My cordless phone is not an old set and to be sure I switched them Off and definitely, no baby monitors, besides as I mentioned in my post, I literally positioned the Hub about 2 meters or even less away from the LED Bulb with nothing in between, surely it should have linked with the device, so I thought!

I was trying to stay away from adding Range Extenders as they occupy more outlets from the few I have available. Regarding the LampLinc or SwitchLink, I'm not familiar with these devices, so I just had a quick read about them. If I do decide to say add a LampLinc, (if I find it in UK that is!) my worries are that I would have to plug it in one of the 2 sockets where I plugged my LED Bulb, as that is the nearest. Would the hub communicate with it being in the same place where the Led Bulb didn't communicate (as in my post above) or maybe these LampLincs have more power?. It'll be interesting to know before I go any further. Any comments would be much appreciated. Thanks again for your help.

[BLH]

The UK version of the Lamplinc and HUB uses 869MHz. The US devices use an RF frequency of 915MHz.
It is dual band so it should communicate on both the power line and by RF.

http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-263...e-869-mhz.html

[Anton]

Thanks for that BLH. This device is a Dimmer Module which I might add later on when I'll establish good comms with the Hub. Also, I was aware about the difference in frequency between the EU & US, but thanks anyway.

My problem still remains though. I'm not sure if the Hub will communicate with this device as I will have to plug it where the LED Bulb is. The LED Bulb also operates on 869Mhz and it does not Link with the Hub, as I mentioned in my Posts. Well I wonder if they also do the LampLinc for the UK, I cannot find it so far, but I'll keep trying. It seems you guys in US have more choice when it comes to Insteon devices!

Thanks again.

[BLH]

The link in my previous post is the UK Lamplinc.

[Anton]

Just tried your link again and what I see is a Dimmer, which is the INSTEON 2632-442 Dimmer Module - UK (Europe 869 Mhz)
This is how I see your link: http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-263...e-869-mhz.html, but if you place the mouse on it without clicking, you'll see the whole link in the bottom left, which looks like this:...smarthome.com/insteon-2632-442-dimmer-module-uk-europe-869-mhz.html (Edit: had to remove the http & w's to see the whole link)

I think the difference between the Dimmer and the LampLinc is that the Lamplink is a Tranceiver and it doubles as an Access Point, so in my case it'll be better for me. This is the only difference I could spot, but please, do correct me if I'm wrong.

Here is a link to the LampLinc, but it's for US so it's no good for me: http://www.smarthome.com/lamplinc-in...and-2-pin.html

Thanks again anyway.

[BLH]

Both the US Lamplinc and the UK Dimmer Module are Dual Band. They can take an Insteon RF signal and transceive them back on the power lines.
They both also act as a Access Point.

I have no idea why one is called a Lamplinc and the other Dimmer Module.

Maybe another member can give even more detailed information.

[stusviews]

The US device is actually called a Plug-In Lamp Dimmer Module

[Anton]

Thanks for your replies guys. I have an old Powerline from Netgear (XE104) which I have been using for a long time. One of them is plugged downstairs in the kitchen with an IP Camera connected to it, the other one is of course connected to my Asus Router's Lan port in the study upstairs. I have no problem whatsoever with this 'old 85Mbps link'. I have been monitoring my house when I'm abroad for a long time, perfect link. What I can't understand is that I connected the LED Bulb in the same wall sockets where the Netgear Powerline was plugged and of course switched the one on the router Off, but still no Link to the Insteon Hub. How can this be when the Insteon is more modern than the XE104 Powerline.

As I mentioned before, the Hub could be at fault, as I cannot see why it does not link to a device just next door when the old Netgear XE104 can link from anywhere in my house! But before I decide to send the Insteon Hub back, is there anything else I could try besides the range extenders, which I think it defeats the whole object of using a Powerline device, specially in a fairly small house such as mine!

Any help please!

[stusviews]

I use Netgear Powerline Ethernet Adapters and have the opposite problem. Insteon works everywhere, but the adapters don't. Different technologies, different requirements.

An advantage of dual-band Insteon is two means of communication. Another is that more devices improves communication. Range extenders are an easy solution.

[Anton]

I wish I could have your problem Stu. I prefer the Insteon working everywhere than my Powerlines, as I was hoping to upgrade everything to Insteon. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem it's going to be the case, unless I sort this linking problem of course. Even if I want to try an Insteon Range Extender, I can't, as I don't think they make this device for the UK yet!

One thing I haven't tried yet is to start from scratch. How do I get to do this, do I have to delete my account and reset the Hub, or vice versa? I remember reading something to this effect some time ago. Is there a procedure I have to follow to start all over again, like deleting the scenes first then reset the hub etc?

Thanks again in advance for any help.

[stusviews]

Linking is a lot more intensive than controlling a device. Move the LED bulb close to the Hub and try adding it to the Hub. The LED bulb has a special linking method. Using the Insteon ID won't work.

Any success?

[Anton]

I agree 100% with you. That's exactly my problem, linking my devices in different rooms! As I mentioned before, I have no problem linking the LED Bulb in the same room where the Hub is, it's only when I move it to the Hall which is only next door about 5 meters away! Sometimes it links for a while then it looses the link, I just get a yellow dot instead of green, it's so frustrating! Shouldn't at least the Hub link to it using the built-in wireless if there's a drop out in the Powerline? As you rightly said, an advantage of dual-band Insteon is two means of communication, so is the RF side of the Insteon and it's devices really that weak?

I still would like to start all over and therefore, I'll be glad if you or anyone could please let me know if there should be a particular order to reset everything.

Btw, I ordered the ON/Off Module, I'll see how I get on with it, maybe I'll have better luck with that. But before I link it, I prefer to factory reset and start from scratch just in case.

Thanks.

[stusviews]

Remove all device from the Hub first. Some devices may need a "force" delete. Then factory reset the devices.