RF Signal distance concerns

[cnwilson100]

Hello All, I am new to insteon, but before I spend a bunch of money, I wanted to ask a question to those more knowledgeable than myself. I filled out the "Contact Us" page on Insteon's web site, but they, like nearly every other company that has a 'contact us' page, do not answer them.

I have a house with a separate workshop. The two buildings have separate electrical feeds. They are about 100' apart. Is the insteon rf signal strong enough to cover this distance? I have seen others post problems with just 30 or 40 feet... but, at the same time, my little remote for my house garage door works just fine at this distance from the shop, as does the remote key lock for my car.

[SeanM]

Open air testing of of the RF signal is proven to ~200ft.

[BLH]

It depends on what is between the two locations.
Obstructions like walls and their construction can shorten the distance.
Dual Band SwitchLinc modules. Have their antenna on the rear side. Mounting in a metal electrical box would effect the distance.
I don't think anyone can give you an exact distance. As each installation is unique.

[cnwilson100]

Well all I can tell you is that I have two outdoor switches (2634-222), one on the outside of each building. They have direct line of sight and the distance is probably at about 75-80 feet. When i first set this up they worked ok; it has never been 100%, but they worked most of the time. Now they may work, if I'm lucky, about once a week. Concerning metals, I have a question. If metals impede the signals so severely, then why is the case of the insteon switch made from metal?

[cnwilson100]

Been proven at 200'. HAHAHAHA I have disproven it at 75 ft. Direct line of sight, no obstruction. It does work.... sometimes

[cnwilson100]

For me, insteon is a joke. Not worth the money I have spent on it for sure. It will work fine if you live in a little 2BR house or something and you want to turn off your porch light. But beyond that it is useless. I also note that there seems to be little to no development on the products. There software is buggy. There are tons of improvements and enhancements that could be made simply revising the software but I haven't seen it happen. There was an update pushed out several months ago (to the hub) but it didn't seem to fix or change anything. It's a shame that none of the home automation vendors seem to get serious with their products because there is a market for it. Maybe one day somebody like Cisco will buy it out.

[brandt]

Consider applying to be a beta tester. They could use your constructive criticism!