New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

Posted on
Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:03 pm
dlleon offline
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Joined: Dec 14, 2012

New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

My house is 90% Insteon (light switches), 9% z-wave (multi sensors), 1% everything else (Ring, Eufy, off brand stuff.) Indigo does all the automation, with Alexa for voice control (I have separate Insteon and Z-wave hubs for Alexa)

We put in a new addition, and are going to need a dozen light switches. (covered patio, exterior lights, etc.)

I noticed that Insteon switches are about $50 per, Z-wave is about half that ($25), and there are other brands of light switch (TPLink) that are half that ($13/per)

I get the feeling Insteon is long in the tooth, and I worry about it going the way of the dodo. Z-wave is super finicky, and I have reset it once a month or so (to great dismay), and I loathe using SmartThings to have it interface with Alexa.

Does anyone have experience with TPLink wifi light switches and Indigo?

Should I stick with Insteon? Or am I correct in thinking it's not going to last as a platform for much longer?

Any input?

Posted on
Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:27 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

dlleon wrote:
Z-wave is super finicky, and I have reset it once a month or so (to great dismay), and I loathe using SmartThings to have it interface with Alexa.


When you say "reset it", what exactly do you mean? That doesn't sound right at all - I've never had to do any sort of reset of Z-Wave (outside of my intentional testing). Maybe we can figure out what's going on and solve that problem but we need a lot more details.

dlleon wrote:
Should I stick with Insteon?


I wouldn't recommend it. They haven't introduced any new devices in a long while, they've discontinued others, and the Insteon protocol is not as robust as other technologies.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:32 pm
dlleon offline
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Joined: Dec 14, 2012

Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

On the indigo side, it's pretty solid. Every few months, it will lose connection, and I can't get anything to "see" the devices. (usually a bulb or a plug). I'll have to reset the plug to factory and then include it back to the z-wave stick. It's easy to do in indigo, and damn near impossible on Smartthings.

I think Insteon is dying, which stinks, because I find it more reliable and easier to use compared to z-wave.

What do you think about the TPLINK wifi protocol?

Posted on
Thu Dec 31, 2020 7:22 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

Do you want cheap or do you want reliable? The Wifi switches are definitely cheaper, but reliability will really depend on how solid your Wifi network is. If $50 per switch is in your price range, look hard at Lutron Caseta. Just remember to budget for their Smart Bridge Pro to communicate with Indigo.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:11 pm
dlleon offline
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Joined: Dec 14, 2012

Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

$500 is within my price range. I'm guessing I'll do this chunk first and then just start replacing the Insteon switches as they poop out.

I was hopeful that TPLINK would have a good product, being based on TCP/IP, but I'm guessing that's not the case.

I'm just concerned because I have Insteon, Z-wave, foscam, ring, august, nest, etc. Too many competing technologies.

I'm now leaning towards Lutron. How easy is it to set up? My main gripe with Z-wave is that the inclusion / exclusion crap seems to be way more trouble than it's worth. (Vs Insteon, where I just put in the address and it works.)

How well does indigo play with Lutron?

Also, is there a Pro 2 on the hub?

Posted on
Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:49 am
FlyingDiver offline
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Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

The hub you need is the L-BDGPRO2. See the Wiki

The Lutron plugin for Indigo is very robust. I have well over 100 devices in my house (RRa2 not Caseta). No issues.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Fri Jan 01, 2021 3:11 pm
dlleon offline
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Joined: Dec 14, 2012

Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

How do you get around the 50 device limit of Lutron? I ask because I presently have about 60 Insteon devices, and I'm adding a dozen more with this addition.

Posted on
Fri Jan 01, 2021 3:17 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Re: New addition: Insteon, Z-wave, TPLink or something else?

dlleon wrote:
How do you get around the 50 device limit of Lutron? I ask because I presently have about 60 Insteon devices, and I'm adding a dozen more with this addition.


That's the Caseta Limit, as I recall. I run RadioRa2, which has a limit of 100 or 200 devices, depending on what version of the software you're using and if you have a second main repeater.

I think it's possible to bypass the Caseta limit by using multiple Smart Bridge Pros. Each would be an independent install, and you would have to tie them together (as needed) using Indigo. That's one of the primary reasons I updated the plugin to support multiple gateway devices simultaneously.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

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