Improved Insteon Link Management.

Posted on
Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:12 pm
majortom offline
Posts: 69
Joined: Mar 01, 2006

Improved Insteon Link Management.

While Indigo has improved over the years, the one area that has not changed substantially is Insteon link management. Especially in systems that include KeypadLincs, managing Insteon links is a tedious and repetitive process. There are a set of improvements to the Insteon link management user interface that would make dealing with these networks much easier.

Here is an example Insteon network with only 3 KeypadLincs:

Link Diagram Small.png
Link Diagram Small.png (67.6 KiB) Viewed 1891 times


In this example, just linking the three buttons that control the Garage Hall Light, one needs to create six links, a PowerLinc button group/scene and a trigger (on state change of the load). Were the system to include 4 linked buttons it would require creating 12 links, with 5 linked buttons one needs to create 20 links.

The first improvement would be to automatically suggest (and offer to create) the reverse link:

Link Diagram - Link and Reverse.png
Link Diagram - Link and Reverse.png (68.17 KiB) Viewed 1891 times


The user creates link 1 (red) and the system suggests link 5 (green).

The second improvement would be for the system to suggest the mesh links:

Link Diagram links and mesh small.png
Link Diagram links and mesh small.png (68.4 KiB) Viewed 1891 times


The user creates links 1 and 2 (red) and the system suggests links 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The third improvement would be to automatically create or suggest the PowerLinc button group/scene (assigning it the next unused number and either suggesting a name or prompting for one).

The fourth improvement would be to to automatically create or suggest the trigger (on state change of the load, update the state of the buttons in the group).

All of the above things can be done (manually) with the existing system, so these are just user interface changes. It is true that not every version of every Insteon KeypadLinc supports button addressing, but the system can simply generate an error for those that cannot support the smart linking.
Last edited by majortom on Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Posted on
Fri Sep 09, 2016 3:44 pm
matt (support) offline
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Re: Improved Insteon Link Management.

Thanks for the detailed suggestion (and useful illustrations). We'll get it added to the feature request list.

Image

Posted on
Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:12 am
majortom offline
Posts: 69
Joined: Mar 01, 2006

Re: Improved Insteon Link Management.

Matt -
Any chance we will get any improvements to Insteon Link Management anytime soon? At a minimum, the ability to create self-referential links for KeyPadLincs is sorely needed. Something like I proposed that really makes adding bi-directional links and support for maintaining button state even when the device is controlled by Indigo would be great. It seems like a very long time since there was much added for the Insteon world (lots of great new stuff for those who want Z-wave, but not much for us Insteon users).

Posted on
Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:31 am
Colorado4Wheeler offline
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Re: Improved Insteon Link Management.

Here's how I do it now to keep all of my KPL buttons synchronized. I have a trigger for when a device tied to a KPL goes on or off and since that will update multiple KPL's I then run scripts to toggle the buttons on and off:

Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 8.32.11 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 8.32.11 AM.png (75.63 KiB) Viewed 1499 times


The names are what I defined in the Insteon PowerLinc links:

Code: Select all
if ((on state of device "Master Bedroom Bed")) then
   send insteon group instnTurnOn using name "Master BR KPL LED 3"
   send insteon group instnTurnOn using name "Greatroom KPL LED 4"
   send insteon group instnTurnOn using name "Master Bedroom Bed Keypad LED 7"
else
   send insteon group instnTurnOff using name "Master BR KPL LED 3"
   send insteon group instnTurnOff using name "Greatroom KPL LED 4"
   send insteon group instnTurnOff using name "Master Bedroom Bed Keypad LED 7"
end if


Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 8.29.06 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 8.29.06 AM.png (72.03 KiB) Viewed 1499 times


It took a minute to set up all my KPL's to do this but I've never had an issue since. Might be one way to get the feature right away until an update specifically takes care of it for you.

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HomeKit Bridge | Device Extensions | Security Manager | LCD Creator | Room-O-Matic | Smart Dimmer | Scene Toggle | Powermiser | Homebridge Buddy

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Posted on
Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:33 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Improved Insteon Link Management.

majortom wrote:
Any chance we will get any improvements to Insteon Link Management anytime soon? At a minimum, the ability to create self-referential links for KeyPadLincs is sorely needed. Something like I proposed that really makes adding bi-directional links and support for maintaining button state even when the device is controlled by Indigo would be great. It seems like a very long time since there was much added for the Insteon world (lots of great new stuff for those who want Z-wave, but not much for us Insteon users).


On the list, but given the explosive growth of Z-Wave and the relative stagnation of Insteon, along with the laundry list of other things that are platform/technology independent, it's just not a very high priority. Keeping them in sync can be a pain to get set up, but once it's done it's done.

We also have some other synchronization features on the request list that would help with keeping the buttons in sync, but it wouldn't be Insteon link specific but rather something that would be of more general use. No ETA on that.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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