Quick Insteon question...

Posted on
Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:58 am
Gman34798 offline
Posts: 73
Joined: Jun 10, 2018

Quick Insteon question...

Hi all,
I'm new to Indigo and this forum, not so new to z-wave. I'm looking to maybe get into adding some Insteon flavor to my home automation setup.
Will the Insteon Hub do the trick and integrate with Indigo, or so I need the Insteon USB type hub?

I really avoided Insteon when I got started because of the requirement to use the Power Line Modem, but it appears that it may no longer be required.

Thanks!
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Posted on
Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:18 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

The PowerLinc 2413U is required to use Insteon with Indigo.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:29 am
Gman34798 offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

Thanks Jay,
Does the Powerlinc function similar to X-10 in that if the modem is on an opposite phase it will need a phase coupler in the mains panel to "talk" to the other phase?

I seem to have ran across this once and caused me to steer to z-wave instead of Insteon, but I cannot find much on it now.

Thanks again!

Posted on
Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:57 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

Insteon is a dual-mesh technology - so it uses both the power line and RF to communicate between devices (at least, most are either dual-band or RF only but a few are still powerline only I think). Each dual-band device also works as a repeater so it repeats the signal on both physical connections. So in that respect it's better than X10, though you need a few dual-band devices (besides the 2413U which is also dual-band) to ensure good coverage.

Note, however, that Insteon, like X10, is susceptible to signal noise on the power line so that might require some troubleshooting if things don't work reliably.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:33 am
Gman34798 offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

I'll definitely do a little experimenting before going real deep into Insteon.
Thanks for the informative replies.

Once I get all my current Z-Wave switched over to Indigo, I may do some testing with a couple Insteon devices and see how they do.

Posted on
Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:17 pm
Gman34798 offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

Ok, I picked up a 2413U on eBay cheap. I think I’m getting an idea of how the PLM works. Now, is there any benefit at having the aforementioned hub within the home automation environment and Indigo. I mean, does or will the hub act as a repeater or the like...

Posted on
Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:25 am
johnpolasek offline
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Re: Quick Insteon question...

. Now, is there any benefit at having the aforementioned hub within the home automation environment and Indigo. I mean, does or will the hub act as a repeater or the like...


The hub and the powermodem are not aware of each other, but all other insteon modules can be aware of and communicate with both. And the hub can perform in a much more limited fashion the same functions that Indigo does through the powermodem (such as scheduling and alerting). This means that you can have two completely independent setups in the same house, each with it's own set of functions controlling all the same modules. This can cause confusion when one system doesn't know what the other is up to, but I actually do keep a hub running in my place solely to monitor the smoke bridge to my onelink smoke alarms and flood sensors and provide an alternate phone alert to the pushover alerts I get from Indigo. Also, the hub has a much better interface for setting the sense switch options (specifically 3 way toggle) in the micromodules, unless that's been improved at 7.1; I set up all my micros at the new house back in Indigo 6.

As far as acting as a repeater, pretty much all your switches and plug modules are already doing that; I don't know if the hub repeats signals or just sends it's own commands.

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