Okay, you’ve heard about SmartGrids, Home Automation, RF frequency this, and powerline that… But how does this stuff really work?
Insteon is a dual mesh network. That’s a fancy way to say that the network works over two different mediums, through a low power radio signal, and through the electrical circuits in your house.
One massive improvement over older powerline devices (eg. X10), is that each Insteon device acts as a signal repeater & booster. So as the signal is sent through the powerline, each device strengthens and helps ensure that that the signal reaches the device you are attempting to control.
This Flash Video from Insteon Smart Grid, demonstrates how the Insteon signals, are repeated from device to device, and how that makes the system more reliable.
Please keep in mind, the new Dual Band modules from SmartHome should help improve the reliablity, speed, and lower the cost of entry for the Insteon products. Why lower the cost of entry? Because now a new installation may not need dedicated Access Point modules. Speed? Because currently the signal needs to propogate out through the powerline network, and then “hop” onto the RF network, and then propogate out from the Access point back onto the powerline network. With the Insteon USB Dual Band module (2413), the signal will immediately be placed onto both the RF & Powerline network (assuming that the RF portion is integrated)…This will reduce the number of hops that will be needed to reach devices, there will be less signal loss on it’s way to the access point, and potentially speed up response time.
But what happens when it just doesn’t work?
Troubleshooting
Here are some things to try when the INSTEON devices do not always respond to commands and some things to know when purchasing INSTEON devices.
- Every house has two 110V power legs that are electrically connected only at the street or alley transformer. Properly installing two INSTEON AccessPoint RFs (or SignaLinc RFs) will bridge all INSTEON signals across both power legs. These are required to have a complete and reliable INSTEON home network. Be sure and follow the instructions that come with the AccessPoint RFs to ensure that they are plugged into outlets on opposite power legs. As I indicated above, the Dual band modules could have a serious impact on this, when possible purchase the Dual band products.
- If your having issues, try plugging an extra Access Point into your Powerline controller (assuming it is not a 2413). That should allow the command to reach the RF network slightly sooner…
- If you are unable to see the PowerLine Controller / Modem, check System Profiler in the Utilities folder. Check under USB, The 2412U and 2413U will show up with an Vendor ID of 0×0403 (FTDI), and a Product ID of 0×6001.
- Try a different outlet. If that doesn’t work, try plugging directly into the Insteon Controller, and see if you can control the device from there. If not, the device maybe defective.
- Enable “Report error on all NAKs” in Indigo PowerLinc 2414U Interface Options. It will help identify problem modules that are responding intermittently to Indigo commands.
- Enable “Always send group/scene cleanup messages” in Interface Options to help troubleshoot intermittent INSTEON devices. Cleanup messages dramatically slow down the INSTEON process so it should be turned off if there are no operational problems.
- [2414U/S Only] If your Stand-Alone timers do not seem to be working, Go into Preferences -> Interface options -> Advanced Powerlinc Options -> Sync Interface Time, wait a few moments, and Show Interface Time. If that works properly, unplug the Controller for a few moments, plug it back in. Reconnect in Indigo, and Show the Interface Time again. If it’s the wrong time, you probably have a bad battery in the controller. Indigo will have issues, and may not be able to connect to it. The 2413/2412 controller doesn’t have a built-in clock, so there is no stand-alone mode.
- Try re-uploading the SALad application to the Insteon Controller from Indigo (Preferences -> Interface Options -> Advanced PowerLinc Options -> Upload Internal Application & Reset).
- Know what side of the 240VAC power system the INSTEON devices are on. Its a good idea to have a panel schedule and mark it for ready reference when troubleshooting. It helps to quickly look and see if the troublesome device is on the same or opposite leg from Indigo or the device sending the command.
- Use a 50 foot extension cord to try modules and controllers on other circuits to solve the problem.
- When linking a RemoteLinc from Indigo, put it in listen mode by holding the Bright and Dim buttons for 10 seconds. Do not put it in program mode by holding down a key for 10 seconds.
- You may need to configure triggers to listen for “On” and for “Instant On”. Its common for the on paddle to bounce on a SwitchLinc relay causing it to send an instant on instead of a plain on.
- New high frequency energy saving lighting ballasts that will require a low pass filter otherwise these type of products can wipe out your complete home automation system. (Source – http://xlobby.com/news/2009/09/01/xlobby-insteon-setup-facts-and-information/)
Purchasing
- Only purchase the V5.2 or later SwitchLinc Relay wall switches. They just work better.
- Don’t purchase the 2414U, that will eventually (I assume) be phased out. The 2413U, that is the first Dual Band controller, and there is a noticable improvement between the 2412 & 2413… Purchase the 2413U if you can.
- Purchase only the 6 button KeypadLinc Relay (no dimmer). They can handle the extended command set and it is assumed they have the improved circuits that the SwitchLinc Relays have. The 6 button KeypadLinc can be converted to 8 button with a button kit.
For follow up
- Older SwitchLinc Relays may have an signal issue, somewhere around firmware 3.7, and v5.2 or later hardware there was a change that seems to have improved their reliablity.
- Smarthome has a wiki page that lists device specific issues & work arounds.
- The SignaLincTM V2 Hardwired (#2406H) does not negate the need for Access Points, or Dual Band hardware. That is simply a signal bridge, it will bridge the two 110 branches in the house, to allow the Insteon / X10 signal to flow between the phases. It does not strengthen the signal, or repeat the signal, unlike the Access points. The Access points rebroadcast the signal at full strength.
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