Adding Insteon Devices

Configuration
1

This is a solution, not a request for help. The Insteon integration can be confusing to work with. Under “Configure,” there is a choice to manually override for adding a device. It looks easy, but don’t use it. Basically it asks for the device info and address, so it looks like it should work. It doesn’t. As with many devices, in Insteon, you need to be able to physically access the device to press the setting button to add that device to the system.

To add an Insteon device:

  1. Go to Developer Tools and click the Services tab
  2. In the box that brings up, use these settings:
    Service: Insteon: Add all links
    Group: 0
    Mode: Controller
  3. Use the Call Service button
  4. Go to the device (within about 3 minutes) and press the Settings button (or press and hold - it may vary by device - check the instructions!)

I’ve used this to add on devices and it works fine. There is no direct link to doing this from the Insteon integration.

10 Likes
2

I tried this, and after I pressed the switch’s button, the Call Service button flashes green. Unfortunately, when I search for the device, it is not found.

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I am nowhere near an expert - I’m still not able to get things working correctly all the time. What are you using to communicate with Insteon devices? I tried using a 2448A7 USB stick and couldn’t even get it to communicate with a light dimmer about 6-8’ away with nothing in between them I only got things working when I plugged in an older serial PLM that plugs into an AC outlet. That connected to my USB stick on its own and, with that, I was able to add other devices.

But I’ll also add that one of those devices that I added, that was on my old ISY-994i setup for a long time lost touch within less than a day.

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I’m using an Insteon Hub.

Do you know where to get the values for the category and subcategory.

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I found that information on a Google search for the devices data & install sheet.

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Ok, I just figured it out. Here’s the info on the Insteon Device Override.

The second line in the image.

Category: 0x02
Subcategory: 0x15

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1 Like
7

I tried using the device override and found it nonfunctional. Apparently a device needs to have a physical presence to add it. Same in Z-Wave, from what I’ve seen. My guess is that’s so that someone can’t take over a device by just adding it to a system. When you think about how thermostats and locks and other critical devices can be controlled by a home automation system, it makes sense that the person adding it to a system would be required to have physical access to the device.

I think there’s somewhere in this forum where I bring up trying to add a device by using override and was told it wouldn’t work. If it’s not here, then it was in a private discussion in email where I was discussing it with a developer. I’ve searched, but can’t find it, so I’m not sure where I had that discussion.

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To use the device override, I didn’t have to do anything to the device, which was a wired Insteon wall switch. I just entered the information in the override window. However, the switch was paired with my Insteon hub.

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Do you mean it was already paired with the hub? Did you have to use the button on the device to do that?

If it was already paired with your Insteon hub, I’d be interested in details - what model number of the hub, how you paired it (like what software you needed) and so on.

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I have hub version 2 and paired the device via the iPhone app. When I do this, devices usually show up as a discovered device in HA. When they don’t, I’ve had to use the device override, but it happens so infrequently that I forgot how to do that. Last night, I remembered and was able to accomplish the pairing with HA.

11

Is this hub the one you’re talking about?

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Yes, that’s the hub I’ve been using for the last couple of years.

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Is it easy to connect that hub to HA?

And I know I’m repeating this, but I want to summarize to make sure I’ve read and interpreted everything correctly. You are using software on your phone to connect the hub to your devices in the first place, then you can connect to the hub and control them with HA, and even do a forced add in HA if it’s on the hub. Do I have that right? And when you add a device to that hub, do you have to be able to press the set button on the device, or does it let you do it without direct physical access to the other device?

I’m finding my Insteon USB stick just sucks rocks. I think I mentioned it wouldn’t communicate with a device less than 8’ away, with only air between them. Plugging the serial PLM in a nearby wall socket made all the difference, but now I’m having an issue with devices losing contact. I don’t like having to directly connect the PLM to my Pi. It creates positioning issues, since they say to put the PLM as far from other devices as possible and, for several reasons, my HA Pi is with all my other stuff, like my media server and over-the-air HDTV tuners.

So I’m frustrated and feeling stuck. USB radio device sucks. Plug-in serial PLM seems to work, but lost one device. (The garage door opener - the one I have to move the car out of the garage and put up a ladder to reach!) If the PLM is going to drop connections, I may just need to buy the hub. (I’m assuming the hub is dual-mode and does RF and through power lines, but I’ll check on that.)

14

Yes, to all of the above. And yes, I need physical contact with the device to pair it to the hub. So, if you are using Micro Switches or Dimmers, you’ll need to uncover them and press the pairing button. The forcing is just to get HA to acknowledge devices that are already paired on the Hub.

By itself, the Insteon Hub works flawlessly. I used it for years without issue. It was only when I decided I wanted conditional lighting scenarios that I discovered HA. The Insteon Integration with HA is good – when it works. Unfortunately, it occasionally drops connection and requires a reboot of the Hub. (I’ve got a Zigbee plug that I use to power cycle it remotely.) It seems to go in clusters of losing connection more frequently than other times. I don’t know what causes this. If I didn’t have 50 Insteon devices, I might consider switching to another brand, but the investment (and potential for spousal disapproval) prevents me from doing this. So, I’m only replacing the Insteon Plug-In Modules for now.

I have considered buying a PLM and using it as my Insteon interface, but then I’d lose some important scenes that I still use on the Hub. Because HA turns on/off lights in a scene one at a time, my big scenes (All Off, All On, Sunset, and Sunrise) take way too long to run directly from HA. By using HA to trigger Insteon scenes, the change is with every device simultaneously. Perhaps you could move an Insteon Plug-In Module into an outlet in the garage to strengthen the signal to your door opener.

Let me know if you need anything else. Since so many people have been helpful with me, I’m happy to share what limited HA knowledge I have.

15

The one point that concerns me about the hub is it losing connections at times. I checked and some reviews on Insteon’s site mention that, too. When it loses connections, do you have to delete and reconnect the device or can a reboot do the job? And you mentioned using a Zigbee plug - so there’s no option on the hub to reboot it directly? Any chance that’s available on a web interface?

Do PLMs have a better reputation of maintaining connections than the hub?

I’ve found some connectivity issues with a few Z-Wave devices, but overall, that’s been solid for me. The issue with them is in our barn. The barn was here when we got here. It was a 1 floor cinder block structure with a tin roof and on a concrete slab (other than the trenches in the slab for pig waste!). We removed the roof, added a layer of cinder blocks around the top, then put trusses on top with a 2nd floor built into the truss. I’m going into detail because, as you can imagine, that 1st floor is just a big concrete box so I’d think signals in it would just bounce around in there and one signal from any device would easily connect with any other device.

My issue is the doors. Imagine a cinder block wall, which is 8-10" thick (most blocks are 8" thick). The doors are on the outside edge of the wall, so, including the studs on the inside of the wall (for drywall and to give us space for wiring and pipes), from the inside, there is a rectangular hole in the wall about 1’ deep, with the door on the outside part of that hole.

I had trouble with the Z-Wave locks in both doors and had to get boosters, just for the doors! I had to make sure I could put them in outlets that had a direct line of sight to the locks. With that in place, they work. (Unless someone is standing right in front of the locks!)

I used to use a Universal Devices ISY-994i. It works, I can’t say bad against it, but there are limits to it that I didn’t like - serious limits to programming that I didn’t like. Also, it did only Insteon, Z-Wave, and IR. When I was doing research for something new, I liked that HA could run on a Pi, I could use multiple versions or stick ZWJS2MQTT on a computer in my barn and control both the house and barn from ONE Pi. Since they’re all on the same electrical service, I’m hoping I can control Z-Wave devices in the barn using my PLM. We’ll see.

16

I don’t have any experience with the PLM, and once I realized that I would lose the big scenes I mentioned above, I stopped looking into it. As far as I can tell, there is no remote reboot function on the Hub. That’s why I installed the Zigbee plug. I keep hoping that some smart person will find the cause of the disconnect ps and resolve the issue since I’m not abandoning my Insteon devices any time soon.

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When devices lose connection, what do you have to do to reconnect with them? Re-add or reboot?

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Just reboot the Hub. Sometimes restart HA.

19

Easy fix. Right now I need to do something with the garage door opener. There’s no way to access the PLM directly and HA has a way to delete all Insteon links, but not to delete one device. (I can delete entities, but not devices.)

That, alone, might make getting a hub worth it. Sadly, there are none in stock. The ones on eBay are used or are way overpriced and Insteon said (I called them earlier today) they don’t expect any hubs in stock until the 2nd week in January.

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I just glad to hear that they are getting more items in! I was worried they were going out of business.