I have an ISY944 which I got several years ago, before HA had an Insteon addon that could talk directly to the PLM modem. It works OK in HA, but I’m not sure having another device in the loop makes a lot of sense to manage my Insteon hardware, as it seems like it would just add latency to automations & stuff.
I recently upgraded my ISY from 4.x.x to 5.x.x and the ISY programs I had to do motion sensing stopped working when I upgraded, so I thought maybe now is the time I should be removing that device from my setup. I have tried automations with Insteon motion sensors triggering lights in both ISY native automation land (which is what stopped working during the upgrade) & HA (using ISY integration, which I just tried recently), and they seem about the same speed - both take about a second from motion detection to trigger the lights turning on, which seems slow.
I’m wondering if HA just talking directly to the Insteon modem would be faster or not? Has anyone migrated from the ISY integration to the native HA Insteon integration? If so, how has your experience been? I have a serial modem so I guess I’d need to get a USB to RJ45-serial adapter cable.
Hi Zeke. I have an ailing Insteon network running on ISY944. Most likely the PLM, which apparently dies over time due to electrolytic capacitors failing. Used 2413S plms are selling on ebay for $200 up to $1000 (if you can believe it). The USB version 2413U seems to be cheaper. If I buy the usb, then I will pull out the ISY and control everything from HA. Are you confirming that you can run the Insteon network with only the plm and no hub?
You should think about that. What makes you think some USB device sends signals down the powerline (or is it RF only).
Personally I would never go back to ISY but that is a personal decision. I have about 80 Insteon switches. I own three modems now, one original I have had for years, one for dev purposes and one backup.
Thanks, kbrown01. 80 devices ! Wow! So the 2413U will interface directly with RPi and will inject and receive the powerline signals and also emits and receives the RF signals from the Insteon mesh. The ISY944i uses the RS232 serial 2413S power line modem.
I currently have the serial PLM that I got in a kit with the ISY. I’d need to get an adapter cable that goes from USB to serial (RJ45) to interface my HA box to the PLM. @kbrown01 - how fast are your automations using the HA-Insteon direct integration? Do you have Insteon motion/light sensors? I’m really interested to hear more about your setup & experience.
Insteon requires either a PLM or the Hub (which is a PLM). My automations in home are instant. Maybe you want to look through this thread … Hey Insteon users! - #160 by chuckdeal97. Using Insteon scenes to turn/off things is super fast. Using HA is a “popcorn effect”. I only put together tools to help you understand what is inside your device and test some things. I mostly use the Insteon Control Panel to modify things, but some you can do with that interface.
I would say not only instant, but things my wife does everyday like “Alexa, turn on Dogs” (which now goes through Alexa->Nabu Casa->Home Assistant->Insteon Hub at house) will turn on 8 different lights in about 1/2 second.
Now, I do not have to involve Alexa (my wife likes that and so so does it) … I have wall mounted pads with a dashboard or her phone with similar GUI, touches “Dogs” button and almost immediately 8 different light switches are on for the dogs to go outside and do their business.
I would note to @thalin that all my devices are thermostats, on/off switches, dimmer switches, on/off outlets. I do not have any motion sensors that are insteon. IMHO nothing beats Insteon for the speed and reliability and feel of the actual switches, especially in the mixed RF+Powerline control.
Can’t get it all on a screen but here is a taste of our home all Insteon:
Understood. I do not own a USB stick. I have a PLM (not used) and a few Hubs as stated above. 10 years ago I thought the ISY was the greatest thing I owned … but I never used it for anything except Insteon. Then I gave it away because the Hub appeared and while the GUI lacked a bit in the hub, it was 1000 better then an ISY. And then Home Assistant and hell, no going back.
Of course one could use HA GUI to power ISY and get all the great things it does, but to me it would be just another device in the chain (===latency).
I’m not sure if this is the place to ask this question but the topic title made me think it was. I’m an Insteon ISY user. I just got HA up and running and am currently running the ISY integration in HA. So nothing has really change for me, yet. I’m thinking about ditching the ISY and just plugging my PLM right into the HA and using the Insteon integration. My question is, does the Insteon integration have the same level of granularity over Insteon devices as the ISY integration?
I ask this because I think of what the Insteon app itself does…which is basically…nothing. Haha. Like, scenes. Whereas the ISY lets you control EVERYTHING there is to control about an insteon device.
I guess I can ask this question graphically, too.
Does the Insteon integration allow me to control all these entities?
