Gus Salavatore Calabrese wrote:
> Neil, do you like the INSTEON hardware ?
> What is your overall impression ?

I like the feel, it feels like good stuff. The internals are of
higher quality than X10 (that goes without saying ;-). They are
identical to the rest of the Smarthome products but I don't know
if they have the same problems as the older Smarthome X10
compatible products. The Decora style toggle are OK with my wife.
They are causing me a bit of grief with switch covers. I have to
buy wood covers and route them to match the existing covers.

I can't speak for Insteon's PC software as I'm writing my own
(for Mr. House). So far I've only had time to write an alpha
version of a driver but it works and I use it 7x24. I have
another piece of software that can handle basic Insteon on/off
dim/bright commands and Insteon is faster than X10. I really
like the ACK/NACK/Lack (of response) for letting you know what's
going on.  Using the SignaLincs (RF transceivers) to couple the
'phases' really works well and the fact that each Insteon device
repeats the signals it sees works great. X10's coverage was weak
out to the garage and to the entertainment system (a black hole).
Insteon's signal reaches the garage just fine and while the
signal strength is lower on the entertainment leg it's strong
enough to be recognized.

A few you things need to know, Insteon devices do not repeat X10
signals (including the SignaLincs). Insteon device can be setup
for X10 and Insteon but I don't know what it's limitations are.
I know when set for both a manually switched device will send an
X10 on/off command (I wish they'd do this with Insteon commands).
Insteon devices must be registered with each other to be
controlled (you can still control the X10 without enrolling the
device). It's not a security feature but it should limit signals
from crossing from home A to B without some effort. The Insteon
PLC is not RF and power line (the tech description seems to imply
this).

Final opinion, X10 is going to lose in the HA market if they
don't do something. I am aware of UPB but I don't know enough
about it to comment (I've heard better than X10 but not as
good as Insteon in one user's opinion). I don't like Z-Wave
because the air waves are getting too congested and I don't
like their handling of my request for some support for
the Open Source community. They could have said no but instead
they said sure but you need to use our consultant and your
Open Source software needs the NDA. I explained it several
times and they still don't get it. I don't lose respect for
those that say no. I do lose respect for those who don't
bother to listen. BTW, the Insteon folks have gone way out
of their way to help and this was long after I had already
decided that I liked Insteon (and UPB).

-- 
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry@linuxha.com
http://www.linuxha.com/                         Main site
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/                    My HA Blog
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/               Backup site
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