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I was all-in with Insteon for many years with about 70 devices, but I started incorporating other smarthome tech into my home a couple of years ago. It seemed like they were being left behind as competition heated up. They started dropping products and their new app didn’t support their entire existing lineup.
The only things you can’t do is changing a hub to a fixed IP (mind-boggling but OK), changing the user name or password. You canot map scenes to common names as they are managed in the cloud bbut you can wipe them and manage them in your own product of choice. I am working on some new interfaces for Home Assistant to make things easier in the transition for people that still want to create insteon scenes and such. It is all possible right now, albeit the GUI is not perfect.
Insteon Hub Required.
This is an issue that I had even back when Insteon was still in business. For whatever reason they never enabled voice control of scenes for google it seems.I hope there's a workaround with the plugin. Take full advantage of your Insteon devices and create scenes that sculpt the light for your entire home.
If your current routines are complex, like if statements with “and“ and “or” and multi layer logic, then you will have to make a decision about which of the more sophisticated platforms you want to go to. Winterizing your home used to mean lots of physical labor - caulking windows, installing heavier drapes, maybe even changing out older windows and doors that were too efficient at releasing insulated air. Winter prep can still mean all of the above, but new Z-Wave technology has made certain aspects of winterization easier while adding another level of protection as those temperatures drop. I haven't tried using groups to control my 1 FanLinc module, at least not yet.
Set Your Thermostat
Either way, here is a screenshot of HS3 Insteon groups, plus HS4 virtual devices. I am not yet on the MNS Insteon plugin for HS4. So, naturally, my Group devices are still rootless.
If you don’t already use iOS devices, I don’t think it’s worth the cost, but if you do, this is an option worth considering for many people. You won’t have as many device choices as you have with more complex platforms, so again, different things work for different people. There are other options, particularly homeseer, home assistant, and hubitat, but all of those are intended for power users and are at least as complex as Hoobs was. At the moment there just isn’t anything simple to give you a new interface to your existing Insteon hub. And you need the existing Insteon hub because it’s the only thing that has a radio that can talk to your Insteon switches, because Insteon used a proprietary communication protocol.
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A local based platform with expansive device integration and a vibrant community. The app is still a work in progress and the UI can be a bit overwhelming but they provide tips, tutorials, and answers you need in a comprehensive support portal. The platform receives frequent updates for more functionality and optimized performance too.
It’s a $259 purchase but would let you reuse your current Insteon gear. I used one of these back in 2010 and it was rock solid for me with my Insteon devices. Voted the most popular style of smart switch, you could never go wrong with decora dimmers like the ZEN72 Dimmer or ZEN77 S2 Dimmer.
Does anyone here have an opinion on the Home Assistant Yellow hardware? First product won’t ship for maybe several months but it seems like it might be worth waiting for. But you can also pay $65/year and not do anything special. When Insteon died it took me 15 mins to set things up with Nabu Casa (Home Assistant’s Cloud). With that you get so much more than attempting to do it yourself IMHO. Not only did I remove Alexa’s Insteon skill but I am removing many, many others now.
If you do have one of these, you can download the OpenHAB software for free. Like the other options, it can run on a Raspberry Pi. However, you can also choose to run it on a Windows PC, macOS, Linux, or a Docker container.
You can still access your Assistant by pressing and holding down your home button or by simply saying, "Ok Google. The Google Assistant works on my phone and I thought Insteon would therefore now work with my phone. At this stage there is no "Google Home" device here and it seems like without that, one cannot set up to use the assistant to liaise with Insteon. There is no Home Control item in the menu on my phone app.
I’m going to migrate my entire home to a variety of more popular smarthome devices, rather than choosing a single provider. The beauty of voice assistants like Alexa is that they act as a central hub, allowing a single point of control- either by voice or through the app. The integration is a plugin, which you can view the details of here, and is similar to how Home Assistant connects with Insteon. A HOOBS hub costs $229.99 but if you have compatible hardware, such as Raspberry Pi, you can get the software for a suggested $10 donation. HOOBS currently has more than 2,000 plugins so aside from your Insteon gear, you’ll have a wide range of support for other devices.
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