considering move to HomeSeer from ISY

[BJJDad73]

Long time ISY user here and considering moving to HomeSeer. My home's lighting is INSTEON (80+ devices I'm sure), so HomeSeer's ability to work with and manage INSTEON is of big importance to me.

I do all of my device/link/scene management through the ISY, and also use ISY Programs for some less typical things. For example, I use a program to light up a master bedroom KeypadLinc light when any device on my 1st floor has been left on. When I press that KeypadLinc button it turns all devices on the 1st floor off.

Anyone have any experience moving from the ISY to HomeSeer that can share their experience? Anything good or bad as far as INSTEON device control and management?

[BJJDad73]

Two more questions.

- The INSTEON plug-in will be my primary use of HomeSeer I'm sure. Should I consider the full Windows version, or is the HomeTroller Pi more than good enough?
- Is there a preference, USB PLM vs. Serial PLM? One more reliable than the other? I know in the past the Serial PLM was considered more reliable.

[mnsandler]

Welcome
I will leave the ISY to Homeseer migration question to others.

Either PLM should be fine. I think reliability is more of a function of your power than anything. But i guess you can't use the 2413S with the Pi without a usb-serial converter. In that case, just go with 2413U if you don't have a physical serial port. There are several threads here discussing the same.

[BJJDad73]

Thank you. From an INSTEON plug-in point of view, any reason to go with a Windows based HomeSeer platform vs. lower powered Pi platform?

[mnsandler]

The plugin is supported on both platforms. I understand the the Hometroller Pi runs linux which is fine. i dont know what kind of access you have to the OS or file system on the HomeTroller. This can be useful for debugging issues.

[upstatemike]

I am an ISY user who does not have experience with the mnsandler plugin though I do plan to try it when I spin up an instance of HS4 in the near future. Some things that I would note about the ISY and the ISY plugin for Homeseer would be:

The ISY can integrate with multiple things at the same time. I currently have mine talking to my Elk M1 security system so that security sensors and garage door status can control my lighting directly as well as talking to Homeseer to trigger reminders for lights left on etc.

It also has a very reliable link to Alexa both for voice contrlol and for triggering Alexa routines.

I also make a lot of changes to my Insteon system of over 150 devices (usually re-assigning keypad buttons to do new things) and am comfortable with the device management aspect of the ISY system.

None of this may apply to you but I mention it because these are factors I would be looking at if considering a change... especially the Alexa connectivity. Curious to know what is driving you to want to switch away from ISY?

[BJJDad73]

Thanks for the feedback UpstateMike.

I also integrate with Alexa and my Elk M1. I'm under the assumption that I can do the same with HomeSeer. Am I wrong?

I am comfortable with the ISY as well, but have been having some problems lately and felt it was a good time to explore options. The Java-based Admin Console is getting long in the tooth, and I don't want to stick with it just because that's what I'm used to.

I understand INSTEON can be frustrating, but nonetheless it's what's in my house and I don't plan on ripping out all my devices any time soon. The ISY's original strength to me was INSTEON support, but it seems like they are now focusing elsewhere. I do plan on exploring Z-Wave as time allows and when the circumstances warrant it, but for the foreseeable future my house is 90+% INSTEON.

I'm hoping HomeSeer might integrate more easily with other equipment, and perhaps be more intuitive to me with non-INSTEON devices. Of course I plan on doing a trial first (extra PLM on order), and may change my mind.

Definitely interested in any feedback you can offer since you seem to be familiar with both the ISY and HomeSeer.

[Burrington]

I switched from ISY to HomeSeer a few years ago. At the time, I was very happy that I made the switch, and still am. HS has connectivity to virtually everything electronic, and if you find some odd thing that isn't already connected, you have all the power of the PC and vb.net to do whatever you want. I'm sure ISY has come a long way since I left, but HS has made leap and bounds too, so I'm pretty confident HS is still well in the lead.

I have 155 Insteon devices running in my home (and another 38 in my RV) and HS on a PC doesn't even break a sweat. Usually runs around 1% CPU and bumps up to 2 or 3% when it gets busy. It is all super responsive. I have integrated Heat, A/C, Lighting, Audio, Video, IR control, RF control, Water Heaters, Garage Doors, Door Locks, Video Cameras, Indoor & Outdoor temperatures, Weather, Security Panel, Irrigation, Water Shut-off Valves, Leak sensors, smoke detectors, CO detectors, Power monitoring, UPS, and probably more I've forgotten. It all works pretty seamlessly through HomeSeer.

With regard to Insteon support in HS, Mark's Insteon Plugin is second to none. It all works, and when something doesn't work right Mark fixes it - right now! Here's a typical problem interaction with Mark:

1:00 Me: Hey Mark, I can't get this to work.
1:30 Mark: Try abc and then def. If that doesn't work, try ghi.
2:00 Me: Thanks Mark, that did it.

Or...
3:00 Me: Hey Mark, is there a way to do ...?
4:00 Mark: No there isn't, but I'll look at it.
7:00 Mark: Try Beta version 243 and look for a new feature called ...
9:00 Me: Mark - that is exactly what I needed - AWESOME!!

In case its not clear, Mark is super responsive and helpful. I wish every software developer was half as good as Mark is, the world would be a better place.

Make the switch to HomeSeer - you won't regret it!

[upstatemike]

I agree about the quality of Mark's support (based on reading this forum) and that is the main reason I am planning to test the plugin when I implement HS4. I think the real question BJJDad73 is trying to uncover is what might be different between using Homeseer and this plugin v.s. using an ISY by itself or with Homeseer and the ISY plugin. I would like to know that as well. I think there are signal strength metrics or other features you get with this plugin that the ISY does not offer? Maybe more control over hop count?

On the ISY side you get the ability to trigger Alexa routines and more reliable connectivity to Alexa in general though I understand Homeseer is working to improve that.

There is a lot of change happening on both the Homeseer and ISY/Polisy platforms right now so its not clear what the best path is going to be for Insteon. If I were starting from scratch I think I would likely go with Homeseer and this plugin to keep things simple. I would still run a Windows version of Homeseer though because even though this plugin works on Linux there are too many cool ones that do not. I wouldn't want to limit my options.

[BJJDad73]

I will have to check into and test HomeSeer/Alexa reliability, because that is important in my house.

Although the idea of a dedicated HomeSeer device is appealing for reliability reasons (like the ISY is), I have a reliable Windows-based "server" already and will likely utilize that for my HomeSeer install if there's any benefit at all to running on Windows.

[Burrington]

One word of warning: I'm still on HS3 and Mark's HS3 Plugin works great. I understand there are a couple User Interface issues with the HS3 Plugin on HS4, but Mark is working on an HS4 specific plugin. So, if you go ahead with HS4 and the HS3 Plugin (which you should!), and find some UI issues, know that there is a solution in the works.

[BJJDad73]

Thanks for all the input Burrington, excited to try HomeSeer out!

[Burrington]

I think there are signal strength metrics or other features you get with this plugin that the ISY does not offer? Maybe more control over hop count?

Can't get the actual signal strength - wouldn't that be sweet! Here's the plugin's main config page with a number of the tools available:



Here is a typical Insteon Device setup screen, this one is for a KeyPadLinc:



And here is a snippet of the device list which shows various info including Comm reliability and error rates over time. It can be sorted by clicking on any of the blue headings:



I'm Interested to know how this compares to what's available in ISY nowadays.

[BJJDad73]

Very clean, I like it! Hopefully I'll be able to recreate all the functionality I have with my ISY.

[Burrington]

Very clean, I like it! Hopefully I'll be able to recreate all the functionality I have with my ISY.

I would be very surprised if there's anything you have in ISY that can't be done with HS. You might need some help from the forum, but there's always a way...