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**mnsandler** · February 16, 2010, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by mrceolla View Post

Hello,

I am looking to purchase the following 2 products:

LampLinc - INSTEON Plug-In Lamp Dimmer Module (Dual-Band), 2-Pin

http://www.smarthome.com/2457D2/Lamp...d-2-Pin/p.aspx

Wireless INSTEON Motion / Occupancy Sensor

http://www.smarthome.com/2420M/Wirel...-Sensor/p.aspx

I am still using the PLC and not the newer PLM.

Will I have any problems with the motion sensor talking to HS through the dual-band lamp dimmer and PLC?

I see I'll have to upgrade my plugin version, but other than that, will my setup work?

Any opinions/reviews of the motion sensor or dual-band lamp dimmer?

FYI, I do not have any access points.

Thanks to all.

Mike

Mike,
the current plugin ver 1.3 does not have support for the dual band lamplinc. But i have already added it and tested it; works fine.

the PLC should be fine as well.

how are you coupling your phases without access points? do you have a
SignaLinc - INSTEON Phase Coupler, item# 2406H

I have access points so i can speak to the MS talking to HS via the dual-band lamplinc, but it should work.

otherwise i would guess your comm stats are pretty low

I put a motion sensor into production in my house. I use it to trigger a light via HS when HS receives msgs from the motion sensor. I must say its not 100%.
but i haven't played with the location and angle of the MS. I just put it in the same place i had an x10 ms10a which wasn't 100% either

I bet if you linked the motion sensor directly to the lamplinc (thus leaving HS out of the loop), it would work 99%.

**mrceolla** · February 17, 2010, 12:29 PM

Hi mnsandler,

Thank you for your reply. I am confused by your first sentence. Did you manually alter the plugin to add support for the dual band lamplinc? If so, how did you do it? Could you email me the altered files?

Yes, I am using the old SignaLincs to couple phases.

What do you mean you guess my comm stats are low?

Regarding your MS not being 100%. Is that due to the communication between the MS and HS or is the MS just not picking up the motion?

Does the current 1.3 plugin support the MS's low battery warning?

Thanks again for your input. Looking forward to more.

Have a great day,
Mike

**mnsandler** · February 17, 2010, 12:52 PM

Mike,
v1.3 does not support the dualband lamplinc, but have an interim build (v1.3.1) i can send you to test. post your email to my visitor page requesting this build (plm or plc) for the dualband lamplinc support.

ah! signallincs. ok, ignore the my other comments about comm stats, etc.

"ms not being 100%"; i'm not sure where the problem is? I use the doomotion plugin to control the output from all my MSs. I have seen delays with the dm plugin, delay with hs and delay with the ms actually seeing motion. if for some reason the insteon msg doesn't make it to HS in my case, it will be another 30sec at a minimum before a second msg will be sent if i understand how these MSs work.

I should link the MS directly to the switch (leaving hs out of the loop) and see how it goes. the only problem with this setup (for me) is then i can't vary the on-level of the switch.

yes v1.3 supports ms low battery. i tested it with an 6v power adapter and it worked. although i have be build in a manual reset capability in the next release; just putting in a fresh 9v doesn't reset this

**mrceolla** · February 22, 2010, 11:17 AM

Thanks again mnsandler for your post. Sorry for my delay. I thought I had subscribed to this thread to receive email notifications but alas I must not be.

I do not yet have a dual-band lamplinc. I was just doing a bit of research before my purchase. But thanks to your posts I think I am going to give it a try. I will order it this week and contact you when I am in need of the new drivers.

Do you work for HomeSeer? Just curious how/why you have an interim build.

I see you also have a W800RF32A. Do you have any x-10 MS that you're using w/ the W800RF32A? How is the reliability w/ that combination?

If you had to argue for one over the other, Insteon wireless vs x-10 wireless, what would you prefer?

Thanks again for your posts.

Mike

**mnsandler** · February 22, 2010, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by mrceolla View Post

Thanks again mnsandler for your post. Sorry for my delay. I thought I had subscribed to this thread to receive email notifications but alas I must not be.

I do not yet have a dual-band lamplinc. I was just doing a bit of research before my purchase. But thanks to your posts I think I am going to give it a try. I will order it this week and contact you when I am in need of the new drivers.

Do you work for HomeSeer? Just curious how/why you have an interim build.

I see you also have a W800RF32A. Do you have any x-10 MS that you're using w/ the W800RF32A? How is the reliability w/ that combination?

If you had to argue for one over the other, Insteon wireless vs x-10 wireless, what would you prefer?

Thanks again for your posts.

Mike

Mike,

I think you will like the dual-band lamplinc its very small/compact relative to the old lamplincs and even has some extra external btns for programming it locally.

I don't work for Homeseer/HST. I am a homeseer user like you who happens to have a programming background. So I took over the development of the Insteon plugin (it was dead/dormant for 18 mths). Thus i can make various builds avail privately to people to test before i release a new build to the community/forum.

I do use the W800RF32A and have more than 16 x10 MSs and about 6 DS10a in use. I have been very happy with the reliability of this setup but it is not 100% either. The x10 MS lose their settings when you change the batteries and neither device (MS or DS10) supports any kind of remote programming like the Insteon MSs and TriggerLincs do. But the ACRF devices are inexpensive relative to the Insteon devices. I also started with the ACRF well before Insteon developed either of their products.

As i mentioned i do have one insteon ms in production. Since my last post on this thread, i did link the ms to a light switch. The reliability was very good (having the ms turn on the light) but the functionality is then limited. You can't control the time parameters or brightness levels with this setup like you can with a thirdparty plugin like doomotion or even custom events and scripts.

Its hard for me to argue the Insteon over the ACRF because of my limited use of the insteon wireless devices. The ACRF will require an additional antenna, serial interface, & plugin in addtion to sensors.

But If I had to start over, i would probably just go with the Insteon stuff to minimize the number of different technologies in the house.

What I would suggest is start small and see how it goes. then expand from there.

Good Luck

**mrceolla** · March 2, 2010, 07:41 PM

Hi mnsandler,

I now have my new dual-band lamplinc and motion sensor. Could you please post or send me your beta plugin?

Few more questions:

I am still running version 2.2.0.66 of HomeSeer. Do I need to or want to upgrade that? I tend to not upgrade unless there's a feature I'm after or if I'm doing a fresh install.

I would like to add my new dual-band lamplinc in place of an old lamplinc via the "Replace / Swap out this device" function. Do you predict any problems with that?

I think that's all for now. Oh wait...

Has HomeSeer discontinued support for Insteon then?

Thanks,
Mike

**mrceolla** · March 3, 2010, 05:03 PM

Oh no. I'm almost home and no reply yet. I sure hope I can play with my new toys tonight.

**mnsandler** · March 3, 2010, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by mrceolla View Post

Hi mnsandler,

I now have my new dual-band lamplinc and motion sensor. Could you please post or send me your beta plugin?

Few more questions:

I am still running version 2.2.0.66 of HomeSeer. Do I need to or want to upgrade that? I tend to not upgrade unless there's a feature I'm after or if I'm doing a fresh install.

I would like to add my new dual-band lamplinc in place of an old lamplinc via the "Replace / Swap out this device" function. Do you predict any problems with that?

I think that's all for now. Oh wait...

Has HomeSeer discontinued support for Insteon then?

Thanks,
Mike

The plugin does not support swapping devices of different devicetypes.

HS 2.3.x does have a swap device function. so you may want to upgrade hs before upgrading the insteon stuff.

the process would be
1. upgrade hs
2. upgrade plugin
3. install new devices and program as necessary
4. use the new hs replace device feature to replace the old with the new.

how many lamplincs are we talking about swapping? if only a couple,
i would suggest just upgrading the plugin and setting up the new devices and upgrade hs later.

**mrceolla** · March 4, 2010, 12:37 PM

Thank you for that info but I am a bit confused by a couple things.

You say the plugin doesn't support swapping devices of different devicetypes but later seem to suggest it in step 4. Maybe you're referring to the plugin vs homeseer?

I have only one device I would like to SWAP. It is a older 3-pin lamplinc dimmer. I would like to put my new dual-band lamplinc in its place. Then I would like to re-add the older lamplinc in a new location to control a new light. Does that make sense? Does that change your 1-4 suggestions?

Also, with steps 3 and 4... Do the new devices need to be added to HS before they can be used in a swap? I am use to using the plugins "Replace / Swap Out This Device" features in which case the new devices did not have to be added first. Is this method different?

Oh, and I have the PLC if that matters.

Thank you,
Mike

**mnsandler** · March 4, 2010, 12:54 PM

Originally posted by mrceolla View Post

Thank you for that info but I am a bit confused by a couple things.

You say the plugin doesn't support swapping devices of different devicetypes but later seem to suggest it in step 4. Maybe you're referring to the plugin vs homeseer?

I have only one device I would like to SWAP. It is a older 3-pin lamplinc dimmer. I would like to put my new dual-band lamplinc in its place. Then I would like to re-add the older lamplinc in a new location to control a new light. Does that make sense? Does that change your 1-4 suggestions?

Also, with steps 3 and 4... Do the new devices need to be added to HS before they can be used in a swap? I am use to using the plugins "Replace / Swap Out This Device" features in which case the new devices did not have to be added first. Is this method different?

Oh, and I have the PLC if that matters.

Thank you,
Mike

Mike
to make this simple and easy, i'll suggest the following:

1. delete the exising lamplinc from the plugin (this will remove it from the hs status page as well)
2. add the new lamplinc using the plugin.
3. update any events (or triggers) so they now refer to the new hs device that represents the new lamplinc.
4. add the old lamplinc using the plugin and proceed as usual.

regarding my previous comments; hs 2.3.x has a "replace device" function on the Tools page. this will not swap/replace an insteon device in the plugin only two hs devices (on the status page). The plugin keeps track of insteon devices and hs keeps track of hs devices that represent your registered insteon devices. i realize this is a little confusing.

**eufreka** · March 4, 2010, 04:20 PM

Just to clarify...the new dual-band lamplincs *are* access points, supposedly.

Originally posted by mnsandler View Post

Mike,
the current plugin ver 1.3 does not have support for the dual band lamplinc. But i have already added it and tested it; works fine.

the PLC should be fine as well.

how are you coupling your phases without access points? do you have a
SignaLinc - INSTEON Phase Coupler, item# 2406H

I have access points so i can speak to the MS talking to HS via the dual-band lamplinc, but it should work.

otherwise i would guess your comm stats are pretty low

I put a motion sensor into production in my house. I use it to trigger a light via HS when HS receives msgs from the motion sensor. I must say its not 100%.
but i haven't played with the location and angle of the MS. I just put it in the same place i had an x10 ms10a which wasn't 100% either

I bet if you linked the motion sensor directly to the lamplinc (thus leaving HS out of the loop), it would work 99%.

**mnsandler** · March 4, 2010, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by eufreka View Post

Just to clarify...the new dual-band lamplincs *are* access points, supposedly.

yes that is correct. And you can link two (for phase coupling) just like regular access points. the user's manual confirms this.

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Question about motion sensor and dual-band plugin support.

Question about motion sensor and dual-band plugin support.

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