Insteon / X10 Signal Troubleshooting
I agree with Mark, laptops and computers are real powerline signal killers. They usually have a very nice noise filter to protect their sensitive electronics, but that same filter kills Insteon and X10 signals. If unplugging your second laptop works, buy a "FilterLinc" from smarthome and plug everything except the PLM into it (max 10 amps). Keep the PLM (and any other Insteon or X10 modules) directly into the wall. The filterlinc isolates whatever is plugged into it from loading Insteon and X10 signals and will make your system MUCH stronger.
In addition to laptops and desktops, other electronic loads such as UPS's, TV's, printers, satellite receivers, set-top boxes, video games, phone chargers, etc can load Insteon/X10 signals. In my experience (I have a signal level meter), most devices that have a switching power supply load Insteon/X10 signals, whereas most transformer based power supplies do not. You can tell if you have a switching power supply by looking at the label. If it has a wide input voltage range, say 100 to 240 VAC (sometimes it says "V~"), it is a switcher. If it has a narrow input voltage range, say 110 to 125 VAC, (or 220 VAC in Europe), it is likely transformer based. Interestingly, Apple products (iPad, iPhone) have switchers, but do NOT load Insteon/X10 signals (nice design guys!). So, if you are having signal problems, an easy first step is to unplug anything with a switching power supply, or better yet, put a filterlinc on them all.
I have a number of track light strips with low voltage electronic transformers. Those also load X10/Insteon signals and create a lot of line noise. I had a problem where the lights would turn on fine, but would not turn off (when off they did not create any noise, but once turned on they loaded the signal and added noise to the system). The solution was a Leviton 6287 Noise Block which is small enough to mount right in the octagonal box above the light fixture.
Another surprise was my LG fridge with a simple LED display on the front - HUGE signal killer, so it's now plugged into a filterlinc.
Insteon/X10 signals are transmitted at 4 to 5 volts. It needs about 0.1 volts at the receiving end to work reliably. My HP laptop plugged in next to the PLM without a filter drops the transmitted signal to 0.5 volts (a 90% reduction!) and about 0.05 volts at the other end of the house, half of what's needed. Add a filterlinc and the signal goes out full strength, arriving at the end of the house at 1.4 volts. If the laptop is closer to the receiver, some devices in the house work fine and ones near the laptop are unresponsive. Things can also be very intermittent, depending on what else might be running. So, if you have these types of weird problems with Insteon or X10, the first thing to do is isolate the signal killers and put a filter on them.
Anything that loads the Insteon/X10 signal WILL cause you problems whether you realize it or not. Insteon's strength is that it uses both powerline and RF signals to communicate (Dual-band devices only). It uses both to get messages through quickly, correctly and reliably. If your powerline signals are loaded by other devices, they may not be getting through and you may be working on RF only, leaving you with a much degraded system if there are also holes in your RF system. Non-dual-band devices such as I/OLincs use powerline signals only. Also, any noise or bad communications can add multiple retrys and that excessive traffic on the powerline side can disrupt the entire system even if the RF is ok. So you need both to be working well for a robust system.
Most people have their computer equipment in one grouping, and maybe their A/V equipment in another grouping. So buy 2 FilterLincs and plug the whole power bar into it at each location - 95% chance you'll eliminate most of your problems. Doing so will massively improve the powerline signal levels and result in a much more robust, reliable and responsive Insteon/X10 system.
Interesting note about power bars. I have some surge suppressor power bars that are Insteon/X10 signal killers all by themselves! They need to be plugged into a filterlinc. I also have some surge suppressor power bars that act like perfect Filterlincs and prevent bad loads like my laptop from killing the signal. The only way to tell is use a signal meter, or do a lot of trial and error.
Couple notes about Filters:
1) FilterLinc has a 10 amp rating. Don't exceed that or it blows the internal fuse (trust me). It is soldered in place (looks more like a resistor) and can be replaced if your're handy with a soldering iron.
2) Be sure you plug the load into the bottom of the filterlinc. The outlet on the front is just a pass-through.
3) If you need more than 10 amps, you can buy a 15 amp filter intended for X10, but they work just as well for Insteon.
If you want to save yourself a bunch of time doing trial and error, buy a signal strength meter. I use an old "Monterey Instruments Powerline Signal Analyzer" (still available at Smarthome). It was designed for X10, but Insteon uses the same signals. It doesn't understand the Insteon codes, but it still shows signal strength and line noise which is what's really important. Makes it easy to identify Insteon/X10 signal killers, and isolate sources of noise.
After eliminating the Insteon/X10 signal killers, I've gone from a total crap system to a very strong, fast, and reliable system. Also, all kinds of weird problems disappeared that I didn't even know were related to bad Insteon signals. I have 119 devices spread throughout 6500 sq ft. About half dual-band and half are just powerline. The lowest Comm Reliability is now 76% on one device. Most are 96-100% after 100,000+ commands.
I agree with Mark, laptops and computers are real powerline signal killers. They usually have a very nice noise filter to protect their sensitive electronics, but that same filter kills Insteon and X10 signals. If unplugging your second laptop works, buy a "FilterLinc" from smarthome and plug everything except the PLM into it (max 10 amps). Keep the PLM (and any other Insteon or X10 modules) directly into the wall. The filterlinc isolates whatever is plugged into it from loading Insteon and X10 signals and will make your system MUCH stronger.
In addition to laptops and desktops, other electronic loads such as UPS's, TV's, printers, satellite receivers, set-top boxes, video games, phone chargers, etc can load Insteon/X10 signals. In my experience (I have a signal level meter), most devices that have a switching power supply load Insteon/X10 signals, whereas most transformer based power supplies do not. You can tell if you have a switching power supply by looking at the label. If it has a wide input voltage range, say 100 to 240 VAC (sometimes it says "V~"), it is a switcher. If it has a narrow input voltage range, say 110 to 125 VAC, (or 220 VAC in Europe), it is likely transformer based. Interestingly, Apple products (iPad, iPhone) have switchers, but do NOT load Insteon/X10 signals (nice design guys!). So, if you are having signal problems, an easy first step is to unplug anything with a switching power supply, or better yet, put a filterlinc on them all.
I have a number of track light strips with low voltage electronic transformers. Those also load X10/Insteon signals and create a lot of line noise. I had a problem where the lights would turn on fine, but would not turn off (when off they did not create any noise, but once turned on they loaded the signal and added noise to the system). The solution was a Leviton 6287 Noise Block which is small enough to mount right in the octagonal box above the light fixture.
Another surprise was my LG fridge with a simple LED display on the front - HUGE signal killer, so it's now plugged into a filterlinc.
Insteon/X10 signals are transmitted at 4 to 5 volts. It needs about 0.1 volts at the receiving end to work reliably. My HP laptop plugged in next to the PLM without a filter drops the transmitted signal to 0.5 volts (a 90% reduction!) and about 0.05 volts at the other end of the house, half of what's needed. Add a filterlinc and the signal goes out full strength, arriving at the end of the house at 1.4 volts. If the laptop is closer to the receiver, some devices in the house work fine and ones near the laptop are unresponsive. Things can also be very intermittent, depending on what else might be running. So, if you have these types of weird problems with Insteon or X10, the first thing to do is isolate the signal killers and put a filter on them.
Anything that loads the Insteon/X10 signal WILL cause you problems whether you realize it or not. Insteon's strength is that it uses both powerline and RF signals to communicate (Dual-band devices only). It uses both to get messages through quickly, correctly and reliably. If your powerline signals are loaded by other devices, they may not be getting through and you may be working on RF only, leaving you with a much degraded system if there are also holes in your RF system. Non-dual-band devices such as I/OLincs use powerline signals only. Also, any noise or bad communications can add multiple retrys and that excessive traffic on the powerline side can disrupt the entire system even if the RF is ok. So you need both to be working well for a robust system.
Most people have their computer equipment in one grouping, and maybe their A/V equipment in another grouping. So buy 2 FilterLincs and plug the whole power bar into it at each location - 95% chance you'll eliminate most of your problems. Doing so will massively improve the powerline signal levels and result in a much more robust, reliable and responsive Insteon/X10 system.
Interesting note about power bars. I have some surge suppressor power bars that are Insteon/X10 signal killers all by themselves! They need to be plugged into a filterlinc. I also have some surge suppressor power bars that act like perfect Filterlincs and prevent bad loads like my laptop from killing the signal. The only way to tell is use a signal meter, or do a lot of trial and error.
Couple notes about Filters:
1) FilterLinc has a 10 amp rating. Don't exceed that or it blows the internal fuse (trust me). It is soldered in place (looks more like a resistor) and can be replaced if your're handy with a soldering iron.
2) Be sure you plug the load into the bottom of the filterlinc. The outlet on the front is just a pass-through.
3) If you need more than 10 amps, you can buy a 15 amp filter intended for X10, but they work just as well for Insteon.
If you want to save yourself a bunch of time doing trial and error, buy a signal strength meter. I use an old "Monterey Instruments Powerline Signal Analyzer" (still available at Smarthome). It was designed for X10, but Insteon uses the same signals. It doesn't understand the Insteon codes, but it still shows signal strength and line noise which is what's really important. Makes it easy to identify Insteon/X10 signal killers, and isolate sources of noise.
After eliminating the Insteon/X10 signal killers, I've gone from a total crap system to a very strong, fast, and reliable system. Also, all kinds of weird problems disappeared that I didn't even know were related to bad Insteon signals. I have 119 devices spread throughout 6500 sq ft. About half dual-band and half are just powerline. The lowest Comm Reliability is now 76% on one device. Most are 96-100% after 100,000+ commands.
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