UI Improvements?

[chadg]

I know that there are many problems with Insteon and no more time wants to be spent on the plugin unilt SH gets their stuff together with a good version of the PLM.

But... How about some UI improvements? I would LOVE to be able to sort my devices by room or name. Same thing with groups. When I edit a group I would LOVE to see the included members up on top, etc...

The UI is very user un-friendly... In the begining I understand that focus was on functionality, now that we can't really get any more functionality how about some finish?

Oh, and documentation?

Thanks,

Chad.

[chrkov]

Sounds like a good idea, but being that I am not a programmer not sure what is involved or how much rework would have to be done after they get the plm version running.

I still run the plc and will until the plm is solid. But I would love to see support for the remotelinc in the plc version if that is possible. I have very few issues with the plc. Just would love to be able to use the remotelinc to trigger events which I cant do now.

[lanman1]

Sounds like a good idea, but being that I am not a programmer not sure what is involved or how much rework would have to be done after they get the plm version running.

I still run the plc and will until the plm is solid. But I would love to see support for the remotelinc in the plc version if that is possible. I have very few issues with the plc. Just would love to be able to use the remotelinc to trigger events which I cant do now.

I'm able to use the remotelinc to trigger events. I installed it as a device:

Device Name: 'RemoteLinc' 'RemoteLinc Button 0', Insteon Address: 0C.4B.15
Device Type: Icon RemoteLinc, Firmware Version: 33 [Comm Reliability: Currently Unavailable]

Of course it is unavailable since it is read only.......

[kuntakintay]

I'd vote for that, but understand if the guys dont want to invest the manpower into it until the direction of insteon and plugin is better defined.

[sca]

Just a quick update - I am running a Beta of the PLM - it has been much more stable to date - I am not supposed to reveal exact details like the design and Firmware, but apparently I can make general statements.

1) It runs. It does not seem to lock-up regularly. I have had it running for almost two weeks and it has not stopped working except once when I tried to reprogram something I had no communications with at all, and that did cause it to lock after repetitive retries and failures. I put an Access-point on the line with the device, Restarted HS, and it then worked smoothly and quickly.


2) It does not seem to lock-up from just plain vanilla lack of communications or poor communications with a device - e.g., a dimmer, KP, et al. I have had several dimmers or KP's "out of the loop" due to some remodeling, and the 0% communications does not affect it as to normal commands not being received and confirmed.

3) It is very fast as to the response time.

4) It is regularly generating Buffer Error messages - "Attempt to Unbuffer more data than available", but this does cause it to lock-up either. I am wondering if this is not just a mis-match between the current Firmware instructions/workings vs. the Plug-in coding, as one has changed but the other has not been updated yet to work with the specific changes to the Firmware?


5) On the rare occasion when I could cause it to lock-up, which was from a complete lack of communications while trying to reprogram a device, or running a repetitive Event macro, the PLM DOES NOT require being unplugged to reset/reboot. I simply closed HS and restarted it, and the PLM was recognized and worked once again.

So in summary, so far, the unit I have has been very stable, does not seem to lock-up, and is showing some minor programming mis-match with the Plug-in, as best I can see.

I have no idea if SH has other versions out, etc.

I still have some issue with the comminications delay/crashing for large linked situations.

One post-note - I am running Vista - I installed an Update several weeks ago which, among other things, added a Hibernation option to my system. Apparently there was a Hibernation feature, but the Power-Settings Panel did not list the option to allow it to be turned-off, and so my machine was Hibernating without my knowledge after moderate periods of non-use, even though everything that could otherwise be set, was set to "Never Turn-Off", etc. Once this Hibernation setting was available and set to Never, I discovered that even the old PLM was not "locking-up" as before. Apparently my system was Hibernating, and this somehow lost communication via the Serial port with the old PLM.

People who are/were getting the "every few days" kind of locking might want to check these setting in detail. It could be this was the Mystery cause of why it was every few days or a week and a half, or when someone was out of town, as I have seen in some of the posts over time.

[rgunther]

I agree completely with the original sentiment in this thread. Regardless of what's happening on the back end, can't we get a front-end for the INSTEON configuration that functions less like how a developer thinks and more like how a homeowner does? I've been using HomeSeer for years. I've seen the (better) Windows UI get dropped, the product price double, and a continued lack of awareness and support for INSTEON usability within the application. I've always found the HomeSeer web UI to be less polished and intuitive than I'd hoped, but the INSTEON plug-in is so cumbersome, especially with a large number of devices.

And please give us some documentation! Not only do I want to know what each button does, but it would be valuable to know why I'd want to use some of these functions. For example, why would I want to Update Insteon Interface Address Database? What is an Insteon Interface Address Database? Part of the obscurity could be alleviated by cleaning up the UI, but nonetheless, I'd hope we could finally get some documentation for this thing. Please? PLEASE? PLEASE?

[lanman1]

I agree completely with the original sentiment in this thread. Regardless of what's happening on the back end, can't we get a front-end for the INSTEON configuration that functions less like how a developer thinks and more like how a homeowner does? I've been using HomeSeer for years. I've seen the (better) Windows UI get dropped, the product price double, and a continued lack of awareness and support for INSTEON usability within the application. I've always found the HomeSeer web UI to be less polished and intuitive than I'd hoped, but the INSTEON plug-in is so cumbersome, especially with a large number of devices.

And please give us some documentation! Not only do I want to know what each button does, but it would be valuable to know why I'd want to use some of these functions. For example, why would I want to Update Insteon Interface Address Database? What is an Insteon Interface Address Database? Part of the obscurity could be alleviated by cleaning up the UI, but nonetheless, I'd hope we could finally get some documentation for this thing. Please? PLEASE? PLEASE?

I second that opinion. I used Homeseer years ago and just bought the latest version when I built my new house to work with my Insteon devices. I was surprised to see how little the interface had changed despite the huge effort put into building the back end and ASP server.

I have had zero problems with the PLC but find myself asking the following question though. What does Homeseer get me that I don't have with just the plain PLC or PLC with HouseLinc? The only thing that I use would be scripting a event based off device status change. Don't get me wrong, I do like Homeseer but if I had to do it over again, I don't know if it would be the first piece I bought.

My .02

[Rupp]

What does Homeseer get me that I don't have with just the plain PLC or PLC with HouseLinc?
My .02

If you are ONLY using Insteon then this may be true but HomeSeer is a whole lot more than an Insteon interface. HomeSeer is more of an integration engine and most users use Maestro or Main Lobby as their frontends. HomeSeer is about to complete the HSTouch interface as well.

[rhughes1955]

I use Homeseer as an HA integration server and front-end it with MainLobby. I find HS very powerful with all of the capabilities that I need, with the notable exception of Insteon support. However, Insteon lighting is the centerpiece of my automation system, and my largest investment by far. I know that the PLC/SDM/PLM trio have all had their problems, but it seems that all other areas of the plug-in has not moved forward for over a year. I also know that the developer of the plug-in (Jon) is good because I use one of his other plug-ins very successfully. So why has this plug-in stagnated? Early on, I was patient and understood that Insteon was bleeding-edge technology with all the software vendors trying to get their interfaces in place. But since then, most have moved way beyond what the Insteon plug-in is today. I don't want to read in these threads about the superiority of Z-wave or how Homeseer is so good at doing other things. I just want to know what the plans are for this plug-in. Is there commitment to it or is Homeseer going to standardize on Z-wave and leave robust plug-ins to other lighting technologies to 3rd parties? I would understand this as a business decision. I'd just like to know if I should continue to be patient or look to some other way to interface to my Insteon-based system. As the other poster pleaded: please, PLEASE, PLEASE.

[mtwalsh367]

These are all great comments. I agree the HS is a great integration engine for automation. I use HS to bring togethe my Elk M1, IR inputs, Lighting, Weater station, Movie Library, etc. I am continually impressed with how well the majority of the plugins work and the capabilities you get with the integraion and flexiblity with rules.

My growing pain point is with my Insteon lighting. HS does a decent job of controlling what I have in place but it is becoming increasingly more painful ever time I make Insteon changes or additions. I use Powerhome to maintain my Insteon network instead of HS because it is currently a more robust and reliable interface. The problem is that I have to go into HS to re-read links and do some duplicate work on top of what I do with Powerhome. If HS is not planning to advance their Insteon network configuration capabilities it would be great if they integrated with or partnered with another vendor with a robust solution i.e. PowerHome or the ISY, etc.

I would think that the better long term approach for HS would be to partner with another vendor that has robust Insteon configuration capabilities. With all the complexities and challenges with managing a large Insteon installation I wouldn't want to be in the business of maintaining an application to do all this work. This goes well beyond what I would expect a typical plug in to do.

Just my 2 cents.

[chadg]

I do think the long term plan needs to be thought out and maybe a nitive HS plugin is not the right way to go. I don't know. But, some 'minor' changes would go a long way.

It can't be that hard of a development effort to get some sorting and filtering of the device and groups lists. That would make things soooo much better and not effect any real 'Insteon' code.

I can't see it taking more than a day to write up two paragraphs on what each utility button does and and example of when you would use it. For a great explination of how Insteon works the documentation in PowerHome is really good......