The announcement introducing the subscription model didnt include any details on when and how the system would start updating again. Doing so can render your Insteon hub useless because it wont be able to connect to the Insteon servers. Where there was a very limited of actual directions, and a lot of confusion with the software that was provided, especially with HS4 software, many of us have jump to YouTube to get an understanding how to install new items, however all the videos dealt with the previous software version, of software which is not owned or developed by HomeSeer, though they sell it and tell you this is a third party software. Several hubs died over the years. I also had the Alexa Insteon skill set up on my Alexas. In fact prior to companies such Insteon, their was a significant amount of smart home experts who opened businesses to allow novice homeowners the ability to set up smart homes. Some devices like buttons and sensors, can be problematic with some hubs. Overnight, the platforms servers were disconnected, leaving their customers without a functional smart home. Today and the rest of this week I will be putting the house back. It can process web requests, integrate to my stereo, start Spotify and play it in 4 zones and Pandora for my wife in the Kitchen. I still have learn to install time triggers, but actually all my previous time schedules were still on my Hub. And its more local-control oriented compared to some of its peers. It truely is simple yet closed. You can try, but its likely that their terms of service, which every customer agrees to when they set up an account, included language saying that they could withdraw any features at any time. no business actually provides it purchasers a guarantee of operation. If you dont have one they may be difficult to get now. Some can communicate to some models of Insteon devices using the Insteon PLM, like ISY. And of course with all the major smart speakers. I have three Hubs now in my possession. Done. As far as Matter, no one knows for sure what it will deliver once its actually released, but if thats really important to you and you are looking to start from scratch, I think the 3 safest choices right now would be: 1) Amazon Alexa routines. For my part, I have some extra parts for repairing Hubs. I do not see much difference between this and say some old car or microwave or who knows what. Thanks very much, Kyle. Kevin, I appreciate your persistence in keeping this forum faithful to how these alternate solutions work with Insteon. Insteon Hub is a decent product that is capable and promising, but the experience and flexibility it provides are limited compared to the likes of SmartThings and Wink 2. No need to dim? One of the most important parts of your smart home to monitor are your garage doors. When I get a new device, I usually go around testing with all my different zigbee hubs to make sure Amazon and Google sees them properly. That doesnt mean they wont do it, but it means we just dont know yet. item 5 INSTEON Hub Model 2245-222 INSTEON Hub Model 2245-222. The transition hasnt been painful. If it were me and I only had a few Insteon devices, Id lean towards using a completely different platform. DIYSmartHomeHub.com is a participant of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program it is designed to provide an aid for the websites in earning an advertisement fee by means of advertising and linking to Amazon.com products. It will turn on nothing. Just re-read your post. The integration is a plugin, which you can view the details of here, and is similar to how Home Assistant connects with Insteon. Automate up to 2 garage doors with a single ZEN17 relay and up to 3 garage doors with the ZEN16 model! Though I can find them by going to configuration and then tabbing on Devices Tab, find the insteon plugin and go to devices and they are listed. So anyone considering a HOOBS device beware it also cost me $20 to get it shipped to me in the first place and oh yes they warned me they may charge me 25% restocking fee. It should work for as long as that Insteon hub lasts. 308. We were very fortunate to have the them. All functions perfectly. Ive got at least 20 devices including 5 FanLincs installed, three of them on our lanai controlled by a single keypad. What are Insteon device owners and service users to do? Describe dead. Im amazed at how well it works and it gives you back all the control/programming abilities/Alexa and Google home integration back. John. If it lights up but is red this is likely because the cloud service has closed down. Then the insteon shutdown happened. If you know the number, it is all you need to turn on and off scenes. You mentioned homeseer which I am unfamiliar with is reasonable to be able to get back to operating my insteon devices in conjunction with Alexa ? Thats what people agree to when they create a smartthings account, although of course a lot of people dont read the fine print. they send simple ASCII commands to an Insteon Hub/PLM/USB. There is a US cloud available for some of their hubs if you dont want to use a Chinese cloud system. If so, you may want to consider one of the alternative systems Insteon customers are turning to now. At the core of the company was Insteon's proprietary networking protocol, which was a competitor to more popular and licensable alternatives like Z-Wave and Zigbee. It is really to take a house and completely rewire it. If you dont already use iOS devices, I dont think its worth the cost, but if you do, this is an option worth considering for many people. It currently doesnt support Z-Wave, the protocol of choice for home automation thanks to its high speed and low interference with other connected devices in your home. EDIT: This article was written in 2022 when Insteon shut down the cloud service due to financial problems. The PLM has USB or RS232 interfaces and plugs into the wall. No ISY in the world sends ojkhsrfijhefdiuye5ijberwjhgvsdfuiygbwierffb8-isdvb down the wire, It cant. If so, would you please share your thoughts? It is all possible right now, albeit the GUI is not perfect. And just to be *very clear*, this is copied right from their website: The Insteon protocol is a proprietary technology that uses both RF and power line communication. INSTEON for Hub By SmartLabs | More Programs (1) Report software : Business Productivity. . You state that it runs on a local server. This is also essential if you wish to utilize Alexa or any other interface to later operate the device by voice. A lot of folks are mentioning you can buy an ISY-994, but seems it still requires an Insteon PLM . insteon hub possible workaround. Last April, Smartlabs switched off its cloud servers, leaving users of its Insteon smart home system without app or voice . I have Border Router controllers from SmartThings, Ikea, Sengled, Hue, Aqara, and DIY with homeseer and Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. You'll need a central Z-Wave hub to control all your smart devices. You can find direct replacements for your Insteon devices among thousands of Z-Wave products available from companies around the world. I have had X10 then Insteon installed for over a decade in my home. ISY994i will control insteon switches without a hub. But I can pair hue, sengled, sonoff, third reality, seedan, as well as Ikeas own devices to their hub. I know I could probably handle some issues by editing the Logs, through UI but that is really a stretch for me presently to tackle. People have had software in place for many, many years that can control the Hub/PLM. I have one Insteon hub with two wall outlets. I know this wasnt addressed to me but IP is seen as an asset by the holding company. I never even owned an Insteon hub. We've written an article that discusses some options to keep Insteon working. But you do have to dig deep and talk to the people already using the system. Scenes can also be managed, a better GUI should be coming. One small, customizable device - endless home monitoring and automation possibilities. I have no idea what to do at this point. I have been using an Insteon setup with the ISY controller for way over 10 years (about 50 switches now) without any issues so I never even noticed the demise of Insteon. You can program a switch to switch for a fixed scenario, linking switch to switch. The new standard which will hopefully be coming by the end of this year is Matter. Matter-compliance means diddle right now as it isn;t really released. Those messages can be open or proprietary. Complete your home automations with the ZSE40 4-in-1 Sensor. The 4 color smart LED indicator (not visible with the wallplate on) guides you through the inclusion, exclusion, and reset processes for easy command confirmation. However these services have always been provided initially as cost free, but as time has evolved they actually add additional cost to the companies because they become a life time expense to them in their overhead operating cost. You can implement any one of 100s of things Home Assistant, Hubitat, ISY, many others. In reality, this is how it should be. Todd Stabelfeldt (the quadfather) is one of Apples accessibility consultants and has a number of videos on his HomeKit experiences. My hub should still be okay and Ive got a spare in the box, I think Ive got an old PLM somewhere too. What would you recommend. Wave and Zigbee are two wireless communication protocols that are especially popular among users of home automation systems. OK, they shut down and maybe likely will not make new devices. I trust my Insteon devices more than my Hub. So, you are recommending Zigbee over Thread since their products are less expensive, and there are currently more manufactures that make Zigbee protocol units? Discover more about the small businesses partnering with Amazon and Amazon's commitment . We won't send you spam. This is false. The general answer will be yes, they have Alexa integration, but the details can vary as to exactly whats included in that integration and whether it costs anything extra. Whether you previously used an Insteon open/close sensor, or hadn't enabled any sort of remote monitoring, there's an easy Z-Wave solution: Zooz relays. I also appreciate the security aspects Apple bakes in, particularly with their connected camera options. To turn on/off insteon scenes you create an automation which calls the service insteon.scene_on or insteon.scene_off. I really knew very little of DOS knowledge. Hence the word proprietary. Bus schedules, energy management. Once its set up, the system is rock solid. But I am at this stage not sure how they can be activated, and unfortunately since I cant get into my Insteon app I cant even attempt to name my scenes with similar names since I dont recall exactly which devices created, but its something for me to work on. Are the scenes stored in the devices the way the Insteon hub did it, or do the devices simply respond to commands? Of course voice control can be used through Amazon Alexa or Google. In this case, your Insteon products will continue to work, for now. I am truly great full to be where I am now. But I can learn to live with the limitations. So it just comes down to what you need. How do the 3rd party hubs build scenes? So sorry to hear about their problems and hope someone picks up the pieces and continues making compatible devices. Filed Under: Featured, How-To Tagged With: amazon alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Home Assistant, HOOBS, Hubitat, hubs, Insteon, openhab, Samsung SmartThings, smart home. So, for this reason, SmartThings is a good alternative to the Insteon unit when you're looking for comprehensive support. These three with their ability to link with smart home devices brought smart home devices to such a simple level that any novice could develops smart home systems. Insteon scenes have a number, you need only that number since you say you are using Home Assistant. I have Dayton Audio DAX88 multizone music systems, other music servers, Meater thermometers, Tuya devices, etc. It doesnt exist yet, and the current chip shortage may complicate the situation as well, but I do think theres a possibility that we will see some come to market, and pretty quickly. So just getting to it is problematic. I am confused why my Home Assistant Dashboard doesnt reflect my rooms (cards) that i enter, or locate devices into them. Smartlabs, Inc, parent of vanished internet of things vendor Insteon, is unable to meet its financial obligations and has assigned its assets to a financial services firm to be sold. Free shipping. Of course, one device may be in many scenes. However, one of the other problems I have with that process is there are so many revisions (updates) to Home Assistant that many of these YouTube videos and google descriptions that I look up arent the same as my present Home Assistant causing confusion. This device can be used with or without a hub thanks to the included wired leak sensor probe. I like color RGBW bulbs from Sengled, White bulbs from Ikea, smartplugs, from Sengled, Sonnoff and ThirdReality. 2. In what will probably be remembered as one of the most notorious smart home shutdowns ever . Regarding Insteon you dont seem to mention the Universal Devices controller ISY994 controller. Best smart home hub overall. 4 press and hold responder set button until it double beeps. And smart lighting maker Insteon sells the predictably named . Universal Devices has been offering a hub, the ISY, for well over a decade that provides for the inclusion of Insteon devices as part of a home automation ecosystem that includes other protocols, providing an interoperability unlimited by an arbitrarily determined lowest common denominator. Homeboy for Insteon Hub 4+ Insteon app alternative Homeboy Software Inc. I have some small older computers that I could use for a server, but am not sure what to do now that I have pressed the button on the back of my insteon HUB thought I was doing the right thing apparently not! Both modelssupport multi-tap scene control and over 20 settings to adjust the dimmer's functionality to your needs. One thing is for surea smart home system deployed in junction boxes throughout your house and physically wired into the homes 110V system is not the same as just deciding to replace a smart coffee pot, or a Ring doorbell camera. Cant say its out of character for such an unethical company. However, these workarounds are less than user-friendly and will require more time and possible frustration around a system thats no longer backed by any official support. Thank you, So Im afraid this is just something youll have to research individually. I removed the Insteon skill from Alexa and added the Home Assistant skill and linked to my Nabu Casa account. Im working with my only client to give her some alternative. I was looking at alternatives that use in wall switches and plugs like insteon and found kasa but it isn't supported any longer and casita doesn't have in wall plugs. Kodi is a local media player, while Plex has a server-and-client model. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. We are not truly creditors that havent been paid debts. The LED stays red since there's no cloud connection, but doesn't matter. Now the failure of companies such as Insteon, and maybe even other firms that offer similar services such as Insteon, and their are plenty of those that depend upon cloud services to support the use of ease of operation of these smart hardware devices.