Re: Any S/W to simplify linking Insteon switches?

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>
><stuff snipped>
>
>> While linking by pressing buttons on the hardware is a PITA, delinking is
>> more troublesome. Doing it manually with button presses requires that the
>> hardware be "in the network" and functioning but that's impossible if the
>> device you need to delink has become defective.
>>
>> This is a much bigger problem than it might appear on its face.
>
>It sounds like a serious problem that could lead to lots of other trouble.
>
>I'm liking codewheels more and more although I am finding that among the
>twenty year old modules it takes a bit of wiping to get a good contact if
>you want to change an address.  Still, that's better than having to run
>around the house pressing buttons within preset time frames.  It sounds more
>like a relay race than a home automation system!

It's the way they've chosen to prevent casual interference from neighbors.

I think Insteon has the best way to handle this but they haven't yet
supplied any end-user software to do it. While one shouldn't draw
conclusions based on screenshots, the screenshot for the coming software
shows how to link but not how to unlink.

Their inane license terms pretty much prohibit anyone from supplying simple,
free software to manage linking/unlinking or even commenting on their
hardware. Up to this point I've been trying to avoid buying their SDK in
order to keep clear of their licensing. The linking/unlinking issue has
forced me to order the SDK and, as soon as they send me the details for
accessing their developer's forum, etc. I'll have to quit making posts like
this. :(

However, if you read the link I provided you will see that this is a major
flaw in Z-Wave. You apparently have to reset to factory defaults and relink
all good units in order to delink a defective unit. Given the high failure
rate of the modules, I think this is just one more fatal flaw in their
system. It's really ironic that they are seeing a high failure rate of the
USB interface given that they merely grafted an FTDI chipset onto what was
originaly designed as RS232.