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         judetf Senior Member 
          
 
  Joined: January 23 2008
 Online Status: Offline Posts: 234
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           | Posted: March 06 2017 at 08:42 | IP Logged
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After 5 years away from PH (renting not owning) I am 
 soon to return to being a home owner and it's time to 
 dust off and get up to date on home automation, 
 Insteon, and all thing home automation. Boy, a lot has 
 changed!
 
 I'm naturally inclined to come straight back to PH and 
 Insteon, but... While the PH forum seem still alive, 
 I'm looking for a quick refresher (I'll be starting 
 from scratch with the PH install and all Insteon 
 devices).
 
 I'm fairly certain I'll be comfortable with PH itself. 
 I'm assuming I just need a Windows PC to run it on, 
 and then I need one of the Insteon modem (USB still 
 preferred over serial?) 
 
 Is anything else needed to get the basic system 
 online? From there it's a matter of installing and 
 configuring the Insteon devices that I decide to 
 purchase.
 
 Thanks! Looking forward to diving back in!
 -Jude
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         TonyNo Moderator Group 
          
  
  Joined: December 05 2001 Location: United States
 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2889
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           | Posted: March 06 2017 at 18:26 | IP Logged
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WB!
 
 Serial instead of USB, I believe. :D
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         dhoward Admin Group 
          
  
  Joined: June 29 2001 Location: United States
 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4447
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           | Posted: March 08 2017 at 22:36 | IP Logged
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Jude,
 
 Welcome back.  Yes, just need a Windows PC (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10) and the latest version of PowerHome available on the forum (2.1.5c with the 2.1.5d patch).  As Tony stated, a 
 serial PLM is more reliable than a USB PLM if you've got an available serial port on your PC.
 
 Once installed, you'll use the PowerHome Explorer (Setup section) to define your PLM controller as well as any other Setup type configuration. Once the PLM is communicating with 
 PowerHome, use the Insteon Explorer to discover and setup your Insteon devices.
 
 Hope this helps,
 
 Dave.
 
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         jeffw_00 Super User 
          
 
  Joined: June 30 2007
 Online Status: Offline Posts: 935
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           | Posted: April 19 2017 at 09:10 | IP Logged
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and although no PCs come with serial ports anymore, you can get a PCI-X card with a serial port for like $15.
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