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CompKing
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| Posted: September 29 2007 at 12:21 | IP Logged
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I am fairly new to the automation scene. I bought Homeseer from smarthome, and subsequently searched for more flexible software. I came across PowerHome, and I must say it has a lot more Insteon programming options (i.e. X10 address setting, remote set-up of links and dimmer levels, etc).
One significant difference I see between the programs is that Homseer (by default) adds the PLC as a responder to EACH insteon device added to the network. I assume this allows for more timely response to keypresses in the network, since the PLC would be a part of the button sequence.
My initial look at PowerHome it appears that this is not the case, and the PLC is left as an unlinked device. Actions on keypresses appear to be focused on polling the device instead of receiving keypress commands.
As such, I note a significant delay between the time a button is pressed at the time it's status is updated (if at all) in the Device Manager screen.
Is there a way to integrate PowerHome better with Insteon so instant keypress commands are processed and status updates are immediate? (i.e. put the PLC as a linking device?)
Regards
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Geoff A Larsen
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dhoward
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| Posted: September 29 2007 at 21:49 | IP Logged
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Geoff,
Welcome to PowerHome!
You are correct. PowerHome does not automatically default creating links to other devices. However, this is very easy to do.
Just open the Insteon Explorer and go to the Links tab. Scroll through the "Current Device" list at the top and select your PowerLinc1. In the windows below, all of the Controller and Responder links for the PLC will appear. To quickly add every device as a controller of the PLC, click on the ID header in the list to the far left. This should highlight EVERY device in the list to the left. Now just drag the list from the left and drop it onto the Controllers window. Blank columns in red will need some additional attention (this will be the button number for KPL's and ControLincs). When done, just press the "Save" button and PowerHome will create the links for you with the PLC as a resopnder of every device.
Normally, you would only need to add the PLC as a responder if the Insteon device is not controlling another device (it has no links). As long as a device has links, then the PLC and PowerHome should see the status change immediately and not have to wait for a status poll. If this is not the case, and creating a responder link to the PLC fixes this, then this may be an indication of less than optimal communications. Of course, if a device is stand-alone and does not control another Insteon device, then you'll definately want to add a link with the PLC as a responder.
Let me know if this fixes your problem for you.
Dave.
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ginigma
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| Posted: September 30 2007 at 23:10 | IP Logged
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Dave, will adding the PLC as a Responder to every Controller add additional overhead to the whole Insteon network and PowerHome?
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Insteon (40 devices) ^ PowerHome (435 links) ^ Logitech Harmony 880
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CompKing
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| Posted: October 01 2007 at 10:42 | IP Logged
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Dave: Thanks for the quick response. I'll try it out, and let you know if I have any problems.
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Geoff A Larsen
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CompKing
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| Posted: October 01 2007 at 10:45 | IP Logged
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To summarize, it is okay to put all devices as a controller of PowerLinc, but putting them also as responders may be overkill.
Is that correct?
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Geoff A Larsen
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bhlonewolf
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| Posted: October 01 2007 at 13:35 | IP Logged
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Yep, I may be wrong CompKing, but putting the devices as responders of the PLC won't work as the PLC isn't a controller -- kind of like like how a LampLinc can't be a controller.
One thing I've wondered about is this: if you have a device that is only linked to 1 other device, does it act the same as a controller that controls, say, 5 responders by sending a group broadcast followed by a cleanup?
If the communication with 1:1 type of setups is different than 1:many, then adding the PLC as a responder might affect things b/c it would change the way the way the device communicates (direct vs group commands).
But that's just a guess.
I've found that the report "devices that aren't controllers" to be very helpful -- for those devices, add the PLC as a responder. That's all that's really needed.
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dhoward
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| Posted: October 03 2007 at 13:57 | IP Logged
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Ginigma,
Adding the PLC as a repsonder of every device won't put any additional overhead on PowerHome. It'll add one more link record to each device, but you should have plenty of room to play with so I wouldnt worry. It may possibly mean an extra group cleanup message being transmitted, but that shouldnt burden the network as cleanups are terminated if any other traffic appears. This is getting really anal, but you may want to use the "Sort" column to have the PLC link created last so that group cleanups to actual "controlled" devices would be more likely to get through rather than being interrupted by another Insteon communication.
Compking,
You wouldnt just arbitrarily add every device as a responder of the PLC unless you specifically wanted the devices to be controlled together as a group from the PLC. It's very likely that you would have certain devices in certains groups of the PLC for scene control and I have heard of people just creating a special ALL DEVICE group where they pick a particular PLC group number and add every device as a responder. However, it's usually not necessary as Insteon already provides a default all device group as group 255 as long as every device is in at least 1 other PLC group. So, you could split your lights into outside lights as group 200 and inside lights as group 201. Between these two groups, every device would be included. You could then control ALL device by sending commands to group 255.
Lonewolf,
If an Insteon device is not linked to another device as a controller, ie. it controls another device (being controlled by another device is a different matter), then locally controlling the device will generate absolutely no Insteon traffic (I believe this may change in a later revision). As long as the device is controlling at least 1 other device, then you'll get a group broadcast command. This command will be identical whether the device controls 1 device or 100 devices. This will then be followed by sequential group cleanup commands to each device within the group. If the device is linked to 1 other device, you'll get 1 group cleanup command targeted at that device. If the device is linked to 2 other devices, you'll get first one group cleanup to device 1 followed by a second group cleanup to device 2. This will continue for as many devices that are linked in the group with the caveat that the group cleanup commands will be terminated if ANY other Insteon traffic appears on the network. This is why it may be beneficial to place your links in a particular order as the cleanups are generated in order starting with the lower record numbers. More "critical" devices may be better off as a lower record number link. However, if your Insteon communications are good, then every device in the group should have received and responded to the initial group broadcast command and the cleanup would be unnecessary.
HTH,
Dave.
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Topic: PowerHome responding to KeyPresses
