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        | judetf Senior Member
 
  
 
 Joined: January 23 2008
 Online Status: Offline
 Posts: 234
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          After 5 years away from PH (renting not owning) I am
           | Posted: March 06 2017 at 08:42 | IP Logged |   |  
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 |  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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          WB!
           | Posted: March 06 2017 at 18:26 | IP Logged |   |  
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 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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          Jude,
           | Posted: March 08 2017 at 22:36 | IP Logged |   |  
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 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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          and although no PCs come with serial ports anymore, you can get a PCI-X card with a serial port for like $15.
           | Posted: April 19 2017 at 09:10 | IP Logged |   |  
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