What are Pro's and Con's of different methods of Vera & Insteon integration

[Glen Koenig]

Looking for information to help me decide which approach to control Insteon (primarily a Fanlinc) devices using a Vera Plus. The only Insteon products I have are a Fanlinc and a USB PLM. I currently have a VeraPlus integrated with Caseta via Lutron SmartBridge Pro for lights. Would really like to have the option of controlling the Fanlinc from a Caseta Pico remote.

• Bridge?

  ...  Ended up going with ISY994 for Insteon integration...
• Alsteon?

  ...have Altsteon 0.08 running "ON" the VeraPlus itself and it provides complete seam-less experience.

[hax0rmort]

I'd be happy to tell you what altsteon does for me.   I guess I'd rather hear what your requirements are instead of just going on about "my" Insteon implementation.   I think it matters greatly what your case needs.

I don't have a fanlinc device.  I'm not sure how the special characteristics/codes are translated across altsteon, so I don't know how compatible this is for your needs to bridge it to Caseta.   

I think the best thing to do is try the altsteon method first as it is no out of pocket costs for you since you already have a PLM.    If it absolutely doesn't work, then ditch it.   I will say that altsteon can be incredibly difficult to implement currently due to cancelled project,  scare documentation, etc.  There isn't a single setup document from a-z that you can just follow.    You have to kinda piece how it all works together from various sources of information.

I will say the smoking gun here in all this altsteon discussion is the following document which references the altsteon hardware type to signaling codes needed to successfully create Insteon devices in the Vera dashboard.
http://www.madreporite.com/insteon/Insteon_device_list.htm That doc is just a reference I stumbled across while trying to get altsteon to work for me.    It's a technical requirement here!

Good luck.    I'm trying to follow threads more,  I'm just getting involved here on the forum.  We'll see how it goes.

[Glen Koenig]

My need was initially for security. I bought locks first, then bought the Vera to control them. If you ask my wife, everything else that I've added has been a want. She claims she doesn't want anything else, so my biggest need now is to ensure that anything new passes the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).

The Vera seems to have enabled quite a bit of home automation and integration with a lot of low cost high value add-ons. I like having the flexibility of buying disparate products (Lutron Casete, Ecobee, Baldwin locks, Harmony remote, Tivo, Apple HomeKit, etc.) and integrating them all into the Vera as a master controller.

Future plans (needs) beyond what I have so far include:

• Climate control (fans, curtain and skylight controls, vents/zone controls)
• Security (cameras, motion sensors)
• pool controls

I'm very interested in trying out Alsteon on my Vera Plus. The native Insteon was a bust. I've had the fanlinc installed for about 2 months now, and I would love to see if I can control it from the Vera Plus. If you can help me get it running, then I'll write a how-to that details the steps.

[hax0rmort]

i accept.  let's get this going. 

i can give you everything you need as long as you have the correct hardware at home.

let's get started before i dump a .zip on you with my altsteon project files. 

What Insteon PLM will you be using with the Vera?  As example,  I'm using the "2413U - PowerLinc Modem(PLM) - Insteon USB Interface (Dual-Band)".   I have it running out of my Vera Plus and is mounted near the ceiling (in basement).   It has no issue with reception across the home (2600sqft).    There is a serial option and several others,  not too familiar with those.   Let me know so we can get started. 

As a side note:   I'm assuming you currently don't a Insteon controller as you were weighing altsteon vs. isy.    I purchased my Insteon PLM from my local MicroCenter.   I don't think many stores will have this in the US.  Only perhaps Fry's or Microcenter.   Otherwise,  it's Amazon or Newegg,etc.   Good luck. 

[Glen Koenig]

I have the same PLM as you, #2413U.

No I do NOT have a Insteon controller.

***Edit:
  - I bought a KeypadLinc and PowerLinc at MicroCenter yesterday to finish off the fan install.
  - The FanLinc is now working as a responder to the KeypadLinc.
  - The Vera Plus is now plugged into the filter side of the PowerLinc.
  - The PLM still does nothing, and is connected to the VeraPlus.
  - I also now have experience pairing Insteon devices.
End of edit. ***

I'm using a Vera Plus as the master HA controller. I also have a Vera Edge that I could use if needed.

Is there anything else that I need in order to connect the Fanlinc to the PLM and manage the Insteon using Vera Plus?

[hax0rmort]

hi.  i'm sorry, i was replying last night and editing documents for the altsteon install,  i fell asleep.  I'll sit back down in a bit and pick up where I left off.   I'm trying to prep the guide a bit for you.    My notes and scribble in the documents, well, some aren't needed, so I'm editing down and cleaning up a bit.    We can totally make what you want work with what you already have.   I believe I read a good bit about FanLinc install with altsteon.   So,  talk in a bit.

[LindsiWains]

Hi guys; I followed the instructions to the letter for replacing the PLM and my programs and timers are still not working. Do i reboot or something? Drew

[hax0rmort]

you get with me and I can get you going with Altsteon.  I had to piece meal several fixes and methods over the last couple years and when I ported from Lite to Plus.   So it's not as simple as reading the one setup guide on here,  at least that one is missing a Insteon.xml file that needs patching.    Someone tag me, pm me and let's get this going in the forum on a new thread.     It really is easy as crap.  I have 20 insteon devices, 5 types.  I wiped everything for the new beta.  I got my whole Insteon setup in Vera back up and running in under ten minutes.  I created a cheat sheet text file where I simply copy/paste all my unique device setups.

also, battery devices like leak sensors or open/close insteon devices need the dev/cat appended after the six xx.xx.xx ID during device creation.  ( can be added later also)

[Sammy2]

you get with me and I can get you going with Altsteon.  I had to piece meal several fixes and methods over the last couple years and when I ported from Lite to Plus.   So it's not as simple as reading the one setup guide on here,  at least that one is missing a Insteon.xml file that needs patching.    Someone tag me, pm me and let's get this going in the forum on a new thread.     It really is easy as crap.  I have 20 insteon devices, 5 types.  I wiped everything for the new beta.  I got my whole Insteon setup in Vera back up and running in under ten minutes.  I created a cheat sheet text file where I simply copy/paste all my unique device setups.

also, battery devices like leak sensors or open/close insteon devices need the dev/cat appended after the six xx.xx.xx ID during device creation.  ( can be added later also)

As the OP, I am trying to get fanlincs and a 2314U PLM connected and talking to my VeraPlus on UI7. I've followed the instructions in the pinned post in this forum to no avail. It talks about getting the files to SSH or PuTTy or WINScp but doesn't really tell where to get the files and the link that I think is supposed to be where they are located is dead, as others have mentioned.

@hax0rmort You say you can help in this thread a couple of times and then the thread goes dead for months with nothing else posted. Is this someplace else I'm not looking?

[Sammy2]

As I was scrolling through my devices I saw a new device called _Dimmable Light. I turned it on and off and the Fanlinc responded to the command but I'm not seeing the multi-speed fan control device in my device list. Any thoughts?

I still get the PLM (250) Luu Engine Failed to Load error and I don't think I have the Altsteon daemon files in my Vera. I looked for/overlay/sbin/ directory to copy them per the instructions and they're not there. I'm pretty sure these are the binaries that need to be compiled and I'm not sure how to accomplish that.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[Don Phillips]

My only Insteon device, a garage door controller working for 4 years, stopped working last week so I got rid of it and went with a z-wave solution. About a year ago, the PLM went out which I needed to have the relay communicate with Vera. So I am no longer on Insteon.