ALSTEON: Everything I want to (and am still afraid to) ask...

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1

Hi y’all –

I’ve been using Vera systems for about 3 years now. I have one in my main home, one in a secondary home, and one in my office. The office and main home have only z-wave, and no Insteon. The secondary home has both. I reviewed the other forms, but as best I could tell, nobody actually answers these questions (at least on the Insteon area/forums). I know that portions of this may be answered in part in other forums, but I would very respectfully request that nobody just say, "go to form ‘xxx’ " without just answering the questions. Thank you!

(1) It seems ALSTEON is an alternate form of the INSTEON programing native to Vera. Is that correct? If so, who owns the rights to ALSTEON? Is it freeware?

(2) What is the primary advantage of ALSTEON over native Vera programming?

(3) Does ALSTEON have any limitations compared to native Vera programming?

(4) By converting to ALSTEON, will my Keypad Linc LED buttons work as scene triggers?

(5) Does ALSTEON expand the capabilities of any of the INSTEON devices?

Thanks!!

2

[quote=“raddoc, post:1, topic:180243”]Hi y’all –

I’ve been using Vera systems for about 3 years now. I have one in my main home, one in a secondary home, and one in my office. The office and main home have only z-wave, and no Insteon. The secondary home has both. I reviewed the other forms, but as best I could tell, nobody actually answers these questions (at least on the Insteon area/forums). I know that portions of this may be answered in part in other forums, but I would very respectfully request that nobody just say, "go to form ‘xxx’ " without just answering the questions. Thank you!

(1) It seems ALSTEON is an alternate form of the INSTEON programing native to Vera. Is that correct? If so, who owns the rights to ALSTEON? Is it freeware?[/quote]
Yes. Altsteon = ALTernative inSTEON. It is open source/free. http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=14598.0

quote=“raddoc, post:1, topic:180243” What is the primary advantage of ALSTEON over native Vera programming?[/quote]More devices are supported. Two-way communication is supported.

quote=“raddoc, post:1, topic:180243” Does ALSTEON have any limitations compared to native Vera programming?[/quote]More difficult to set up, but once done, Insteon devices look like Z-Wave devices.

quote=“raddoc, post:1, topic:180243” By converting to ALSTEON, will my Keypad Linc LED buttons work as scene triggers?[/quote]Yes.

quote=“raddoc, post:1, topic:180243” Does ALSTEON expand the capabilities of any of the INSTEON devices?

Thanks!![/quote]It doesn’t extend (add) any capabilities of devices, but it allows Vera to use them. Also, when you toggle a switch, Vera is updated. With native support, that doesn’t happen.

3

Thank you!! That is really, really helpful!
– CJ

4

Okay, I got Alsteon installed, and I can add devices, but it seems like Vera keeps gettings stuck and just continuously reads “plm [155]:Starting Lua Engine”

I’m on the verge of reverting back to native Insteon, anyone…help!!!

5

did you chmod the altsteon executable?

6

I did, but I still couldn’t get things to work overall. Honestly, I’m beginning to think that if I want to use Insteon, then I should just go with an Insteon controller. It’s very frustrating trying to get Vera to work properly with it. Thanks for your help though!!

7

Pick up an isy controller and you can easily integrate it with Vera.

  • Garrett
8

It sounds like your lua startup code is most likely the issue. Mind pasting it for us?