New Insteon Question

Other Devices & Integrations More Home Control
1

Hi All-

So I want to control some ceiling fans with light fixtures and it seems like the Fanlinc might be the coolest way to do this. I know that there is a 3 speed fan controller from Leviton but I like the idea of the light and fan all in one thing.

So far, all I have is ZWave stuff. so:

  • Am I dumb to go try to add a couple of Insteon fan controllers with everything else being Zwave? Do ZWave and Insteon coexist well on the Vera?

  • Do I have to buy some sort of Insteon gateway to get my first Insteon stuff working? It seems like it all works through the powerline? Are there issues with the two legs of power like in the X10 days?

Thanks,
bds

2

You need a PLM which plugs into the USB port on the Vera. As far as I know the native Insteon plugin does not support the FanLinc module so you’ll need to install Altsteon instead. There are no more powerline issues, all the new Insteon devices are dual-band, they transmit over wireless radio as well as over powerline, I have yet to experience any issues with communication.

The Vera works well with Insteon using the Altsteon plugin, but if you’re looking for a better Insteon experience the ISY994i might be the better way to go.

3

[quote=“bds42, post:1, topic:180179”]- Am I dumb to go try to add a couple of Insteon fan controllers with everything else being Zwave? Do ZWave and Insteon coexist well on the Vera?[/quote]That’s exactly how I started.

As mentioned before, you would need a PLM (easiest is the USB PLM, item #2413U.

[quote=“bds42, post:1, topic:180179”]It seems like it all works through the powerline? Are there issues with the two legs of power like in the X10 days?

Thanks,
bds[/quote]It depends on placement. As mentioned before, most (all?) new devices are dual-band. If your PLM and a FanLincs are on the same phase, you should be good. If they are on opposite phases, hopefully the devices will be close enough to be able to hop to the other phase via RF. Like Z-Wave, Insteon can make a total of 4 hops (meaning 3 intermediate devices). Most all Insteon devices (not battery devices) repeat, so that helps. If they are too far apart, you can add outlets, plugin modules, or access points.

4

That’s really a personal choice. The insteon PLM is something like another $70, and setting up altsteon and the insteon devices is tediously painful, although straightforward.

I have both insteon (via alsteon) and z-wave devices, and everything works fine.

- Do I have to buy some sort of Insteon gateway to get my first Insteon stuff working? It seems like it all works through the powerline? Are there issues with the two legs of power like in the X10 days?

PurdueGuy answered your question, but I’ll throw out another comment: insteon has the advantage of easily moving devices around, as long as they’re on the same phase or within RF range of each other. Basically, you just move them, and that’s generally it. With z-wave, if you move devices around, you may have to do a network heal, which can take a long time.