VeraPlus and Insteon

[Robert Karaffa II]

Well, then.  Got the Vera Plus.  Had a bit of trouble configuring it as it immediately connected itself to the mothership and began downloading the latest firmware update before I could do anything.  Had to let it be overnight;  next morning it was awake and ready.  So, I configured it and activated my Vera account.

I activated the Insteon interface, but...

Can’t add any Insteon units to it until I plug-in my new SmartLabs 2413U.  And this is where the fun begins.

I thought the SmartLabs 2413U was initially detected by the Vera, but I didn’t know enough about the Vera interface yet to be sure.  Yes, there was a message saying that the modem had been detected, but then it disappeared before I could follow the config instructions, and there was no Insteon device listed in Vera.

Took me a while, but I scared up some info on manually configuring Vera for this modem:  http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,31052.0.html <http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,31052.0.html>

Once I followed these instructions, Vera shows that it has detected the modem with messages in the “blue strip”…which is placed across the top of the Vera webpage.  The blue strip shows messages like “Insteon:  no Insteon” and “please wait..”…but it takes a sharp eye to see it because it is so small:



I now have 3 Insteon 2477D wall switches configured and controllabe in Vera;  a fourth 2477D is not communicating with the modem for unknown reasons, although it is detected and partially configured.

Curious, how I had to revert to severely old methods of installing new devices into Vera:  push the new Insteon device’s set button for 3 sec until it beeps twice, then walk down the hall to the wire closet in my office where the modem resides, and press its set button until it double beeps.  That’s the signal that the new device has been detected…then watch the Vera webpage as it detects what the modem detected and adds it to the Insteon Devices page.

The instructions <http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Insteon_Intro> in Vera for adding a new Insteon device don’t apply; one cannot just press the set button on the new device and expect Vera to see it.  Nope, doesn’t work that way.  One must take the sneaker technology approach and stumble around the house like a strange hermit muttering to oneself how it’s all Obama’s fault.

Is that the end?  Have I added Vera to my XTension setup?

Surely you jest?

I noticed that XTension was logging a huge number of “X10collision detected during transmission" and “Powerline transmission failure (time out) error messages”.

I thought I just squashed this bug!!!  Grrrr…

Unplug the SmartLabs 2413U, error messages go away.  Plug it back in, error messages return.

Sigh…

Thoughts, anyone?

-Bob K.


> On Aug 28, 2016, at 8:39 PM, James Sentman <james at sentman.com> wrote:
> 
> Yes, thats correct. You have to have a PLM device for Insteon and then the Vera will handle those units.
> 
> Once you plug that in you can go to the Insteon tab in their setup and click on the “install insteon support” button or something similar. Once thats working any insteon units that you add to the vera will automagically show up in XTension too AND you can branch out and get some ZWave devices too, not to mention bluetooth and ZigBee and whatever other devices the vera ever adds support for.
> 
> 
>> On Aug 28, 2016, at 7:20 PM, Philip Pedersen <ppederse at speakeasy.org <mailto:ppederse at speakeasy.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> It looks like the Vera does support Insteon, but doesn’t have the hardware interface for it.  
>> 
> 
> Thanks,
>  James
> 
> 
> James Sentman                       http://www.PlanetaryGear.org <http://www.planetarygear.org/>		http://MacHomeAutomation.com <http://machomeautomation.com/>
> 
> 
> 
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