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Say Goodbye to Cloud Fees!
Control Your Insteon Devices with HomeSeer | No Subscription Required
Insteon web servers were shut down on 4/14/22 without warning, disabling app access for thousands of customers. Two months later, the servers are back on but now you need a paid subscription 😒 Kick the cloud (and the fees) to the curb with HomeSeer!
What You Need
In a nutshell, you’ll need 3 things; a HomeSeer hub, the MNS Inston software plugin, and your Insteon hub.
1
HomeSeer Hub
You’ll need a HomeSeer hub to access and control your Insteon devices.
2
Insteon Software Plugin
This plugin allows HomeSeer hubs to communicate directly with the Insteon hub.
3
Insteon Hub
Your Insteon hub is required to send Insteon commands to your Insteon devices.
HomeSeer/Insteon Reviews
HomeSeer Rated A+ by HandyDadTV
Chris from HandyDadTV takes a close look at our HomeTroller Plus – MNS Insteon Plugin solution for regaining control of your Insteon system. The review covers 7 separate tests including configuring and controlling devices & scenes, creating schedules, cross-integration with Z-Wave and Alexa voice control. An itemized report card ranks the system based on functionality, ease of use, technology, company and cost. Be sure to check out the Bonus Tips & Tricks at the end!
FAQ
On or about 4/14/22, the Insteon company shut down their web servers (without warning). This action disabled the Insteon app which prevented users from controlling and editing their devices and schedules.
UPDATE: Insteon was acquired by another company and the servers have been reactivated but with subscription fees
You can regain access to your Insteon devices by adding a HomeSeer hub and special Insteon software plugin to your system.
You’ll need three things to regain access to the Insteon devices:
- HomeSeer Hub.
- This can be a pre-built HomeTroller Hub (most popular choice)
- OR you can build your own hub with our HS4 smart home software.
- MNS Insteon Plugin for HS4
- You Insteon hub
Your Insteon hub’s connection to the Insteon mobile app was severed when the web servers were shut down last week. This disabled user access to the hub preventing remote control and programming. HomeSeer hubs restore this functionality by communicating directly with the hub on your local network. Our HomeSeer Mobile app (Android & iOS) will replace the Insteon app for remote control of your devices.
The MNS Insteon Plugin is the “driver” that allows the HomeSeer hub to communicate with your Insteon hub.
You’ll need something that broadcasts “Insteon” commands directly to your Insteon devices. This is what your Insteon hub does. Note that the red light on the hub will continue to stay red. That’s OK!
If your Insteon system is small and your smart home needs are modest, our basic HomeTroller Pi should work well for you. If you have a larger system and intend to use multiple technologies (Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, Ecobee, HUE, MyQ, Lutron, etc…), our HomeTroller Plus hub offers a much faster platform with more ‘breathing room’ for growth. Both hubs works equally well with the MNS Insteon plugin. Compare hub features
Sure, you can build your own “HomeSeer hub” by licensing our HS4 smart home software and installing it onto your own computer. This will take a bit longer than just buying a hub (naturally) but if you’re technically inclined, want to save a buck or two and have an old PC or laptop that aren’t really being used, you can do this.
No, our hubs are self contained. However, our software is a web application so you will need to access it with a browser to program the hub. This can be done with Chrome, Safari, Firefox or something equivalent running on a computer, tablet or phone.
No. Your Insteon hub has a built in PLM (Power Line Module).
It’s not too complicated but it will take a bit of time (plan on a couple hours!). Just follow the “Getting Started” guide. These are the steps:
- Add the HomeSeer hub to your network
- Install the Insteon software plugin
- Configure the plugin to connect to your Insteon hub
- Add devices to the HomeSeer hub by entering your Insteon device IDs
- Insteon hub Internal schedules may continue to run. There is no way to access these schedules to edit or delete them directly. Should this be desired, the schedules can be deleted by doing a factory reset of the Insteon hub. Then new automations could be created in the HomeSeer hub.
- Insteon thermostats are not supported in HS4 with the HS4 Insteon plugin.
- Scenes can be rebuilt using Groups.
- The plugin does not read any configurations in the hub written by the insteon app.
- The username and password on the bottom of the hub can be mixed case: an upper case “i” can look like a lower case “L”.
- You can get a list of your insteon IDs after you connect the plugin and display the interface links from the plugin Interface page. look for links that start with E2 00.
Initially, we were warning folks to NOT factory-reset their hubs as we thought that would render the hub inaccessible. However, users who have performed a factory reset are reporting that their hubs are still accessible on their networks. As such, we are no longer warning against doing this. That said, if your hub has failed or is not accessible on your local network, you may need to acquire a different interface to control your Insteon network. The MNS Insteon plugin is compatible with these interfaces:
- Hub 2242-222 (rectangular)
- Hub 2245-222 (square)
- PLM 2413S
- PLM 2413U
- PLM 2412S
- PLM 2412U
- USB Adapter 2448A7
More info
Need details? Visit the Insteon plugin forum to learn more about connecting hubs together and getting things set up. Contact us directly with questions about what to buy and how to get started.
