Podcast #1048: Insteon Servers Shut Down and Home Assistant

This week we discuss the shutting down of Insteon servers and what you can do to continue using your Insteon automation products and we have an interview with Tony Willis where we discuss his Home Assistant setup that is one of the ways to keep your Insteon devices working. Plus there is a lot of Netflix news and we read your emails.

News:

• Netflix stock plunges 38% on shocking subscriber loss
• Netflix, Disney+, HBO losing billions to illegal password sharing
• TiVo Stream 4K First To Fully Integrate With YouTube TV
• IMDb TV Rebrands as Amazon Freevee
• Sony's flagship soundbars just got support for another spatial audio format

Insteon Discussion

Insteon servers offline.

Company had a change in management in 2017 and tried to pivot it's products (with different manufacturers and partnerships). This did not go well and caused the decline of the company.

According to our source the present automations should still work but you will not be able to check the status of your home or make changes.

If you are using Idigo Domotics control SW you will see no changes, likewise if you are using Home Assistant

You can also use an ISY controller. But you'll need a 2413S INSTEON Dual-Band PLM to talk to the devices. The devices are no longer being sold but you can find them on ebay for, get this, $1000.

If the hub was your only interface to your switches, Home Assistant may be your only way back in. Apparently Home Assistant has access to the inner workings of the hub and can take over the automation process. But as you will hear in a little bit, you will need to get into the weeds making everything work.

Insteon was one of the first partners with Apple's Homekit. However, Apple did not have everything finalized and it cost Insteon a lot of money to support it. As a result the product was very buggy and did not work well. My own experience with the Homekit integration was so bad that I moved away from Insteon. They never really got it to a point that I thought was bullet proof.

There is hope… Things are happening that may see the servers turn back on. I can't say much more than that.

Warning - Do not factory reset your device under any circumstances as it will not be recoverable.

/r/insteon Is where you can get information from other Insteon users

Home Assist Interview with Tony Willis

Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server.