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The USB Insteon PowerLinc Modem is a USB-based home automation interface that allows PC- and hardware-based automation controllers to control Insteon-compatible lights, appliances, heating/air conditioning systems and alarm systems directly via the Insteon network. The dual-band interface sends and receives both powerline and radio frequency (RF) Insteon signals, so it doubles as an Access Point. This makes it ideal for new Insteon installations if you have or plane to use an RF-only Insteon-compatible remote, thermostat, motion sensor and contact sensor. The RF signal can bypass electrical noise or attenuation near the PC and it pulls many of the "distant" Insteon devices one hop closer, which can expand the size of potential installations into even larger homes and commercial buildings.
From the Manufacturer
The USB INSTEON PowerLinc Modem is a USB-based home automation interface that allows PC- and hardware-based automation controllers to control INSTEON-compatible lights, appliances, heating/air conditioning systems and alarm systems directly via the INSTEON network. The dual-band interface sends and receives both powerline and radio frequency (RF) INSTEON signals, so it doubles as an Access Point. This makes it ideal for new INSTEON installs and if have or plan to use an RF-only INSTEON-compatible remote, thermostat, motion sensor and contact sensor. The RF signal can bypass electrical noise or attenuation near the PC and it pulls many of the "distant" INSTEON devices one hop closer, which can expand the size of potential installations into even larger homes and commercial buildings. New features: Built-in Dual-Band with RF function, acts like an Access Point for phase bridging and RF to/from power line; 1023 links (compared to around 800 links previously); Added a beep sounder ; Red/Green LED light; Supports faster reading and writing of the PLM's database by another controller; Much lighter weight ; No pass-through outlet. Please Note: The controller connected to the USB INSTEON PowerLinc Modem must remain powered on and running the controller program connected to the controller or host at all times of usage. Additionally, the dual-band interface does not supply power to external devices.
T. Evans
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2021
UPDATE:After having this for a little over a year, I have to downgrade to 1 star. The item stopped working after a few months. I contacted support since it was still under warranty and obtained a second one. Now the second PLM is already dying. Apparently, quality has gone down in recent years (not that it was ever great for these PLMs).Furthermore, the company has removed their phone support. You can now only contact them via email. But, in my experience, they no longer respond to emails.It appears that the company is dying. You should avoid Insteon products.ORIGINAL REVIEW:If you're thinking of getting into the Insteon universe, i would recommend against it. Insteon was good an eternity ago, back when it was the new thing. Now it's just old, but still out-of-this-world expensive, despite being very slow and unreliable.I have lots of Insteon products (purchased back when they were new and one of the few options available), and I have other, newer, much-more-reliable, much cheaper, much-more-compatible WiFi switches, etc.The newer, WiFi switches:- Don't require a separate modem- Don't require a computer or expensive home-controller software- cost a tiny fraction of what Insteon switches cost (I paid about $10 each for mine)- are SO much faster- are much more reliable (in my experience)- work with Google home and Alexa without jumping through any hoopsI bought this Insteon modem because my old one died, and I still had lots of Insteon stuff to control. I realized, after it was too late to return it, that I could have purchased 10 of the newer WiFi switches (which don't need a separate modem) for the price of this modem, thus replacing almost all of my Insteon collection, and I could have / should have said goodbye to the way-overpriced, slow Insteon universe. Oh well... I'll get a few more years of use out of them. But I'd advise you not to get in to Insteon if you're new to home automation. The newer/cheaper stuff of way better/faster/more-reliable (in my experience).
mike b.
Reviewed in Canada on December 7, 2021
As noted it works as expected but the current price has skyrocketed to almost $200.I suppose you can charge that much but I would look at other options like ZWave.
Legge396
Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2018
Had the older version (2412) and had issues with some Insteon devices not being recognized. After upgrading to this device all problems went away and responsiveness increased. Very pleased.
Don604
Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2016
After several years, my old one fried. This one came quickly, plugged in with no changes to my automated house system, and away we go!
Mr O
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2016
First off, let me say I've not had any real issues with my unit. I do know that the power in my home is fairly stable. Our voltage actually runs a tad high which has taken its toll on a few of my LED bulbs. While technically I'm on my second 2413U it's only because I ended up having a bad USB cable (which wasn't the one that came with the unit). There is a 2 year warranty on these from Smarthome which is helpful. I use this with OpenHAB for my automation needs and have covered my experiences on my site. That said, this does work perfectly fine in Linux and Windows. Pairing can either be done manually (RTFM) or using supported software. OpenHAB doesn't support pairing so you'd have to do it manually. I only have control capability, not linking. HouseLinc *does* work for linking and controlling but you typically want to find the updated devices.xml file before doing anything with it. My only other advice off the top of my head is do NOT buy a ToggleLinc. Only buy SwitchLinc and other dual band devices. Powerline only devices suck. Dual band is very reliable and very quick to respond. Using an addon I have the Echo talking to my OpenHAB installation as well and selectively allow devices to be controlled by voice while leaving others undetected for safety/security.
Norbert
Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2015
Testing with the latest HouseLinc code was unsuccessful - HouseLinc would not recognize the 2413U. Insteon Support provided an updated device configuration file which solved the problem. Preliminary testing with X10 devices is proceeding reasonably well.
Lee
Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2015
Works great but 3 stars due to the high price on it, considering all it does is connect Insteon to your controller, when most like Vera have this built in.
Jim Wings
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2013
Works well. I use it as an X-10 controller for X-10 on/off modules (no dimming). My old X-10 controller stopped working, and can no longer be purchased. It was the type you could download the schedule to and then turn off your computer. This controller is not that way. Your computer has to be running all the time (which is not an issue for me). The computer does the schedule. Software is free by download off the web. The software is OK. The one feature I miss over my original software is a "month" selection for the schedule. You do have day of week, time of day, sunset/sunrise as a possible selections. I do like you can enable/disable a schedule (which works for me instead of the month scheduling), and there is a "test" selection, so you can test a schedule easily, or execute whenever you want. The software is really for the INSTEON type modules, so the software has more features for those, but it does work sufficiently for X-10. I use X-10 to turn on/off accent lights on my property (yard lights, window candles), yard fountains, and to control Christmas lights. X-10 modules are a lot cheaper then INSTEON, and I don't need the higher reliability (supposedly) that INSTEON provides. The controller I think puts out a stronger signal then my old controller, since I have fewer times where a light will not go on/off as scheduled. Note that the controller will turn on/off dimmer type X-10 modules, but only on/off, no dimming.
Emmaly
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2012
Works very well from Linux. It's just a basic serial device that is connected via USB (USB-to-serial adapter is used internally), so if you know how to control a serial device, you can control this one. If you aren't quite sure how to go about it, you might find Matt Randolph's plmtools to be very helpful, especially if you just want a command line method to control it without having to program anything. If you do want to do some programming (which was my intention) you'd find some useful info on the linuxha website at linuxha.com/athome/common/iplcdI bought this along with a 2477D dimmer for my dining room and it worked perfectly without any configuration. Right away after I installed the dimmer, I sent it a dim command and it dimmed. No configuration at all.Perfect.By the way, because this does wireline and RF, it'll help you bridge unconnected circuits if you have another dual-band device on a different circuit. I certainly recommend having at least two dual-band devices, one for each phase.
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