Greg In The Desert

Smarthome has pre-released a few of dual band Insteon devices. These devices use the wired Insteon protocol and also broadcast and receive the wireless Insteon protocol. These devices also double as as an Access Point.

The new LampLinc also comes in a new housing with manual controls.

LampLinc – INSTEON Plug-In Lamp Dimmer Module (Dual-Band), 2-Pin Item# 2457D2 Price: $49.99

The INSTEON LampLinc Dimmer (Dual-Band) is a full-featured plug-in lamp dimmer that can be remotely controlled by a RemoteLinc, KeypadLinc, or any other INSTEON controller. This simple-to-use plug-in dimmer has advanced features like an adjustable ramp rate that slowly brings the lamp on, a preset dim level that stores your preferred choice of 32 brightness levels when turning the lamp on initially, as well as local control, so you can still use the lamp’s built-in switch to turn the light on and off. This LampLinc is made to be plugged into any wall outlet. This dimmer can control incandescent loads up to 300 watts.

There is also a dual band PowerLinc (PowerLinc – INSTEON USB Interface (Dual-Band) Item# 2413U Price: $99.99). I have no doubt that the remaining Smarthome Insteon devices will become dual band as well. While I think this is a great development, I really wish they would release a ceiling fan controller.

Smarthome has started accepting pre orders for the Venstar INSTEON Thermostat adapter. They describe it as as a RF device that plugs into a Venstar Thermostat and requires a Access Point. I’m very interested in the device as my TXB16, a X10 thermostat, has stopped responding to X10 command.

There’s some discussion on this device at the Smarthome message boards and it’s not know exactly what it supports, extra humidity or temperature sensor or remote fan control? The developer of Indigo has indicated that the final release of Indigo 2.5 will support this device.

It’s hard for me not to run out and pre order it right away. The cheapest Venstar Thermostat is $70 and the adapter is $99. It might seem expensive but the TXB16 thermostat is $300.

When I wrote about Albuquerque’s (or just the Mayors) desire to have city wide WiFi, I was wondering why Rio Rancho’s efforts were considered to be a bad thing. Apparently the city feels the contract with Azulstar is in breach.

According to the letter, the breaches include incomplete installation of equipment, inconsistent coverage, minimal customer service, improperly installed equipment, nonpayment of PNM electricity bills and nonpayment of a bond for almost $30,000 owed to the city.Azulstar cancelled the insurance on its equipment on April 19, which violates the contract. The company also did not complete an application for a permit required to install the equipment.

Yikes! The Observer did some testing of wireless signal throughout town and found it flakey. As a matter of fact, I usually don’t get much of a signal in various places myself. At my house, I don’t get a signal from Azulstar at all. I was able to use the wireless service at a Rio Rancho public park a while back without any problem and a friend has signed up for the service and likes it. They even came out and installed a repeater on their house.

There’s some other interesting tidbits in that article as well, like residents of the city are suppose to get 8 hours of free service a month. I wonder how that works

There is competiton. Roadrunner Wireless Services, Inc. has antennas up all over the city. I get a strong signal at my house from their various access points and pretty much everywhere I go in the city. Yet I have some reservations about a company that’s about the latest technologies, yet their website looks like it was designed in 1995. It doesn’t load properly when viewed on the internet. When viewed from their access point, your treated to layout done in tables, a starry background and animated gifs.

The Mayor of Albuquerque wants free WiFi for everyone in the city.

a two-tiered wireless Internet signal covering the entire city that will support not just the basics of Web surfing, e-mail and the like, but phone service and video. Those two tiers are a free, 1 megabit signal for anyone and a premium service at 3 Mb for a “reasonable” cost.

Of course Comcast and Qwest don’t like it. I say screw ‘em. Qwest especially doesn’t seem interested in offering extra services and Comcast would probably force everyone to pay $10/month for cable before you can use it. It’s the technical issues and money that will keep this from happening.

One wireless provider estimates it would cost $25 million and would require a access point on every building in the city, I think that’s overblown. They cite the problems that Rio Rancho has had completing it’s network. I thought Rio Rancho had completed it’s network.

I hope they try it anyways. I could use some free wifi when I have to drive into Albuquerque

Smarthome’s RemoteLinc is now available for pre order. The RemoteLinc is a RF remote for Insteon. The bad news is the RemoteLinc is not compatable with the current SignaLinc RF to Insteon bridge. They are replaced with a new product called the Access Point. The good news, Smarthome is offering a “free” upgrade to the access point if you have SignaLincs. If you buy a 2 pack of refurbished access points and send in your old signal lincs, they will refund your money and send you a free RemoteLinc.

This certainly makes it easier to speculate that SmartLabs was having technical problems with their RF protocol, causing the delays in releasing the Remote. Also see this thread on the smarthome message boards.

Update: I’m mistaken on how the return works. You don’t get a refund on the cost of the access points. You simply get a $49.99 remotelinc for each pair of signalincs you send in. Not quite as good as I had thought.