Insteon has been around for longer than Cloud existed, and their devices will work with HomeSeer or HomeAssistant. But non-techie people probably wont be able to get those working.
They're already selling out. I sold a box of old devices for profit this week.
I had removed about 20 of them from my last home and never got around to installing them (in-wall) at my new home so I put them on eBay and already made back most of my investment.
There’s no need to use Insteons hub/cloud service. Most Insteon power users that I know are using homeseer, homeassistant as a way to control the devices.
The other good thing about, at least the light switches (which is their core product), is that they work without an internet connection and will continue to function.
However unfortunately the less tech savvy users who set up automations through Insteons service will be left (quite literally) in the dark now.
Yea this Insteon debacle is a weird example to use to highlight problems with IoT systems.
They've been around way longer than most of the "modern" protocols. It was basically Insteon and Lutron in semi-affordable home lighting control space for years and years and years before cloud-controlled IoT and Alexa entered the picture.
I'm really wondering how this all came to pass... guessing they tried and failed to jump on the app/cloud bandwagon? Their new app was late to the game and in beta for, like, two years?
Right, they had this big mainstream push with being the first Homekit partner with a failed hub, plethora of non-core devices and multiple failed apps. I think they got ahead of themselves going into this mass market and should've stayed a niche player, further perfecting their core hardware and focussing on enthusiasts and home installers. Kind of like Philips Hue did but for enthusiasts/professionals.
Insteon predates internet connected devices. Their protocol is not cloud based. It isn't even hub based, you can pair switches to outlets directly. The hubs try to connect to the cloud but work locally and have a locally accessible API, credentials printed on the bottom.
Their Apps relay through the cloud however to avoid the hassle of local network discovery. So the Apps are completely useless now.
Most/all devices and the hub have a pairing button. You can pair devices to each other or the hub still. It's complicated but works, the App also coordinated pairing and was easier but still kinda janky compared to competitors.
Home Assistant can talk to the hub via it's local API and still manage and paired devices. 3rd party hubs like Isy still work just fine.
Because Insteon is no longer making devices, they are now selling for a premium on eBay because people invested in the ecosystem don't need to change.
People like my mom, who only has a hub is 3 devices, are better off selling for profit now and jumping to a new platform. Those using Isy can just keep going as Insteon devices are well made and will continue to function for years or decades.
