PowerHome supports both direct commands from the PLC to another Insteon device as well as group commands sent from the PLC. PowerHome should also accurately track all Insteon commands whether they originate from PowerHome or from any other Insteon device on the network and update the Device Status screen appropriately.

PowerHome also supports the creation of links within the PLC and remote devices from within PowerHome. If you prefer to create links using the physical tap-tap method, PowerHome supports this as well and will automatically query remote devices for any changes within their database.

To set PowerHome up for Insteon use, you must first declare an Insteon controller in the PowerHome Explorer. Open the PowerHome Explorer and using the left-hand tree view, navigate to PowerHome->Setup->Controllers. Assign a short, meaningful ID (you will use this ID to send Insteon commands) and choose either the "Insteon DM" controller type if you have a PLC or the "Insteon PLM" if you have a PLM. Click the "Active" box. You can click the "Settings" button to see the individual settings, but the defaults should be fine. Restart or Reinitialize (Files->Reinitialize) PowerHome in order for the changes to take effect and allow the Insteon Controller to load.

Once PowerHome is restarted, the SmartHome Insteon Device Manager should automatically load if selected "Insteon DM".  PLM users can ignore the comments concerning the SDM.  You should see a new icon in the System Tray (the list of icons on the far right of the Start toolbar). The Device Manager should automatically detect the type of PLC and what port it is on but sometimes fails to do so. If the Device Manager is unable to sense your PLC, PowerHome will respond with the message: "The XXX PLC is not responding. Commands will not be sent." where XXX is the ID you assigned to your Insteon controller. If you should get this message, open the SmartHome Device Manager by doubleclicking it's icon in the System Tray. You should see the SmartHome Device Manager window open. Left click anywhere in the big log window and then type the letters D M. A single line edit window should open towards the bottom of the screen. Type "port=?" without the quotes in the edit window and press enter. This should force the DM to locate your PLC. Give it a few seconds and you should see "PLC: port=true" in the log window. However, if it still cannot locate your PLC, you may get a "PLC: port=false" message. Whatever message you get, type "getport" in the edit window and press enter. In the log window, you should see what port the DM is currently looking at. If you have a USB PLC, then the port should be "USB4". If your PLC is serial, then you should see COM followed by the number of the COM port the PLC is in. If the port returned by getport is not correct for your setup then type "port=USB4" if your PLC is USB and "port=COM1" if your PLC is serial and connected to COM1. Adjust the COM port number for your situation. You can verify the port was set using the "getport" command. Once the DM finally recognizes your PLC, it will store the settings in the registry and will be remembered unless you change the port. Once everything is communicating, you can minimize the DM.

Once a controller has been created and communications established with the Insteon Device Manager, you're ready to setup your Insteon network. The easiest way to do this is to use the Insteon Explorer. This new window is totally dedicated to setting and maintaining your Insteon network. You can read about this screen in the next section.