Review on 🔆 INSTEON Keypad Dimmer Switch: Dual-Band, 6-Button, Light Almond - Innovative Lighting Control Solution by Edward Noble

Like many other people, Insteon keyboards are unreliable. I've been using Insteon devices for almost 8 years (long before Zwave or Zigbee came along). I have over 120 Insteon and ISY devices for the controller and every switch in my house has been replaced with an Insteon device. Overall my experience with Insteon devices, ease of use and reliability was very good with the exception of keyboard switches. Unfortunately the only real way to control ceiling fans is with a keyboard switch and Fanlinc. (2 units end up being larger than the ceiling fan itself). Like many, I've come to the conclusion that keyboard switches will fail in a few years. I just replaced my 3rd or 4th dead keyboard and before I could order and install it another one died (mortality >50% over 4 years). However, having nested so many switches and $K in Insteon devices makes me pretty dependent on Insteon keyboards. My only option is to keep investing more money in replacing defective keyboards and hoping that one day Insteon will finally acknowledge the fact that these devices have well-documented reliability issues and finally fix this product. (To the best of my knowledge, Insteon does not recognize any design/reliability flaws in the keyboards - probably for fear of having to recall thousands of faulty switches to upset customers who have been selling these poor quality switches over the years.) Overall, I would give Insteon's home automation solution about 4/5 stars and the keypads are really great and useful for controlling multiple settings/scenes - to the point where they predictably die. For an MSRP of $80 they really should last longer. If you're just starting out with HomeAutomation, I'd probably recommend sticking with an open protocol like Zigbee so you don't get stuck with one switch and device vendor.