MobiLinc on the iPhone or Android is great for quick access to your Insteon smart home – you can quickly do anything you need right there on your phone. But, what if it’s not quick enough? It is still a couple of steps to turn on your phone, start the app, navigate to the appropriate page, and make your change. The RemoteLinc 2 Insteon Wireless Keypad
I keep two around – one on the office desk, and one on the bedroom night stand. In both locations I don’t even have a physical switch to operate the ceiling fans, so four buttons on each are dedicated to fan speed (off, low, medium, high). The other four buttons on each control lights specific to that room, so for example I can turn on or off the bedroom lights from bed without getting up to hit the switch. Using some ISY-994i programming, you could do all kinds of other things with this – use one button to increase the thermostat and one to decrease it, one button for a “house shut-down scene” that allows you to make sure all lights in the house are off before going to bed, or have a button dedicated to simply closing the garage door(s) but not opening them which would be similar to the house shut-down scene.
While there isn’t any feedback in the form of lit buttons like the KeypadLinc, it’s still a handy little device to have around – especially if you can see a lit KeypadLinc from across the room. That way, for example, if you see an indicator there that a garage door is open, you can use the RemoteLinc to close it without having to get out of bed – but you can still see the confirmation on the KeypadLinc when it has finished closing.
