Mini Remote Control Keypad, 8-Scene

This eight button and also the one-button wireless controllers are useful for a variety of uses in combination with other control software compatible with INSTEON hardware devices. The controller software we use can also transparently send and receive commands to/from Z-Wave & ancient but still usable X-10 devices.

We keep a single function wireless controller in the car to open & close the main entrance gate to our farm. There is this eight function controller used in our vegetable garden to control various sprinklers in conjunction with some INSTEON outdoor modules connected to electric valves.

Instead of rewiring our old farmhouse, we are able to control lights which before only had fixture pull chain switches. This allowed us to put the wireless switches in much more convenient spots. In addition it allows closet lights being inadvertently left on, to be turned off instead of being left on sometimes for days at a time.

There are competitive devices and protocols that there which cost less, but we have found that INSTEON units are orders of magnitude more reliable and have a much further action radius. There is a price for this extraordinary reliability and that is sometimes commands take several seconds before they can finally make their way through noise and other interference.

They most often do what they were sent to do. In the event the controller does not get an acknowledgment of the requested action having been performed, it sets a flag which can then be used by us to manually intervene in an appropriate way. In most cases that happens when the controlled device loses power for some reason.

These units are used in combination with a number of outdoor Insteon modules and some electric valves to control irrigation here on the farm.

It is much more convenient to turn water on and off with a little gadget in our pocket! In addition with a central controller, the duration of the water on time can be set, at which time the water is turned off. Really cool!

The delivery time is also much faster than it used to be.

My whole townhome is Insteon, and I’ve been trying to keep it updated. It would be a lot better if Insteon was compatible with Apple HomeKit or have its own comprehensive software similar to the ISY which I use now with its complex software. I need help to use it and program it. It's very detailed which I love, but not very user friendly. The keypads are nice, and I had them etched. Replacing the buttons with the etched buttons can easily break the inside frame holding the button, which it did several times despite me being very careful. The bracket that holds the front buttons is way too delicate. I hope it holds together.

Love the size and ease of of programming.

Great product, easy to program and very reliable