For the uninitiated, Insteon is one of the longest-standing home automation companies in the game. The company’s proprietary radio technology was designed to bridge the gap between oldschool powerline-based automation systems and wireless ones, so it’s been around for quite some time — long before all this new-wave DIY Internet of Things stuff existed. Because of this, Insteon systems have one big advantage that other systems don’t: the ability to work even when your home broadband network goes down. The brains of the system work even when the cloud isn’t available.
Related: Nest thermostats are now supported by Insteon, greatly expanding their capabilities
But despite it’s long tenure as a home automation company and fairly robust product offering, Insteon has struggled in the past few years to keep pace with other rising powers in the increasingly crowded home automation space — i.e. ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Bluetooth. This partnership is likely to help out with that though, as it will undoubtedly give Insteon some extra exposure, while also helping Walmart boost its smart home cred.
