Here's an interesting dialog including proponents of several well known home control systems, Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, and UPB.
Here's an interesting article about a somewhat outlandish ADT Pulse installation (which uses Z-Wave for home automation functions) following by a long dialog between professional installers of Crestron, Lutron, and other high end home control systems.
Just when I thought Crestron and Lutron were about the only names in high end home control, here's some news about more than a dozen others, including the likes of AMX, Bitwise, Control4, and Elan.
Just browsing around you can find endless other "home control systems" though many of them are simply extensions to or re-brandings of the systems mentioned above. For example, Nexia is a packaging of Z-Wave components and an internet based service that lets you control the Z-wave components remotely. I don't have much need for controlling my lights and appliances from miles away, and I wouldn't pay a monthly charge for that kind of service. When I'm away, I'm fine with timers and the like automatically determining what lights should be on, etc.
I got started long ago, late 1970's or early 1980's, with X10 remote control devices. Notably I put an X10 dimmer module in my master bedroom (in a different house in a different city). I liked that because I could control it from the bedside. I thought the X10 dimmer design was very funky and unintuitive. There were no up or down buttons, you held the button or something like that to dim after turning the light on first. There was a tiny hard-off switch below the push button. If you turned the switch off there, you could not use remote control. The full-on-first-then-dim approach of the original X10 dimmers meant that I could not program my dream light system, which would wake me up by bringing the light up slowly. I discovered that even with a CP132 computer interface I could not get around that.
Neverthess, I was hooked on remote control, and didn't see a reason for anything beyond X10 for a long time. When I moved into my current home 20 years ago, I deployed X10 modules almost immediately to turn stereo on and off from bedside, likewise the table lamp, and before long the corner lamp in the living room which runs automatically during dark hours. But by the late 90's I was having more and more trouble with modules not responding. It had to do with the increasing use of small solid state power adapters and computer power supplies.
While the X10 company as it existed by then seemed to have no interest in solving old problems (instead moving on to flaky video senders, video cameras, and security systems) another company, Smarthome, seemed to have higher quality X10 gadgets and a variety of filters and other devices to make X10 more reliable. I went down that path for a long time, and am still doing it today. I've managed to find a configuration of remote senders (it matters which outlet you plug wireless X10 receivers into...it matters a lot) filters, phase bridges, and so on, and my X10 system as it exists today with about 10 devices works OK mostly. But it seems I can't add anything more and get X10 to work any farther than it does now.
Smarthome made cool dimmers (like the one I have in the kitchen) and also the powerful Keypadlink switches. The multiple programmable buttons made it possible to have something like a cheap control panel for $50. In contrast, what would a full blown Crestron panel cost? $1200?
So I became a Smarthome junkie because they seemed to have the best in X10 (either in their Smarthome brand, or another brand sold through the very large and helpful Smarthome online store), but I was reluctant to jump onto their Insteon system when it was introduced. I certainly liked the idea of dual band (powerline and RF) and greater reliability it promised. I couldn't imagine that there was anything wrong with it. But I didn't like the comparatively bulky control units and their limited number of preset unit controls. I very much liked the streamlined X10 mini pads with 9 rocker switches and a dimmer switch. Those small mini pads fit in key locations like my nightstand. The big Insteon controllers did not. I waited and waited for Insteon to make a smaller controller and it seemed like they never did.
Finally, when I was adding the new back patio light this year, I found that I could not simply order another X10 Keypadlink as I thought would be nice. Smarthome didn't make X10 Keypadlink anymore, only an Insteon equivalent. However, I learned it could be programmed to understand X10 also. So I got the new Insteon Keypad, and to be sure all would turn out OK, I also got an Insteon ethernet interface (which Smarthome had on sale).
It turned out that single-band ethernet interface could not make the single 10 foot hop from a kitchen outlet to the back patio light. Not from anywhere I could plug it in having ethernet access. And I had lots of other problems with the software. About the best part had been the iPhone software, but that only worked about a month, and then I couldn't remember how to log in anymore.
I did program the new keypad to understand X10, but that didn't work from my main X10 timer interface. Once again, the line was too noisy. So my solution? I simply leave the outdoor LED lights (which consume about 2.5 watts apiece) on all the time. So much for home control.
Now when I went back to Smarthome to complain about the Ethernet interface I had purchased, I couldn't even find it anymore. Though it had been a Smarthome mainstay (apparently) for about a decade, it quickly disappeared from their website about the same time as I was having trouble and wrote my first scathing review right in this blog (which I'm not sure anybody actually reads).
Now it seems Smarthome only sells a dual band ethernet interface. Well that's certainly what I should have bought in the first place. And it sounded like the software might be better too, or I could get something different. So I bought the new interface. That was sever months ago, but it's been so low on my priority list I haven't opened the box. I'm not even sure exactly what I ordered anymore. Was it an ethernet interface or a USB interface? Perhaps it was a USB interface I needed to get the better software.
Anyway, with one foot in the past stuff that still works OK, it's been hard to jump too far out past X10, and before I had any experience with it I couldn't imagine why there'd be anything wrong with Insteon.
But it may be worth considering other alternatives now. Z-Wave is an RF-based system supported by many manufacturers, including Leviton and GE (and even ADT, in their new Pulse system). That sounds like the major alternative. However, it turns out that even Z-Wave is not an open standard, fwiw. All makers of Z-Wave devices have to buy the Z-Wave chips from their only manufacturer. And it troubles me that Z-Wave is only RF, though it is also a mesh system like Insteon. Still, on the face of it, it's not immediately apparent that Z-Wave should have more reliable transmission than dual band Insteon:
Insteon Z-Wave
900mhz 900mhz
linecarrier no linecarrier
mesh mesh
The Insteon protocol seems to have everything Z-Wave does, PLUS it adds linecarrier and X10 compatibility. And Insteon devices are generally cheaper. Smarthome has generally seemed like a good manufacturer, too, and nice retailer, though not without problems or questions, as I said, the first Insteon Ethernet interface I bought was useless and awful.
But NOW I find out about the endless number of additional systems, including Zigbee (a more sophisticated RF system, but one which unfortunately relies on the crowded 2.4Ghz band), UPB (apparently an improved and open linecarrier system), and so on. Of course I don't have the megabucks to buy a full blown Crestron or Lutron system. I had been thinking that with a Vera or Vera-lite controller I could control Z-Wave, Insteon, and X10, and that might be the way to go. Smarthome sells the Vera controllers and also Insteon and X10 interfaces for them.
Here's an interesting article about a somewhat outlandish ADT Pulse installation (which uses Z-Wave for home automation functions) following by a long dialog between professional installers of Crestron, Lutron, and other high end home control systems.
Just when I thought Crestron and Lutron were about the only names in high end home control, here's some news about more than a dozen others, including the likes of AMX, Bitwise, Control4, and Elan.
Just browsing around you can find endless other "home control systems" though many of them are simply extensions to or re-brandings of the systems mentioned above. For example, Nexia is a packaging of Z-Wave components and an internet based service that lets you control the Z-wave components remotely. I don't have much need for controlling my lights and appliances from miles away, and I wouldn't pay a monthly charge for that kind of service. When I'm away, I'm fine with timers and the like automatically determining what lights should be on, etc.
I got started long ago, late 1970's or early 1980's, with X10 remote control devices. Notably I put an X10 dimmer module in my master bedroom (in a different house in a different city). I liked that because I could control it from the bedside. I thought the X10 dimmer design was very funky and unintuitive. There were no up or down buttons, you held the button or something like that to dim after turning the light on first. There was a tiny hard-off switch below the push button. If you turned the switch off there, you could not use remote control. The full-on-first-then-dim approach of the original X10 dimmers meant that I could not program my dream light system, which would wake me up by bringing the light up slowly. I discovered that even with a CP132 computer interface I could not get around that.
Neverthess, I was hooked on remote control, and didn't see a reason for anything beyond X10 for a long time. When I moved into my current home 20 years ago, I deployed X10 modules almost immediately to turn stereo on and off from bedside, likewise the table lamp, and before long the corner lamp in the living room which runs automatically during dark hours. But by the late 90's I was having more and more trouble with modules not responding. It had to do with the increasing use of small solid state power adapters and computer power supplies.
While the X10 company as it existed by then seemed to have no interest in solving old problems (instead moving on to flaky video senders, video cameras, and security systems) another company, Smarthome, seemed to have higher quality X10 gadgets and a variety of filters and other devices to make X10 more reliable. I went down that path for a long time, and am still doing it today. I've managed to find a configuration of remote senders (it matters which outlet you plug wireless X10 receivers into...it matters a lot) filters, phase bridges, and so on, and my X10 system as it exists today with about 10 devices works OK mostly. But it seems I can't add anything more and get X10 to work any farther than it does now.
Smarthome made cool dimmers (like the one I have in the kitchen) and also the powerful Keypadlink switches. The multiple programmable buttons made it possible to have something like a cheap control panel for $50. In contrast, what would a full blown Crestron panel cost? $1200?
So I became a Smarthome junkie because they seemed to have the best in X10 (either in their Smarthome brand, or another brand sold through the very large and helpful Smarthome online store), but I was reluctant to jump onto their Insteon system when it was introduced. I certainly liked the idea of dual band (powerline and RF) and greater reliability it promised. I couldn't imagine that there was anything wrong with it. But I didn't like the comparatively bulky control units and their limited number of preset unit controls. I very much liked the streamlined X10 mini pads with 9 rocker switches and a dimmer switch. Those small mini pads fit in key locations like my nightstand. The big Insteon controllers did not. I waited and waited for Insteon to make a smaller controller and it seemed like they never did.
Finally, when I was adding the new back patio light this year, I found that I could not simply order another X10 Keypadlink as I thought would be nice. Smarthome didn't make X10 Keypadlink anymore, only an Insteon equivalent. However, I learned it could be programmed to understand X10 also. So I got the new Insteon Keypad, and to be sure all would turn out OK, I also got an Insteon ethernet interface (which Smarthome had on sale).
It turned out that single-band ethernet interface could not make the single 10 foot hop from a kitchen outlet to the back patio light. Not from anywhere I could plug it in having ethernet access. And I had lots of other problems with the software. About the best part had been the iPhone software, but that only worked about a month, and then I couldn't remember how to log in anymore.
I did program the new keypad to understand X10, but that didn't work from my main X10 timer interface. Once again, the line was too noisy. So my solution? I simply leave the outdoor LED lights (which consume about 2.5 watts apiece) on all the time. So much for home control.
Now when I went back to Smarthome to complain about the Ethernet interface I had purchased, I couldn't even find it anymore. Though it had been a Smarthome mainstay (apparently) for about a decade, it quickly disappeared from their website about the same time as I was having trouble and wrote my first scathing review right in this blog (which I'm not sure anybody actually reads).
Now it seems Smarthome only sells a dual band ethernet interface. Well that's certainly what I should have bought in the first place. And it sounded like the software might be better too, or I could get something different. So I bought the new interface. That was sever months ago, but it's been so low on my priority list I haven't opened the box. I'm not even sure exactly what I ordered anymore. Was it an ethernet interface or a USB interface? Perhaps it was a USB interface I needed to get the better software.
Anyway, with one foot in the past stuff that still works OK, it's been hard to jump too far out past X10, and before I had any experience with it I couldn't imagine why there'd be anything wrong with Insteon.
But it may be worth considering other alternatives now. Z-Wave is an RF-based system supported by many manufacturers, including Leviton and GE (and even ADT, in their new Pulse system). That sounds like the major alternative. However, it turns out that even Z-Wave is not an open standard, fwiw. All makers of Z-Wave devices have to buy the Z-Wave chips from their only manufacturer. And it troubles me that Z-Wave is only RF, though it is also a mesh system like Insteon. Still, on the face of it, it's not immediately apparent that Z-Wave should have more reliable transmission than dual band Insteon:
Insteon Z-Wave
900mhz 900mhz
linecarrier no linecarrier
mesh mesh
The Insteon protocol seems to have everything Z-Wave does, PLUS it adds linecarrier and X10 compatibility. And Insteon devices are generally cheaper. Smarthome has generally seemed like a good manufacturer, too, and nice retailer, though not without problems or questions, as I said, the first Insteon Ethernet interface I bought was useless and awful.
But NOW I find out about the endless number of additional systems, including Zigbee (a more sophisticated RF system, but one which unfortunately relies on the crowded 2.4Ghz band), UPB (apparently an improved and open linecarrier system), and so on. Of course I don't have the megabucks to buy a full blown Crestron or Lutron system. I had been thinking that with a Vera or Vera-lite controller I could control Z-Wave, Insteon, and X10, and that might be the way to go. Smarthome sells the Vera controllers and also Insteon and X10 interfaces for them.
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