The X10 system

On 11.23.09, In Information Technology, by me

Once you decide to investigate home control and automation, you’ll probably start to see X10 systems everywhere. That’s because X10 Wireless Technology Inc. is the dominant player in the industry. You can hardly surf the Web without encountering an X10 pop-up (or pop-under) advertisement.

X10 Inc. created the X10 standard for home controllers. X10 is a proprietary standard that uses electrical wiring as its network medium, similar to the Home Plug standard. XI0 devices communicate with one another over the existing power lines in your house using low voltage, coded signals. By coded, I’m not suggesting encrypted; in fact, X10 is not a secure standard (more on this later).

There are hundreds of X10 products on the market, produced by X10 Inc. and several other manufacturers. X10 devices are compatible with each other. The large number of products available allows you to create a custom-tailored solution for controlling your home.

X10 devices include transmitters (controls) and receivers (modules), although there are some X10 devices that can communicate both ways (transceivers i You can use X10 transceivers in conjunction with other automated controllers or] a desktop computer to control multistep events.

XI0 devices have two codes that you assign when you’re setting up your system: a house code and a unit code. House codes are lettered A-P; there are 16 unit codes. In effect, each house code has 16 possible unit codes for a total of 256 available codes. When you install an XI0 device you assign a house code and unit code to the device.

Plug an X10 receiver into a wall outlet and plug the device you want to control, for instance a lamp, into the receiver. You can install an X10 controller as a wall switch or as a separate controller that plugs in elsewhere. You have to set the controller’s house code to the same house code as the receiver that you wish to control. When you want to turn that lamp on or off, you simply choose the button on the controller that corresponds to the unit code of that lamp.

For example, let’s say you have five lamps that you want to be able to control from an XI0 controller. You decide on house code A for all five lamps and then assign each one a unit code¡ªin this case, 1-5. That means you now have five X10 receivers with the following codes: Al, A2, A3, A4, and A5. Next you set the house code of the controller that you are going to use to the same house code as the receiver’s, which is A.

With the house code set, each numbered button on the controller now corresponds to a unit code associated with house code A. The button labeled ” 1″ controls receiver Al, “2″ controls A2, and so on. Now you can turn each of the lamps on and off using the same controller.

You can control groups of receivers as if they were one unit by assigning them all the same house and unit codes. For instance, if you have a number of lamps in your living room and you want to be able to turn them all off or dim them simultaneously, you can assign all of them an identical code¡ªfor instance Al

Now when you use a controller to command receiver Al to dim, the lamps respond as a group because they are all receiver Al.

This is a very simple method and it has obvious disadvantages. You can no longer control the receivers independently of one another. Advanced controllers and Xl0-compliant home automation software allow you to control groups while also allowing for independent control of each lamp. Still, this is an effective low-cost option for controlling multiple receivers.

X10 home automation software allows you to use your computer as an X10 controller to create schedules and automate the control of all the X10 devices and controllers in your home. You must have an X10 computer interface that connects to your PC over a serial port and then plugs into an outlet, allowing your computer to send X10 signals over your home’s power lines. Home automation software controls the computer interface and uses it to communicate with and control X10 devices.

There are also XI0 wireless products, including wireless remotes for controlling X10 devices and X10 wireless security cameras that operate in the same 2.4 GHz frequency band as Wi-Fi devices do. They can (and do) interfere with Wi-Fi networks (and vice versa). X10 wireless devices are not secure because they do not use encryption and hackers can easily intercept their signal.

XI0 devices are relatively inexpensive and, in general, they work quite well. The system is easy enough for even a technical neophyte to install and configure. The main drawback with X10 devices is that they lack any sort of security at all.I’ll discuss X10 security issues and what you can do about them.

Using third-party software and a computer with an XI0 interface and an Internet connection, you can control your X10 devices remotely from any Web browser.

One of the best applications for remote control of XI0 devices is HomeSeer, available from HomeSeer Technologies LLC. HomeSeer allows you to control your X10 devices using your WLAN or the Internet.

For more information about X10 devices, visit www. x 10. com. To learn more about HomeSeer, visit www. home seer. com.