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Sold the house - X10 is gone. What next?
solareclipse:
So a couple months ago I sold my house and left all the X10 stuff in place, including the CM15A and WM100. Will be building a new house this year, and while I still have a few X10 odds and ends in a box, I don't really plan on installing all new X10 stuff in the new house. So now I'm starting to look at what the next best option is.
I will use Philips Hue for some lights, but I'd still like to have some HA wall switches and outlet controls. I'd like for those to be able to be voice controlled by Google Home/Assistant. I've used IFTTT and Tasker previously to build HA routines, so whatever new platform would hopefully have at least IFTTT integration. I am considering building something that would have local network control though, as I'm not yet 100% certain what my ISP will be at the new house yet and may not be a hard line cable service.
Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. If you were building a new house, anything that you would do that is hard to do later? I'll be running some CAT6 between floors to at least facilitate having wireless access points on each floor, but I'm still planning my network design. It's all pretty much a blank slate at this point.
Tuicemen:
Realy! :o ::) :' Go to any new car dealer and ask what's the next best car brand, as you just sold your old car that they sell with your house. rofl
I'm always saddened to hear users abandoning X10 for something different.
There are literally tons of HA options for lighting and appliance control out there now. They all have their pros and cons. In the new age of HA you realy need a mix of protocols.
dave w:
FWIW I would go with Z-Wave.
If you insist on WiFi I would go with systems that have hubs.
Going with a strictly WiFi system (no hubs) will put you completely at the mercy of your ISP's reliability, and router capacity as you add devices.
Homeseer and Home Genie can integrate Z-Wave (both speak X10 also). Homeseer has it's own voice control system and speech, which is stand alone, using Microsoft engine. So You would still have some level of voice control even with no internet. I do not know if HG has a built in voice control, but it is as feature laden as Homeseer otherwise.
Caveat: don't know if Homeseer integrates with Google, but works well with Amazon. I think same is true of HG.
solareclipse:
--- Quote from: Tuicemen on April 03, 2019, 05:36:52 PM ---I'm always saddened to hear users abandoning X10 for something different.
--- End quote ---
I can see using it for specific purposes, but I can't see wiring a new house with all X10 stuff. The stuff from Authinx isn't cheap anymore. I still have a fundamental problem with the reliability of PLC HA and the myriad of noisemakers and signal suckers that get plugged into a home's electrical system. The WM100 transmit strength is an improvement, but it's capabilities are still too limited for my wants or to merit a big investment in new X10 hardware.
--- Quote from: dave w on April 03, 2019, 06:23:26 PM ---FWIW I would go with Z-Wave.
If you insist on WiFi I would go with systems that have hubs.
Going with a strictly WiFi system (no hubs) will put you completely at the mercy of your ISP's reliability, and router capacity as you add devices.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I've had good luck with the Hue bulbs and the hubs do seem to give you more options. Started looking at SmartThings and Wink.
--- Quote from: dave w on April 03, 2019, 06:23:26 PM ---Homeseer and Home Genie can integrate Z-Wave (both speak X10 also). Homeseer has it's own voice control system and speech, which is stand alone, using Microsoft engine. So You would still have some level of voice control even with no internet. I do not know if HG has a built in voice control, but it is as feature laden as Homeseer otherwise.
--- End quote ---
Awhile back I started looking at Homeseer and Home Genie. Need to dig back through my notes and give them another look.
Thank you both!
Tuicemen:
--- Quote from: solareclipse on April 04, 2019, 11:01:30 AM ---I can see using it for specific purposes, but I can't see wiring a new house with all X10 stuff. The stuff from Authinx isn't cheap anymore. I still have a fundamental problem with the reliability of PLC HA and the myriad of noisemakers and signal suckers that get plugged into a home's electrical system. The WM100 transmit strength is an improvement, but it's capabilities are still too limited for my wants or to merit a big investment in new X10 hardware.
--- End quote ---
I actually wouldn't wire my whole house with one protocol x10, Zwave, Philips hue or anything.
Authinx X10 devices aren't cheap nor are they inexpensive anymore due to them addressing or attempting to address the noise issues many have.
The thing I like about HG is it acts as a nice bridge for several protocols x10, Zwave, Philips hue, Wemo ..... and it is free.
Sadly there is no Google Home plugin yet for HG, however a user is attempting to create a plug in for it.
I've also managed to control things in HG with Google Home via the SmartThings developers corner (no SmartThings hub required)
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