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[Kenyon]

I have used X-10 for many, many years. About 6 months ago I went  wi-fi and cell phone apps and I love it. We still have several 16ch remotes in various locations throughout our home for manual control. I have the active phase coupler wired into my main power panel. I also have 3ch stick on wall plates and a single wireless receiver to accommodate the wireless. I used to try to use a lot of wireless remotes but got really frustrated with it not being reliable. The wi-fi seems to have solved my problems, until now. I have 1ch that has decided to not respond to the wi-fi apps and even some of the hardwired remotes in different locations in my house. I tried re-addressing those dimmers with no luck. This feels like the same old problems I used to have and that is poor communication between phases. I have trudged through this kind of problem before until I installed the wi-fi. The wi-fi seems to have much improved signal strength and has worked perfectly for about 6 months. FYI, I have 22 different modules. Some are relays, some wall dimmers, some plug-in modules, some slow fade and some instant on and some three-way. Lot's of X-10. My next step is to take the cover off of my panel and re-wire the non working modules to the other phase. I'm guessing that may solve the problem but I'm thinking why should I have to do this with the phase coupler. The ch in question is two separate plug in dimmer modules set for same channel and rated @ 300 watts ea. Both lamps are LED. Before anyone says LED is the problem remember that this circuit worked great for 6 months and just a couple of lamps in my home are incandescent and the rest of my house is LED. By the way, the "warm glow" lamps seem to work well with the X-10 triac dimmers.  Certain LED array types work better than others. Extraneous noises on the power line as from capacitor start ac units and other electrical occurrences seem to impact X-10 control but the wi-fi has been very strong and we just have this one circuit that doesn't respond, except every now and then.   

I would love to hear some suggestions.

Thanks much

[brobin]

WiFi and X10 signals are two very different things.  Which is giving you trouble? What are you controlling with WiFi? While you've been using LEDs successfully the circuits can deteriorate over time.  Which active coupler are you using?  In over 30 years of using X10 there is only one amplifier/repeater/coupler that I've ever found that truly works, the XTB-IIR from jvde.us - it is in a different league from any other and, for me, solved problems that I had given up on.  Also, at the jvde.us site you'll find some excellent troubleshooting guides that are worth reading. 

[Brian H]

I can also say the XTB-IIR is the only X10 coupler repeater that got a great X10 power line signal to my whole home.
The link for troubleshooting: http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm

What module are you using to get X10 power line signals with Wi-Fi?

[Tuicemen]

What wifi app are you using for X10? The AHP plugin or something else?

[James G]

I installed my X-10 system years ago in a large home when X-10 was at its peak. I have the tester to test signal strength and line noise. The two biggest problems I had is that some devices in the home emit a lot of noise. A noise filter fixes that. I even had a problem with severe line noise from a house 4 houses over. Together with the power company we tracked the problem to the house and to a new VDR. I asked if they would mind if I gave them a noise filter. Problem solved.

The second biggest problem I had was too many X-10 devices that sent signals out. These are all huge in absorbing the X-10 signal so I minimize these.

Hope this helps.

[Brian H]

The JV Digital Engineering's XTB-IIR blasts an X10 power line signal back on both phases at over 10 volts. Many here have indicated it has cured their issues.
In my home the lowest X10 signal is about 1.2 volts as measured on an XTBM X10 Meter, with my XTB-IIR.

http://jvde.us/xtb-iir.htm