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[timflan6]

I may be wrong, but it seems that it is
great to have this forum to discuss our
problems with X10. I know at least 100 of
you under various subject headings have
expressed frustration over this console
problem.  I am a new owner of a DS7000 and
am not a X10 employee. What occured to me
last night reading all the problems is that
most web sites don't have forums like this
so we never hear about product problems or
the number of returns.  Have you ever had to
wait in those long return lines at WalMart
or Home Depot?  With all the millions of X10
systems sold to have only 100 people
experiencing problems it seems like a very
low failure rate to me.  My somewhat naive
suggestion is return the defective console
and get a new one. Too bad we don't have a
customer review section like Amazon.com so
we could get a better feel for how good the
product is. If we could see that 98% of
those purchasing a DS7000 gave it 4 stars or
greater then we all could have greater
confidence in the products.

art

[jer]

timflan6, I believe you are making some
statistical assumptions about only 100
unhappy customers and an equal number of
defective products.  What I find more
interesting is that X10 support never reacts
to the forum grumbles nor attempted contacts
with them. Early on they had a great group of
tech support people, then it seems they fled
the coop. Now all efforts seem to be aiimed
at marketing and not fixing problems. If you
go way back on the forum you will see that
these are not new problems yet they keep
popping up. The fixes are ignored and the
sales continue. Check out some of the other
X10 forums and you will also learn that their
inattention to fixes is not limited to their
security system.  I have a highly praised
ActiveHome Pro which I will gladly sell to
you half price and pay the shipping, too. The
high praises are on the marketing pages if
you care to explore. The dance goes on but
the customers are the ones getting their toes
stepped on. Your rating idea would be a good
thing to have. I was a great ambassador for
X10 but now I advise against purchases.  Try
SmartHome - I'm not an employee of either.

[jpigott]

Well I have had the system also installed
for a week now, 16 Window Sensors, I have
been reading the forum and hoped I didn't
get the 5 ding dongs, but just got them
tonight out of one door sensor. What do you
all recommend in place of the ds7000, does
the Smarthome or Radio shack model allow all
the door sensors to work properly, and do
any of them offer a second console to put in
another room to see what zones are causing
the alarm?

[timflan6]

JerB,  I went to smarthome website and found
that they sell 2 types of systems. a) The
same DS7000 that is on the X10 website and
b) a Securelinc security product that can
produce some limited X10 functionality.  The
security sensors are not compatible with X10
and an interface box is needed to operate
X10 controls for lights.  Did you suggest we
go to Smarthome because we would get better
tech support there or was it because the
Securelinc system is superior to X10?

[jer]

Sorry. My SmartHome suggestion was not from
my experience with it. I was generalizing
based on an earlier posting about ActiveHome
Pro, which also is a bigger problem for me in
terms of my overall home automation. I have
copy/pasted that posting. It offers a wider
view of X10s design problems and lack of
fixes. Go to that subject to verify.
Here tis:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Short note of advice to all X10 users. Don't
buy ActiveHomePro.

If you own it, dump it. Switch to SmartHome
controller and antena, you will save yourself
many frustrating hours. I was an
ActiveHomePro advocate for many months. I
contributed to their forums and fixed many a
problem for them. I finaly got tired of one
problem after another with no fix in site.
The last straw was software registration,
re-installing AHP would not let me register
my software on their site, this went on for
over a week without being fixed. Their
hardware is shacky, their software is
terrible, their marketing practices are bad,
and their service is pittifull. I switched to
SmartHome products. Everything worked right
out of the box, has been working error free
for over 3 weeks now. I could only get AHP to
run error free for a week or so. I have the
same dream everyone has that gets into X10
home automation - I want the lights on when I
program them to be on. When the system fails
I do not want excuses, I want to come home to
a warm / lighted home, not a dark cold one.

Advice summary - Buy X10 AHP bundles, they
have good prices on bundles of equipment,
most of their switches / modules / etc. work
well.

Do not use AHP software or the controller if
purchased as part of a bundle. You will have
problems with your PC after installing their
software. The RF range limitation on their
controller will drive you nuts and the CM15A
they ship is bad (unless you get the newer
one - diagnostic controller).

Buy SmartHome's controller and antena, more
expensive but well worth the few extra bucks.
The antena range is around 150 feet and the
USB controller works as advertised - no major
problems.

[richard]

I think I will just stay up and watch for
trespassers with my flash light. LOL and
then some......

[greg]

Just posting that I too have the 5 ding
problem with my DS7000.  It's gone on long
enough, but my wife and I have grown tired of
the noise it makes (especially when we're
talking on the phone).  I wish X10 actually
cared about their customers...

[jer]

Greg, When you are on the phone and the
annoying 5 ding sounds, just tell your
callers that you have expanded your business
and they are hearing the forklift operator
backing up nearby.  Gotta laugh...X-10 does
at us!  Jer

[lupe]

Just got off the phone with tech support
because I too just started having the 5
ding problem. Here is what he said. The
system is reporting a (NO COMMUNICATION
PROBLEM). It could be due to a battery
problem or interferance from other
signals.  I am able to arm the system and
it is not reporting a problem. He
recommended the following. Clear the memory
and re-register all sensors. I have 9
door/window and 2 motion sensors. If
problem persist it will do so in about 1/2
an hour after re-registering. No other
solution was givin if it happens again. By
the way my system is new and barely a month
old when this started today. Any solutions
welcomed.

[lupe]

Here is an update and hope it helps. What I
have been doing after the 5 ding dongs is
hold the bypass button down, everytime I do
this zone 3 would flash slowly. I thought
that this may be an indication that zone 3
is the cause of the problem. I re-
registered all my zones and replaced the
batteries on zone 3.  The problem did not
go away. It then thought that this could
be zone 11 that is causing the problem.
(BTW, when was the last upgrade to this
system, why cant they just put 16 led's)
Anyway I re-registered all my zones except
zone 11.  Since then the system has not
dinged/donged us.  One more thing. When I
got my system and 1st started setting it up
I had a problem with this zone 11
door/window sensor.  The led was very dim,
I played with the batteries and contacts
and was able to get it to function. It
acted up a few days later and again I was
able to get it going. After that I had no
problems until it started dinging on me.  I
am going to leave this zone out for about a
week to see if problem returns. Will get
back to you.  Has anyone else held down the
bypass button as an indication of what zone
is causing the problem like mine.

[jim]

I love X-10 for certain things but it is
CHEAP. Buy a professionally installed
quality system and bypass the problems. I
even have X-10 stuff tied into my HAI
system and they work fine. I would never
rely on X-10 as my main security system.
Kind of like buying a $10 gun to go to off
to war.

[anonymous]

I agree with Jim. But it's too bad, because
x10 has some cool ideas, they just
manufacture it badily, rendering it useless.
IF you're going to install for a customer,
who wants to hear "This may ding every hour,
here's how to reset it everytime..."

[jvanka]

Has anyone tried the 49-1000 from
RadioShack?  Does it work with X10 modules?
(I read it is made by X10 for RS)