Re: Survey: Home Control Software

[Bream Rockmetteller <bream(dot)rockmetteller(at)mac(dot)com>]

On 2007-12-22 14:49:09 -0800, "John J. Bengii" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

> I would like to know what people are using to control their home
> devices.
>
> Also a short note on how reliable they feel the system is.
>
> Thanx
>
> I use Harpers HC2000 / DOS control programme...has some quirks and the
> system is too slow.
>
> -I found X10 receievers work flakey in certain locations, despite
> trying to correct for 15 years. Must be a resonant piece of wiring??
>
> -I found X10 wireless RF receiver/X10 converters to be really bad.
> They send out All Lights On codes at random sometimes and mistake
> codes. I run four units with different house codes and they all seem
> to do it about once every month or two.
>
> - I found wireless X10 motion detectors do not work well in the cold.
> Not the batteries, unless just weaker. They begin to work better as
> the weather warms up (garage wall)

I'm using Indigo from Perceptive Automation. The software supports both
X10 and Insteon (although, my house wiring is too old for Insteon, so
I'm stuck with X10 and all of its quirks). It's nice because it runs a
server invisibly in the background, then the client software may
connect from any computer on your network. I've also been able to set
up responses to expected "bad" X10 messages from my wireless
transmitters so that the software sends the correct message when a bad
one is detected. It's very sophisticated software and worth the price.
--
Bream Rockmetteller
Donaldson's Dog Joy
509-450-0301