The problems with X10 ...

["accidental plumber" <aplayerinla@xxxxxxxxx>]

...  are firstly, the x10.com company.  If the company sells products
as they are, there won't be god knows how many abandoned modules around
the globe.  On top of that, the company is one of the most hated
company online.  I hope this is the first of a serious of articles of
my rantings about X10, the protocol and the company.

Like most users, I brought a kit for the price, tried it and felt that
it was cool.  When I committed to it and expanded to the whole house,
it became another infamous haunted house.  There's no way you can make
the X10 products work reliably from the product literatures from
x10.com.  I had many light switches and modules, three RF transceivers,
a full security system with two PIR detectors and many door/window
modules.  Also I have several cameras controlled by DC adapters from
X10.  I kept on adding to the system but at the same time part or most
of the system are abandoned.

The many troubleshooting guides on the net doesn't help much.  They are
rarely written by Electronics Engineers.  Anyway, I started around 1999
so there wasn't that much information around.  Well, who will get into
X10 if they know they need to install another box at the distribution
box or consumer box, to block out noise and potential interference from
neighbors using x10?  And they need one isolator or blocker for any
electronic equipments including DC adapters for phone chargers?  And
then a 3-phase coupler for most houses.  And a coupler and repeater if
you have a large house.  How about the new RF transceiver that listen
to all possible house codes and can generate a log for the ghost
activities?  And a pair of testers at $100?

But if I were to do it all over again, it will still be X10.  A total
wireless system is still too expensive; every module has to have a
receiver that is more complicated than the x10 crap.  Modules are
selling about 1/3 on eBay compared to the x10 website.  After 7 years,
everything still works, though not together.  Despite all the hype, I
think I only need one blocker/isolator for the main TV and the
electronics around it to solve the reliability problem.  The price is
some $10 on eBay?

Though my system will still be based on x10, but I would have mixed in
a lot of other components.  For example, for rarely opened and
difficult to enter windows, I would use a small independent alarm which
could be as cheap as a few dollars.  The x10 cameras are crap, which
also need short line of sight reception to be non-irritating.  More for
the next message.