Re: Justify Upgrade from X-10 to Z-Wave?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"BruceR" <bruceNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Poedna-JqOXGk_7VnZ2dnUVZ_rmdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Stick with X10 and solve your signal integrity problems with Jeff Volp's
> XTB-IIR.
> See http://jeffvolp.home.att.net/xtb_files.htm

Good advice.  Since you're into wireless, I'd add a good RF transceiver to
the XTB as well because the stock X-10 RF units have abysmal range compared
to something like WGL's line of gear. You can read my review of the XTB
here:

http://www.hometoys.com/ezine/08.04/green/xtb.htm

and the VS572 here:

http://www.hometoys.com/ezine/08.06/green/wgl.htm

While Z-Wave may eventually "conquer the world" there are still a lot more
control options available in the X-10 world, from remotes to sensors to
whatever and at far lower prices than you'll pay for Z-wave gear.  It's not
immune to problems, either:

http://www.google.com/search?q=zwave+problems

and it's proprietary.  In one way it's quite inferior to X10.  Z-Wave is
*only* RF whereas X-10 has three types of control signal technologies:
RF-PLC, IR-PLC and PLC-PLC.  If EMI ever got so high aroudn here it blocked
X-10 RF signals, I could still control most of my gear via the powerline or
a handheld IR controller.  IIRC, Z-Wave uses the license-exempt 900MHz ISM
band.  EMI only seems to be growing, so how or if it will effect either
protocol's RF transmissions remains to be seen.  Lots of people are happy
with it but lots of people also didn't know how easy it was to turbocharge
an X-10 setup with XTB and WGL gear.

There's no denying that ZWave or something like it will be the future of HA.
In the meantime, as competition increases, prices for Zwave gear will fall
and device quality and variety will improve.  Since I am now in a position
to wait it out to see who survives, I will stick with X-10.  I'm hoping that
a open standards platform is the ultimate winner, but it may not turn out
that way.

--
Bobby G.

> "Tom" <insync50@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:GID8k.13353$PZ6.1042@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > There is no doubt in my mind that z-wave is superior to x-10 but
> > x-10's advantage is cost. Even with the extended x-10's protocol, it
> > still falls short for complex applications. In my situation, I have a
> > few x-10 recievers controlling a few lamps around the home. I
> > basically use it to turn on/off lights in the room I'm in. I don't
> > have a need for pre-set lighting moods (complete with the hide-away
> > bar that appears with Burt Bacharach music that starts to play.) I
> > really don't see a need for lighting computer interface for how I
> > currently use the system. My house is basically square with one floor
> > at about 1800 sf. My real motivation is to perpetuate my couch-potato
> > lifestyle by not needing to budge from the chair to operate room
> > lighting or to turn-off lights in another room. I'm now getting ready
> > to hardwire wall switches to control ceiling fans and lights along
> > with some lights for the pool area.
> >
> > What I'm asking of you folks here is a justification for one or the
> > other based on how I use wireless techology. I'm not interested in
> > entertaining other technologies and would strongly prefer to hear
> > about just the two.
> >
>
>