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tems like Z-Wave and Zig Bee. X-10, setting its
roots back in 1975, is probably the oldest system
and probably had the largest market share in the
past. And although it was very inexpensive, it was
deficient in many areas, especially in the data rate
that it could support. X-10 could support only up to
200 bits per second, whereas Wi-Fi supports hun-
dreds of megabits per second. The data rate deter-
mines the type of data that can be transmitted. Vid-
eo data could never be transmitted on an X-10 con-
trol network.
The X-10 system and its devices use the
120-volt wiring in the house to carry control signals
from place to place, wherever the wiring was acces-
sible. The wiring is accessible in switch boxes and
outlet boxes, so most X-10 devices replaced either
a switch or a receptacle. Using these devices, you
could control lights from the X-10 switches or auto-
matically from a timer also connected to the wiring.
The interface to the wiring system was relatively
inexpensive and straightforward, so the X-10 devic-
es were pretty affordable. Switches were in the $10
to $20 range, and controllers were around $50. As
the X-10 system evolved, there was an interface to
a computer, so all the devices could be controlled
from the computer. There was even a form of wire-
less connection provided by an RF multi-channel
transmitter/receiver. These forms of home automa-
tion are still available, but Wi-Fi seems to be the
direction home automation is taking.
Home automation systems that used to use
the house wiring to connect devices now use Wi-Fi
to connect devices together and to the internet. De-
vices like smart bulbs and smart sockets, smart
plugs, smart thermostats, smart security systems,
smart front door locks, and smart doorbells with
cameras connect via the Wi-Fi router. Google, Ring,
and Yale make smart locks that allow you to re-
motely lock or unlock your door, which means you
can let someone into the house even if you’re not
home or unlock your door if you forget your keys.
And, of course, the bonus is that you can control
and monitor the activities of these devices with your
smartphone, which is hopefully always with you.
These devices can be controlled from inside the
house, outside the house, or halfway around the
world; anywhere you can get an internet connec-
November 2021 5
tion. But, on the downside, a Wi-Fi network connect-
ed to the internet can possibly be vulnerable to hack-
ing. (Personally, I’m not ready to turn over the lock-
ing of the house to a lock that could possibly be
hacked, but I know a few people who have installed
these locks, and they are very happy.) So, extreme
security should be used with any of these systems.
Make sure you definitely use WPA2 when you set up
your Wi-Fi router and use a very strong password for
router access (I know strong passwords are difficult
to memorize, but the enhanced security will be worth
it).
The Wi-Fi router is the device that provides the wire-
less connection between the internet and the myriad
of devices that are used in the home, such as a lap-
top computer, tablet, smartphone, smart TV, and
possibly appliances like a refrigerator or washing
machine. (We’re starting to see the Internet of
Things (IoT) appear right before our eyes. Wikipedia
says, “IoT is the network of physical devices, vehi-
cles, home applications, and other items embedded
with electronics, software, and sensors which enable
these objects to connect and exchange data.” It is
how all of our devices and appliances will be net-
worked together to provide us with control over many
aspects of our homes.
And, now there are new ways of controlling a
Home Automation system. These new control sys-
tems are called Intelligent Assistants and take the
form of Amazon’s Echo (Alexa), Google’s Home (OK
Google), and Microsoft’s Cortana (Hey Cortana), all
of which connect the home automation devices to-
gether and to the internet via the Wi-Fi router. Ama-
zon’s Echo and Google’s Home can control various
smart home devices. Once set up, the Assistants
can control the devices by your voice commands or
an App on your smartphone. For example, they can
turn lights on or off, open or lock doors, open or
close garage doors, and even adjust the temperature
in your home. In addition, schedules for the control
of your devices can be set up on the App. For exam-
ple, lights can come on or go off on a timed sched-
ule, or they can even come on at dawn and go off at
dusk, and the time will be adjusted with the seasonal
changes. So, today the modern smart home can op-
erate on its own, be controlled remotely, or be con-
trolled by the owner’s voice; we’ve come a long way
from simple X-10 style home automation.