A Quick Review of ActiveHome Pro the Smart Home Automation Software
Introduction
ActiveHome Pro comes from the smart home automation system manufacturer X10. The ActiveHome Pro system lacks in its compatibility with other devices and programs. Their technical support is extensive and makes up greatly for their inadequacies in other areas.
Features
The ActiveHome Pro smart home automation system includes features such as timed triggers, generic event triggers, and sunrise/sunset triggers. The system allows the user to program macros just as PowerHome, HomeSeer, and mControl. Macros with multiple actions and conditions can be programmed. ActiveHome Pro does not offer voice recognition or remote access. All actions pertaining to the system must take place at the command center, which the system was set up on. This is extremely inconvenient compared to other systems and limits the user greatly. They even have a feature to allow your system to run itself randomly when you are away. This will give the impression that someone is always home.
Compatibility
The compatibility of the ActiveHome Pro smart home automation system is extremely limited; limited so much that it does not work with INSTEON or Z-Wave but is limited to X10 only ( Please click to learn more about each). It is not able to integrate at all with other programs such as Windows Media Player or iTunes. Lights and other devices with specific modules are the only things able to be controlled by this system. This system is terribly limiting but the cost does reflect that.
Ease of Use
The ease of use of this system is devastated due to the lack of remote access to this system. Also since there is very limited compatibility with this system it severely limits customization and options. The user interface is outdated but simple. The system is navigable and operational. There is no professional installment requirement for this system as with Control4 and Vivint; this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how tech-savvy the user is. This can be a good thing because it is easy for the user to upgrade and customize the system. It is a bad thing because there is at least a basic set of knowledge needed in order to set the system up.
Support
ActiveHome Pro’s customer support comes from X10. They provide extensive support with options such as FAQs, user forums and email support. They even offer written and video tutorials.
Underneath I have an example of an ActiveHome product you can buy today.
