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Comment by useful | Hacker News Reader

On the first page of the class action, "ADT's wireless signals are unencrypted and unauthenticated, and can easily be intercepted and interfered with by unauthorized third parties"

I think rolling your own ZigBee security system is more safe (and cheaper).

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I prefer Insteon, which is wireless like Zigbee, but more jam resistant as it also operates over the power lines in your home to form a mesh. Even if the wireless access is blocked, much of the devices can be directly plugged in, and as a result, would still send critical security events to the controller.

I've always been curious if powerline protocols like Insteon and X10 were jammable by injecting noise into the neutral leg of the circuit.

In most neighborhoods with above-ground power lines, it's incredibly easy to access the neutral wire.

Or just cut the power to the home, arguably just as easy no? I think if your being targeted like that then you probably have bigger issues to deal with though...

Is it the case that if the power is out, that such devices can't communicate over the powerlines, even if they have their own backup power?

No, because they send modulated signals over the copper power cables. Therefor, if they had their own backup power and were operating over the powerlines, they would work.

If someone is jamming your power lines AND rf / wireless, you're under a full on assault. You're unlikely to defend against someone invested that much in breaching your home easily.

Although a Springfield Armory XD45 makes a wonderful backup :)

As does this sign in my rear window: http://img3.etsystatic.com/il_570xN.284053143.jpg

Part of the reason wireless alarms use weird RF designs is they try to get a basic 9v battery to last for 3 years or more.

Getting that sort of battery life out of ZigBee would be difficult.

Or in the building I'm currently living in, the IR motion sensors are powered by cylindrical lithium batteries of roughly the same volume that have an observed lifetime in service of perhaps a dozen years before needing replacement.

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