Over 90 million households in the U.S. now have broadband Internet service. Millions of people have learned how to use the Internet to find information, communicate with friends, conduct business, shop, bank, and myriads of other tasks that make life easier, more productive and more fun.

In lounges and family rooms the television is ubiquitous with an almost limitless access to movies, TV shows, news, sports and other content.

Safety, convenience and fun of home automation

But not many households have discovered the safety, convenience and fun of home automation. Take home lights for example. Did you know that with an affordable home automation network you can now control your home lights over the Internet? "O.K., that's great!" you say. "But why would I want to do that when I can walk over and flip a light switch?"

Suppose you've been on a long business trip away from home. It's nighttime and the weather is miserable -- it's raining hard and the visibility is zero. There's no one at home and the house is dark. On your way home you stop for a bite to eat and grab your web-enabled smartphone. With a few taps you switch on the post lamp in front of your home, your porch light and your living room lamp. Walla! You arrive to a warm and welcoming home.

How to set up your Internet-controlled home lights

You first need to install a simple home automation network. If you are a home do-it-yourselfer, you may want to decide on an Insteon-compatible network. You only buy the modules you need for your application. Insteon is affordable and you can expand it later if you want. And there are no monthly or annual service fees.

Insteon works by sending signals over the existing powerline in your house and over a designated radio frequency. This dual method of signalling makes it both reliable as well as flexible.

You need a smart switch module for each lamp you want to control. For table lamps, use the plug-in module. For hard-wired lamps like a post lamp you'll need to replace the existing wall switch with a Insteon-compatible wall switch.

How to control the lights

When you send a command from your web-enabled laptop, or your smartphone, it travels over the Internet to the modem in your home, then to your existing router. From there it travels through an Ethernet cable to a small modular Insteon central controller plugged into a wall outlet. Insteon signals go out from the controller through your house wiring and are received by the Insteon switch modules which respond accordingly.

If you're not sure about home automation, remote lighting control is a good way to see if it works for you and your family. If you like the way you can control your home lights, you might like to expand your simple home automation network to include other tasks -- like thermostat control. You can even water your tomatoes via web-enabled home automation.

Enjoy!