A ceiling fan control system includes a wall control circuit having a mechanical switch and a plurality of signal control elements. The mechanical switch selectively places one or more of the signal control elements into a signal path to produce a signal having a waveform characteristic corresponding to a selected fan operating mode. A receiver control circuit receives the signal and includes a waveform detection circuit that detects the waveform characteristic and generates a representative signal based on the detected waveform characteristic. A controller receives the representative signal, determines the selected fan operating mode, and outputs a motor control signal corresponding to the selected fan operating mode. The signal control elements may include a first signal control element and a second signal control element producing respective first and second waveform characteristics that the controller determines as different speed levels.