Alarm Systems Posts

It was a crazy day across the internet. Like a lot of other websites you might use, Alarm Grid was affected by the disruptions from the outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS). We wanted to let you know what happened, how it affected us, and the good news that things are getting back to normal.

What Happened?

According to Amazon, at around 3:11 AM EDT Amazon's huge AWS US-EAST-1 region (which is a massive data center in Virginia) started having issues. The first signs of trouble were increased latencies and error rates for sites and applications serviced by US-EAST-1. This regional data center runs a huge portion of the internet, so when it has a bad day, it can create a domino effect that takes down lots of services.

The crux of the problem appears to have been two-fold. Early in this event, at around 5:00 AM EDT, Amazon identified an issue with DNS resolution to the DynamoDB endpoint within the US-EAST-1 region. DNS or Domain Name System is how a URL like alarmgrid.com gets tracked down to its source IP address. By 6:35 AM EDT, Amazon reported that this issue had been fully mitigated.

The second source of trouble has to do with an underlying system designed to monitor the health of AWS load-balancing servers. It's unclear exactly what happened with this system currently, but mitigation efforts are progressing well for that issue as well. You're likely still seeing latency with some sites and apps that you visit. At 4:03 PM EDT, the AWS Health Dashboard said:

"Service recovery across all AWS services continues to improve. We continue to reduce throttles for new EC2 Instance launches in the US-EAST-1 Region that were put in place to help mitigate impact. Lambda invocation errors have fully recovered and function errors continue to improve. We have scaled up the rate of polling SQS queues via Lambda Event Source Mappings to pre-event levels. We will provide another update by 1:45 PM PDT."

How Did This Affect Alarm Grid?

Alarm Grid uses AWS in several ways to keep our website and services running smoothly. When AWS went down, it meant we had trouble with:

• Access to our site: The site alarmgrid.com has been unavailable at times, throughout the day today.
• Website features: You might have noticed our site was super slow, or that parts of our customer portal weren't loading at all. If you are attempting to place an order, you may see some issues. Please, retry any failed operation. You can reach out to support@alarmgrid.com if you need assistance.
• Our own support tools: Our web-based phone system was affected earlier in the day, but seems to have recovered as of now.

We know how frustrating this is, especially when you're trying to get something done. We sincerely apologize for the headache. Our site is up, but is still experiencing significant latency as of this writing. Rest assured, we're here and we'll help however we can.

Good News: Things Are Coming Back Online!

As of this afternoon, AWS says they've identified the issue and are well on their way to a resolution. We're already seeing our systems come back to life, and the Alarm Grid site should be getting back to normal.

What Wasn't Affected

Fortunately, monitoring services were apparently unaffected. We received no reported issues from our central station partners: Criticom Monitoring Service for customers in the United States, and Rapid Response for our Canadian customers. Alarm signal processing continued as usual. Likewise, the Total Connect 2.0 and Alarm.com remote services also appear to have been unaffected.

A Few Quick Stats on the Outage:

Just to show how big this outage was, at its peak, Downdetector.com showed nearly ten thousand reports for AWS. It also caused problems for major services like Snapchat, Ring, Roblox, Fortnite, and many others.

Due to an ongoing strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the delivery of packages through Canada Post is currently suspended. As a result, Alarm Grid will temporarily use UPS to fulfill all Canadian orders until postal service in Canada resumes. It's unclear how long that may be.

This measure ensures that Canadian customers continue to receive their equipment and supplies without unnecessary delay. When we ship international orders, the cost of shipping is calculated at checkout, based on the postal code of the delivery address.

Once the strike is resolved and regular Canada Post operations resume, Alarm Grid will revert to our usual shipping methods for Canadian customers. You can check back here for an update as soon as that happens.

We appreciate your patience and understanding while this situation unfolds. Our team is monitoring the developments closely and will continue to prioritize fast and reliable delivery for all of our customers.

If you have any questions about your order or shipping options during this period, please contact us at support@alarmgrid.com. You can also take advantage of our live chat support by visiting alarmgrid.com and clicking the icon in the lower right portion of the screen. Chat support is available Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern, except on holidays. If you request support outside normal business hours, we'll respond via email as quickly as possible the next business day.

Resideo recently announced that its VISTA and PRO Series panels are now fully certified to integrate with Control4 whole-home automation. Control4 is a premium automation platform, typically available only through authorized Control4 integrators, and it operates by using specialized drivers

Control4 drivers act as the essential software that enables communication between the Control4 automation system and various third-party devices. A certified Control4 driver allows for seamless integration and centralized control of different smart home products through the Control4 interface. The interface can be a touchscreen, an app, or even voice commands. For homeowners and installers, this means a unified experience where security, lighting, entertainment, and more can be managed from a single platform.

For homeowners, the benefits are clear. A certified integration allows the Resideo First Alert panel to do more than just secure the home, it becomes part of a larger ecosystem. Using Control4, you can arm the alarm system at night while having the doors lock automatically, the thermostat adjust to an energy-saving setting, and the lights dim across the house. That’s the type of seamless, one-touch automation that Control4 is known for, now enhanced with the proven reliability of a Resideo First Alert security system.

For dealers and installers, certification reduces guesswork and support headaches. Instead of relying on custom workarounds, they can now use official drivers that are tested and verified. This not only speeds up installation but also builds dealer confidence, by knowing their installations are backed by two major industry players working together.

The move also positions Resideo strongly in the high-end automation space. By joining the ranks of other security systems officially supported by Control4, VISTA and PRO Series panels are now a more compelling option for projects where premium automation is a requirement. It’s a win for integrators looking to expand their offerings, and a win for homeowners looking to unite all of their tech through a single interface.

VISTA panels use the 4232CBM Connected Building Module to integrate with Control4. The module connects the VISTA panel's ECP bus to the Control4 system through a wired serial RS232 or RS422 interface. This setup allows the Control4 driver to import zone alpha descriptors directly from the VISTA panel, which eliminates the need for manual programming of zone data within Control4. As a result, users can arm, disarm, and monitor the status of zones directly through the Control4 interface. Check out the 4232CBM Install Guide.

Another plus that shouldn't be overlooked is the fact that Control4 will import life-safety zones and descriptors. This allows an integrator to create automations based on fire or carbon monoxide zone triggers. For example, in the event of a fire alarm the system might automatically turn off the HVAC system and unlock the doors while turning on lights that illuminate a path out of the building.

Control4 and First Alert PRO Series Integration

You can find the steps for integrating the PRO Series panels with Control4 here. Here's a quick overview of what you'll need:

Before You Begin:

• Control4 OS 4.1.0+ and Composer Pro Software.
• PRO Series Firmware 03.2476.183+
• PRO Series panel must have a PROWIFI or PROWIFIZW installed.
• PRO Series panel should have all its partitions and zones configured before pairing with Control4, though you can add or remove zones after initial configuration.
• Your alarm dealer must enable the Control4 feature through AlarmNet360. This is done as part of the Smart Home package (Packages > Smart Home > Add-Ons > Control4).
• The Control4 system and the PRO Series panel must be connected to the same network through the same router.

After configuration with Control4’s Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SDDP), the PRO Series panel must always use the same IP address. SDDP is a lightweight protocol created by Control4 that lets WIFI enabled devices announce themselves on the network, making it easy for Control4 to find and identify them.

If the panel’s IP address changes, it will disconnect from Control4. Because setting a static IP directly on the alarm panel can be tricky, the better option is to reserve an IP address for the PRO Series panel in your router’s DHCP settings. Check your router’s documentation for instructions on how to set this up. Below is a list of names for this feature, and which manufacturers use each term:

• DHCP Reservation – Netgear, ASUS, TP-Link (most common term)
• Address Reservation – D-Link
• IP Reservation – Linksys, Spectrum, Xfinity
• Reserved IP Address – Some ISP-provided routers (AT&T, Verizon)

Basic Steps For Setup:

1. Initiate discovery. From Control4 Composer Pro, initiate discovery (System Design > Items > Discovered).
2. Create association. Double click on the PRO Series driver that you discovered in Step 1. If Composer Pro fails to discover the driver, make sure that all the prerequisites listed above have been met. Once the driver has been discovered and you double click, the driver is downloaded to your Control4 system. The panel's IP and other required information is sent to Composer Pro. The driver and the IP address can then be associated with one another within Composer Pro.
3. Perform pairing. Within Composer Pro, click Actions > Start Pairing. You have 120 seconds to complete the next step. If two minutes elapse without a successful pairing, the process will timeout and you'll need to perform this step again.
4. Pair PRO Series panel. On the PRO Series panel, tap Menu (≡) > Tools > Enter Installer Code (4112 by default) > Control4 Controller > Pair to Control4 Controller. When Composer Pro receives the pairing command, it will know, based on the panel's IP address, to associate the PRO Series driver with the panel and complete the pairing process. If the pairing is successful, the Control4 Controller information will automatically populate. If pairing fails this field will remain blank. In that case, verify that all of the requirements in "Before You Begin" have been met, and try again.

Complete Integration:

1. Verify partition import. In Composer Pro select Properties. Partition information will be displayed here as the information is imported. Upon successful import, the partition state will update from "Unknown" to the current state. This process may take a minute, so please be patient. Verify that all partitions, along with proper status, are displayed in the left pane.
2. Import and verify zone information. From Advanced Properties within Composer Pro select Get C4 Contacts to update and display individual PRO Series zones with proper status. The zones will also show in the left pane. When a zone is added (or removed), it will show which zones have been added or deleted there.
3. Verify visibility. From a Control4 touchscreen, or the Control4 app, tap Security and verify that all partitions and zones are displayed. If a partition appears to be missing, check the visibility settings for that partition within Composer Pro:
   • In the left pane select PRO Series > Properties > Navigator.
   • Select Security in the navigator menu. This will display the Device Visibility settings. Partitions are either "Visible" or "Hidden". If any partition that should be visible within Control4 is listed as hidden choose the Modify option and move that partition from Hidden to Visible.
   • Click File > Refresh Navigators to update and display all partitions. Any partition that remains listed as hidden will not display on any Control4 touchscreen or within the Control4 app. Presumably, it will also remain hidden to any voice assistant you may be using.
4. Test integration. Once the previous steps have been completed successfully, use the Control4 touchscreen or app to verify operation and status. Verify that all partitions show the proper status, i.e., Armed, Disarmed, etc. Walk around and fault zones, i.e., open and close doors, walk in front of motion detectors, etc. and verify that the status updates within the touchscreen or app.