Cellular Posts

Local Alarm Mode, also called Demo Mode, is a way for an alarm dealer to demonstrate the full features of the panel without having to register it to an AlarmNet360 account. However, while in this mode, panel communications can't be configured. A panel in this mode can seem to be broken.

Alarm Grid has seen several of the Honeywell Home PROA7, Honeywell Home PROA7PLUS, Resideo PROA7C, and Resideo PROA7PLUSC panels recently that have either arrived with Local Alarm Mode enabled, or have been put into this mode during initial setup. Once Local Alarm Mode has been enabled, it is impossible to configure the panel communication settings until Local Alarm Mode has been toggled off.

Local Alarm Mode is a valuable tool that has been made available to alarm dealers so that they can demo these new panels for a customer in spite of the fact that the panel isn't associated with an account. This was particularly important when the panel was first introduced because there was no local programming. For those early panels, until the ProSeries panel was registered, it couldn't do much unless Local Alarm Mode had been enabled.

This was a great tool at the time for alarm dealers, but for DIY customers, it doesn't offer much in the way of benefits. Now that the panel has local panel programming available, there really is no reason for an Alarm Grid customer to want to use this feature. Whether the panel arrived with this feature enabled, or the feature was enabled during programming, once the customer decides to have the system monitored, whether self monitored, or with central station monitoring, Local Alarm Mode should be disabled.

To check to see if Local Alarm Mode is enabled or disabled, choose the Menu icon (≡) at the bottom center of the Home screen. Select Tools > Installer Code (default is 4112) > Local Alarm Mode. The feature can then be toggled OFF if it is enabled. If it was enabled and you toggle it off, you'll see a confirmation screen, click on the "YES, DISABLE" option.

If you've been using the system with Local Alarm Mode enabled, and you have signed up for alarm monitoring with Alarm Grid, be sure to toggle this feature OFF as soon as possible. Depending on which monitoring plan you sign up for, activation of your account may begin immediately after sign up, and having this feature enabled at that time can cause delays. This is particularly true of the Self-Monitoring options. If you signed up for a central station monitoring plan, just be sure to disable this feature prior to your activation appointment.

Until now, only alarm systems manufactured by Resideo, Honeywell Home, or Honeywell could be used with Total Connect 2.0. That changes with the new LTEM-P Series communicators. Some DSC and Interlogix panels can now be connected to and used with TC2. A supplemental wiring guide is provided.

The LTEM-PA AT&T LTE Communicator, and the LTEM-PV Verizon LTE Communicator available from Resideo can be used to send alarm signals on behalf of all the same VISTA panels that were compatible with the older AlarmNet communicators such as the Honeywell LTE-IA, and the Honeywell LTE-IV. In addition, certain versions of some of these panels can also be used with Total Connect 2.0 Remote Services when one of these communicators is attached to it.

With the release of the LTEM-P Series communicators, DSC PC1616, DSC PC1832, and DSC PC1864 panels can support both reporting through the communicator when it is connected to the panel's keypad bus and integration with Total Connect 2.0. In addition, Interlogix NX8E, NX-4V2, NX-6V2, and NX-8V2 panels can also be used with the LTEM-P Series communicators to both send signals, and integrate with TC2.

With the DSC PC Series panels, this is purely a keypad bus connection. The communicator's RX, TX, and Ground terminals will connect to the DSC panel's Green, Yellow, and Black keypad bus terminals. On the Interlogix NX Series panels that are supported, there is a connection to RX on the communicator from the terminal marked DATA on the panel's keypad bus. COM from the NX Series panel will connect to GND on the Communicator. In addition to this, the LTEM-P Series communicator will require a Resideo PRODCM Dialer Capture Module, which will connect to the panel's Tip and Ring terminals. The PRODCM will be installed inside the communicator. Panel signals are sent via the PRODCM, and Data Bus information for Total Connect 2.0 is sent from the bus.

There are some programming options that will need to be configured properly, for example the NX panel must be set to report in Contact ID format. In fact, all signals for both panel types will be sent to the monitoring station using Contact ID. The wiring connections should be made while both the panel and communicator are powered down. The alarm panel is powered up first, and all troubles, faults, and alarms must be cleared. Once they are, power up the communicator and it should begin to scan the panel's bus for zone information. This process can take up to ten (10) minutes.

This is not meant to be a step-by-step guide to setting up this feature, it's just an introduction to the feature for those who may not be aware that it is available. We offer an FAQ for using the DSC panels with TC2 here. If you have one of the compatible DSC or Interlogix panels, and you are considering using it with one of the LTEM-P Series communicators, check out the Resideo LTEM-P Series Installation Guide, the Resideo Supplemental Install Guide for Non-VISTA panels, and for those using a compatible Interlogix NX-Series panel, also check out the Resideo PRODCM Install Guide. We have not yet had an opportunity to create our own in depth FAQs for this process on the Non-VISTA panels, but we will get to those in the near future.

Have any thoughts about Resideo and Honeywell Home finally embracing the use of their communicators with competitor's panels? They offered a dialer capture module in the past, but it installed outside the communicator and was somewhat unwieldy. Leave a comment below and tell us what you think. We always look forward to hearing from our readers!

AlarmNet360 is both a website and an app that can be used to create, edit, and cancel AlarmNet accounts. Access to this website and app is only available for licensed alarm dealers who are affiliated with AlarmNet. As an end-user you will not need to have or create an AlarmNet360 account.

Being a DIYer in the alarm industry can be pretty confusing at times! Nearly all of the documentation provided with alarm systems that have historically been installed only by alarm professionals is intended only for alarm professionals. So, when you buy that new ProSeries or Lyric Alarm System, and you begin reading the installation instructions, one of the first things you are told to do is create an AlarmNet360 account. This is not something that you, as a DIYer will be able to do.

This is where Alarm Grid comes in. Alarm Grid is a DIY friendly company. We sell professional grade alarm systems to anyone who wants to buy them. Sometimes, alarm professionals purchase from us and then they go about configuring the system themselves because they have access to AlarmNet360. Sometimes, customers purchase from us and then hire their own alarm professional to install their system and that alarm professional completes the setup on AlarmNet360 themselves. But usually, when an individual buys a system from us, they then sign up for one of our no-contract monitoring plans, and then we set up their account through AlarmNet360.

The relationship between Alarm Grid and our monitoring customers is a symbiotic one. DIY alarm users choose not to pay a professional to do something that they can do themselves. That being the physical installation of the alarm equipment. With the proliferation of self-contained, all-in-one systems, installation has gotten more and more simple. A child can do it. We have several young customers in their teens who set up systems just because they enjoy doing it, and figuring out new and interesting ways to make things happen.

On the monitoring side of things, that's where restrictions start to come in. There are certain things that have not opened up to DIYers yet, and access to AlarmNet360 is one of those things. You may be thinking, "Forget AlarmNet360, what's AlarmNet?" You can read about AlarmNet here. At present, only alarm dealers can sign up for access to AlarmNet360 in order to be able to add, edit, or cancel AlarmNet accounts. Access to accounts is very tightly controlled. The only accounts that Alarm Grid can see in AlarmNet360 are accounts that are assigned to Alarm Grid, which usually means that Alarm Grid created them in the first place.

Alarm Grid chose the DIY business model in part because we have everything we need to administer accounts on the back end, but we don't have a team of installers to send out and put in systems. DIYers are our installers, and in turn we provide for them the account admin services that they are not allowed to perform for themselves. We sell reasonably priced, professional grade alarm equipment. The same equipment that just about any alarm dealer in the country will sell you, and we handle the administrative side of things, in addition to providing free, world-class technical support to our monitored customers. In exchange for that, we charge a reasonable monitoring fee with no activation fees, no cancellation fees, and no contracts. We also don't care if you buy your system from us or elsewhere. We will monitor any equipment that is within our power to monitor for the same prices we charge to monitor the equipment we sell.

So, when you crack open that new system, and start reading the instructions, skip the part where it talks about the AlarmNet360 account. Whoever you sign up for monitoring with will take care of that part. Do you have an AlarmNet communicator? Have you been stumped by the mention of AlarmNet360 in your system's documentation? Leave us a comment below and let us know if this information was helpful. We always look forward to hearing from you.

Resideo Technologies recently released a technical notification (TN #69) outlining an issue with the CELL-ANT3DB External Antenna kits. It seems that for some time, these kits have included an incorrect mounting bracket. Without the correct mounting bracket, proper mounting is not possible.

Update provided by Resideo!

The Resideo CELL-ANT3DB External Antenna kit is an outdoor rated antenna kit that supports a number of different cellular frequency bands. In addition to simply moving the antenna from the mounting location of the radio to a location outside, the CELL-ANT3DB also provides up to 3dB of signal gain to improve cellular reception for the AlarmNet communicator.

To resolve this issue, Resideo has released the technical notice listed here. All current stock has been called back and reworked to have the incorrect bracket replaced with the correct one. If you are purchasing a new CELL-ANT3DB, you can check the barcode sticker on the box. If there is a Green Dot on this sticker, the product has been through the rework process and has the correct bracket.

Image showing a reworked product with the Green Dot clearly visible:

If you recently purchased a CELL-ANT3DB from Alarm Grid and you believe your product has the incorrect bracket, contact us at support@alarmgrid.com and we will verify whether your product is affected, and will arrange to have the correct bracket shipped to you if it is. The information in the technical notice is lacking a bit, so in addition we've contacted the product manager to see if we can get some more data on either date codes affected, or images that show us what the incorrect bracket looks like, as opposed to the correct bracket. We will update this post with more information when/if it becomes available.

Update September 28, 2021

We heard from Resideo today that this issue affects a very small number of units. This error occurred on only three (3) days of production. Date codes E215, E222, and E223 are the affected production days. You can see the date code in the image above. It shows E256. If you purchase a CELL-ANT3DB Kit with one of the affected date codes, and the box has the green circle sticker mentioned and shown above, then your product is good to go. If you purchase a product with date code E256 or later, whether it has a green dot or not, the product is also good. If you purchase a product with date code E215, E222, or E223, and it does not have the green dot sticker, then you need to request a replacement mounting bracket.

Alarm Grid is offering new Alarm.com System Enhancement Modules (SEMs) for Honeywell VISTA P-Series Alarm Panels. The ADC-SEM300-VT-AT (AT&T LTE & IP) and ADC-SEM300-VT-VZ (Verizon LTE & IP) are both available now. They provide reliable alarm monitoring and Z-Wave Plus capabilities.

If you aren't familiar with Alarm.com System Enhancement Modules (SEMs), they are basically cellular communicators that allow hardwired alarm panels to connect with the Alarm.com servers. The reason why SEMs for Honeywell VISTA Systems are so interesting is because normally these Honeywell-manufactured Alarm Panels are used in conjunction with the Resideo AlarmNet Servers and the Total Connect 2.0 Security Notification and Automation Platform. With an SEM, you can take control of your Honeywell VISTA Alarm Panel and instead have it communicate with the Alarm.com servers and the Alarm.com platform. Alarm Grid customers can choose from a variety of alarm monitoring plans to use with SEMs, including our Gold and Platinum Level Plans (Self & Full) and our Cellular-Only Plan. You can learn more about all our monitoring plans in this comprehensive blog post.

When you break-down what Alarm.com offers versus Total Connect 2.0, both platforms are remarkably similar. However, there are some cases where a user may prefer to go with Alarm.com over Total Connect 2.0. The biggest reason why we can think of is that the user wants to take advantage of the robust selection of Alarm.com Security Cameras. If you compare the selection of Alarm.com Cameras versus the Total Connect 2.0 Camera Selection, then it's clear that Alarm.com is (at least for now) the hands-down winner. Even if you aren't using security cameras in your setup, maybe you want a better integration with the Alarm.com Smart Water Valve, or maybe there's an Alarm.com Demand Response Program in your area that you want to take advantage of. In any case, if you have a VISTA P-Series Panel (e.g. VISTA-10P, VISTA-15P, VISTA-20P, VISTA-21iP, VISTA-21iPLTE), then an Alarm.com SEM will give you the option of using their services instead of AlarmNet and TC2.

When you compare the new "300-Series" SEMs with the previous VISTA SEMs, the ADC-SEM210-VT-AT and the ADC-SEM210-VT-VZ, the new ones have a couple of advantages. For one, the new 300-Series SEMs utilize much lower power consumption at just 230mA. The new modules also have the ability to be used without an external power supply, which was required with the older modules. In the setup without an external power supply, all of the power is supplied from the panel. However, you can still use an external power supply with the new SEMs if you do not have 230mA available from your panel. Also, the new 300-Series SEMs have new externally-facing LED status lights that are easier to read when needed.

Just like the prior editions, the new ADC-SEM300-VT-AT and ADC-SEM300-VT-VZ offer ultra-reliable connectivity across both an LTE cellular network and internet service using a wired ethernet connection. In addition, the new SEMs also return with Z-Wave Plus functionality, thereby allowing you to build a robust and complete smart home network around your security system. If you have been wanting to setup smart devices around your Honeywell VISTA Alarm System for use around the Alarm.com Security and Automation Platform, then these new SEM devices are perfect for the job at-hand. They are available right now and ready for use with Alarm Grid!

Do you have any thoughts about the new Alarm.com 300-Series SEMs, the ADC-SEM300-VT-AT and ADC-SEM300-VT-VZ? Would you consider switching over your Honeywell VISTA System to the Alarm.com Platform from Total Connect 2.0? Or maybe you're already happy with using your VISTA System with its current LTE cellular communicator? Let us know your thoughts in a comment down below. We would love to hear what you have to say. We always make sure to cover new product releases and the latest security system news, so make sure to stay tuned to the Alarm Grid Home Security Blog for more great content coming soon!

There is going to be scheduled maintenance occurring on Alarm.com tonight, specifically focusing on the Verizon infrastructure. The maintenance period will run from 12:00 am Midnight to 2:00 am Eastern Time. According to Alarm.com, no impact is expected with regard to monitoring service.

The purpose of the scheduled maintenance is to enhance platform stability and improve redundancy moving forward. We have heard reports that a small number of Alarm.com Verizon LTE Communicators have been experiencing some relatively minor technical issues. Alarm.com has been aware of these issues since at least last Saturday, and they have been actively working to troubleshoot affected units to prevent any disruptions in service. The scheduled maintenance tonight should fix these issues and help to ensure that all Alarm.com Verizon Communicators function as intended, with exceptional reliability.

During the scheduled maintenance period tonight, Alarm.com says that service outages are unlikely to occur. You should not experience any problems if your security system uses a Verizon Communicator for connecting with Alarm.com. However, Alarm.com is not ruling out the possibility, and they want to keep users informed, just in case. Remember that if you have an IP (WIFI or Ethernet) communication path set up, then that can serve as a valuable backup option tonight during the maintenance period. If your system is cellular only with Verizon connectivity, then just be careful if you need to arm your system tonight between 12:00 am Midnight and 2 am Eastern Time. Again, no issues should occur, but Alarm.com is performing due diligence by making the maintenance period known in advance.

Once again, all maintenance taking place is on the Verizon infrastructure for Alarm.com. Your monitoring service will not be affected in any way if your system uses a different carrier, such as AT&T, for connecting with Alarm.com, or if your system is set up with a different network, such as AlarmNet for Total Connect 2.0, or Telguard for HomeControl Flex. If your system does use Verizon connectivity for communicating with Alarm.com, then check and make sure your WIFI or Ethernet path is working as an important backup plan for tonight. If you have been using your system with cell-only on Verizon with ADC, but you have the option to add WIFI or Ethernet, now may be a good time to do so. Your system should still be fine, but, it never hurts to use redundancy when it is available. Stay tuned to our blog for more security system news and updates coming soon.

Note: If you are reading this after 2:00am on April 14th, or on any future date, then it is assumed that the scheduled maintenance has been concluded, and all Alarm.com Verizon Service should be operating as intended, now with improved infrastructure.

We have learned that Verizon has confirmed the sunset date for their CDMA Network for December 31, 2022. This is Verizon's equivalent of the 3G Sunset. Anyone with a security system using a Verizon CDMA Communicator is urged to upgrade to LTE ASAP to avoid monitoring service disruptions.

The 3G Sunset has been covered extensively on the Alarm Grid Blog. It refers to the phasing-out of old 3G and equivalent communicators, in favor of newer technology, specifically LTE. The Verizon CDMA Network is the Verizon equivalent of a 3G Network. While AT&T is known to be shutting down their 3G Network after January 31, 2022, the Verizon CDMA Sunset date it a bit later at December 31, 2022. While there was earlier confirmation by Resideo for the CDMA shutdown date, this time the confirmation is directly from Verizon themselves.

In preparation for this major event, Alarm Grid has been encouraging users to replace their old 3G and CDMA Communicators with newer LTE communicators. Users are strongly advised to upgrade to LTE as soon as they can. While it's understandable to wait until the last minute, especially if money is tight, you should realize that many other users will also try to wait until the final opportunity. Our support staff is limited, and we cannot upgrade everyone all at once. If you put-off the required upgrade as long as possible, then there's a chance you might get left behind at the deadline. Our goal is to prevent that from happening and ensure that all Alarm Grid customers with cellular monitoring service make a seamless and undisrupted transition.

We know that the 3G Sunset might still be a bit confusing, and you might still have some questions. That's okay, because we're here to help you. If you aren't sure about the LTE communicator replacement options available for your system, then you may want to check this post for some further assistance. If you have recently purchased a new LTE communicator for your system, and you need us to activate the unit, then head on over to the Alarm Grid Communicator Replacement Portal so that you can choose a time that works for you. And if you have any other questions, or if you are still confused about the 3G and CDMA Sunset, please email our support team and security system experts at support@alarmgrid.com. We're here to answer your emails from 9am to 8pm ET M-F. We look forward to hearing from you!