Smart Home Posts

When it comes to alarm panels behaving as Z-Wave Controllers, it should be easy to determine if a device is compatible or not. However, we've found that in some cases, not all Z-Wave devices are equal. Z-Wave locks by Schlage have been known to have compatibility issues with certain panels.

Alarm Grid has often stated in our documentation that we prefer that our customers use the Yale or Kwikset Z-Wave locks. We've seen issues with Schlage locks over the years and we haven't really gotten satisfactory answers as to why. We've had customers tell us that they've worked with Schlage, and we have worked with Resideo and Honeywell Home. Sometimes they will work, but other times the customer winds up changing to a different lock manufacturer, or just not using the locks with their panel.

When you look at the most current Lyric Z-Wave Compatibility Chart, which is dated 05/19, and is an official document produced by Honeywell Home, it shows that Schlage Z-Wave locks are compatible. This information is based on engineering and quality assurance testing. But testing and daily use are two different things. Engineers can never think up every scenario to test, no matter how hard they may try. So, once a customer attempts to use the products together in their own home or business, some unforeseen factors may arise and cause issues.

We recently had a customer attempting to use a Schlage Z-Wave lock with a Lyric Security System. When the lock is paired with the panel, the batteries drain very quickly, within one to two weeks. When the lock is used as a stand-alone device, the batteries appear to have a normal life. So, we asked Resideo Technical Support for their input. They suggested that the Schlage locks not be used with the Lyric, ProSeries, or Tuxedo products at this time. There is some conflicting information, certain locks may work with the ProSeries panels while others do not, but it may be best to avoid Schlage locks with these panels for now unless you can wait to use the panel and lock together until the issues are resolved.

The Lynx Series panels appear to support the Schlage locks when the L5100-ZWAVE is employed, but certain conditions must be met. The lock and the panel must be within 12 inches of one another during the pairing process, and must remain at this distance for a full two (2) minutes before either is moved. This allows the full pairing process to be completed. Also, the handing process must be completed immediately following pairing. Resideo engineers are working with Schlage to resolve any issues with those panels that have them, and they hope to have a resolution some time soon, possibly in early 2022.

If you have any thoughts about Schlage Z-Wave locks and their use with any of the Resideo or Honeywell Home alarm systems, drop a comment in the area below and lets get a conversation started. We offer feedback directly to all our vendors on behalf of our customers. We're honored to be your voice.

From the beginning, ever since place-based services have become a staple of alarm-based remote access, Alarm.com has provided a better experience than their closest competitor, Total Connect 2.0. Recently, they announced they will be rebranding, with a name change from Geo-Services to Places.

Geo-Services, soon to be re-christened Places, allows a user to create a geo-fence around any location, and then create rules for their panel and their other automation devices based on that geo-fence. For example, you could create a rule that tells the system when your iOS or Android device enters the geo-fence, turn on the porch light

Alarm.com users with Master Control, Full Control, and Custom with Notification Settings enabled can configure Places. The feature can be enabled from the customer app by selecting Menu > GeoServices > and setting the feature to enabled:

You'll be prompted to go to your devices Location Settings and choose to Allow Always in order for the Places feature to function correctly even when the Alarm.com app is not in use. Once the feature is enabled on one or more devices, you can then create a geo-fence. One of the changes that is coming in early November is the ability to manage geo-fences from the customer app. Previously, the ability to configure this option was only available through the Alarm.com website.

Since this change hasn't actually been implemented yet, there is a chance that the menu options mentioned and shown above may change. Geo-services is included in every Alarm.com plan, and there is no additional charge to enable it. Geo-services uses the phone and WIFI networks to determine the location of the geo-services enabled device, rather than the built-in GPS. This is because using actual GPS consumes a lot of battery, but for this reason, location accuracy suffers. It can be off by as much as 3km, although that's not something we've experienced personally. Also, there is a tiny amount of cellular data used when WIFI is not available. About 100 bytes of data or less per geo-fence crossed.

Available Rules and Reminders For Geo-Services

This is just a brief overview of this excellent Alarm.com feature that you may have, but may not be using. Be on the lookout for some possible changes to this feature early next month. If there are substantial changes, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop! Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts about this, or any other alarm features. We look forward to hearing from you.

The new ADC-V724 is the first camera from Alarm.com to offer 2-Way Audio in addition to 1080p HDR video, and IR night vision. With the integrated mic and speaker, you could easily have some fun with the neighborhood trick-or treaters while still protecting your property from vandals.

We all know that house in the neighborhood where the owners go all-out for Halloween. In some cases, it's like a haunted house attraction where, instead of having to pay to get in, you get candy if you're brave enough to get to the door. The Alarm.com ADC-V724 could help you make your house the one everybody's talking about this year!

Don't get me wrong, this camera is great all year. It just happens that it's being released at this time of year, which is fortuitous. Because, maybe you're not that house, maybe you're the other house. The one where the inhabitants turn all the lights off and pretend not to be home because they forgot to buy candy. Maybe you're in for some tricks because you don't have any treats. Well, the ADC-V724 has you covered there too. With one of these installed, you can sit inside and watch your property. If anyone shows up to play tricks, you can politely tell them through the camera that they should skip your house.

The ADC-V724 has an improved mount over previous versions of Alarm.com cameras, for better long-term stability. It also has an easier to reach Micro SD card slot, in the event you want to take advantage of the Onboard Recording feature. The minimum capacity for a Micro SD card is 32GB, maximum is 512 GB. No Micro SD card is included with the camera. It also allows you to take advantage of the full suite of Alarm.com Video Analytics, which is a powerful tool for eliminating unwarranted video captures. The ADC-V724 offers High Dynamic Range (HDR) for better light/dark contrast in low-light environments, and can work with either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz WIFI. With the built-in microphone, audio is included in recorded clips. When it comes to providing evidence to the police, audio is often just as important to them as video evidence, so this is a great added feature.

The speaker and Micro SD card slot can be seen in this image:

What do you think about the Alarm.com ADC-V724? Are you in the market for new indoor/outdoor cameras? Will you be going all-out for Halloween, are you the house with no candy, or somewhere in-between? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. If there's something you'd like to see us cover in our blog, you can let us know that as well. See you next time, until then as always, stay safe!

Update: All US versions of the Qolsys IQ Panel 4 are now available, and the links for each panel type, along with a description of each, are available below!

Qolsys announced several new products at ISC West in August. However, product availability, including for the IQ Panel 4, has been nil. We now have one iteration of the panel that has limited stock available. The Qolsys IQ Panel 4 with Verizon LTE and Interlogix/GE SRF support in White.

The Qolsys Roadmap for product releases got a little rocky this year. We expected the Qolsys IQ Hub in the late Spring, with the Qolsys IQ Panel 4 to be released in the late fall. That's understandable with all the things that have been going on. What with the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the recent global chip shortage, we consider ourselves fortunate to be seeing stock on existing products, let alone newly announced ones.

At this time, we have limited stock available on one specific version of the Qolsys IQ Panel 4. This is the panel with built-in WIFI, a Verizon LTE cellular communicator, and support for both PowerG and Interlogix/GE and Qolsys 319.5 MHz wireless devices with the panel in White. Eventually, there will also be another version with these exact same specifications, but with the panel in Black.

As the rollout continues, and the component availability and manufacturing bottleneck abates, we will eventually see several other variations of this panel become available. You can see a list of all of them below:

Qolsys IQ Panel 4 Variations

If you click on any of the links above for products that aren't yet available, they will show up as discontinued on our site. Once they become available, we will blog again, and those links will become live. This way, you can come back to this post at any time and check availability on whichever panel variation you happen to be interested in.

In addition to the options shown above, the Qolsys IQ Panel 4 currently uses the same User Interface (UI) as the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus. Eventually, they will offer a new look, and users will be able to choose between the new or the existing look. The panel has an 8 MP camera, which can be adjusted for tilt, increased signal range for all wireless cards that are built into the panel, more advanced speakers, three microphones, and many more hardware upgrades.

For those who may not know, Qolsys sought to make it easy to replace an existing panel that uses wireless sensors, without having to replace all of the sensors as well. So if you currently have an older Qolsys panel, or an Interlogix or GE panel, all of which used 319.5 MHz wireless sensors, then you would want to choose the corresponding Qolsys IQ Panel 4 in the color, and with the cellular communicator that best suits your needs.

Honeywell 5800 Series and 2GIG wireless both use 345 MHz wireless sensors. 2GIG has a lineup of encrypted sensors that also operate at 345 MHz, and those sensors will NOT be compatible with the Qolsys IQ Panel 4 that supports this frequency, but most other uni-directional 345 MHz wireless devices that work with either of these two product lines should also work with the Qolsys IQ Panel 4.

Older DSC panels used wireless sensors in the 433 MHz range. As you can see from the chart, there will also be a version of the IQ Panel 4 that supports these devices. DSC is also the manufacturer of PowerG wireless devices. All of the IQ Panel 4 variations will support PowerG. The idea being, once you replace the older panel, and begin to utilize the older RF sensors with the new Qolsys IQ Panel 4, if you need to replace the older devices, you can choose to replace them with the same older model sensor, or you can replace them with a PowerG version, which supports 128-bit AES encryption, and will have a range up to 4,000 feet with the IQ Panel 4. You can read all about why we love PowerG so much in this earlier post.

Qolsys released an RF Compatibility Document for firmware version 2.6.0. Both the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus, and the IQ Panel 4 will use this firmware. This is the base version for the IQP4, so any devices listed on this document as compatible have been tested by Qolsys engineering and are known to work. Uni-directional devices (those that only transmit to the panel, but don't receive any information from the panel) that are not on the compatibility list may or may not work. Bi-directional devices such as the Honeywell 5800RL, 5800WAVE, or 5828 will definitely NOT work.

Alarm Grid is excited to announce we are now offering certain Qolsys products at a lower price. Price reductions occur from time to time, and we're always happy to pass those savings on to our customers. The products we'll be talking about today cover a wide range of uses. Let's take a look.

The Qolsys Hardwire 16-F: This wired to wireless translator for 319.5 MHz panels sets the Gold Standard for these types of devices. With support for up to 16 wired zones, including one 2-wire smoke zone with up to ten (10) smoke detectors, 500 mA of power for devices such as motion detectors, and a 500 mA siren relay compatible with panels on RF PIC Version 11.1.4.G2 or higher. The Qolsys Hardwire 16-F is one of the most versatile expansion modules we've ever seen.

Qolsys IQ Carbon: The Qolsys IQ Carbon transmits at 319.5 MHz and is compatible with the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 and Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus as well as older Interlogix/GE Simon panels. The Qolsys IQ Panel 2 and IQ Panel 2 Plus come in several different varieties, so be sure your panel supports 319.5 MHz wireless sensors before purchasing the Qolsys IQ Carbon. These panels customarily come in a box with a gold edge.

The IQ Carbon should be used in homes with a high chance of Carbon Monoxide gas build-up. CO gas is odorless and colorless, and is formed whenever carbon-based fuels are not burned efficiently. Carbon-based fuels include coal, oil, natural gas, and even wood. Homes with gas furnaces, gas appliances, fireplaces or portable gas heaters should definitely have properly placed Carbon Monoxide detectors.

Qolsys IQ Dimmer: The Qolsys IQ Dimmer is a Z-Wave plug-in on/off dim capable lamp module. It supports 120VAC/60 Hz and operates at 908.42 MHz, the Z-Wave frequency used in the United States. It can support the equivalent of 2.5A, 300W incandescent, 65W dimmable CFL/LED. If you plan to use this device for dimming, be sure that the bulb being used also supports light dimming. Although this is a standard Z-Wave device, rather than Z-Wave plus, it might be useful in a location where you need to add a device where you aren't concerned with range, and you know that the device won't need to act as a repeater. Although this device WILL repeat Z-Wave signals, it will do us using standard Z-Wave limitations.

Qolsys IQ Siren: The Qolsys IQ Siren uses standard Z-Wave technology, allowing a user to easily add a remote siren that produces up to 105dB siren sounds. This device plugs into any standard outlet. It is then paired with the alarm panel. On Qolsys panels, that's all you have to do. Once the siren is paired as a Z-Wave device, it will automatically follow the alarm sounds from the panel by default. The IQ Siren can also be used on other Z-Wave compatible panels, but may require additional programming in order to sound upon alarms on those panels.

Qolsys Image Sensor: The image sensor is a motion sensor with a still camera built-in. This affordable device just got even more affordable! For situations where you want to be able to see what's going on, but you don't want to add a full video system, the Qolsys Image Sensor is perfect. In conjunction with Alarm.com and the right monitoring plan, you can use the Image Sensor to peek-in and see what's going on at your home or business. You can set it up so that you receive an image capture upon the panel being disarmed, or when motion is detected in an area after a long period of inactivity. It's great for making sure the kids got home from school safely, or just to check in on your dog or cat who may be home alone.

Resideo's Pro Series Products, including the PROA7PLUS with Amazon Alexa built in, the PROWIFIZW, PROLTE-A, PROLTE-V and all of its other peripherals have won CEPro's BEST Award for Best Integrated Security System/Module/Device/Surveillance Cameras system. This is a big win for Resideo.

Each year, CEPro Magazine announces the winners of their BEST Awards at the CEDIA Expo. CEDIA is the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association. It represents professionals in the home automation/smart technology industry. This is the biggest trade show geared specifically toward smart home and automation integrators.

The CEDIA Expo, owned and operated by EmeraldX, LLC. was held in Indianapolis this year beginning on September 1. The 2021 show returned to an in-person format after the 2020 show was canceled due to concerns about COVID-19. Exhibitors and attendees alike were happy to meet in person once again.

The Integrated Security System/Module/Device/Surveillance Cameras award is given in the Control and Automation Category. Some other awards in this segment were for Lighting, Lighting Controls & Accessories, which was won by the Alisse Wall Control which is offered by Lutron Electronics, Motorized Shade Controls & Accessories, which was awarded to Somfy Systems for their PoE Touch Panel Room Controller. There were a number of other categories and winners.

Resideo's Honeywell Home Pro Series Products offer a comprehensive platform to support existing legacy RF sensors using the PROTAKEOVER module (available separately or in one of our kits). With the PROTAKEOVER, a customer can replace an older alarm system that used older wireless technology without having to also replace every single sensor.

This saves both time and money, allowing the customer to concentrate on adding more automation devices, or new sensors in areas that weren't protected before. For example, by not having to replace all of the existing burglary sensors, a homeowner may be able to add smoke detectors or other life safety sensors that are tied to the alarm system where they didn't have this type of protection on the older system. The PROTAKEOVER can support wireless devices from the Honeywell or 2GIG 345 MHz lineup (one or the other, but not both), sensors from the Qolsys or Interlogix/GE 319.5 MHz lineup, and 433 MHz Bosch, or 433 MHz DSC sensors.

The PROA7PLUS comes with the PROWIFIZW already installed. This module adds support for WIFI (802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz only) as well as Z-Wave (908 MHz North American frequency). One of the big differences between the PROA7PLUS and the PROA7 is that the PROA7 does not have a WIFI module installed from the factory. Support for WIFI can be added using the PROWIFIZW, or if Z-Wave is not going to be used, then the PROWIFI can be installed. This modular design means that you will only pay for what you intend to use.

The modular design also means that if a component should fail, only the component needs to be replaced, rather than the entire panel. In the future, when technology changes and either WIFI or cellular technology requires an update, only the modules will have to be replaced in order to keep the panel current. If you've ever had to replace a panel with numerous security sensors, or Z-Wave automation devices, you'll know that this alone makes the Pro Series panels worth considering.

With built-in Amazon Alexa for both the PROA7PLUS panel itself, and the PROWLTOUCH Pro Wireless Touchscreen Keypad you can control the system as well as automation devices using just your voice and the Total Connect 2.0 Skill for Alexa. Some of the Alexa features supported are flash briefings, weather, time, add to calendar, create shopping lists, answer general questions, and more. Some features that are not supported are the ability to read books aloud (Audible) and the ability to place calls or Drop-in to another Alexa device.

Tell us what you think of the Resideo and Honeywell Home Pro Series Panels. Do you think these new panels are worthy of accolades? Have you had an experience with one of these systems that you'd like to tell us about? Leave a comment below, we'd love to hear what you think.

We're back again with four (4) more videos. We rejoin Jorge and Michael with videos on the 2GIG Edge and the Honeywell Home PROA7PLUS. Michael discussed the PROA7PLUS support for 5800 series sensors. Jorge provides several tutorials on the 2GIG Edge. Enjoy these videos from Alarm Grid.

Honeywell Home PROA7PLUS: Compatible with Honeywell 5800 Series Sensors

In this video, Michael from Alarm Grid discusses the Honeywell Home PROA7PLUS' support for Honeywell's legacy 5800 Series Wireless Lineup. In order for the panel to support these sensors, a Honeywell Home PROTAKEOVER module must be installed. This module allows the panel to support one (1) of five (5) legacy RF frequencies. Only one (1) PROTAKEOVER is supported per panel.

2GIG Edge: Compatibility With 2GIG Sensors

In this video, Jorge discusses the ability of the 2GIG Edge to support both encrypted and unencrypted 2GIG Sensors. It may seem as though it should go without saying that a 2GIG panel supports 2GIG Sensors, but with newer panels supporting encrypted sensors, and new sensor lineups, it's good to be 100% sure before making a purchase, particularly if you have existing 2GIG sensors installed. The 2GIG Edge supports all of the 2GIG sensors.

2GIG Edge: Z Wave Support

Jorge is back again to talk about how the 2GIG Edge supports Z-Wave devices. This panel has the most advanced version of Z-Wave currently available with the 700-Series Z-Wave Plus V2 chip onboard. When used with a commensurate 700-Series Z-Wave device, all of the great new features that are included in this latest version. Some of these features include S2 encryption for all Z-Wave Plus V2 certified devices as well as SmartStart and 128-bit AES encryption. You can see a comparison between all three Z-Wave versions here.

2GIG Edge: Default Master Code

Jorge really knows his stuff when it comes to the 2GIG Edge! Here he is talking about the default Master Code on the 2GIG Edge (1111) as well as information on how to change the Master Code and also what the default Installer Code is (1561). If you happen to be moving and leaving behind an alarm system, please check out this post that discusses proper etiquette when leaving behind an alarm system for a new home or business owner.

That's the recap, we hope these videos will help you with your alarm system. We look forward to feedback, if you have comments or suggestions drop us a comment in the space below. We're here Monday - Friday from 9 am - 8 pm Eastern. You can reach us via email at support@alarmgrid.com

Alarm.com announces new features and device support each week in its Release Notes. Today's post will discuss what we feel are the best of those features for the week of August 2, 2021 with a bit of detail about each one. These are the new features as well as improvements posted this week.

Smart Water Valve+Meter

With a new Usage Graph, customers who use the Smart Water Valve+Meter in conjunction with Alarm.com can track their water usage and see trends in their water consumption. Users on the iOS platform will have access to an interactive water usage bar graph and will have 12 months of usage data that they can review. This will show any water leak reports, and on which days they occurred. The Android version of the app is more limited. Users can view up to 30 days worth of past water consumption. Alarm.com app version 4.20 is required for Android and app version 4.19.4 is required for iOS. These firmware updates should be available soon. From the app Home Screen, click on the Water Card to access usage information.

Below is an example of what the Water Card shows on the Customer Alarm.com App as of the current version:

New Z-Wave Lock Support

Support for Baldwin Model 8252 and 8285 Z-Wave locks has been confirmed by Alarm.com. We will be adding them to our site soon. Baldwin locks are manufactured by Kwikset, and Kwikset locks are known for being easily joined to a Z-Wave controller, and operating without a lot of fuss. These locks will support up to 30 door lock users each. Z-Wave door locks add great convenience when used with Alarm.com and the security panel. Doors can be locked and unlocked remotely, and locks can be used with scenes to automate locking and unlocking automatically based on a schedule, or on other security system events. For example, you can set the doors to automatically lock at a certain time each day. In the event of a fire alarm, doors could be unlocked automatically to allow firefighters to enter, etc.

New Z-Wave Switch Support

Support for the Schneider Electric Z-Wave On/Off Switch (SQ14102WHZ) has been announced. This is an in-wall switch with the latest Z-Wave plus technology, including S2 Security, and support for SmartStart. Schneider is an established electrical supply manufacturer trusted by builders and is commonly used in new construction. If you're building a home, consider putting in Z-Wave compatible smart switches from the start!

Updated SVR and Onboard 24/7 Timelines

Alarm.com has added events to the SVR Timeline and the Onboard 24/7 Timeline. These added events include Door Accessed and Failed Access events as well as Smarter Business Temperature Monitoring and Business Activity Analytics events. These added events are meant to keep customers better informed of their system usage, as well as their energy usage, and security related events in general. From the Customer Website go to Video > SVR Timeline or Customer Website to Video > Onboard 24/7 Timeline.

ADC-VDB770 Doorbell Camera Update

An option for High Dynamic Range (HDR) has been added on the Partner Portal Camera Information page pertaining to the ADC-VDB770. There is now a checkbox to enable or disable HDR on a customer's doorbell. In addition, this feature will now be disabled by default for new ADC-VDB770 installations. This feature can only be enabled or disabled by the alarm dealer, this option is not accessible through the end-user webpage or app.

Camera Selector Update

Video subscribers are now able to choose individual cameras or camera groups that they want to view. This is done from the Customer Website in the Live Video and SVR Timeline pages. This will allow customers as well as installers to more easily add or modify camera groups, improving video device management.

Those are the updates for this week. What do you think? Drop a comment below and let us know. It's nice to see that Alarm.com continues to find innovative ways in which they can make their users lives a little bit easier. Have an interesting idea for a post? Let us know what security industry topics you'd like to see us cover and we'll do our best to accommodate your requests.

The Z-Wave Alliance was created in 2005. Put together by a group of home automation product manufacturers, the alliance sought to standardize technology and manufacturing practices to create competitive products but with a certain amount of uniformity. Separate, but relatively equal.

Think of it like a Big Mac. If you buy a Big Mac at a McDonald's Restaurant in Montana, and I buy a Big Mac at a McDonald's Restaurant in Kentucky they will basically be the same. Reliably the same. The people who made my Big Mac and those that made your Big Mac have probably never met, the money paid for these sandwiches went to different places, the price paid may differ, but because a Big Mac follows a standard assembly and preparation if I pull up to a McDonald's anywhere in the USA I can reliably expect that when I order a Big Mac I know what I'm going to get.

In May 2005 Z-Wave (300-Series) was released and soon became widespread. In March, 2013 Z-Wave Plus (500-Series) was introduced, offering better range between hops, better power management, which translates to longer battery life, and more memory which translates into more features like the ability to add S2 128-bit encryption. In April, 2019 the Z-Wave Alliance began promoting enhanced certification for Z-Wave Plus V2, with the 700-Series Chipset. They continue to improve upon the original standard, so Z-Wave Plus V2 will offer even more of the things that made Z-Wave Plus popular. Greater wireless range, longer battery life, and where Z-Wave Plus supported S2 security 128-bit encryption, Z-Wave Plus V2 mandates it. And every time there is an advance in the technology, equipment with the new version is backward compatible with equipment on the older version, albeit with the older versions feature limitations.

Check out the chart below for a comparison between the three (3) current iterations of Z-Wave Technology. Z-Wave Long Range is on the horizon, but I chose to leave it out of this comparison chart. We'll have more information about the newest Z-Wave offering at a later time:

Z-Wave Technology Comparison

I know that Z-Wave is a really cool, easy, and inexpensive way to automate things in a home or business, but I didn't get a sense of just how impressive it is until I was putting together this chart. It's really very cool! There were a few features mentioned in the chart that I wasn't particularly familiar with, so I'm going to define those a little further below:

FLiRS (Beaming wake-up) - This feature has to do with Z-Wave devices that use battery power only, like all door locks, and some thermostats. FLiRS stands for Frequently Listening Receiver Slave (Not Forward Looking Infra-Red, like I thought). Basically, a battery powered Z-Wave device alternates between sleep mode and partially-awake mode. When it is partially-awake it is listening for a beam signal. If a Z-Wave controller (or another Z-Wave device, if the signal has to hop) has network traffic for the battery-powered device, it sends a beam. When the device partially wakes and hears the beam, it wakes immediately and communicates with the device that sent it. If the device partially wakes up and there's no beam signal, then it goes fully back to sleep. This can happen from once per second, to four (4) times per second, depending on how the device was manufactured. If not for FLiRS, Z-Wave door locks would probably not exist due to issues with battery life.

Explorer Frames - Explorer frames have to do with the way information is routed. When a new Z-Wave Plus device is being included to the network, it sends out a whole bunch of explorer frames. When an existing device sees an explorer frame, it resends it with its own Node ID added to the original information. At some point, some of these explorer frames reach the Z-Wave controller. When the controller receives them, it can see exactly which nodes on the network the explorer frames touched. This information is then used to route future traffic for the new device. As network devices are used, this routing information will likely change, but this is a basic explanation of what Explorer Frames do.

Network Wide Inclusion - Network Wide Inclusion (NWI) allows a device to be added to the network even if it's not within range of the Z-Wave controller itself. It makes use of Explorer Frames to do this. Before NWI and Explorer Frames, you often had to include a new device right next to the controller, then carry it to the location where you actually wanted it to be installed, and then cross your fingers and hope that it would work. If it didn't then you likely added another Z-Wave device somewhere between it and the Controller. With NWI, if your network is robust enough, you should not have to do that. It's always a good idea when laying out your network to start with devices closest to the controller, add those to the network, and then work your way out from there. As you can see from the chart above, NWI and Explorer Frames were added in Z-Wave Plus with the 500 Chipset, so any original Z-Wave devices won't support this type of inclusion.

What do you think of the evolution of Z-Wave? Are you ready to buy some devices and start automating? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We look forward to discussing this and any other security and automation topics you might like to add. Is there something you'd like to see us cover in our blog? If so, let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to bring you the information you're looking for.

Qolsys released the Qolsys IQ WIFI last week. The IQ WIFI supports dual-band (2.4GHZ and 5GHz) WIFI and can be used as a stand-alone router. It can also be installed in parallel with an existing network. This provides a separate secure WIFI connection for security devices such as cameras.

WIFI is about as common these days as home phones with a traditional copper line (POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service) were from the 1960's through the early 2000's. However, the adoption of WIFI networking has seen some challenges that were not really an issue when using POTS. Namely, the end-user installation and configuration aspect of WIFI networks, as well as issues with getting, and then staying, connected to them. The security industry has embraced WIFI in a big way in recent years, therefore security system users have felt the pain created by these challenges.

For this reason, Qolsys has introduced the Qolsys IQ WIFI. The IQ WIFI is a mesh-capable controller and agent system. Up to eight (8) devices can be supported per network. One IQ WIFI will connect to the modem, router, or switch via a wired ethernet cable. This IQ WIFI will become the controller for the mesh network. Then, up to seven (7) additional IQ WIFI units acting as Agents can be added for a total of eight (8) devices. This allows a user to blanket virtually every nook and cranny of the home or business with a safe and easily configured WIFI connection. If you have a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 or IQ Panel 2 Plus with firmware version 2.6.0 or later, the network can be configured right from the panel's touchscreen. The range between IQ WIFIs is approximately 130 ft. (39.62 m) with a coverage area of approximately 1,500 square feet (139 square meters). Wireless IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz and IEEE 802.11 a/n/ac 5GHz frequencies are supported.

The Qolsys IQ WIFI can be used as a stand-alone router. Each one contains a WAN port, a LAN port, and a barrel connector for power. Each one also has a WPS button. If your ISP provides you with a combination Modem/Router device, connect the WAN port of the IQ WIFI to one of the available ethernet ports on the Modem/Router. From there you can use the IQ WIFI as a wired or WIFI router. For wired devices, connect directly to the LAN port on the IQ WIFI. If you have more than one wired device to connect, connect a multi-port switch to the IQ WIFI LAN port, and then connect your other wired ethernet devices to the switch. As an alternative, connect the WAN port on the IQ WIFI to an existing router or switch, and then using this device as the Controller, build a parallel WIFI mesh network(s) out from there.

Up to seven (7) additional IQ WIFI devices can be added as Agents to create a mesh network that is as strong as you need it to be. This allows you to run a separate WIFI network inside your home or business that is virtually invisible to anyone attempting to hack in from the outside. Another attractive feature of this type of configuration is the ease of replacing the Internet facing hardware. Any time you need to swap out the main modem or router, all you do is swap out the existing hardware, then connect the Qolsys IQ WIFI acting as the Controller to the new piece of equipment. All of the WIFI devices that have been configured to connect through the IQ WIFI will keep their current configuration. There is no need to go around to each WIFI device and enter new credentials. This is particularly welcome when you have WIFI equipment, such as fixed-mount cameras, that may be installed in multiple and difficult to reach locations.

In many cases, security devices can only use the 2.4GHz WIFI band. When the SSID for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz are the same, this can cause issues for those devices that don't support both frequencies. We've seen this in many instances with the Honeywell Lyric. By allowing the user to separate the two bands, achieved by changing the SSID on one or both of them, you can make sure that any device that needs to use only one band or the other can find and then remain connected to the proper WIFI network. It may seem counter-intuitive to think that a Qolsys product could help to stabilize the WIFI connection for a Resideo or Honeywell alarm system, but it is absolutely possible.

When Qolsys first talked about this device, they called it the Qolsys IQ Router. Since then, they have updated the name to Qolsys IQ WIFI and they plan to release a separate device called the Qolsys IQ Router2, or possibly the IQ WIFI6 later in the year. This will be a more robust device supporting both WIFI and potentially another technology such as Z-Wave, Zigbee, or maybe even PowerG. We look forward to hearing about many more new products to come! What do you think of the Qolsys IQ WIFI? Leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you.