Are Honeywell's Wireless Sensors Encrypted?

Only a limited number of Honeywell wireless sensors are encrypted. All of Honeywell's SiX Series sensors use 128-bit AES encryption as a way of staying protected. None of Honeywell's other wireless sensors are encrypted. This includes all of the sensors in Honeywell's 5800 Series.

Honeywell SiX Series sensors are some of the most secure wireless devices on the market today. Unlike most other wireless sensors, which communicate using simple RF signals, SiX series sensors connect to a security system using the multi-channel 2.4GHz frequency, similar to a WIFI signal. They use bi-directional communication which incorporates 128-bit AES encryption. Lyric panels and their paired SiX Series wireless devices are in near constant 2-way communication with one another. The transmitters are updating the panel on their battery levels, and signal strength in addition to their fault/alarm status. The panel is sharing its armed status, alarm status, and whether or not a walk test is in progress. For SiXSMOKES, when one-go-all-go is enabled,if a single smoke detector signals an alarm to the Lyric panel, the panel then lets all other smokes know a fire alarm is in progress so that they can all sound. In addition to being extremely secure, SiX Series sensors are designed to function at an incredible range of up to 300 feet away from the system.

No other Honeywell wireless sensors, with the exception of the 5800 Series key fobs, use methods of encryption. This includes Honeywell's most popular lineup of wireless security sensors, the 5800 Series. These wireless devices communicate with a system at a frequency of 345MHz. This unique frequency helps prevent the signal of 5800 Series devices from being interfered with and also from causing interference to other devices. While they do not offer any sort of encryption, most alarm panels do include a feature called RF jam detection. RF jam detection can be used to detect malicious attempts by others to prevent the RF signal of a 5800 Series device from reaching the panel. Most 5800 Series sensors will function at a range of about 200 feet from the security panel. However, this range varies between different types of devices.