How Do I Add a DSC Impassa to My Local WIFI?

You cannot add a DSC Impassa to your local WIFI. There is not a compatible WIFI module for this panel. This makes it impossible to add the DSC Impassa System to a WIFI network. But this is not a major concern, as cellular monitoring service can be used instead of a WIFI connection.

An alarm system needs a compatible WIFI card to connect to a WIFI network. But there is no such WIFI card for an Impassa System. For that reason, the DSC Impassa cannot connect with a WIFI network. But if a WIFI card were to ever be made for the system, then it could access WIFI.

However, a user should not be concerned about the lack of WIFI connectivity for the Impassa. The system has the ability to use a cellular connection instead. Cellular communication is very reliable, and its speeds are right on par with WIFI connectivity. Unlike WIFI, cellular service is almost never down, and it is not affected by typical power outages. A cellular connection is also nearly impossible for others to tamper with, making it very secure. Most security experts view cellular communication as the optimal communication path for alarm systems.

There are a few things a DSC Impassa System will need before it can access cellular service. The system will need to have a cellular communicator installed, and the Impassa must be running firmware version 1.3 or higher* to support the communicator. The only LTE cellular communicator for the Impassa on the Alarm Grid website is the DSC TL8055LTVZ, which is discontinued. The user will also need an alarm monitoring plan that includes cellular service. For Alarm Grid, these are the Gold and Platinum level plans. Please check out our monitoring page for more info about our plans. You may also want to review this FAQ, which covers the communicator installation process.

With a cellular communicator installed, the Impassa System can connect with Alarm.com. This is an interactive service platform that a user can access to control their system. Alarm.com provides support for arming and disarming, checking the status of sensors, operating Z-Wave home automation devices and more. And by using the Alarm.com Mobile App, a user can perform these actions from nearly anywhere with their Android or iOS device.

However, most DSC Impassa users find that it's ultimately best to just upgrade their entire system and say goodbye to the DSC Impassa once and for all. The 433 MHz Qosys IQ Panel 2 Plus and the Honeywell PROA7PLUS with PROTAKEOVER Module are the two (2) most logical replacements. This is because they both support the same 433 MHz wireless sensors that you would use with a DSC Impassa. One thing to keep in mind if you do decide to upgrade to one of these systems is that the Qolsys IQ panel 2 Plus uses the same Alarm.com Interactive Platform as the DSC Impassa, while the PROA7PLUS uses a completely different interactive platform in Total Connect 2.0. You can see a complete comparison between the IQ Panel 2 Plus and the PROA7PLUS in this FAQ.

*NOTE: DSC Impassa panels prior to revision 1.3 can not be updated in the field. These panels will need to be replaced with a compatible version in order to support cellular communication and Alarm.com service.