Why Won't My Legacy IPCAM Work With Total Connect 2.0?

It is likely that your legacy IPCAM won't work with Total Connect 2.0 because it wasn't able to receive a critical update. It is impossible to apply the update if the camera did not receive the initial update pushed down by Resideo. Cameras that did not receive this update are obsolete.

A few years ago, back in 2016, Resideo (which was then known as Honeywell) updated their Total Connect 2.0 platform to run on HTML5. Before this update, the platform ran on Flash/Quicktime. However, the existing legacy TC2 Cameras did not work with the updated HTML5 platform. To address this issue, Resideo pushed down a one-time over-the-air (OTA) update to all legacy cameras to make them compatible with the updated platform. Any legacy IP camera that was online and connected with TC2 at the time of this event received the update and can continue to be used with the service. These updated legacy cameras will also work continue to work if you deactivate them and then reactivate them with a new account.

Unfortunately, any existing legacy IP camera that was not powered up and online to receive this one-time update will no longer work. There are many reasons why a legacy IP camera may not have been online at the time of the OTA update. It may have been in storage, powered down, or maybe the internet was down when the update was pushed. The point is, without the update, the camera is no longer useful for remote viewing. And there is no way to make the camera usable with Total Connect 2.0 after the fact. Resideo can no longer apply updates to these cameras. This affects any IPCAM-PT, IPCAM-PT2, IPCAM-WI, IPCAM-WI2, IPCAM-WL, and IPCAM-WO. Any of these legacy cameras that weren't updated are no longer usable. As a reference, Resideo pushed down this critical firmware update to their legacy IP cameras in March of 2016.

Honeywell standard definition legacy IP cameras that were manufactured in 2016 or later were actually produced with the correct firmware already installed. These cameras should definitely work with Total Connect 2.0. You can determine when a camera was manufactured by the serial number. The first four (4) digits of the serial number represent the Year and Month of manufacture. So an IPCAM-WL with a serial number that begins 1601 was manufactured in January of 2016. This camera should definitely still work with Total Connect 2.0. Any camera with a serial number beginning with 15 or any number lower than 15, will require that the firmware was pushed from AlarmNet successfully in the early weeks of 2016. Otherwise, these cameras will no longer work with Total Connect 2.0.

For that reason, you must be very careful if you decide to purchase a legacy Total Connect 2.0 IP Camera. Although these camera models are no longer being manufactured, many people still sell used models. You must make sure that the camera either received the critical update from Resideo in 2016, or was manufactured in 2016 or later. If you aren't sure, then do not purchase the camera. Many people may try to push these useless cameras on unsuspecting buyers. Do not fall victim to this trap. If you want to be completely sure that your camera will work with Total Connect 2.0, your best option is to buy one of the newer HD Total Connect 2.0 IP Cameras. These include the Honeywell IPCAM-WIC1, the Honeywell IPCAM-WIC2, and the Honeywell IPCAM-WOC2.

NOTE: We have since learned that this issue also affects the Honeywell ACU Analog Converter Unit. Any Honeywell ACU manufactured after the day when Resideo pushed the critical firmware update has the appropriate firmware version of 1.0.09R02 which will work on the HTML5 TC2 platform. Likewise, any ACU device that was powered up and online with TC2 when Resideo pushed the update was also made compatible with the HTML5 platform. However, any ACU device that was manufactured before the update push and was not online and connected with TC2 at the time did not receive the necessary update and will not work with TC2. Please keep this in mind if you are considering using a Honeywell ACU device to add an analog security camera to TC2. The ACU Date Code is determined in the same way as a camera. The first four (4) digits constitute the Year and Month of manufacture, respectively.