2GIG Edge: Z Wave Support

Hi, DIYers, Jorge here from Alarm Grid. Today I'm going to be going over whether or not the 2GIG EDGE is going to support Z-Wave devices. So today, we have our 2GIG EDGE security system right here. And to simply answer the question, yes, the 2GIG EDGE does have Z-Wave built in. Now, for those of you who are wondering what Z-Wave is, this is a frequency that you can use on home automated devices, such as your lights, your locks, your thermostats. You have plugin modules. You have switches. You have blind controls. You have Z-Wave water valves. There's garage door openers. So there's a bunch of Z-Wave home automation that you can get that you can possibly integrate into your 2GIG EDGE security system. Now, the thing with Z-Wave is that there's actually-- with technology evolving, at first there was Z-Wave. Then there was a Z-Wave chipset 500. And now this 2GIG EDGE security system actually comes with a 700 series Z-Wave chipset built into it. Basically, what the new Z-Wave series of devices, what they're supposed to bring into the market, are going to basically be longer battery life. So the devices are supposed to not drain the battery power from, let's say, door locks if they're not in use. So it's supposed to extend the battery life of the Z-Wave devices up to about 10 years. That's what it's estimated. They've also estimated longer range. So the range is going to increase to about-- I think they said 250% more than what it was before. Typically, Z-Wave devices have a 25 to 75 foot range back to the main hub or from another Z-Wave repeater. And with the Z-Wave 700 series, which is what this system has built in, it is actually supposed to be estimated for devices to work at 250 feet away. And that includes hops as well. So if you have Z-Wave devices all the way on the other side of the house, and let's say it's 500 feet, if you put another Z-Wave device that can repeat that, because, remember, Z-Wave works as a mesh network. It hops from one device to another. I think the max is like four to five hops. But yeah, if you have one 500 feet away, you can hop to one Z-Wave device and then back to the panel. The other cool thing about the Z-Wave that's built into the 2GIG EDGE is because the 700 series Z-Wave devices, those are pretty new to the market, there really aren't much available, you're going to hopefully start seeing more and more become available as devices start getting certified. There are certain certifications that they need to go through in order to be qualified as Z-waves 700 series. But the good thing about the 2GIG EDGE is that it works. It's backwards compatible. So not only will it work with the 700 series, it will work with a 500 series. And if you have normal Z-Wave, it will also work with those as well. However, if you're trying to take advantage of the features of the newer Z-Wave technology that's coming out, it's recommended to try to get everything on the newest Z-Wave platform or chipset, because what happens is when you start mixing and matching, sometimes things get a little confused, or sometimes the signal coming from a 700 series going to a normal Z-Wave then gets unencrypted back to the panel. So it's just lower security, lower encryption when you start mixing and matching Z-Wave devices with one another. But the 2GIG EDGE system here, I just want to quickly show you guys. This is the main screen. It shows the arms say arm away, Smart Home. So if you guys have Z-Wave devices in your house, either the normal Z-Wave 500 or 700, you add them, include them into your system. You can actually control them from the system. If you hit Smart Home, you can control lights. Here, I have a dimmer on mine. If you have a normal on or off one, you can control that. You have locks. I don't have any on this right now. But if you had door locks, like your front door, your back door, side doors or anything, thermostats. You have garage door controllers. For those of you who have multiple garages or just one, you can control all the doors from this panel, and then just cameras and stuff. But I just wanted to show you guys what the Z-Wave control would look like from the panel. If you guys have the alarm system monitored, and you guys have the alarm.com application with your service, then you guys should be able to see your Z-Wave devices on the alarm.com application or the alarm.com website, depending on what platform you're using to access it. But basically you also want to make sure your company enables that as well. Alarm.com, they-- sometimes you have to have certain features enabled by your alarm company. If you guys want to find out about our alarm.com plans, just feel free to send us a quick email or give us a call. But pretty much, yeah, the system works on Z-Wave, normal Z-Wave 500 and 700 series. You can control the Z-Wave from the panel or from the alarm.com application if you guys are monitored and have that service. And if you guys have any questions whatsoever regarding Z-Wave devices, getting the alarm system set up, please don't be afraid to give us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. If you found the video helpful, make sure you hit like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon, so whenever we upload new content, you guys get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.