I originally had a GC2 panel installed by Vivint in 2012. In 2018 I got a takeover kit and switched to another Alarm.com provider. At this time it had an AT&T 3g modem. I never had any connection problems with it. None. Never.
Then on June 16 we had a power outage that lasted a couple of hours. The backup battery never fully drained but when the power was restored, after about an hour, the panel warned that the radio could not connect.
The consistent symptom is that when the panel boots and I go into the radio status menu, I can watch the radio power go from off to on, and then after a few seconds, the IMEI and Subscriber ID both appear, and it immediately says “registration denied.” Connection status “Idle.” Signal strength is typically around 13/31 to 18/31.
I went several rounds with the security provider support. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve power cycled, etc. They suggested I needed an LTE modem so I bought a new AT&T LTE module and installed it, but it didn’t make a difference. Then they suggested that maybe the power outage damaged the panel so I bought a brand new GC2e panel.
I installed the new LTE modem in the new GC2e panel and upon first boot it connected instantly and even (magically) restored my settings and sensors from the previous GC2 panel within moments. A very pleasant surprise! I thought I was done, but an hour later, I got the connection failure error again. Now the new GC2e panel is doing exactly what the GC2 panel was doing–registration denied.
I’ve tried factory resetting (both panels), numerous power cycles, moving the panels to different areas of the house, nothing changes. Yes I have confirmed that the LTE radio antennae are connected and routed properly. Yes I’ve tried removing and reinstalling the cell module (powered off of course).
After the security provider told me there was nothing else they could do, I thought maybe a change of scenery would help. So I canceled that account, opened a new one here, and started the setup process. But guess what? Same thing. Even after factory resetting the panel and waiting at least 30 minutes, within seconds of boot, the radio immediately jumps to registration denied. I can’t login to Alarm.com because it says it hasn’t received a signal from the panel yet.
I feel like I’ve ruled out any hardware problems on my end. New modem, new panel, I even used the new DC power supply and fresh, new power wires instead of the wires in the wall. Signal strength of 13-18/31 isn’t perfect but I would think it should be sufficient. My cell phone is on AT&T and it has no problems maintaining an LTE connection. Besides, why would it suddenly refuse to connect via AT&T after 10 years of no problems?
Another thing that I found strange is that the panel reports the same “Subscriber ID” number, even after factory reset, and even after switching to Surety. I haven’t been able to confirm what this number represents but I had been assuming it is tied to the Alarm.com account somehow and is fetched from the upstream connection.
Before I canceled my account with the previous security provider, I thought that the two panels displaying the same Subscriber ID (even after a factory reset) meant that the panel was establishing a connection, attempting to provision, and being denied by the network for some reason, but that part of the response received by the panel included the customer account number associated with the IMEI (Subscriber ID). So I expected that after switching to Surety, I would get a different Subscriber ID. Yet even after switching, that number is the same as before. That makes me think that either I’m wrong about what the Subscriber ID is, or something is very wrong on the upstream side.
I’m beyond frustrated at this point. One of the main reasons I switched to Surety was this active support culture. I’m hoping you can work some magic and help me get this thing functioning properly.