I have had my GC3 working just fine for a couple years.
About a month ago, I started getting some alerts on the panel like the following.
Cellphone communication failure
Broadband communication failure
I am able to arm/disarm from the panel and see sensor status. I am also able to see the sensor status on my phone, but I am not able to arm/disarm from my Alarm.com phone app.
I have run a “Network Test”, and it seems to complete successfully indicating a good connection to LAN, Internet, and Backend.
When I run a “Radio Status”, it says “cell radio module status not detected”.
I then removed the radio module, reinserted it, hoping either that or a system reboot would solve the problem. Nothing has changed.
I just went through the same thing. Same errors as you. Turned out that cell sled had failed. Had to replace. Also, the Verizon 3G sled was going to become non-supportive anyway. Replaced with the newer Verizon LTE (which also required a new attic antenna if needed) sled and all worked as it used to. Also received a stronger signal than I originally did.
There are two different issues here, Cellphone communication failure and Broadband communication failure. Both indicate that the panel cannot communicate with either the internet, cellular or both.
Currently, your panel is not communicating via cellular and pings to your system have failed.
I then removed the radio module, reinserted it, hoping either that or a system reboot would solve the problem. Nothing has changed.
When doing this, you’ll want to ensure that the panel is completely powered down (transformer and battery) before removing the cell sled.
To troubleshoot, power down the system completely transformer first, then internal battery. Once fully powered down, remove the cellular sled from the tray and wait about two full minutes before inserting the module. Make sure it slides in all the way and you hear a slight “click” to know its seated correctly. Then power the panel back up battery first then transformer. Wait about five minutes and run a cell test. Any change?
If that does not work, should I assume the cell module (aka sled) needs replaced (as David experienced)?
It’s pretty likely, yes. Note that you would need to switch to a 4G LTE module (3G CDMA and HSPA modules can no longer be activated) and that would require a firmware update. You can update the firmware via USB stick and the files found here. You would need 3.1.3 or later to use the new LTE Cat1 modules.
3.2 and 3.2.1 have a known issue that can happen with motion detector zones where they will no longer follow entry delay, meaning if you trigger entry delay with a door sensor then walk in front of a motion detector on your way to disarm the alarm, it will cause an alarm. I would avoid 3.2/3.2.1 until this is resolved by 2GIG.
I repeated the steps that you outlined and the cell module is still not recognized. Can you send me a link to the replacement that I need?
A little off topic, is there a way to backup my settings before doing the firmware update? I would really hate to have to reconnect all my sensors again should the update go bad.
A little off topic, is there a way to backup my settings before doing the firmware update? I would really hate to have to reconnect all my sensors again should the update go bad.
Your panel settings can only be backed up while your panel is communicating, but an existing automatic backup is available. If needed you would want to request the backup/restore along with the module swap to the new IMEI number.
Generally speaking though, upgrading firmware won’t cause issues like loss of settings. It is usually when doing something unsupported like trying to revert to older firmware that problems arise.
You can update the firmware via USB stick and the files found here. You would need 3.1.3 or later to use the new LTE Cat1 modules.
Thanks for the link to the firmware, but where are the step-by-step instructions for updating the firmware? The link just contains a file that I can download with extension “.2gig”.
EDIT: I followed the instructions provided at the following URL to do the update, which has seemed to work successfully. Might be nice to post instructions like this on your firmware update thread.
Download the firmware update file. (To download the firmware, right-click on the file name, and select ‘Save As’ and save it to an empty USB thumb drive, leaving the file name unchanged.)
2.Save the firmware file to the root directory of a USB flash drive. Note: The USB flash drive must have only one partition.
Plug the USB flash drive into the USB port on the top of the GC3 panel.
You will see a notice that there is a new firmware to install. Select Update
Enter the Installer code or Master code.
The GC3 will install the update and restart
what do I need to do to swap in the new cell sled?
To swap the cell sled, power down the panel completely, transformer first, then internal battery. Open the side door on the panel and pull out the old sled. Insert the new sled all the way. Re-attached the door and power up the panel battery first, then transformer.
Once you are ready to have the IMEI number swapped on your Alarm.com account, submit your request to our team via secure message or email. Be sure to include the IMEI number of the new cell sled as well.
Thanks. That all seemed to work. I have my firmware updated and the new cell sled installed.
Before submitting the IMEI number, can I somehow validate that the panel is able to recognize the new cell sled?
Right now when I run a “Radio Status”, it says “cell radio module status not detected”. But maybe it will continue to say that until I submit the IMEI number to you.
As long as the sled is installed and the firmware is up to date it should work. You can confirm the firmware version by navigating to System Info and Usage -> System Info from the panel’s home screen.
Running radio status when the module is not linked to the ADC account can show “not detected.” As long as the firmware is updated to be compatible with the new module you should be good to go.