Advice choosing a new, wired plus wireless system

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I am looking to install a new, mostly-wired security system at a residence that I will be impossibly far from for months at a time. I will have to call on favors from friends to go up to the property, and so wish to limit the potential for false alarms as much as possible.
The suretyDIY address check reports Full Coverage for Verizon and T-Mobile, and I am only looking at solutions that report over (LTE) cellular. I will have internet, but don’t want to rely on it.

I am considering a basic burglar/fire alarm system that could work all by itself (like my cellular Honeywell system does at home), to which I plan to add suretyDIY’s alarm.com service. If, for any reason, alarm.com doesn’t work out, I’d need to be able to fall back on a basic, conventional cellular radio that works with whatever panel I have.

I will be running wires myself for smokes, motion detectors, etc. I will also need to rely on at least one wireless smoke and one wireless motion detector for a nearby, detached garage that I can’t run underground wires to. I hope to hire an independent installer to come and review my work, and possibly help with any issues getting set up with suretyDIY’s alarm.com service.

I’m not happy about buying cameras that can only work with alarm.com. I’ve worked as a network engineer and run a separate virtual lan at home for my own IP camera installation. I also like being in total control of access to cameras in my house, so I’ll probably do a separate camera installation at this location also. I’m just pushing images to a location in the cloud, so I can easily keep the firewall locked down for this. Also, if I understand correctly, alarm.com video requires an internet connection, so I’m not gaining internet independence with alarm.com video.

Being able to remotely turn the water on/off is something I’d like to be able to do, and that may be an advantage to alarm.com over a conventional cellular radio system. If I was to implement this myself using the internet, I’d probably have to run a server onsite, worry about it restarting correctly after power failures, and open my firewall to incoming connections (which gets complicated and non-trivial to protect).

Remote monitoring of the (preferably huge) backup battery would be very nice.

I have heard that Honeywell can be difficult to deal with if you need something like a firmware update and you are not a dealer. The Interlogix Concord seemed like it might be a straight-forward choice. It seems like some functionality is getting migrated from various panels to the key/touchpads in some configurations? Including alarm.com adds yet another layer to my confusion. A fancy, capacitive touch keypad is certainly nice, but I wouldn’t want to add complexity or dependancies, and expect that I could be quite happy with a basic panel and a simple keypad, if it is all extensible enough.

I am hoping that you can suggest systems that are well-known and well-supported by installers, for which the basic system supports both wired and wireless (non-proprietary) sensors, can function with cellular communication on its own, and which is well-suited to being supported by alarm.com.
Thank you!
Bill

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The suretyDIY address check reports Full Coverage for Verizon and T-Mobile, and I am only looking at solutions that report over (LTE) cellular. I will have internet, but don’t want to rely on it.

Happy to help! First, you’ve probably already hit the nail with the Concord 4 as the best solution considering everything you’ve said. We’ll address most of it individually.

Verizon LTE Cellular Modules are available for the Concord.

I am considering a basic burglar/fire alarm system that could work all by itself (like my cellular Honeywell system does at home), to which I plan to add suretyDIY’s alarm.com service. If, for any reason, alarm.com doesn’t work out, I’d need to be able to fall back on a basic, conventional cellular radio that works with whatever panel I have.

Could you clarify what you mean regarding a basic conventional cellular module?

The Alarm.com cellular module can only be used with Alarm.com service, and any professional alarm system like the Concord will transmit data with the intention of a professional alarm signal receiver handling the call. They are not meant for use without a back-end alarm provider of some sort.

I will be running wires myself for smokes, motion detectors, etc. I will also need to rely on at least one wireless smoke and one wireless motion detector for a nearby, detached garage that I can’t run underground wires to.

The Concord 4 supports both wired and wireless sensors out of the box, with up to 8 wired zones without any expansion module.

For a detached garage, distance will be the key factor, as well as building construction material in the RF path, to determine the viability of wireless sensors. A wireless signal repeater like the RE524X can help in many cases.

Also, if I understand correctly, alarm.com video requires an internet connection, so I’m not gaining internet independence with alarm.com video.

The cameras do not communicate with alarm panels directly, and are just IP cameras directly connecting to Alarm.com servers. It does not impact what your panel uses for communication, but video service is of course optional.

Being able to remotely turn the water on/off is something I’d like to be able to do, and that may be an advantage to alarm.com over a conventional cellular radio system.

Water Management is included with Gold Interactive and would just require a flood sensor and Z-wave water valve (Fortrezz WV-01 or Dynaquip/Water Cop)

Remote monitoring of the (preferably huge) backup battery would be very nice.

Low battery alerts can be set up in Alarm.com for any chosen recipients, but you would not be able to check battery level. A larger capacity 7AH 12VDC battery can be used.

I have heard that Honeywell can be difficult to deal with if you need something like a firmware update and you are not a dealer. The Interlogix Concord seemed like it might be a straight-forward choice.

I would recommend the Concord. Their would not be firmware updates. Most of the features/integration with ADC relies on the Cellular Module itself, and that is the firmware version that is important. It cannot be updated other than replacing the module on any GE Panel, but the latest version would support everything you have mentioned.

It seems like some functionality is getting migrated from various panels to the key/touchpads in some configurations?

Not sure what you mean by this. Could you clarify? Some keypads do have alternate functions, for example there are models which are alphanumeric programming keypads, a model that has a built in wireless receiver for wireless sensors, etc.

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Thank you very much Jason, this is a great help :slight_smile:
My perspective comes from the existing (Honeywell) system we have at home, which has what I think of (perhaps incorrectly) as a basic, conventional cellular radio which communicates with the 24/7 (non-alarm.com) monitoring service that we use here. My understanding (again, perhaps incorrect), is that there is an alarm.com module that contains both cellular and z-wave radios, and you can just wire that module into say, a Concord panel in order to utilize the Concord panel in alarm.com fashion? I’m further guessing that when the alarm.com module communicates via cell to alarm.com servers it may be using a proprietary protocol, and that the alarm.com cellular radio could not be used to communicate with a non-alarm.com monitoring service.
I’m very hopeful that alarm.com is going to be everything I need, but if things don’t work out and I’m faced with going to a monitoring service that does not support alarm.com, then I would like to know that the solution I have chosen only requires swapping in a “conventional” cellular radio in order to switch.

Would alarm.com allow me to go online and close the water valve when I know that guests have departed, and then later open it back up either online or manually, or can it only be closed by a flood sensor getting triggered?

It seems like some functionality is getting migrated from various panels to the key/touchpads in some configurations?
Not sure what you mean by this. Could you clarify? Some keypads do have alternate functions, for example there are models which are alphanumeric programming keypads, a model that has a built in wireless receiver for wireless sensors, etc.

A keypad with built-in wireless receiver is a good example I guess. If I use such a keypad along with a Concord panel that also has a wireless receiver, do I need to disable, or perhaps just ignore, one of the wireless receivers? Does the alarm.com module also have its own wireless receiver? Which keypads do you like for Concord + alarm.com systems? Simple and trouble-free are highly valued by me, and I’d also hope to get something that is easily used by guests, and that is helpful with troubleshooting any problems with the system.

thank you!
Bill

4
My understanding (again, perhaps incorrect), is that there is an alarm.com module that contains both cellular and z-wave radios, and you can just wire that module into say, a Concord panel in order to utilize the Concord panel in alarm.com fashion?

Yes, the Alarm.com communication module contains a Z-wave radio and is wired to the keypad bus of the Concord 4.

I’m further guessing that when the alarm.com module communicates via cell to alarm.com servers it may be using a proprietary protocol, and that the alarm.com cellular radio could not be used to communicate with a non-alarm.com monitoring service. I’m very hopeful that alarm.com is going to be everything I need, but if things don’t work out and I’m faced with going to a monitoring service that does not support alarm.com, then I would like to know that the solution I have chosen only requires swapping in a “conventional” cellular radio in order to switch.

Gotcha, yes the Alarm.com Cellular module could not be used with another service, correct, though there are universal cellular communicators available which connect to the telephone terminals on the alarm panel which can then connect to a different Central Station service. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t mean self-monitoring directly from the module to your phone.

Would alarm.com allow me to go online and close the water valve when I know that guests have departed, and then later open it back up either online or manually, or can it only be closed by a flood sensor getting triggered?

Yep, you would have manual remote control and could create automation rules in water management.

A keypad with built-in wireless receiver is a good example I guess. If I use such a keypad along with a Concord panel that also has a wireless receiver, do I need to disable, or perhaps just ignore, one of the wireless receivers? Does the alarm.com module also have its own wireless receiver?

You would be able to use both the wireless receiver and the main panel receiver I believe, but if you go with with alternative receivers, they would likely be closer to the sensors than the main panel can. Note that keypads with built in receivers are available for the NX panel, but I do not think there is one for Concord 4. You could instead use the Superbus 2000 Rf Receiver.

The Alarm.com module does not act as a receiver for sensors, no.

Which keypads do you like for Concord + alarm.com systems? Simple and trouble-free are highly valued by me, and I’d also hope to get something that is easily used by guests, and that is helpful with troubleshooting any problems with the system.

Superbus 2000 keypads are alphanumeric and good for programming, and they take up a smaller wall footprint. I prefer them to the ATP1000 keypads.

5

Thank you again Jason!
Your “How it works” page for the Concord 4 Panel talks about using a 600-1053-4-ZX-VZ module to connect to surityDIY, and I have found that module on the following Interlogix page:
http://www.interlogix.com/intrusion/product/concord-4-wireless-lte-and-gsm-modules
As far as I can tell, these are Interlogix modules, and not the alarm.com modules which could not be used with other service providers?
Does this mean that I can get alarm.com services from you with only Interlogix equipment and without an alarm.com brand module?
What does it mean when I see a communicator labeled as “alarm.com ready”?

Also, that interlogix page says that those model numbers are LTE, which I believe is 4G?, and your “How it works” page for the Concord 4 says that model is a 3G. Am I safe presuming that an LTE module is the way to go?
thanks!
Bill

6
As far as I can tell, these are Interlogix modules, and not the alarm.com modules which could not be used with other service providers? Does this mean that I can get alarm.com services from you with only Interlogix equipment and without an alarm.com brand module? What does it mean when I see a communicator labeled as “alarm.com ready”?

600-1053-4-ZX-VZ (600-1053-LTE-VZ, etc.) are just the Interlogix model number for the Alarm.com modules. Those are Alarm.com cellular modules. They cannot be used with another service.

Also, that interlogix page says that those model numbers are LTE, which I believe is 4G?, and your “How it works” page for the Concord 4 says that model is a 3G. Am I safe presuming that an LTE module is the way to go?

No, the 600-1053-4-ZX-VZ is the older 3G CDMA module.

The exact model number for the LTE version is 600-1053-LTE-VZ.

The Interlogix link you provided is a page describing the various models available.

If you want the LTE module, you would need the 600-1053-LTE-VZ.