I’m working on some integrations between the IQ4 and other platforms, and thinking of getting a used IQ4 from somewhere ‘less expensive than retail’ - maybe ebay, etc - to use as a ‘test environment’ rather than using my actual home IQ4 panel.
If I’m setting this up, I’d likely turn on a smaller subscription with alarm.com to facilitate the various tests, but I wouldn’t need/use any monitoring. Given that, would it matter if the cellular card had signal? For example - if I picked up one with a Telus card and I was in the US, would the panel work for my purposes just on wifi? or would the panel or alarm.com require a good connection via cell as well?
Any other tips or thoughts on me creating this test instance of the system?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Given that, would it matter if the cellular card had signal? For example - if I picked up one with a Telus card and I was in the US, would the panel work for my purposes just on wifi? or would the panel or alarm.com require a good connection via cell as well?
It would not necessarily matter to have a good cell signal for what you are describing, but you wouldn’t be able to use a panel intended for another region.
Cellular activation is still baked into the service, there is no way to set up an account for broadband only communication. A US panel would be needed to activate an account.
When shopping for a used panel, one caveat is that the IMEI of the communicator needs to be unregistered so that you can activate a new account with it. Only the current account owner’s dealer can delete the Alarm.com account to free up the panel for activation.
Fairly often used panels from ebay are still attached to an active Alarm.com account. If the panel is still registered to an account you would need to get the seller to resolve that.
Thank you. Yes having a panel locked to another account is a concern.
If I run the IMEI through: Can I activate my equipment? - Surety
will that just tell me if the panel type can be activated, or does it also check that it isn’t registered/locked to another alarm.com account?
Yep, the IMEI tool there will tell you if it is compatible and it’ll say it is linked to another Alarm.com account if it is still registered.
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