IQ Remote PG dual connectivity?

Support
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1

Hello,

I’m a new Qolsys user. I have the Panel 4 with two PowerG remotes.

Originally I used one remote with PowerG and it was a little slow to respond to any changes detected by the base station. When setting up my second remote, I switched everything to wifi. This is faster, allows the remotes to get OTAs however in the even my power goes out and WiFi connectivity is dropped the remotes will lose communication to the base station.

Is there a way to setup the remotes to fall back to PowerG in the event WiFi connectivity is lost?

2

I do not believe that is an available feature but I have reached out to Qolsys to confirm.

The IQR-PG can be paired to the IQ Panel 4 via PowerG or Wi-Fi, not both.

If paired via PowerG, you can then connect the IQR-PG to a Wi-Fi network but this is only meant for updating software.

Pairing to the IQ Panel 4 via Wi-Fi is required for features like Camera Live Streaming to the IQR-PG

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3

Thanks for checking.

I hope that this is an option, it just seems like a missed opportunity.

4

I also wish this was an option, and agree it seems like a missed opportunity.

I tried mine paired via PowerG, and found that the chimes and notifications on the secondary panel were a bit delayed. Switching to Wi-Fi fixed that and they are immediate now.

I did have the same concern about my Wi-Fi network going down. Mine has a short battery backup, but still not ideal if there were to be a longer power outage. What I ended up doing was turning on the AP mode on the panel and then I connected the remote panel to the panel’s Wi-Fi network. This way, at least as long as the panel is powered up the remote panel will work since it does not use my Wi-Fi at all.

Maybe Tyler can speak to any downsides to this set up, if there are any. I haven’t found any so far, the main panel still remains connected to my Wi-Fi, the dual path communication test passes just fine and the remote panel still gets immediate updates.

5

Connecting the IQR-PG to the IQ Panel 4s AP is a fine solution.

PowerG is useful in situations where either the IQ Panel 4s AP is to weak, or the homes network is too weak to reach the IQR-PG.

Connecting the IQR-PG to the IQ PAnel 4 via PowerG, then enabling Wi-Fi on the IQR-PG allows for the following only:

  • Logs to be uploaded (for troubleshooting)
  • Firmware Updates
  • Weather Updates

At this time connecting the IQR-PG to the IQ Panel 4 via PowerG and Wi-Fi for dual-path is not supported but this feature has been passed to Qolsys as a feature request.

6

I wonder which radio uses more power on the panels. I’d love to extend the battery on the panel as long as possible, so maybe I’d choose PowerG over WiFi or vise versa.

And it also would make sense for the panels to go into nighttime mode when the AC is lost, to keep the display from using unnecessary battery power.

Anyways now I’m just getting wayyy off topic.

7

I wonder which radio uses more power on the panels. I’d love to extend the battery on the panel as long as possible, so maybe I’d choose PowerG over WiFi or vise versa.

Unfortunately Qolsys does not have this data, so I could not say for sure. Based on range my gut says PowerG, but thats just a guess.

And it also would make sense for the panels to go into nighttime mode when the AC is lost, to keep the display from using unnecessary battery power.

When AC is lost, the panel needs to relay that information and it cant do so if the screen is off. This is the likely reason why no setting exists but I have passed this request on to Qolsys.

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