We’ve had some issues over the years of having this system and I attributed it to me being cheap and trying to get the cheapest stuff. So I replaced our thermostat this year with the alarm.com smart thermostat ADCT2000 and we haven’t had any issues up until this week. The alarm panel also seems to not want to disarm when being controlled through the phone as well as the thermostat refusing to adjust given a mobile command. We love the convenience of this system and the simplicity on our end but these constant hiccups make for headaches. I’m wondering if there is a system update for the panel GocontrolGC2. We’ve made sure our alarm.com app is up to date and the phones aren’t due for an upgrade or anything. It seems to be happening for both my wife and my phone, which leads me to believe it’s the go control and not the phones. Help please!
Both of the issues you are describing would share a cause. Typically an issue with sending commands is going to be related to the cell carrier or the cellular communication module in the panel. Looking at the history, this is indeed what I see.
Mobile inbound commands look to often experience a delay recently of 3-15 minutes or so. As long as outbound communication isn’t affected, which it doesn’t appear to be, this is indicative of one of a few things:
- Cell tower forwarding issue with the carrier.
- Cell network extender at your location that the panel is trying to connect to.
- Sometimes, a failing communication module.
Do you have a cell network extender at your location to improve phone service?
A good test is to power down your panel fully, unplug AC power, then unplug battery. Leave the panel powered down for at least two full minutes, then power back up by plugging in battery first then transformer.
Wait a few minutes after boot-up and try sending a command. Does it get acknowledged immediately?
If not, wait 1 minute, and if the command has not yet been acknowledged at the panel run a cell phone test. Does the command then immediately go through after the cell test?
We don’t have an extender at the house, and we’ve never had issues with it sending a signal out when an alarm sounds or whatever. The monitoring company always calls right away. When I wake up this afternoon I’ll try giving that a shot though and report back.
When the panel goes out, do I need to do anything so the monitoring company doesn’t think something is wrong and call the authorities? Put the panel into test mode or whatever?
When the panel goes out, do I need to do anything so the monitoring company doesn’t think something is wrong and call the authorities? Put the panel into test mode or whatever?
It is never a bad idea to place the account on test with the central station when performing work on the panel. You can do so by calling the central station at 855-348-0367.
Note that power loss alone would not result in an alarm.
Ok sounds good. Thanks for the quick response and I’ll report back this afternoon.
The disarm command worked almost instantly but the initial stay command took a minute upon restarting after powering down. I also changed the thermostat immediately. All looks well. Is there a way to tell if one of those other issues is the cause? Or something else we can do to improve the signal strength? The radio signal strength is only at a 16/31.
Is there a way to tell if one of those other issues is the cause? Or something else we can do to improve the signal strength? The radio signal strength is only at a 16/31.
If you experience a delay on a command and a Cell Phone Test from the panel immediately allows the command through, that usually indicates a carrier forwarding issue, which we typically only see on Verizon CDMA.
One sure-fire way to remove all latency is to add a Go!Bridge internet communicator. This provides dual path communication for your panel.
16 is a good signal strength for continuous connection. This issue of inbound delay is unrelated to signal strength.
Note that up to two minutes falls under normal operation for cell commands. It is typically closer to 10/15 seconds. We will notify ADC that this account is experiencing inbound delays to see if the carrier can resolve or if the module may be impacting this.