My current alarm system with ADT has been working great but tired of the high monthly bill. After researching a lot on here and on reddit, I want to dump ADT (no longer under contract) but I still had a few questions.
But first here is my current system with ADT, it has two wired 6160VADT keypads.
There are 37 wired sensors and 3 wireless sensors but I will need to add one more wireless door sensor.
It contains the Honeywell Vista20P for the main board.
The system currently uses Resideo LTEXV-ADT for cellular and uses the ADT Pulse Gateway Netgear PGZNG1 Security WI-FI System Router to connect to the Pulse app with the ADT Honeywell HSPIM RS422.
Wireless receiver is the Honeywell Ademco SA5882-3ENM which has 1 wireless door sensor, 1 wireless fire sensor and 1 wireless CO sensor.
Two Honeywell Ademco 4219 Wired Zone Expander Modules.
I have purchased the ADC-SEM300-VT-AT and the Honeywell WA20P-10.24 Prom chip that should be arriving in a few days.
After I cancel the ADT service, I will power down the system and remove the battery. After which I will be removing the Resideo LTEXV-ADT and the ADT Pulse Gateway Netgear PGZNG1 Security WI-FI System Router from the system and the ADT Honeywell HSPIM RS422. Then I will change the PROM and then install the ADC-SEM300-VT-AT. I will be following these instructions here: How to Install a SEM 300 System Enhancement Module for Honeywell Vista - #5 by tyler
The part I am a little confused on is the “After Alarm.com account creation run a Zone scan”. Do I create an account with alarm.com or is this account created by Surety when the SEM is recognized and I sign up for your service?
Do I even need do any special programming for the Honeywell 4219 Wired Zone Expander Modules/Two Honeywell Ademco 4219 Wired Zone Expander Modules or will they just work during the zone scanning?
The part I am a little confused on is the “After Alarm.com account creation run a Zone scan”. Do I create an account with alarm.com or is this account created by Surety when the SEM is recognized and I sign up for your service?
Alarm.com account creation is automatic and completed as part of the activation steps on our website. After you purchase your chosen plan you will be prompted to activate your service. When submitting your activation form, your Alarm.com account is created.
A Zone scan is run via the steps in that section of the how-to guide.
Do I even need do any special programming for the Honeywell 4219 Wired Zone Expander Modules/Two Honeywell Ademco 4219 Wired Zone Expander Modules or will they just work during the zone scanning?
As long as the zones are programmed into the panel, they should be discovered by a zone scan.
If you already have a 6160 keypad you should be set for performing any necessary programming.
I installed the ADC-SEM300-VT-AT this morning (after removing all of the old ADT com stuff) and I am getting “Check 103 LngRng Radio 0000” What could be the issue? Thanks.
Now that everything is showing up in the app, I have a phantom wired door sensor that keeps saying it is opening/closing. The panel does not show any sensor being tripped (even with the alarm set). But the app still shows the front door opening/closing. I have attached a pic of the notifications.
When you say a phantom wired door sensor, do you mean that the door sensor does not actually exist?
Or are you just referring to the activity which is not occurring?
Front Door is listed as zone 1. Is that correct locally?
If no activity is occurring on the panel, I would first power cycle the whole system and SEM. It looks like the SEM is reporting that sensor open every 3 minutes, which is the minimum non-alarm sensor activity delay. It seems the SEM is fairly constantly reporting.
Does the power cycle stop the activity?
If not, can you describe the number of flashes on the status LEDs L1-L4 on the SEM?
I thought I had power cycled it already but I will try again when I get home. Front door is on Zone 1.
For the LEDS, the top light is not lit up and the next two lights will blink but I do not see a pattern. The fourth light rarely lights up.
Also, I am not getting any texts from when the alarm panel is turned off and on. I get the email and push notifications but I really need the texts. I have my mobile number in it and the carrier selected and still nothing. How can we fix this?
Also, what is the phone number of the company that would call me for alarm call? I want to make sure they are listed as Favorites on my phone so it will ring even if I have my phone is on Do Not Disturb.
Lastly, how do I test my cell signal with the SEM? Can you see the signal strength? I want to make sure it is good and if not, I can change to a different carrier.
Also, I am not getting any texts from when the alarm panel is turned off and on. I get the email and push notifications but I really need the texts. I have my mobile number in it and the carrier selected and still nothing. How can we fix this?
You’ll need to select the SMS number as a recipient for each notification it should receive. Visit the Notifications page and edit the notifications to include the SMS number as a recipient.
Also, what is the phone number of the company that would call me for alarm call? I want to make sure they are listed as Favorites on my phone so it will ring even if I have my phone is on Do Not Disturb.
Visit the system manager here and navigate to the Professional Monitoring tab to view the number calls will come from for your account, as well as view and manage other details.
Lastly, how do I test my cell signal with the SEM? Can you see the signal strength? I want to make sure it is good and if not, I can change to a different carrier.
L4 status LED on the SEM flashes a number of times showing the signal strength. Your SEM is reporting 3 bars to ADC, which is good.
Got the number programmed as a favorite, saw where to select my number for sms messages and glad the SEM is connecting without issue, thanks for helping me with these concerns.
Now I just need to figure out the Front Door sensor. When I get home, I will check the panel again to make sure the Front Door is Zone 1 and then restart the system. I will let you know if it still gives the fake notifications of the door being opened and closed.
I was looking at this photo and it looks like there is a resistor connected to the wire coming in from the Front Door sensor. Could this be causing the issue? I thought resistors should be installed close to the sensor device, not the panel. Should I remove the resistor or try replacing it? And from your question early, it is the activity of the Front Door which is not occurring on the panel, only when viewing online and checking the alerts.
The position of the resistor is not a concern regarding the open/close reports.
It is common to see resistors wired in series at the panel side. As long as the wiring is not loose and you did not add another resistor on that circuit, it should be fine. If you do see activity on the panel all the time, it would be good to check the wiring to be sure it is not loose.
Based on the prior description and what I see in ADC, it is probably more likely an issue between the panel and SEM and a power cycle should likely resolve. If not, let us know.
It looks like it is still happening. I ordered a new door sensor that should arrive on Thursday. I will delete the zone on Thursday and then setup the new wired door sensor and let you know if that fixes the issue.
After taking the old door sensor out of its recessed setting to replace it, I noticed that one of the wires were severed. No easy way to fix it so I deleted the zone from the Vista20p and installed a wireless door sensor now. Everything is working properly. Thanks for your help!
