I am looking to install a new system in a new home. My ideal scenario would be:
System is more difficult to jam (Ethernet + PowerG)
Ethernet backup because cellular signal is weak here.
Preferably HomeKit enabled but via Home Bridge or Home Assistant is fine.
I was considering Abode but messages on Reddit mentioned Qolsys panels which lead me here to Surety. I want to confirm that my idea will work before ordering & setting up my system. If support or anyone with knowledge can assist in filling in the gaps, I would appreciate it. Some background:
new construction with wood/drywall framing in SoCal, 2 story home (approximately 5,440 sq ft). 44 windows, 1 large sliding glass door, 1 large L shaped sliding glass door, 1 front door, 1 garage door.
Panel: IQ Pro
I will mount this in my telecom closet which is upstairs because it’s next to the ethernet port. There are ethernet ports through some parts of the home but this device looks like it should be hidden.
Will mounting it in a telco closet effect it’s range to sensors throughout the home.
Will I need to order a separate ethernet card for IQ pro or is it included? I don’t see this port available in surety store. Can I buy it elsewhere?
Will I need dealer/installer code to integrate with HomeBridge/HomeAssistant? Will surety share this code if needed?
Does this panel support Wave / Zigbee to control third party devices?
2 Remote Keypads (Model #??)
I plan to install two “remote” LCD panels near the front door & near the garage door entry.
I only see panels and feel like there should be a “remote” or “secondary” panel.
Do these remote panels have cameras/audio like the main panel/hubs?
6 Hard Wired Motion Sensors / PowerG Motion Sensors
I will attempt to find an affordable service to hardwire the motion sensors which is my plan to help avoid wifi jamming. They may jam window sensors but will not be able to jam the motion sensors. If not, the backup plan is to use PowerG motion sensors.
I have 6 sensors for all common living areas: front entry, guest bedroom (downstairs), dining area, living area, etc. Is it also recommended to have motion sensors in bedrooms?
44 PowerG Window Sensors
I plan on installing PowerG window sensors on all my windows.
At $44 per sensor, this is not cheap. Is there a cheaper alternative? Could I rely on my motion sensors and forgo the PowerG sensors with cheaper sensors for the windows? (i.e. 2GIG window sensors - are they compatible?)
4 PowerG Glass Break Sesnsors
I plan on installing 4 glass break sensors in dining/kitchen area, downstairs guest room, upstairs bonus area, master bathroom (with large sliding L glass doors).
How sensitive are the glass break sensors? Could I install one in a central location?
1 Fire Alarm Detection Sensor
I plan on installing one fire alarm detection.
I believe I only need one next to any of the fire alarm. Plan on putting this next to the kitchen one. Is this sufficient for entire home?
Additional Questions
What else have I not thought of to secure my home?
Does Surety care if I shop around for hardware vs buying directly from them?
How difficult of an install is this going to be especially for the IQ Pro? I am handy with electronics but NOT with running wires in the wall.
If I select one cellular service, is it possible to change to a different cellular service in the future?
Why are there PowerG light switches? What advantage do these provide?
If I add additional third party devices such as MeRoss Garage door opener, will I be able to trigger an alarm if the garage door is opened when the panel is armed?
What is the overall quality of Qolsys panel? Are they reliable?
Thank you in advance for any answers to my questions.
Qolsys systems are made to run on the Alarm.com ecosystem. While it is sometimes possible to integrate with other platforms such as HomeKit, Home Bridge or Home Assistant, it is not officially supported by Qolsys and support for it’s features may be limited.
Alarm.com has its own home automation and is compatible with a variety of automation devices.
This would mainly depend on how far the IQ Pro would be from the sensors and if there are any large metal objects or other electronic devices nearby that may interfere with or reduce it’s range.
If range is a concern, using PowerG sensors for ones that are further away would be recommended.
The IQ Pro does not need a separate card for Ethernet.
You will need the installer/dealer code to access system programming and set up the IQ Pro. We do not change these codes, but we do allow you to reset them remotely once your account has been activated.
The default codes are:
Installer: 1111
Dealer: 2222
Master: 1234
Yes, the system is compatible with Z-Wave devices. The current list of compatible Z-Wave devices can be found here.
The IQ Remote PowerG is the touchscreen secondary panel that is compatible with Qolsys systems. You can find it here:
The IQ Remote does not have a camera on it, but it does have speakers for system sounds.
To clarify, sensors do not use Wi-Fi for communication. They will run off of either a standard sensor frequency (319.5 MHz, 345 MHz, 433 MHz) or they will use something like PowerG Wireless Communication.
This can vary depending on your circumstances, but typically, motion detectors are installed in common areas, as you mentioned, and not bedrooms.
The IQ Pro supports PowerG and a legacy sensor frequency at the same time.
Standard 2GIG sensors (not the encrypted/E-Series) are compatible with the 345 MHz version of the IQ Pro. They wouldn’t have the same range or benefits as PowerG, but you can purchase a mixture of PowerG and 2GIG sensors if there are some areas that you’d prefer to use PowerG instead.
This will depend on the glass break sensor, but they will typically indicate a range and direction that the glass break is effective at. Some glass break sensors may have a sensitivity adjustment as well.
Yes, this will work as long as all of your smoke detectors are interconnected. If the detectors are not interconnected, then each detector would require its own listener. Additionally, audio detectors may have trouble being triggered if your smoke detectors have voice annunciation.
The 345 MHz version of the FireFighter Audio Listener is currently out of stock, but you can purchase it elsewhere and use it with service through Surety. The 319.5 MHz version of the FireFighter can be found here:
This can vary significantly, as there are many different factors that can be unique to your home and what you want the system to protect. There are other features that can be integrated into the system as well, such as door locks, video monitoring, water/flood detection, low or high temperature detection, and automatically closing water valves if a leak is detected, among others.
Not at all! You do not need to purchase any of the equipment from us if you don’t want to. You can still sign up with Surety if some or all of your equipment is purchased elsewhere.
The installation of the IQ Pro isn’t super difficult, but it may involve running some wiring. We have an installation guide for the IQ Pro here, which you can use to get an idea of the steps required to complete the install.
No, the cellular module is integrated into the system and can’t be changed without replacing the system itself. We ship out the Verizon versions by default, but if you would like to use the AT&T version, you can request it in the order notes when you place an order for equipment.
PowerG is just a wireless communication protocol that Qolsys and DSC offer. It is mainly used for security sensors, but they do make some automation devices as well. The main advantage over Z-Wave is going to be its range, as PowerG has a significantly longer range than a single Z-Wave device.
You wouldn’t be able to trigger an alarm with these devices unless you have a security sensor monitoring the garage door itself. You can, however, set up notifications to be sent out when the garage door is opened or closed.
Additionally, MeRoss is not compatible with Alarm.com, so it would not integrate with their ecosystem.
Qolsys panels are overall fairly reliable, integrate very well with Alarm.com, and are easy to troubleshoot and get support for. There are other manufacturers that make good Alarm.com compatible systems, but Qolsys is products are what we typically recommend and sell.
We support and provide service to all Alarm.com compatible systems, so if there’s another one that you’d prefer to use, you can still get service through Surety for that system.
Here are some guides and resources that you may want to take a look at as well:
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
I have a very similar set up as you. When I first purchased my home I installed allot of homekit devices for automation and while it worked it never worked quite right and required me to constantly make adjustments and devices would become “unavailable”, especially my thermostats which was the main thing I wanted automated in the first place.
Eventually I switched to alarm.com through surety for both security and automation. While there is a bit of a learning curve and there are certain things alarm.com doesn’t allow for (activating one z wave light switch to control a second z wave lights switch for instance), overall I am happy with the migration to alarm.com’s eco system over homekit. My wife also likes that it just works and that she doesn’t have to do anything special with it.
It’s also nice that most of the automation is locally through z-wave so if the wifi drops out the system still works. For instance the power went out once while we were out of town and when it was restored the wifi system didn’t come back up and had to be power cycled, except we were not home. I could still control the z wave thermostats, door locks, etc from my phone and monitor the security system. Since we live in the Phoenix area this was a big deal as our dogs were home and there was a heatwave going on, I was relieved that we could monitor the house temps to ensure they were safe until we got back.
I would urge you to keep an open mind and not marry the homekit UI for smart hone control. There was a post a while back that allows much more user control with the alarm.com ecosystem if you know a bit about computer programing, but its still in beta. What I have found is that if I am patient alarm.com eventually updates their smart home options and catches up to the other systems. Check out “Zooz” for affordable z-wave wall switches that integrate nicely with the IQ panel. For garage door control your opener may already be MyQ enabled if its Lift master (most new builds are), which does integrate with alarm.com. You can also buy a z wave garage door controller similar to the Meross one that talks to the IQ panel as well.
The metal cabinet version of the IQ Pro has the cell antenna on a cable. This can allow a person to mount the unit in a place that doesn’t get great cell coverage in the home like a basement and extend the antenna to a place in the home with better line of sight or fewer walls etc.
Can do HA via the supported Control4 integration endpoint feature on the panel. Meaning HA has an integration based on the Control4 driver code. There is also one for Hubitat. As mentioned this isn’t supported but it’s working just as well as it does on Control4.
I am still working through this. Some additional questions.
For the remote keypad, it can be operated via PowerG or Wifi. Video to this requires Wifi. Is the IQ Pro different than IQ4 Panel? Can the iQ Pro have ethernet and wifi enabled at the same time? That way the remote panel can have the camera feed? So basically, can IQ Pro do Cellular/Ethernet for monitoring but Wifi to talk to the remote keypads? Or am I stuck with PowerG because I want ethernet for monitoring?
I am also now considering IQ Panel 4 with the ethernet daughter card. The same question here. Can I have monitoring enabled for cellular/ethernet but communications to remote keypads via wifi?
In order to stream video to the IQ Remote PG, it must be over wi-fi.
For the remote keypad, it can be operated via PowerG or Wifi. Video to this requires Wifi. Is the IQ Pro different than IQ4 Panel? Can the iQ Pro have ethernet and wifi enabled at the same time? That way the remote panel can have the camera feed? So basically, can IQ Pro do Cellular/Ethernet for monitoring but Wifi to talk to the remote keypads? Or am I stuck with PowerG because I want ethernet for monitoring?
Once Ethernet is connected to IQ Pro, Wi-Fi is unavailable.
Currently, the IQ Remote PG cannot stream video at all when connected to the IQ Pro. This should be an option with upcoming firmware 4.4.x.n (no ETA atm).
Wi-Fi and Ethernet cannot be used at the same time on the IQ Panel 4. Once the ethernet card is installed, to use Wi-Fi, the ethernet cable must be removed from the card.
Anytime you plug in the ethernet cable, Wi-Fi at the panel is disabled and would need to be re-enabled once you remove the Ethernet cable. The panel will not revert to Wi-Fi automatically if the cable is removed. The card does not need to be removed to do this.
Live View with Alarm.com cameras at the panel is not supported with this integration. While some cameras may connect, others may not. Your mileage may vary.
Firmware updates for the IQ Panel 4 must be done over Wi-Fi.
While the standard IQ table stand accommodates the ethernet card, the Sub-Woofer stand does not.
Thank you for the response. So basically, both panels work on either wifi or ethernet but not both. Are there any other options to get video on the panel?
Per Qolsys, at this time there wouldn’t be a work-around unfortunately. To get video streaming on the IQ Remote PG wifi would need to be enabled on the IQ Panel 4.
Could I use any other display and get video from ADC? Alexa or Google hub or iPad? Ideally the video would automatically pop up if someone rang the doorbell.
You can use the Alarm.com app on your iPad or phone to view your Alarm.com doorbell. It wouldn’t pull up automatically, but you can have a notification sent to the iPad and open the live view by tapping it.
There is no way to view Alarm.com cameras through Google Hub or Amazon Alexa at this time.