Pairing an Aeon Labs Aeotec sensor with a 2GIG Panel

So here are the results of my testing today:

I created a rule for the lights to turn on when motion is triggered and for them to turn off after 5 min.

The lights turned off and on based on the rule parameters with both the antenna plugged in and unplugged.

Here’s the neat thing I did find out though. If the motion detector triggers motion in the middle of the rule (say 2 min. into the 5 min. timer), the rule will reset and the lights will turn off 5 min. after the second motion. I was able to do this with the antenna plugged in and unplugged.

I did run into a snag once where the lights would not turn off after 5 min., but I don’t know what could have made it screw up. I was unable to replicate the issue after repeated attempts.

Alright Jay. Now I’m curious and in troubleshooting mode. Does make me wonder if your panel still had enough signal to contact ADC with the antenna unplugged :slight_smile:

I recreated my rule to use a 15 second and did some testing today. The lights turned on immediately and turned off immediately at 15 seconds. Definitely no Alarm.com transmitting delay.

I’m not sure why I’ve been having issues - perhaps something during the initial setup of my rule the first time?

I attached screenshots of the 15 second rule today that worked like a charm. Jay - thanks for testing this stuff out.

Based on all of this - all I need to come up with is either a real or virtual z-Wave switch that 2GIG can flip when it detects motion. Then my Vera controller can do all the fancy stuff based on rules like who is outside (if an adult is present at the pool, etc…)

Well - I guess it’s back to troubleshooting time. Rule is set to the attached screenshot - however after walking around my yard tonight for about 45 minutes and then coming back inside, the lights never turned themselves back off :frowning:

I assume you have these motion detectors’ sensor types programmed as (23) no response type. What do you have their equipment types programmed as? Since they’re motion detectors it would make common sense to program the equipment types as (2) motion. If that’s how you have them programmed then you might try switching them to (1) contact. It’s backwards but it might improve things. 2GIG doesn’t necessarily report the event of a motion detector going inactive to Alarm.com right away, it can take up to 45 minutes. Not that reporting to Alarm.com should have anything to do with this issue, but we don’t know how the codes is written, 2GIG might do better with triggering rules off contacts than motions. It’s a long shot but maybe making 2GIG think the motions are contacts instead of motion detectors would help it behave better.

Yes - programmed as (23). Equipment type is set to (2) Motion.

I did some testing today setting it back to 15 second turn off rule. Here is what I found:

Activate motion detector 1 time:
Lights come on immediately, lights go off approximately 17 seconds later

Activate motion detector, activate motion detector about 5-6 seconds afterwards again
Lights come on immediately after first motion, lights go off approximately 30 seconds after SECOND motion

Activate motion detector, activate motion detector repeatedly for 2 minutes.
Lights come on immediately after first motion, lights go off 3 minutes after LAST motion.

It’s as if there is a bug in the 2GIG code where it is adding the time-off value to a counter for each motion hit. This seems to be consistent with what I’m observing when I have it set to a 5 minute time-off value. I’ve observed it take hours to turn the lights off after I’ve been outside.

I’ll keep working on testing and will change the equipment type to (1) contact later, however this will flood my Alarm.com activity history log with events and I don’t like that as a long-term solution.

Hi, Keith, Ryan and Jay:

Any updates on the viability of a Aeon labs Aeotec sensor? Was there any difference in the timer bug after the firmware(v1.13) update?

I am exploring a motion detector based outdoor light and this seems to be the only option for 2gig panel.

Thanks,
Diwakar

Diwakar-

All I can say is that things are working great now. I can’t tell you exactly when or what fixed my issues but I’m using two different outdoor motion sensors to give me complete coverage of my pool area and outdoor areas.

  1. Honeywell/Ademco 5800-PIR OD
  2. Optex HX-80 - note this is an awesome outdoor PIR but requires wiring a 2-Gig compatible transmitter (I used window contact transmitter) and inserting it into a built-in compartment in the PIR.

Both of the above work great and cover different type of terrain. The 5800 requires perpendicular mounting about waist height (works great for my pool area). The Optex is mounted high and angled across sloped grass and a multi-tier deck.

Hope that helps!
-Keith (satisfied 2-Gig user and SuretyCam monitoring subscriber)

You won’t be able to use the Aeon Labs Multisensor originally mentioned in the first post in this thread. (I think that is what you are referring to) Zwave sensors are not compatible.

The posts above are discussing using a 345 mhz motion detector (5800OD PIR) or a hardwired outdoor motion detector to initiate automation rules.

I can do some further testing but it sounds like Keith has verified that option

Thanks much, Keith.

I will explore your approach, in that case.

Best,
Diwakar

Yes, jason. I was hoping for the multisensor to work with the newer firmware, thanks for confirming that it doesn’t.

I will try Keith’s approach.

I assume this applies to the Aeotec Water Sensor as well since it is a “sensor”?

Correct. Sensor Z-wave devices are generally not compatible.

Flood sensors exist for panels however using sensor communication protocol, like the RE119, and RE219.