I just installed my system this weekend. I am using the Verizon cell module and I am getting 16/31 for the signal strength (see picture). I have moved my panel all around the house and even took it outside with about the same signal strength. When I send commands from my alarm.com app on my cell phone it works quickly about 10% of the time. Other times it may work about 5 minutes after I sent the command and most of the time it does not work at all. Sometimes I also get a timeout message in the app (see picture).
Verizon shows coverage on the map and I have a Verizon cell phone and while my cell phone works most of the time I have had a dropped call or two and also my cell phone uses LTE I believe where the 2GIG module uses 3G I believe.
I do not have an AT&T phone so I am not sure how that would work but I am thinking I may need to try an AT&T module since the current Verizon module is not working well enough for this solution to work.
Can you please look at my system and see what you see in the logs and see if we can determine if I need to swap out my Verizon module with an AT&T one. Simply moving the 2GIG panel or the antenna to a different location I do not believe would help. I using the external 3G antenna and have verified the cable it firmly attached.
Have you checked the coverage area? Your telephone service is independent of your 2GIG service, but if you have a Verizon phone and the coverage is excellent, then there might be a panel issue.
Yes I checked the coverage area, that is what I was trying to convey when I stated “Verizon shows coverage on the map”. I have a Verizon phone and the coverage is certainly not excellent. I get around 1 bar (sometime 2 bars) on my cell phone which appears to be enough to make phone calls with only having a few dropped calls. But those are also LTE calls I believe so I do not know what my Verizon 3G coverage is at my house.
Simply moving the 2GIG panel or the antenna to a different location I do not believe would help.
Moving a panel or antenna from one location to another can actually make a big difference in quality, but I think we are ahead of ourselves in this circumstance.
16/31 is an acceptable signal strength (typically we’ve recommended anything over 11, below that issues may pop up).
Are you seeing any “Radio Modem Network Failure” alerts on the panel? If not it sounds like you are having delays with inbound commands. Inbound commands timing out is a separate issue than signal loss, and can happen on either provider. There are a few reasons this might happen.
We’ll check to see if there are any other reports of inbound delays in the area. This is sometimes related to tower transmission.
Another possibility is a cellular network extender. Do you use a Verizon network extender by chance? If an extender is close by, the panel will attempt to connect repeatedly as it is the closest signal, but the module will be denied each time. This results in outbound signals getting out without trouble when the panel connects to a tower, but inbound commands getting lost or delayed.
Verizon shows coverage on the map and I have a Verizon cell phone and while my cell phone works most of the time I have had a dropped call or two and also my cell phone uses LTE I believe where the 2GIG module uses 3G I believe.
Phone service does not correlate to Machine to Machine coverage. They do not impact one another.
One thing to try while we check carrier reports is to power down the system fully for at least two minutes, then power back up, wait a few minutes and run a cell test. Any change in what you are seeing?
I see no “Radio Modem Network Failure” on the panel. And it does sound like I am having an issue with delays with inbound commands. The reason I say this is because sometimes (not very other) then inbound commands happen immediately while most of the time it takes 5 mins or does not work at all, yet in all the cases I have not changed anything on my end. Please let me know what you find out about on the inbound delays in my area.
I do not have use a cellular network extender.
I have powered off the system several times by unplugging it and the battery and waiting and then powered back on. The cell phone test works every time without failure and the test runs very quickly, perhaps another indication that it is an inbound command delay issue.
It does seem to be an inbound command delay issue, I get my outbound text notifications very quickly.
I assume it will take Verizon a long time to fix that inbound command delay issue, therefore if I buy the 2gig BRDG1-900 device will it solve the issue? In other words will alarm.com know to send the inbound commands over the Internet or will alarm.com still send the inbound commands over the cellular network and therefore I would still have the inbound Verizon delay issue?
I assume it will take Verizon a long time to fix that inbound command delay issue, therefore if I buy the 2gig BRDG1-900 device will it solve the issue? In other words will alarm.com know to send the inbound commands over the Internet or will alarm.com still send the inbound commands over the cellular network and therefore I would still have the inbound Verizon delay issue?
It usually does not take long to resolve if the issue is confirmed through the carrier. However, yes, using a Go!Bridge allows commands to be sent via cell and broadband concurrently. This also shortens the latency for commands to take effect normally.
I’ve spoken with ADC and sent a few commands, can you try testing some user commands today? Arming commands and Z-wave commands would be good at different times. Let us know if you see any delays.
Currently the system seems to be accepting everything quickly.
Thanks! It appears to be working much better currently. My arm/disarm commands are now working from the mobile app. Also I can lock/unlock my door quickly from the mobile app. Of my 11 zwave lights most of them work through the alarm.com app, however there are at least three that either have a huge delay or do not work at all. At first I thought it might be the zwave device model as two that will not work are smart bulbs in my lamps while all other lights are GE smart dimmer switches, however I do have at least one GE smart dimmer switch not working through the app. I also thought it could be the location of the zwave devices in relation to the 2GIG panel, but the one GE switch that is not working is very close to the 2GIG panel and fairly close to the smartthings hub. I can remotely turn off/on all zwave devices through the smarthings app but only about 2/3rds of them through the alarm.com app.
Any idea why a few of the zwave devices can not receive the inbound command from alarm.com while many other of my zwave devices can?
I only see 9 z-wave lighting devices on the account.
I would suggest testing those today to verify whether the intermittent issue was affecting them, as I can see arm commands within a few minutes of each other in the history taking far different amounts of time to resolve.
Alarm.com commands would have no connection to the other controller, so only communication between panel and the device would play a part. I do see one of the devices listing only a couple neighbor devices, meaning fewer transmission routes, but overall it does not appear there are any lost commands from panel to Z-wave devices that have been counted. It seems this is likely just a symptom of the cell command issue.
You are correct I have 9 zwave lights. I have done several test from the mobile app and the alarm.com website and all but three of them work. The three that never work are ids 5,6, and 12. Do you see anything different about these three zwave devices that would cause them not to get the inbound command from alarm.com?
The first two show the largest number of neighbor nodes. There is no reason why, as far as I can tell, they wouldn’t work. 12 is odd. It is registering open/close events like it was a Z-wave Garage opener in the history.
What model of switch are the three you mentioned, especially #12?
5, and 6 are Linear Linc smart bulbs. The only two I have. 12 is a on/off non dimmer GE Switch just like id 7.
Unfortunately the original issue is back. I can no longer receive any inbound commands from alarm.com or the mobile app. Can you please check with ADC to see if they can fix it again like they did this morning?
So I found a pattern. If I unplug the panel and battery and leave it off for 15 mins and then power it on, the mobile app can send it inbound commands for about 30 seconds. Alternatively I can run a cell phone test directly on the panel and once it passes and I click ok it will download any inbound commands and allow new inbound commands to come through for about 30 seconds to one minute (even including turn on and off the lights that were not working 5,6). After that one minute or so it will stop accepting inbound commands, until I once again run a cell phone test and then it will accept the inbound commands for about one minute and stop working again.
It is like it needs to be forced to connect to alarm.com from the panel via a cell phone test.
After that one minute or so it will stop accepting inbound commands, until I once again run a cell phone test and then it will accept the inbound commands for about one minute and stop working again.
It is like it needs to be forced to connect to alarm.com from the panel via a cell phone test.
This is representative of the issue I am thinking of with inbound commands. Cell tests will force communication and all stuck commands that have not timed out tend to come through at once.
ADC has enabled extra diagnostics on the panel and have forwarded the issue to the carrier. We could not provide an ETA yet on a fix, but there are a few options:
Wait on resolution. I do not recall an instance where this was not addressed, so we should hear word back before too long, but we cannot say when yet.
Add Go!Bridge for concurrent internet and cell signaling.
Try to swap to alternate carrier. For this you would want to confirm that signaling is just as good for AT&T in your area using our coverage check tool.
