Hello,
I recently noticed a cellular signal failure on my 2GIG panel and cell phone tests I run are failing. What can I do to troubleshoot and fix?
I do see signalling issues on the account which look to have started yesterday. A couple things to check:
Have you done any work on the panel recently, or moved its location?
What is the signal strength reported on your Radio Status button?
Some common causes are below:
Antenna very close to high voltage wires.
Antenna loose or detached from cell module.
Cell module loose on board.
If you power down and open up panel, do you notice any physical issues above?
Signal strength is 21/31. Only thing that is suspicious (comparing with another working panel) is that “Registration Status: unknown” is shown. Thats the only difference I saw when comparing radio status output with another alarm panel.
Its using the rubber duck external antenna and is wall mounted. No changes in location of high voltage wires, antenna may be detached - haven’t opened panel yet. I doubt it because of good signal strength.
I’ll try reseating the board, etc…
Another quick thing to test is if the module registration is unknown: Power off the panel completely for two full minutes, then power back up. Wait a few minutes then run a cell test, any change?
This will force a full reconnect to local tower.
Finally, if no other troubleshooting resolves the issue or no obvious problems are found, you can try the steps in the following video:
I’ll check with ADC if any issues are being reported for the area, but there are no widespread alerts at this time.
Is there a way to power cycle without removing panel from wall and disconnecting battery?
Entering and exiting system configuration, saving changes will reboot the panel, but in this case you would want to have the panel powered down for a full two minutes at least, so opening and disconnecting battery is the way to do it.
The panel in question is my father’s. Today I went over and unplugged battery/power from the panel and let it be for a couple minutes. I was surprised to see when it came back on that the Radio Status button disappeared 
The panel also didn’t know the date/time.
So I powered it back off again, removed radio, let it sit for 10 mins - put it back together and same thing. Wrong date/time and no Radio Status button in the Installer Toolbox.
How long is manufacturer warranty on the radio/panel? How do I know if I have a defective Radio or a defective Panel? Purchased from suretydiy.com October 2014.
We had another problem with this panel/radio about 11 months after we bought it, described in this thread:
What you are seeing would indicate that the panel cannot see that a module is installed.
If it is not detecting the module itself, it likely indicates a module failure. It’s rare for one to fail, but it can happen. If you have removed and re-seated the module, power cycled panel, with no positive result it’s best to try a new module. Did you notice any physical issues inside the panel? Loose connection of the module to the panel board, darkening on the board near the connector?
One thing to check is Q91 in programming, make sure that is set to (1).
Warranty on modules (and panels) through 2GIG is one year. VZ modules for 2GIG can be found here. A new module would tell us definitively where the issue lies.
If I removed the radio from my 2gig panel and put it in my father’s, would this be a good test to see if the panel or module is bad? Would it cause any confusion/problems on your end? My concern is buying a new radio and then not having it fix the problem.
Everything was clean inside, the board connector was snug and both radio screws in place. The cable for the external rubber duck antenna was connected. I examined the radio board and didn’t notice any blown caps or any other trauma.
I wouldn’t recommend doing that as your module is tied to your account and would overwrite your sensor and panel info in ADC when connected. Notifications/rules/users would be affected.
My concern is buying a new radio and then not having it fix the problem
Keep in mind we have a 30 day return policy, so if the panel does not see the module when you install it, it can be returned within 30 days. (a new panel would likely be required then)
Until we sort this out, how do I stop the panel from waking them up in the middle of the night? Past three nights around 3-4AM the alarm panel beeps regarding the radio failure.
EDIT: Actually, not sure what will happen tonight as the panel thinks its ~1AM now 
Setting Q91 to (0) will indicate to the panel that no cell module is supposed to be installed. I believe that should stop all radio alerts.
Also check Q46 to make sure that is enabled, although with the time off, you would likely just want to make sure that the panel is not looking for a cell connection for now. Remember to switch Q(91) back when you get the new module.
So, there is no Setting Q91. You can’t ‘go to’ it. Also, when I look at the summary configuration, it stops at Q90 - doesn’t list a Q91.
Guess its new modem time
Ah, I see. This panel is running 1.10 firmware. You are right, Q91 does not show up on 1.10 if a module is not connected. It does on later firmware versions.
Am I missing anything significant by not using 1.14.01? Looked at the release history, seems is mostly support for hardware I don’t have. Thanks for your help!
Largely hardware support. However, there are some tweaks and improvements to functionality in each update. New voice descriptions, improved back-end features, z-wave troubleshooting, etc. 1.14.01 adds 12 more zones as well.
It isn’t utterly necessary but never a bad idea.