I currently am looking to buy the IQ 2 panel (also considered the 2 Gig GC3),
I am wondering if I am oblidge to have it linked to alarm.com to have notifications on my cell phone.
I really dont need monitoring or central, as I do not beleive in them. I only want to be notified ASAP if I have an intruder or an alert (I already have cameras around the house, so I can remote in when I get an alert to really look and see if its a real threat or not).
SO i am wondering if with the IQ2, I can only plug is over WiFi in my home and receive its alerts.
At worst, I can put in a SIM card in it, but am really hoping to save on the monthly fee.
SO i am wondering if with the IQ2, I can only plug is over WiFi in my home and receive its alerts.
At worst, I can put in a SIM card in it, but am really hoping to save on the monthly fee.
No, this is not really possible. All panels compatible with suretyDIY service, listed on our home page, are professional alarm monitoring systems that output coded alarm signals meant for an alarm receiver. You cannot add a cell module or use wifi and program it to call specific devices/numbers. The Alarm.com cellular modules for instance do not rely on programming, and only communicate with Alarm.com, and the alarm panels are pre-set to communicate to certain back-end providers over wifi, determined by firmware.
You can use a POTS landline connection with some of the panels, but programming a non-alarm receiver line will not provide you with any details, just a garbled sequence of noise.
OP, in case you get any bright ideas of going with an alarm system that just dials out to your phone via analog line, GSM or wireless… I’ve had some experience with such systems. This would be like Fortress Security, Kerui, Golden Security, and the like.
Personally I have the Qolsys and central monitoring. For my own house, I would not have it any other way. Central monitoring is the part that helps keep you safe and is the part insurance companies care about for discounts and things like this.
Well, I had a situation come up with extended family member who had their house broken into and they don’t have much money. I wanted to help them along but I didn’t want to break the bank doing it, nor did I want to pay out $1k+ for the equipment and $30-40 a month for central monitoring since it wasn’t my house. So I instead purchased a Kerui W193 system (same as Fortress and others) and it’s hooked up to WiFi and it texts her phone (and mine) in the event that it trips. I got the entire house covered for around $240 including a wifi camera, smoke and CO, every window, every door and motion sensors. And I pay $0/month for monitoring.
But, the system is cheap as hell. Everything is in Engrish, and the sensors while OK are quite obviously of a lesser build quality than GE/Qolsys like I have. More than that, all the sensors have batteries that only last maybe a year - like an alkaline 23A - vs the lithium batteries in the GE/Qolsys stuff that lasts several years. There aren’t many options in the GUI and it was a lot of trial and error to get everything smoothed out. It can be “controlled” remotely by sending text messages to it, but it’s really janky. And no real time status either. The camera is not integrated in the alarm system in any way either and just records 24x7x365 which isn’t ideal. You also will get zero support on this stuff unless you buy from Fortress Security - which literally sells the same Kerui alarm with a different logo and a MUCH higher price tag, and even they don’t really have that great a grasp on how the alarm works.
And really, the point of this stuff is to be life saving, otherwise what are you wasting money on? I know I cheaped out, and it’s tempting to do the same, but any quality system is going to be made primarily to connect to central monitoring. In your quest to save yourself the expense of monthly monitoring, do not cheap out on the system. To do it over again, I think I would have rather convinced this family member to pay out for the monthly monitoring if I got a lesser equipped quality system than to go to the route I did again. Don’t make my mistake.