Couple questions as I plan my system. I don’t want to get stuck in one sandbox and not be able to play around as the consumer market evolves with smartthings, harmony hub, alexa/homekit/google home and/or whoever ultimately wins this battle.
I’ve read about making your security panel the secondary controller with smartthings as the primary so they can both see all your mutually compatible zwave devices. If you choose that route, can your zwave devices also be seen by any other consumer hub, or are you capped at 2?
Also, the vendor I spoke to was recommending the powerseries neo as my panel. Can this one be set as secondary like I’ve read for the GC2 and GC3 products?
From all I’ve been reading, it seems like no matter what platform I choose, I’m going to be annoyed about something. How has it been almost a year and ADC still hasn’t released a “smart home” Alexa skill so you can stop asking “alarm.com” to do things.
Very frustrating market at the moment… I hate the idea of having anything in my home I can’t reconfigure and tinker with myself, however the actual installation I plan to have done professionally.
Answers to my questions above or any other suggestions as to which way to go would be much appreciated!!
If you choose that route, can your zwave devices also be seen by any other consumer hub, or are you capped at 2?
Z-wave hubs will support multiple secondary controllers.
Also, the vendor I spoke to was recommending the powerseries neo as my panel. Can this one be set as secondary like I’ve read for the GC2 and GC3 products?
We have not tested this with a Powerseries Neo, but generally the Concord 4 and PowerSeries Neo are traditional brain-in-a-can panels which are not as friendly with regard to automation devices and local network control. Z-wave device learning occurs through the module.
If one of your primary concerns is fleshing out a smarthome, the Powerseries Neo is not one I would recommend. The 2GIG Go!Control, GC3, or Qolsys Panels will probably be more in line with what you are looking for.
Very frustrating market at the moment… I hate the idea of having anything in my home I can’t reconfigure and tinker with myself, however the actual installation I plan to have done professionally.
This is going to be more determined by the dealer you are using for installation…
Make sure you know whether or not they will allow you installer access.
From all I’ve been reading, it seems like no matter what platform I choose, I’m going to be annoyed about something. How has it been almost a year and ADC still hasn’t released a “smart home” Alexa skill so you can stop asking “alarm.com” to do things.
Most of the options on the market are parallel solutions. I sympathize with the desire to try everything, but it can get prohibitively expensive to do so, given all the different systems. One thing to keep in mind is that Alarm.com is a security focused solution, but they aren’t only focusing on Z-wave devices. Back-end integration with relevant home products is a top priority. It takes a fair amount of development focus to integrate features securely, and no one is really better at it right now.
The best solution if you are looking for the widest options is a parallel Z-wave (preferably with Zigbee too) hub like Vera which allows you control and integration of things that may not be ADC compatible yet, and more open integration of end point devices, while still having control through ADC and all the security benefits.
My question is the distinction between limitations of the powerseries neo and the GoControl GC2/3 products, which all have ADC integration. With the powerseries neo, it doesn’t look like I would be adding light switches, outlets, thermostats, or any other smart products to be controlled on the panel itself since the panel doesn’t look to support actually controlling those devices. Compatible z-wave devices do however get added to the panel and passed through to ADC to be controlled and integrated into scenes via the ADC app, correct? As long as you buy compatible z-wave devices, I guess I’m having trouble understanding the difference between choosing DSC vs GC vs Qolsys if ultimately everything in that ecosystem is being managed through the ADC UI, aside from disarming your system via passcode when you walk in your home and the physical panel is right there in front of you.
The GoControl products support basically the same Z-wave devices, but also allow you to control them via the panel itself which is not something I think I would do anyway.
You suggested the Vera hub, but essentially as a preference over the smartthings hub, either choice would be running parallel to the ADC integrated alarm panel, correct?
I’ve been reading and extracting bits and pieces of other forum topics and have seen complaints regarding z-wave product compatibility with the new GC3 compared to GC2, and also with reporting current on/off status of light switches which seems to be hit or miss across the board.
Appreciate any further insight you can provide to help me make an informed decision. Thanks!
Primary - Secondary panel function is not properly supported on the Powerseries Neo modules, which is why we would recommend another panel type based on what you said you wanted to do. The Neo would be an isolated system.
Compatible z-wave devices do however get added to the panel and passed through to ADC to be controlled and integrated into scenes via the ADC app, correct?
Yes. However, Primary - Secondary pairing occurs locally and must be supported by the panel.
You suggested the Vera hub, but essentially as a preference over the smartthings hub, either choice would be running parallel to the ADC integrated alarm panel, correct?
We just use Vera as an example as we have the most extensive documentation and experience with it. Yes, either case would be a parallel system where the primary hub has wider compatibility than the panel.
I’ve been reading and extracting bits and pieces of other forum topics and have seen complaints regarding z-wave product compatibility with the new GC3 compared to GC2, and also with reporting current on/off status of light switches which seems to be hit or miss across the board.
The GC3 3.0.2 firmware which was recently released addresses a lot of Z-wave compatibility concerns and bridges the gap a bit. The GC3 will undoubtedly match and likely surpass the GC2 at some point.
Light switch status is a separate issue stemming from patents. Panels which currently support light status can be found here.
Another question: Assuming I go with the GC3 panel, is there any functionality that is lost or muddied by assigning it as the secondary to a smartthings hub vs keeping it as the sole primary?
Not really, for the most part you retain full function through both systems, but it is difficult to give a blanket statement in every scenario. You lose the ability to directly add devices to the GC3 obviously, and we’ve heard reports of the Alarm.com Remote Temp Sensor not working properly in some cases with a GC2 I believe.