Hi,
What are the optimal steps to switch from ADT to surety? I currently have a Concord 4 panel with an attached ADT Pulse Superbus 2000, an ADT Pulse Gateway, and an ADT CellGuard. My sensors are about 90% wireless. I have most of my home automation separate from ADT, so I’m only interested in intrusion, fire monitoring, and of course remote access to my system.
Thanks!
We happen to have a how to guide for getting started with that system here.
In short you would need an unregistered LTE Alarm.com communicator and purchase service on our website.
The Pulse Gateway and ADT cell would be removed. The Alarm.com module would then connect to the BUS.
Based on your description of interests, your best bet would be the Surety Alarm service plan. However keep in mind all service is month to month and you can adjust your plan at any time, 24/7, on our website, so no need to agonize over the plan choice up front.
Great! Thank you. I would definitely need a new Alarm.com LTE communicator. The article says I would need a 600-1053-LTE-VZ, but after a quick Google search I found this:
“The Alarm.com 600-1053-LTE-VZ cellular Verizon LTE alarm communicator (for the GE Interlogix Concord 4 panel) has been discontinued and replaced by the CD-421-US-VZ model number.”
Is this correct?
You said the communicator would connect to the BUS on the Concord 4. What about the Automation Module Board that is sitting on top of my Concord 4? The part number on the board is 59-738-03-IS. Is this no longer needed?
Also just to be clear, once I have the communicator installed with an active account, all of the existing devices on my Concord 4 panel will continue to function? I have 2 wired sensors, 11 wireless sensors, 2 wireless smoke detectors, 2 wireless motion detectors, 2 wired touchpads, and 1 wireless touchpad.
Me personally since u have the ge system and since Interlogix no longer in business I would recommend upgrading to the new qolsys iq panel 2 plus which allows home automation built in and u get 319 panel and use ur current wireless sensors and get the hardwired 16 for hardwired devices then just replace the other 2 keypads with qolsys remote keypads
I’ve updated the model number in that page, yes the CD-421-US-VZ would be valid.
Yes, it connects directly to the BUS terminals of the Concord 4. The Pulse communication equipment would be removed.
Yep, your local programming would be unchanged, so standard security sensors and peripherals would be unaffected. Your panel will report these devices to your new account.
I appreciate the suggestion and I definitely considered that, but the Qolsys IQ Panel and the IQ Hardwire 16F alone are $466 shipped, and then I’d still need 2 additional keypads. I just can’t justify that expense when I can get a CD-421-US-VZ for $200 or less and be done. My Concord 4 is old but rock solid. I’ve already moved most of my automation to Hubitat, so I don’t really need that. I’m just looking to dump ADT for minimal cost
Fantastic! My only concern will be after I have the CD-421-US-VZ in hand and I’m ready to dive in. Is my only source of support this forum? It would be nice to know someone was available without a long wait if I ended up stuck with my system down.
All Surety support is online. You can reach out via this forum, via private message, or via email to support@suretyhome.com
Ok. Thank you for all of the guidance Jason. I appreciate it. Last couple of question before I dive it.
Are the instructions that come with the CD-421-US-VZ all I need? Removing the ADT equipment should be very straighfoward, and the CD-421-US-VZ also looks pretty easy. I just want to make sure I’m not overlooking something.
Finally, should I cancel ADT before or after I do this? I’ve heard stories of panels being disabled.
Yes, the instructions for the Module will be all that is needed for physical installation, it is a pretty straightforward process. If your 12VDC battery is particularly old you may want to replace it at the same time.
In the instructions, ignore the steps regarding account setup, as these are written for dealers. You will be activating your account automatically through our System Manager.
Finally, should I cancel ADT before or after I do this? I’ve heard stories of panels being disabled.
I cannot really give advice regarding cancelling of another service provider but I’ve not really heard of such a tactic being common. If you are concerned you could wait and cancel after. Since you are removing the existing communication equipment and using a new module there is nothing stopping you from just swapping the equipment first.
One of my goals is to expose all of my older Interlogix 319.5 MHz wireless sensors to Hubitat or Homebridge in order to use them for automations. Ironically enough that is working right now using a 3rd party ADT plugin for Homebridge. The only thing I’ve found so far for alarm.com is poorly supported plugin for Hubitat. Unfortunately the plugin doesn’t support sensors, only arming and disarming. Is there any other method that you are aware of that will bring my sensors into Hubitat or Homebridge from alarm.com? I’m asking primarily if this is possible with only the Concord 4 + LTE communicator, but what about with the Qolsys IQ Panel 2+?
I’m not aware of any no. There is no officially supported integration, and I am not aware of third party tools to do such a thing.
319.5 sensors are broadcast devices and multiple receivers could listen to them at once. You might try a hubitat or homebridge forum for details on any potential GE 319.5 receivers that are compatible.
That would be no different for the Qolsys panel. It is not designed to share sensor data with third party devices, just Alarm.com.
I received my CD-421-US-VZ on Friday and installed it with no problems. I’m fully online now with Surety & Alarm.com and functioning 100%. Thank you again for the great assistance!
I’ll go ahead and mention a couple of minor issues that popped up after the installation. The alarm panel started complaining about a bus failure and then a phone line failure. I’m assuming the bus failure was from the ADT Superbus 2000 that I removed. Fortunately I found the solution to both issues with a quick forum search. I simply had to delete the old bus from the panel, as well as the old monitoring and phone line info. Afterwards everything returned to normal.
My account setup is done and monitoring is active, but I do have a question about that. This is more of a Surety web UI oddity question than anything else. Under “Professional Monitoring” there is this screen:
The location phone section says “If you do not have a landline phone, leave this empty.”, but fire dispatch is listed under this section. I am assuming of course that the contacts will be called in the event of a fire alarm, and then the fire dispatch will occur if necessary? That is, the lack of a location phone has no impact on the fire dispatch, even though it is listed in this section?
Also, I was surprised to see the CD-421-US-VZ has Z-Wave! Without the Qolsys panel is there anything I can do with this with the Surety Alarm plan? What about with the Surety Home plan?
Finally, is this firmware message a concern? Everything appears to be working normally.
The location phone section says “If you do not have a landline phone, leave this empty.”, but fire dispatch is listed under this section. I am assuming of course that the contacts will be called in the event of a fire alarm, and then the fire dispatch will occur if necessary? That is, the lack of a location phone has no impact on the fire dispatch, even though it is listed in this section?
By default, the Location number and 2-way voice (if applicable) are contacted prior to fire dispatch. The location of Fire dispatch in the system manager is the correct order.
We can put special instructions on your account to contact cell users prior to fire dispatch. Please send a private message requesting this if you would like to go this route.
Also, I was surprised to see the CD-421-US-VZ has Z-Wave! Without the Qolsys panel is there anything I can do with this with the Surety Alarm plan? What about with the Surety Home plan?
Yes, the Concord modules have a built in Z-wave radio. It is a bit cumbersome to use, there are no controls from the keypads, but you can add automation devices and control them through Alarm.com with an appropriate plan.
You would need Home or Complete for alarm monitoring plus automation.
Finally, is this firmware message a concern? Everything appears to be working normally.
Interesting. It looks like the panel is otherwise communicating and the module is working fine. Can you post a photo of the panel board showing the Concord 4 panel stickers?
If the default action for a site without a location phone is to dispatch fire immediately, I’m ok with that. That is something we never get a false alarm on, and if we are home we will know to cancel. No need for a call. I just wanted to make sure a lack of a number in that location wouldn’t delay a call.
Here is a picture of my Concord 4 panel. Also, one of the stickers on the CD-421-US-VZ says FW: C189-VZ.
Yes, I can see the firmware of the module on our end, the error is referencing the panel firmware.
I’ve not had my hands on one but I am curious if ADT maybe uses custom firmware on the Concord. If that is the case, I am not sure what, if anything might be affected. It otherwise seems to be functioning as expected.
It probably isn’t worth the risk since it’s working fine, but can the firmware be updated?
No, firmware cannot be upgraded on the panel itself.
Minor updates can be applied to a Concord module itself, but not main version upgrades.
