I have a 2GIG GC3 panel that I am not happy with as the ZWAVE functionality is way too limiting. It appears that the QOLSYS IQ2 panel is much more functional.
I have a Homeseer that I use as a SECONDARY controller, but the 2GIG will reset itself periodically and then go into a condition where it will continually reset each night and clear out all of the lock codes. I have worked with my local technician and they say nothing can be done other than to exclude the secondary and even that doesn’t work sometimes and I have had to reset twice and reregister my 55 devices (my entire house).
Power outage last week set it off again and I am officially done with 2GIG GC3 panel.
I am also a techy guy and computer nerd so I think DIY can work well for me as long as there is central monitoring.
Question: I have 2 gig smoke detectors and motions. I also have a hardwire wireless that was installed to connect the contacts from the previous hardwired system. I have been told that the new QOL panels will talk to these devices and I won’t need to replace anything other than the panel, but wanted to confirm before I purchase?
I have a 2GIG GC3 panel that I am not happy with as the ZWAVE functionality is way too limiting. It appears that the QOLSYS IQ2 panel is much more functional.
I have a Homeseer that I use as a SECONDARY controller, but the 2GIG will reset itself periodically and then go into a condition where it will continually reset each night and clear out all of the lock codes.
Unfortunately we have heard of difficulty using Homeseer as an additional controller in a Z-wave network. In this instance I would caution that the IQ Panel 2 will likely not have an overall improved experience as far as that goes.
The issue that was seen previously is that Homeseer was not successfully passing secure network keys and secure enrollment of the locks was not successful in the alarm control panel. This will cause problems with functionality.
If you are seeing issues where lock code slots are being erased this is likely due to Homeseer, GC3, and Alarm.com being out of sync (they will never be in sync as Homeseer cannot communicate with ADC). It sounds like you would be creating codes through one system and the other deletes them during a sync because they are not present in the other system.
For the best chance at success I would suggest sending all codes through Alarm.com and not using Homeseer to set user codes in locks, if possible. If secure enrollment was not successful you may not be able to.
I have 2 gig smoke detectors and motions. I also have a hardwire wireless that was installed to connect the contacts from the previous hardwired system. I have been told that the new QOL panels will talk to these devices and I won’t need to replace anything other than the panel, but wanted to confirm before I purchase?
Yes and no. There is a version of the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 which will support 345Mhz sensors, in addition to skus supporting 433 and 319.5 along with Power G sensors. However according to Qolsys these will all be different skus and the radios are not sold separately, and afaik they are not yet available. I believe they were expected later this year.
The Qolsys IQ Panel 2 sold by suretyDIY currently is the 319.5 mhz version first released. The current panel does not have 345 mhz capability. To use 2GIG sensors with the IQ Panel 2 here, you would need a wireless translator like the RE524X.
One caveat to that is that life safety devices like Smoke Detectors and CO detectors cannot be translated and must be replaced with Qolsys/GE versions.
Is there a ZWAVE controller that does work well with 2GIG and/or QOLSYS AND ALARM.COM?
To clarify, no Z-wave controller other than the alarm panel will directly work with Alarm.com.
Using a different controller provides a parallel network that can take advantage of a bit wider array of Z-wave devices or automation like IFTTT. However it does not add any capability to the alarm panel or ADC. It is truly parallel.
The alarm panel would be the Secondary controller in the network. All devices would be learned into the primary - then pairing the alarm panel to the primary controller will share the compatible node information.