As long as they carry the Alarm.com insignia on their homepage (check it out, it’s there) I would imagine the burden of compatability lies with Skybell.
No where on their official website does it mention a separate ADC model.
If they are worth buying from, then surely they would provide firmware updates (or downgrades) as needed to assure compatability with their partners.
That having been said, I have an email to them confirming that the version on their website will work with ADC, and have heard nothing back.
No where on their official website does it mention a separate ADC model.
Yes, Skybell HD Alarm.com branded versions exist (we sell them).
These are meant for use with Alarm.com and come in Alarm.com packaging. The foggy part is still whether they always use a base version of firmware or if there are firmware changes.
As long as they carry the Alarm.com insignia on their homepage (check it out, it’s there) I would imagine the burden of compatability lies with Skybell.
I agree that their marketing is confusing at best - if a consumer goes to the Skybell website and sees Alarm.com compatibility, it’s not unreasonable to think that the version they buy from that same website would be a version with Alarm.com compatibility.
Poor marketing aside, this is the way of the world when dealing with proprietary integrations as opposed to standards. The burden is on everyone and no one to make sure products work with each other. Contrast this is something like Z-Wave, where instead of doing custom integrations with arbitrarily many proprietary solutions there is only ONE standard to adhere to. That said, the functions that something like Skybell does are arguably not covered under existing standards, so to push the envelope with functionality is it often necessary to implement proprietary solutions at some point.
For what it’s worth Alarm.com has done a deeper integration here than any of the other Skybell partners, as far as I can tell. For example Honeywell users must create a Skybell.com account and link it to their Honeywell account - for Alarm.com users no separate Skybell.com account is required.
I call bogus on the “separate” or “non-compatable” version. Perhaps with older firmwares it was that way but they seem to have converged now, no?
The hardware is the same as far as I can tell, but I can confirm as of maybe six weeks ago that you could not connect a Skybell with “generic” firmware to Alarm.com - it would not load the custom firmware, and at that time Skybell said this was expected behavior.
Ben, and you provide more details? You are saying that you bought the skybell directly from skybell.com and never installed the skybell app nor paired the doorbell to the app, and that it wouldn’t allow you to integrate with ADC?
Skybell has confirmed to me that the newest fw is 1104. That is what current doorbells will ship with.
Jason and others have confirmed that adc uses fw 1104. H20 has confirmed full integration with ADC.
What Jason (not me, the other one) has suggested is that in the future retail doorbells from skybell might come with an upgraded firmware that will not integrate with ADC.
At the current time (and with the current $60 promo) I think that is a moot point. My theory is that the retail Skybell that I ordered 2 days ago will integrate fully with ADC.
Could future fw updates ruin that? Well yes. And it could ruin your adc version. Tech support at skybell has suggested to me that if you took your alarm.com branded skybell and paired it with their native app, it could override the alarm.com firmware at any point with an updated retail firmware that ADC might not support.
If this is truly the case I think that a firm warning to ALL purchasers of the ADC version would be warranted. Lacking that the retailer would almost be obligated to provide you with a firmware changing tool or a replacement camera.
If I were SuretyDIY and any other retailer, I would demand that such a tool be available either to me the retailer or to my end customer to limit the number of RMAS.
Could you imagine me buying a Microsoft Windows computer from Amazon, that if I take the Microsoft official updates, no longer let’s me access the Amazon echosphere?
Could future fw updates ruin that? Well yes. And it could ruin your adc version. Tech support at skybell has suggested to me that if you took your alarm.com branded skybell and paired it with their native app, it could override the alarm.com firmware at any point with an updated retail firmware that ADC might not support.
We’re not referring to future firmware updates for a device that is already installed.
We are referring to the firmware that is included on the shipped unit. A retail unit may ship with firmware not yet supported by ADC (Analogous to the Schlage example)
If this is truly the case I think that a firm warning to ALL purchasers of the ADC version would be warranted. Lacking that the retailer would almost be obligated to provide you with a firmware changing tool or a replacement camera.
If I were SuretyDIY and any other retailer, I would demand that such a tool be available either to me the retailer or to my end customer to limit the number of RMAS
It is important to know the issue at hand, a big reason why we keep our tech support open and searchable.
However, flashing unsupported firmware on a device would not be a warranty or RMA situation (unless instructed as part of troubleshooting by the manufacturer or something) I’m definitely on board that clearer expectation would be better for the user. Take extreme caution if you choose to switch from ADC to Skybell native app. Again, we recommend if you are going to use Alarm.com to use an Alarm.com branded version, but we do not require our users to purchase any equipment from us. You are free to choose. As always, we appreciate feedback.
Could you imagine me buying a Microsoft Windows computer from Amazon, that if I take the Microsoft official updates, no longer let’s me access the Amazon echosphere?
Perhaps a closer example would be flashing the latest Android on a Kindle Fire.
Ben, and you provide more details? You are saying that you bought the skybell directly from skybell.com and never installed the skybell app nor paired the doorbell to the app, and that it wouldn’t allow you to integrate with ADC?
No - I bought an Alarm.com version of the Skybell, and as a troubleshooting step they had me connect it directly to the Skybell app, which loads the Skybell firmware. After we did this it could not be reconnected to Alarm.com, though I don’t remember the specific error.
Could future fw updates ruin that? Well yes. And it could ruin your adc version.
I think (the other) Jason’s point is that ADC is protecting against this by controlling the firmware.
Tech support at skybell has suggested to me that if you took your alarm.com branded skybell and paired it with their native app, it could override the alarm.com firmware at any point with an updated retail firmware that ADC might not support.
That’s exactly what happened when I did just that several weeks ago.
If this is truly the case I think that a firm warning to ALL purchasers of the ADC version would be warranted. Lacking that the retailer would almost be obligated to provide you with a firmware changing tool or a replacement camera.
They did provide me with a replacement camera, at their expense.
Could you imagine me buying a Microsoft Windows computer from Amazon, that if I take the Microsoft official updates, no longer let’s me access the Amazon echosphere?
This actually happens plenty! I’ve been in IT for years and we would test any major new OS update against all important company software before rolling it out. This is one of the reasons some companies were (are?) still on Windows XP years after it became obsolete.
This thread is getting a little philosophical though - I think the best thing to do is to try your Skybell with ADC when you get it and report back as to whether it works
This thread is getting a little philosophical though – I think the best thing to do is to try your Skybell with ADC when you get it and report back as to whether it works
We would appreciate updates from users who choose the retail version.
Retail Skybell HD arrived today. I wired it to a 12V DC wall-wart via a 12 ohm 12 Watt resistor per skybell’s wiring instructions (for bench testing).
It’s blinking red and green for me but my alarm.com account doesn’t show video doorbells anywhere (just my other two ADC cameras). I assume that means SuretyDIY needs to turn that feature on for me?
Looks like I might not be doing much more with it until Monday if that is the case…
Red/green means it’s in pairing mode. Fire up the ADC app, go to Doorbell Cameras, choose add a doorbell camera and follow the instructions. If you have video enabled on your account I don’t think they need to do anything else.
Yes, Doorbell Cam access is not enabled by default if you have existing Cloud Video service, you can email customerservice@suretyDIY.com to activate it. I’ve had it enabled for you. You may need to log out and log back into the app to see the change.
What is the benefit of using the Skybell instead of a normal doorbell plus a dedicated camera above the door. My wife is particularly concerned about the angle of vision of the Skybell (mounted at the usual height of a doorbell, about bellybutton height to me) and the ease with which it could simply be knocked off with a hammer. Any thought/opinions would be appreciated.
What is the benefit of using the Skybell instead of a normal doorbell plus a dedicated camera above the door
Live interaction. You can get cameras with two way audio to approximate the same thing, but it practice the process would be too slow to be useful (get notification that doorbell is pressed, find and launch camera app, bring up appropriate camera, initiate two way audio, person at the door is now gone). With a video doorbell when the doorbell rings you can be placed in a live “call” with the doorbell with one swipe.
If all you want is a camera and not two way, then a separate camera is better.
I still don’t understand all the cap about needing an ADC version as my retail version works great.
The concern was that out of the box it may not have appropriate firmware. If it already connected fine at the start then it would not be a concern for that Bell going forward
