DIY Security Systems Posts

Alarm Grid is excited to announce that we are now selling a brand new security panel, the Qolsys IQ Panel 2. This state-of-the-art system is an excellent option for any DIY user who is looking to get started with home security. The panel offers a sleek and modern look, and it comes fully loaded with everything a new user needs to get an alarm system up and running. It is also very easy to use, and its intuitive programming process makes setting up the system a very simple task.

The IQ Panel 2 is the first-ever system offered on our site to come pre-included with a built-in cellular communicator. This means that an end user won't have to purchase a cellular communicator separately. Users can choose between an AT&T version and a Verizon version of the panel. This has nothing to do with the user's personal cellular service, and we recommend choosing whichever service works better in the area. Both versions provide lightning-fast LTE speeds, which will surely provide a tremendous user experience.

The IQ Panel 2 also comes WIFI ready, allowing the user to take full advantage of the exceptional speed and reliability of a dual-path communication setup. This will definitely come in handy if the system ever needs to communicate out to a central monitoring station. In order to use cellular communication, a user will need to obtain a monitoring plan at either the Gold or Platinum level.

We expect that users will thoroughly enjoy navigating the IQ Panel 2. The system boasts a beautiful, full-color, 7-inch touchscreen display with large and easy to identify buttons and menu options. Our early experience is that new sensors integrate with the system with ease, and the quick learning curve will be appreciated by new users. This truly makes it a great panel for both new users of alarm systems, as well experienced users looking for a new wireless system to get up and running.

The other exciting aspect of the IQ Panel 2 is the amount of features and capabilities that the system is ready to use right out of the box. The panel is Z-Wave ready, making it a fantastic choice for any user who is looking to get started with home automation. It can also sync with the Alarm.com interactive service. This allows users to arm or disarm their IQ Panel 2, check the status of security sensors, and even control Z-Wave devices from virtually anywhere in the world. This is all possible thanks to the Total Connect Mobile App, which is available for free on Android and iOS devices.

A unique aspect of the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 is that it is designed to interface with its own lineup of Qolsys security sensors. These wireless sensors communicate at a frequency of 319.5 MHz, making them compatible exclusively with Qolsys Systems. In addition to standard, uni-directional sensors, Qolsys also offers its S-Line of security products. The S-Line Sensors are fully protected by 128-bit AES encryption, making them impossible to be hacked or taken over by others. This is great for any user who wants to achieve a setup with the strongest level of protection possible. Up to 128 different wireless zones can be used with the system, providing the user with outstanding programming flexibility. Additionally, Qolsys also offers its encrypted Hardwired 16-S, making it easy for users who want to bring older hardwired sensors over to their new Qolsys IQ Panel 2.

The IQ Panel 2 is available for purchase right now on the Alarm Grid website. Now is a better time than ever to upgrade to a brand-new wireless alarm system. Order yours today!

While the recent Honeywell Lyric security system MR3 firmware release brought enhanced functionality and improved performance to the Lyric controller, Honeywell's engineers unearthed a strange occurrence where the Lyric system would send a false APL report after the first system disarm following a system reboot.

Certain conditions had to be met for the false APL alarm to occur. The Lyric Controller had to have a Lyric-3G or Lyric-CDMA cellular communicator installed and activated. Also, the system's arm away, arm stay and disarm reporting had to be disabled (that reporting is on by default and here at Alarm Grid, we always encourage leaving that reporting enabled). As this was a unique anomaly with a very specific and unique configuration that had to be present for it to occur, Honeywell didn't realize the bug until after the MR3 firmware was released. As the firmware causes the panel to reboot once the update was complete, their technical support team quickly heard reports of the phantom APL alarms once the MR3 was released and the engineering team worked quickly to implement a patch fix.

You may have noticed that your Lyric system wasn't allowing you to update to MR3 firmware between when that firmware was released and today. That was because they pulled that firmware back once they uncovered the APL bug.

The new firmware version 01.03.06586.482 which was released today implements the patch fix to the bug and all Lyric controllers should be able to be firmware updated once again.

We encourage all Lyric users (especially those that did get the MR3 firmware update before it was pulled back from Honeywell) to update their system firmware and we've been told Honeywell will start forcing firmware updates to all installed Lyric panels over the coming weeks.

With heavy hearts, we are sorry to announce that the Total Connect 2.0 service, powered by Honeywell, no longer supports the slide show feature.

While most Total Connect 2.0 users probably never even knew this feature existed, it was a pretty cool option for turning a LYNX Touch security system (models L5100, L5200, L5210 and L7000) into a digital picture frame.

From the TC2 Locations module, you could edit the house icon and click on the 'Edit Slide Show' button to upload images to your account from your computer. Honeywell's servers then download to the LYNX Touch system associated with that TC2 account/location (as long as the system had an ILP5 or L5100-WIFI internet communicator installed and online). Once the images were downloaded to the system, you could use the master programming mode (Security > More > Tools > enter Master Code) to go to the Slide Show option and setup your images to display on the panel's touchscreen when the system was sitting idle.

Honeywell indicated that the feature was removed due to "cyber security concerns" and while you can no longer use your LYNX Touch system as a digital picture frame, the new Lyric Controller does still offer the Slide Show feature. You just have to use a USB stick to load the images to the Lyric locally as the feature has been removed from Total Connect 2.0 on all systems. We have an FAQ on how to use the slide show feature on a Lyric system online at https://www.alarmgrid.com/faq/how-does-slide-show-... and if you have a LYNX Touch system now that was using this feature and want to discuss upgrading to a Lyric, we'd be happy to help. You can email us at support@alarmgrid.com or call us M-F 9-9 EST at 888-818-7728.

Last week Honeywell released a new critical firmware update (01.03.06549.482) for the Lyric security system:

The update addressed some known bugs on the system and added enhanced functionality to the system as well.

Improved SiX Performance

The Lyric is Honeywell's newest all-in-one wireless touchscreen security system and while it works with the older Honeywell 5800 wireless sensors, it also works with new SiX Series sensors. The SiX Series sensors are one of the main advantages of the Lyric system as they are bi-directional to the panel and also encrypted on their wireless signaling making them much more reliable and secure compared to the existing 5800 Series sensors.

One of the main improvements the new MR3 firmware provides for the Lyric is improved performance of the SiX devices. Once your Lyric is upgraded to the new firmware, it will proactively check the RF environment throughout the day to ensure all of your SiX devices are on the proper RF channel so that your sensor communications stay consistent even if you are adding new wireless technology to your home.

2Gig Wireless Sensor Support

While most people would use Honeywell 5800 or SiX Series sensors with their Lyric system, the new firmware also unlocks the ability to program 2Gig security sensors to a Lyric. 2Gig is another security system manufacturer and 2Gig systems work with Honeywell 5800 Series sensors and 2Gig sensors. Up until this firmware release, no Honeywell system would work with 2Gig sensors though so now the Lyric allows someone with an existing 2Gig system installed to be able to just change out the main all-in-one wireless panel to a Lyric without having to buy all new sensors as well.

LTE Cellular Communications

Prior to the new firmware, the Lyric supported WIFI communications without any extra modules needed. Also, if someone wanted cellular backup to the WIFI communication path which provides for a more reliable form of alarm communication that still works if and when the internet is offline or unavailable, the Lyric supported the AT&T Lyric-3G communicator and the Verizon Lyric-CDMA communicator. Now, with the new firmware, the Lyric will support LTE cellular communicators as well. We are in beta program for an AT&T LTE module that should be released soon and we expect a Verizon LTE module to be coming as well. LTE is a newer, faster cellular network compared to the networks that the Lyric-3G and Lyric-CDMA communicators use and should provide greater long term longevity if and when AT&T and Verizon ever discontinue their respective HSPA and CDMA-1X networks.

Solved LKP500 Keypad Bugs

While you can control the Lyric system from the Lyric touchscreen and from mobile devices, the system also supports a wireless keypad called the LKP500:

The addition of an LKP500 (or multiple LKP500s as the Lyric supports up to 8 wireless keypads) provides another fixed spot in the home that you can arm and disarm your system from as well as being able to see system status and hear zone chime alerts. Unfortunately, there was a known issue where the zone assigned to an LKP500 keypad would report a low battery even when no low battery problem existed. Honeywell has solved that issue and the fix is part of the MR3 firmware release. While Honeywell didn't have documents issues on another issue with the LKP500, we did have a small number of users also report a high pitched tone emanating from the LKP500 when arming to stay mode, during the exit delay countdown. This issue seems to have been solved with the latest firmware release as well.

General Bug Fixes

In addition to the enhancements detailed above, the new MR3 firmware also addressed some other Lyric system bugs that Honeywell didn't detail so we encourage all Lyric system users to update to the latest firmware even if none of the improvements listed above matter to you.

How to Update Firmware

You can request a firmware upgrade by asking the company that monitors your Lyric to send the firmware down remotely or you can run the firmware update yourself by pressing Security > Tools and entering your system's Installer Code followed by hitting Update firmware. Once you hit the Update firmware button, we suggest backing out to the home screen and then waiting a while for it to process. Once it's done, the system should reboot and then you can confirm by pressing Security > Tools > enter Master Code > Advanced > System Information and verifying that the Rev. number on the top line shows the latest firmware version (01.03.06549.482).

Your Lyric system does need to be on a certain version to have the option to update from the panel so if you can access programming mode but you don't see the Update firmware option, your system will need to be updated remotely by your alarm monitoring company.

We applaud Honeywell for continuing to enhance the functionality of the Lyric system and we are excited about even more enhancements that should be coming with future firmware updates as well.

The L7000 kit is the winner of ESX's "Best in Show" in 2014, is being reduced in price. The most popular security system we have sold to date, the L7000 is head and shoulders above the rest. It's large screen supports up to 4 cameras, all the security functions of its high quality predecessors, and a number of robust Z-Wave home automation cameras to boot.

The standalone L7000 unit is now priced $102 cheaper than it was for a 36% reduction in price, while most of the kits are now between 4 and 7% cheaper. In all the savings are pretty excellent, and we're proud to be able to bring them to you. Below is the price chart showing our old price, and our new prices.

For those trying to decide whether to go with an L7000 or an L5200, we have a simple little chart detailing the differences between the two panels. While the L5200 is going to be about $50 cheaper than the L7000, these new prices are bringing it in line with the less powerful unit which might be a great reason to get the L7000 instead of the L5200 even if you don't need all the incredible features of the L7000 immediately or ever. The big screen might be enough to entice you.

The lyric, which will be released sometime during this quarter (we're told) will be our premier, more expensive security system (for updates, you can sign up for our mailing list). So this price reduction should allow users who maybe don't want to pay as much for a