Honeywell 5800MINI vs Honeywell SiXMINICT

The Honeywell 5800 MINI and the Honeywell SiXMINICT are both compact surface-mount door and window contacts. They are both similar sensors from Honeywell, and they operate in roughly the same manner. However, there are some important differences between these devices in how they communicate.

At first glance, the 5800MINI and the SiXMINICT contacts are very similar. They are both wireless door and window contacts. They are about the same size, and they both consist of a sensor and a magnet. The sensor is placed on the door or window frame. The magnet is placed on the door or window itself, within about a half inch of the sensor. When the door or window is opened, the magnet will separate from the sensor. This will cause the internal reed switch inside the sensor to activated. When this happens a wireless signal will be sent to the security system to let it know about the faulted zone. Both sensors are placed on the outside of a door or window, and both can be installed with screws or double-sided sticky tape.

However, while their functionality is performance is remarkably similar, the sensors differ in two key ways. These two differences are panel compatibility and wireless communication method. The 5800MINI is part of Honeywell's 5800 Series of wireless sensors. It communicates with a security panel using wireless RF communication at a frequency of 345 MHz. This allows the sensor to function with any Honeywell or 2GIG panel. This means that the 5800MINI will work with any Honeywell VISTA (with an added wireless receiver), Honeywell LYNX Touch, Honeywell Lyric Controller, 2GIG GC2 and the 2GIG GC3. All of these systems are compatible with 345 MHz wireless sensors like the 5800MINI. Finally, the signals sent by the 5800MINI are not encrypted or protected in any way.

Meanwhile, the SiXMINICT is part of Honeywell's SiX Series of wireless sensors. It communicates using 2.4 GHz RF communication. The contact is only compatible with the Honeywell Lyric Controller, and it will not work with any other type of alarm system. However, the main selling point of the SiXMINICT is that it's signals are fully protected by 128-bit AES encryption. This means that any time a command is sent from the sensor to the Lyric system, the system must then in turn send a response signal back to the SiXMINICT for the command to go through. This is often referred to as a "digital handshake", and it ensures that the SiXMINICT cannot be spoofed by potential hackers.

As for size, the 5800MINI measures in at 1"W x 2.2"H x 0.25"D. The SiXMINICT measures 1.25"W x 2.44"H x 0.45"D.