What Happens to the Gateway If My Internet Goes Down?

The Lyric Gateway is the latest all-in-one system released by Honeywell. With many of the same features as the Lyric Controller, without the built-in touchscreen interface, it can be a more affordable alternative. You can see a comparison between the two here. Because the Gateway doesn’t have a programming interface, a monitoring account is required to set up and program the Lyric Gateway, before it can be used.

The Gateway has 3 communication paths available, two of which can be used in conjunction with one another. There is a hardwired Ethernet port (RJ45) available on the back of the Gateway. With it, you can run a hardwired connection from the Gateway to a port on an available router. There is also a WIFI interface, which can be configured from a smart device. You can see detailed instructions for that here. As a backup to one of the network options, or as a stand alone if no network is available, you can add either the AT&T or Verizon cellular communicator. These are cartridge style modules that slide into place through the expansion port available at the top of the Lyric Gateway. With either Ethernet and Cellular, or WIFI and Cellular, the system is configured for Dual Path communication, meaning if the primary path (Ethernet or WIFI) goes down, the Gateway will automatically switch to the secondary path (Cellular). Because the Gateway has its own backup battery, even in the event of an AC power failure, the system would still be able to communicate, assuming cellular service in the area had not been compromised.

With a single path enabled, be it Ethernet, WIFI, or Cellular, if that path is interrupted, due to ISP issues, power issues, cell tower issues, or anything else that might keep the Lyric Gateway from communicating via this path, the system will not be able to communicate alarm signals beyond making noise and displaying locally.

So, if you had the Lyric Gateway configured for Ethernet or WIFI only, and the Internet connection went down, the system would eventually display a trouble at the panel, but it would have no way to communicate this trouble, or any other signals including alarms, to anyone offsite. When the internet connection came back online, the system would report a restore of the primary communication path if central station monitoring is enabled.