Why Did Honeywell Discontinue the 4GL and Replace it w/ the 3GL?

Honeywell discontinued the 4GL and replaced it with the 3GL to avoid confusion. What really happened is that Honeywell sold a communicator called the 4GL, but they changed its name to the 3GL to eliminate confusion. Both the 4GL and the 3GL names refer to the exact same communicator.

Honeywell released the 4GL to serve as a 3G cellular communicator for their LYNX Touch Series Systems. The device connects a Honeywell LYNX Touch System with the AT&T 3G Network for monitoring service. But with a name like "4GL", most users mistakenly thought it worked with the AT&T 4G Network. This was not the case, as the module communicated across the AT&T 3G Network. In an effort to avoid customer confusion, Honeywell officially changed the name of the communicator to the 3GL.

The Honeywell 3GL has since been discontinued, and it is no longer in production. However, existing 3GL modules will continue to work as long as the AT&T 3G Network remains in service. Unfortunately, this network is eventually going to be shut down in favor of the newer 4G LTE and 5G networks. Once that happens, the 3GL will no longer work. Additionally, these module can no longer activated for monitoring service. See our blog post on the AT&T 3G Sunset for more information.

For the Honeywell L5200, L5210 and L7000 Systems, the 3GL has effectively been replaced by the Honeywell LTE-L57A, which connects with the AT&T 4G LTE Network. The L5200, L5210 or L7000 must be running Firmware Version 9.00.209 or higher to support this module. For the older LYNX Touch Systems, there are currently no new cellular communicators available. The best option for these users is usually to upgrade to a newer alarm panel for cellular communication. A good upgrade option for LYNX Touch users is the Honeywell Lyric Controller.