Communicators That Are Compatible With the Interlogix Simon XTi-5i

Hi, DIYers. I'm Jorge from Alarm Grid. Today, we're going to be going over which communicators are compatible with the Simon XTi-5i. This is an inner logic panel. The communicators that will work with this system are going to be the inner logics 600-1048 communicators and the alarm.com XT-511 communicators. Now if you're using the inner logic 600-1048 communicators, you need to make sure that the actual firmware version on the communicator is running firmware version 191 C. We're going to get into that in a second because they're a little bit of caveats and things that we can try to work, if you guys are using a used communicator. So we're going to get into that after we talk about the alarm.com communicators. All right. One important thing that will help you while you're watching this video is if you look into the description of this video, there's going to be an FAQ link to the video that will have a list of all the communicators that I'm going to be going over, and a list of all the firmware numbers and little caveats that I was talking about with the inner logic 600-1048 communicators that will help you guys basically look back on in case you forgot or missed anything. So I'm going to go ahead and grab my tablet here. I'm going to pull up the FAQ so you guys can follow with me. So the first thing I want to go ahead and get into if you click on that FAQ, it's going to be the alarm.com communicator. So these alarm.com communicators are probably going to be the best for the Simon XTi-5i. You don't have to worry about the firmware version. Every single one of these alarm communicators here will work with your Simon XTi-5i. Now, the alarm.com communicators, they come in two different kinds of communication paths. There's three that are cellular based only. So we have AT&T, Verizon, and we have Telus. Telus is if you're in Canada. Now, these communicators are going to be all LTE based. For those of you out there who are wondering why is LTE the only option available right now or why do you guys only list LTE, well there are 3G, 4G, and CDMA communicators out there that you may have that may still be functioning. But as of October of 2019, alarm.com put a stop to allowing 3G and 4G and CDMA activations because they're actually shutting down all of those cellular towers pretty soon. There is not an exact date yet, but there are going to be shutting down within the next one or two years. So it's just something to keep in mind as to why we recommend only LTE communicators and why in the FAQ, you're only going to see LTE. So if you scroll down here, you're going to see that these alarm.com communicators we have an AT&T, Verizon and Telus. And they're all LTE. Like I said, they don't require any specific firmware version. They simply plug and play. You plug them into your system. They're good to go. Now, the dual path communicators. Just something to keep in mind. Dual path means it's running cellular and internet. Now, the internet is not Wi-Fi. So if you are going to get the dual path communicators, just make sure that you guys basically can run an ethernet cable from your router to the actual device, which is going to be installed in the actual system itself. So wherever you guys have the system located, the communicator is going to be on the inside of the system. And you want to make sure that you can run an ethernet cable from your router to that communicator. Now, dual path communicators are probably some of the best. The reason why is because it uses the internet as the primary because of the faster speeds usually, and then LTE is usually the backup communicator. So if the internet ever goes down, your cellular continues to work. Now when you guys are getting these set up, just know that if you buy a dual path communicator and you're going with alarm.com, you can't just use an internet path only. I know a lot of you are like well, but it's dual path. Alarm.com only has cellular based plans. So even though the communicator is a dual path communicator, it is still required to have the cellular activated as a backup. So if you're paying for the cellular, it might as well be activated. Next, I want to go ahead and get into the inner logic 600-1048 series communicators. When I was telling you earlier about the firmware and needing to be 191 C, that is only for the Simon XTi-5i panel that the communicator has to be on that firmware version. If you guys have any older Simon XT panels, XTi and XTi-5 the normal ones, these inner logics communicators should work without having to worry about the firmware version on the communicator. Now to check the firmware on the communicator, you actually have to give the monitoring company or whatever company you're deciding to go with. If you want to check with us, we can actually get the serial number, the IMEI number, the MEID number. Whatever unique identifier of the communicator has, we can look up on alarm.com and we can check the firmware from there. Now the little caveats that I wanted to go in and talk about were what if the panel isn't running firmware-- or what if the communicator isn't running firmware version 191 C? If the communicator is below that, but if it's in between 189 A, as you see here in the FAQ, to 191, there might still be a chance that we can activate it. The reason why is if you're using a older communicator that has any of the firmware version between 189 A to 191, you can install it into your Simon XTI 5I. We can activate it from alarm.com and then, we can actually push down the new firmware 191 C to the communicator over the air. Now that's only for the communicators that are in between 189 A to 191. If it's below 189 A, you can still install it into the Simon XTI 5 and we can still activate it, but it won't actually work. We won't be able to send the firmware version over the air. Alarm.com won't allow it. So this is something to keep in mind whenever you guys are shopping for communicators through Amazon, or eBay, or whenever you guys are buying used communicators. Something to keep in mind about the firmware version. You might get one that's really old and then, you wouldn't be able to use it. All right. When you buy a communicator from us, Alarm Grid, we are selling the newer communicators so you don't have to worry about getting an old style communicator when you buy from us. It's going to come with the latest firmware on the actual communicator itself. Now let's go ahead and get into the actual communicators for the inner logics for the ones that inner logics makes. They only have cellular base communicators. So if you scroll down to the bottom of the FAQ, you're going to see they have an AT&T, Verizon, and Telus LTE. Again, all LTE communicators. We're not going to sell you something that cannot be activated right now. So that's why you're only going to see those. Now if you guys have an inner logic panel, they actually stopped manufacturing the systems. But this doesn't mean that your panel is obsolete. It can still be used. It can still be monitored. It's still a perfect functioning alarm system and we will still be more than happy to monitor it for you, and get it activated, and support it. You guys just want to make sure that you're getting a communicator for it so that it can be activated. And if you get any one of these communicators that we discussed that are in the FAQ, we should be able to activate it on any one of our alarm.com plans. Now remember as I said, alarm.com only has cellular based plans. So when you guys are getting these communicators, make sure you're signing up for a plan that will include the cellular service. So what happens if you're Simon XTi, or Simon XTi-5, Simon XT, Simon XTi-5i stops working? The panel dies, the house gets struck by lightning and fries your system, somebody breaks the panel. What can you do? Well, if you're planning on getting a new system, you don't actually have to replace all your inner logic sensors. There is a panel out there that will actually work with your existing sensors and that's called the QOLSYS panel IQ 2 or the QOLSYS panel IQ 2 plus. If you're getting the IQ 2 plus, if you just get the normal one that has a 319.5 megahertz receiver, the inner logic sensors actually transmit 319.5 megahertz. So if you guys are looking for a new panel because yours stopped working, you can actually buy one of the closest panels and you can still get a monitored with alarm.com. These panels come with the cellular communicators built in. And if you want more information, you can also contact us as well. Now, if you guys have any other questions about the communicators for your Simon XTi-5i, if you guys have any other Simon XT inner logic panels that you're looking at getting monitored and you need help finding a communicator for it, please feel free to send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. If you find found the video helpful, make sure you hit like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon so whenever we upload new content you guys get notified. I'm Jorge and I'll see you guys next time.