Honeywell L5000: How to Tell if Your LYNX is an L5000

Hi DIYers, Sterling with Alarm Grid here, and today, we're going to show you the differences between all of the different Honeywell LYNX Touch wireless security systems. We have all of the different versions that Honeywell has released and has yet to release showing here. We're going to show you the differences so that if you moved into a house that has a LYNX Touch, you can identify which one is there. Then, we're going to talk about the different features of each so you can evaluate whether or not you need to upgrade one you have. Or, if you're looking to purchase your first LYNX Touch system, you can decide which one is right for you.

We're going to start left to right, oldest to newest. This system is the L5000. It was the very first touch screen all-in-one wireless system released by Honeywell. While it's a LYNX Touch, it lacks a lot of the cool features that some of the newer versions have. But, it is still a very good panel. You can do wireless sensors with all of these systems because, again, as an all-in-one wireless system it is a control panel, a touch screen keypad, a wireless receiver, and a siren all built into this one unit. These units can be wall mounted or desk mounted, so whatever's easier for you. And, they work with all of the Honeywell 5800 series wireless devices.

To identify which LYNX Touch you have, we're just going to briefly describe visually how you can tell. The L5000 has the gray screen, or rather the gray around the screen, which is very similar to the L5100, the first version of the L5100. You can see that these two have the gray. The way to tell if you have an L5000 or an L5100 is to look at the four touch buttons at the bottom of the panel. If the buttons have words Panic, Away, Off, and Home , then you have an L5000. If the buttons just have the symbols , same buttons but just with the symbols , you have the L5100. Now, if your panel's all white then you have the newer L5100 or the newest L5200.

Coming back to the L5000, you'll notice that our screen keeps timing out. That is a feature. It's a keypad backlight timeout. We're using that to demonstrate one of the biggest disadvantages of the L5000. With the L5100 and up, there is a backdoor programming method. If you do not have your installer code, you are able to backdoor into the panel so that you can access the programming, change the installer code, and use the system. That's a very key disadvantage because if you were to move into a home and this system is on your wall, you've identified it with the buttons with the wording on the bottom. If you do not have the installer code because the system was ever monitored in the past and that company that was doing the monitoring changed the installer code, which is a very common practice with regular full service security companies, there is no way to access this system.

You will not be able to change the code to arm and disarm. You will not be able to have another company come in and monitor this system because, again, there is no backdoor programming method. Another thing this system doesn't do is a reboot through the panel programming. To power this system down, you would have to pop it open, disconnect the battery, and disconnect the transformer to get it powered down. The backdoor programming method, which we have a video , it's the L5100 locked out of programming video, shows you how powering down and then hitting a sequence of buttons upon power up will get you into programming. That procedure will not work on this system. So, if you've tried that and you can't get in, most likely, you have the L5000.

Some other key disadvantages, this one does not do wifi communications, whereas the rest of the LYNX Touches do. And, the cellular communicator that works with this system is not 3G or 4G capable. What that means is that it works on the older AT&T 2G network, and therefore that network which AT&T has announced will be going away by the end of 2016 at the latest. The communicator that works with this one will stop working at that point. Whereas, the cellular communicators that work with these units are 2G, 3G, 4G capable so much more future proof. Basically, this was the original one. Great little unit because it was the first touch screen on the market, but has some key disadvantages.

The last disadvantage is that it does not do home automation. There is no Z-Wave module that you can add to this panel to integrate lights, locks, or thermostats. They did make a 5800 Z bridge which was a precursor to the Z-Wave module, allowed you to do some thermostat control, but very limited and more clunky, and harder to set up than the EZ Z-Wave module that goes with all the rest of the panels. So, our recommendation, if you have this unit for the communication path alone, you should upgrade to one of the newer panels. But, if you just need it to work as a local system, very good system. Works with all the Honeywell sensors.