IQ Panel 2 vs IQ Panel 2 Plus Alarm Systems

[ALARM GRID INTRO SOUND] Hi, DIYers. I'm Jorge from Alarm Grid. Today, I'm going to be going over the main differences of the IQ 2 and the IQ 2 plus. So the very first thing that distinguishes these IQ 2 systems is that the IQ 2 plus actually has PowerG built in. So what is PowerG? PowerG is a different kind of sensor that DSC manufactures. And with the actual IQ 2 plus-- because that's the one that has the PowerG data board card built in, you can use PowerG sensors at a maximum range of 2000 feet. And then if you add a repeater, you can even extend that to about 4,000 feet. Now PowerG, if you use it with a Neo panel, they have been said that they can transmit at 2 kilometers, and then adding a repeater, four kilometers. So it's just something to keep in mind. With the IQ 2 plus, the PowerG sensors are rated to work out about 2000 feet. With a repeater, it would be 4,000 feet. Now, that is the IQ 2 plus. The IQ 2 does not have PowerG built in. The IQ 2 just as the normal 319.5 megahertz receiver, which means it will work with QOLSYS sensors, the S-Line sensors, and the Interlogix sensors. Now the IQ 2 plus, on top of having the PowerG data board card built in, it also has another legacy card built in. So there's actually three different flavors to the IQ 2 plus. There is the IQ 2 plus with PowerG, and the QOLSYS, Legacy and Interlogix, so it would support S-line and 319.5 megahertz frequency sensors. There's the IQ 2 plus with PowerG and Honeywell and 2GIG data board card built it. That means it supports that 345 megahertz frequency. And then there's the IQ 2 plus with PowerG and DSC sensors, which means it supports 433 megahertz receiver. So there's the three different flavors. Now this is obviously comes in handy if you guys have pre-existing sensors in the house that maybe Honeywell, DSC, Interlogix, whatever it is. If you guys have these exisiting sensors in the house and you guys want to use them, you just have to make sure you get the correct IQ 2 plus. Now if you have Honeywell or DSC sensors, that's probably when you would need the IQ 2 plus. If you guys have normal Honeywell sensors, you guys can get the no-- I'm sorry. If you guys have normal QOLSYS or Interlogix sensors, you can always get the normal IQ 2. But then if you want to add PowerG, you want to make sure you get the IQ 2 plus. Now the panels are pretty much the same in every other way though. They all support 242 user codes. They all support 128 wireless zones. They all support Z Wave plus. They all come in either AT&T LTE or Verizon LTE. They all also are multi-partition systems. So partition is if you want to separate a group of zones individually from the rest of your alarm system. So if you have an office in your house and you want to independently armed out from the rest of your system, you can set that as a partition. The IQ 2 and the IQ 2 plus both support up to four partitions. One other thing about the IQ 2 and the IQ 2 plus is that they both use alarm.com service. So if you guys are looking at getting these systems monitored or even self monitored, meaning, you only have access to the application only, and then it's up to you to contact the authorities, we do have self monitoring and monitoring plans. But they both require alarm.com. They both connect to the alarm servers, and that's what you would use to actually control your system from your phone. And that's what the system would report to in the event of an alarm. Now both systems also have Wi-Fi built in. So they can actually connect to your Wi-Fi, as well as a cellular connection. And basically, it would be using both communication paths to send out any alarm signals in case of an alarm. Now one thing about the IQ 2 and the IQ 2 plus is that they can use image sensors. However, there's some weird things with image sensors, right? So if you have a normal IQ 2 and you're looking at adding the alarm.com image sensors, you need to add the image sensor data board card that needs to go into the system. If you guys have a system that's using PowerG, the IQ 2 plus, you guys can also use alarm.com image sensors or you can use PowerG image sensors. They pretty much both do the exact same thing. Image sensor is basically a motion sensor with a built in camera. When is the text motion, it takes a still picture, and it sends it to the panel. And it also sends it to the alarm.com application. Now the caveat I was talking about was, if you have a PowerG, an IQ 2 plus, and you're looking at using an alarm.com image sensor, the PowerG data board card and the image sensor data board card can be installed. There's enough slots for all of them. But the only thing is, the antenna that it uses both the PowerG and the alarm.com image sensor data board card use the same antenna. So if you guys have an IQ 2 plus and you end up getting a data board card for the alarm.com image sensors, you need to pick and choose which data board card you're going to use the antenna for. Now what this is going to mean for you guys, is if you're using PowerG for the range to do the 2000 feet, you're not going to get the 2000 feet if you switch the antenna to the alarm.com image sensor on you're data board card. You actually-- it's going to drop down to about three feet. So 2000 feet to three feet. It's going to be quite a difference. So make sure that you guys are planning on using the alarm.com image sensors and you're using that data board card, you might as well just get a normal IQ 2. There's no reason to get the IQ 2 plus. Again, unless you have wireless Honeywell or DSC sensors, then you kind of need the IQ 2 plus. And then at that-- yes, then you need the IQ 2 plus, which uses PowerG, and then also has that Legacy data board card. But then you don't need the alarm.com image sensors. You can just get the PowerG image sensors. So there's the ways to work around it. I'm just making sure that you guys are aware that if you guys do plan on having PowerG and the alarm.com image sensor, you're going to have to pick and choose which one you want to use the antenna on. Now the main selling point for the IQ 2 plus is PowerG. PowerG is what makes the IQ 2 plus an IQ 2 plus. It's what adds that-- it's what adds that plus at the very end. So basically, if you guys aren't planning on using PowerG, there's no reason for you guys to get an IQ 2 plus. You can always try to find an IQ 2. Again, everyone loves the range. It's a lot safer. The other cool thing about PowerG is that it's fully encrypted. It's 128-bit AES advanced encryption standard. So you guys will actually have fully encrypted sensors if you guys use PowerG. I always recommend PowerG to everyone. They're probably some of the best sensors out there. They're also pretty much within the same price range as the other sensors. So it's a win-win for you guys. But again, if you guys aren't planning on using PowerG, or if you guys aren't planning on taking over any Honeywell or DSC sensors, then you guys don't need to be-- no need to buy the IQ 2 plus. You can just buy the normal IQ 2. If you guys have any other questions about the IQ 2 or the IQ 2 plus, feel free to send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. Also, if you're interested in monitoring, feel free to contact us as well. We do monitor IQ 2 plus systems and offer alarm.com support. And a lot of free technical support as well to all of our monitored customers. If you find the video helpful, make sure you hit Like underneath. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon to enable notification. So when we upload new content like this, you guys get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.