Setting Up WIFI & Cell on a Qolsys IQ Panel 2

Hi, DIY-ers. I'm Jorge from AlarmGrid. Today, I'm going to be going over whether or not you can setup Wi-Fi as a primary communication path and cellular as a backup communication path on the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 and the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus. So to start off, the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 actually comes with the Wi-Fi communicator built in and the cellular communicator built in, whether it's AT&T or Verizon. And when you have the system monitored, what the system actually does, unlike most systems that use Wi-Fi as a primary and then cellular as a backup just because Wi-Fi is always going to be faster, what the IQ 2 and the IQ 2 Plus actually do is they send out the signal simultaneously on both paths. So the signal, whenever, let's say an alarm goes off, a door opens, any signal that is sent out by the panel, it's sent out through both the Wi-Fi and through the cellular path at the same time. Whichever one Alarm.com receives first, that's the one that it's going to use. So basically, whatever signal loses, whatever signal comes in last, is just going to be discarded, it's going to be ignored by the Alarm.com servers because it already received the signal on either the Wi-Fi or cellular path, depending on which one you do. Now generally speaking, Wi-Fi is still always going to be the fastest path. Wi-Fi is pretty much always going to be faster than cellular. However, with the new LTE cellular towers, sometimes LTE might be a little faster than Wi-Fi if you have slow Wi-Fi in your house. So again, it's just whatever signal that Alarm.com receives first, that's the signal it will use. And in order to get your Panel actually signaling to Alarm.com, you do have to have an active monitoring plan. You can't simply just power the system on and expect it to start signaling over to Alarm.com. The system does need to be activated by a monitoring company, and they're the ones that actually need to create the account for your IQ 2 or your IQ 2 Plus on the Alarm.com servers. And that way, then your panel has something to send the signals to. And then if you're being monitored, self-monitored, the signals may be forwarded to a central station, and then you may be called whenever there's an alarm, et cetera, et cetera. Now, if you are going to be using the Wi-Fi on the IQ 2 Plus, you do need to make sure that you have your master code, your installer code, or your dealer code. These are the two codes required to set up the Wi-Fi on the system. The system pretty much, it just connects to your Wi-Fi network. If you don't have it connected to your Wi-Fi network, then the system will just use a cellular connection. Vise versa, if you don't have a cellular connection where you're at, your system will just use Wi-Fi. But keep in mind, if you're getting the IQ 2 or the IQ 2 Plus, you're going to want to make sure you get the one that has the best cellular connection in your area. If not, you may just want to get a-- if you don't have any cellular connection in your area, you may want to think about getting just a system that will work only on Wi-Fi. There are other systems out there where if you don't have cellular connection in your area, you may want to look into getting a system that will work on Wi-Fi only, like a Honeywell system. But again, the IQ 2 Plus comes with cellular, comes with Wi-Fi already built in. You just have to make sure you get it activated with the correct company and that they enable both pass for you. You can run it on cellular only if you don't have Wi-Fi at the house. That's perfectly fine. You just want to make sure that you have good signal. If you have minimum signal in your house, another thing you guys can possibly do is get a cellular amplifier for the house. Cellular amplifier will actually increase the cell signal strength, not just for your system, but for your personal cell phones or anything else that's using cellular towers or cellular service in your house. Cellular amplifiers are really, really great to do and I've always seen great improvements in cell signal, in the signal strength when somebody uses one in their house. So it's just something to keep in mind. If you guys have any questions about configuring your IQ 2 or your IQ 2 Plus on Wi-Fi, on cellular, if you have questions on getting it activated with Alarm.com, please send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. If you found the video helpful, make sure you hit Like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and enable the little bell icon so that you can turn on the notifications, so when we upload new content, you guys get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.