The Qolsys IQ Panel 2 and Partitioning

Hi, DIYers. I'm George from Alarm Grid. Today, we're going to be going over whether or not the IQ 2, or the IQ 2 Plus in my case, supports partitions. Now the IQ 2 or the IQ 2 Plus used to be a single partition alarm system. However, when Qolsys released the software version 2.3.0, they actually enabled the system to do partitions. And to be exact, you can actually do four total partitions on an IQ 2 or an IQ 2 Plus system. Now you may be wondering, what in the world is a partition? Well, a partition is basically whenever you get a group of zones, and you basically separate them from the rest of the alarm system. So for instance, let's give you an example of something. Let's say I have an office, and my office is in my house. And I want to completely separately control my office sensors apart and separately from my home sensors. You can actually set your office as a separate partition from the main home. That way, whenever you arm your house, you can leave the office disarmed or vice versa. You can always leave the office armed and disarm the house. That way, you know, if anybody's moving in, you can always keep track of who's going in and out of the office whenever nobody should be. So you can independently arm a group of zones apart from the main system. And again, the IQ 2 or the IQ 2 Plus has four partitions that you can do that with when you're on software version 2.3.0. Now typically, this is not common for a wireless system to do. Mostly partitions used to only be allowed on wired alarm systems, such as a Vista 128BPT. It does like six or eight partitions. It's like a crazy amount. So seeing partitions on a wireless alarm system is actually a huge step up from what all these other companies out there are doing. So the fact that IQ 2 Plus was actually able to do that with their alarm system is actually pretty nice. And it makes it a lot easier for you guys out there who are looking to install a nice-looking touchscreen system in a commercial or residential location, and you guys need partitions. Well, the IQ 2 Plus would be the way to go. Now I'm going to go ahead and get-- I'm just going to show you guys real quick what the partitioning would look like. So if your panel is on the firmware version 2.3.0, you now have to enable the partitions. So to enable partitions, you do have to have the installer code or dealer code. I'm going to go ahead and hit the little settings icon at the very top. It's a little gray tab up there. And you're going to hit Settings on the bottom. And after I go into Settings, I do need to go into Advanced Settings. Now it's going to ask you for a code. You need to know your installer or dealer code. If you have a new one, the default ones are 1111 as the installer code or 2222 as the dealer code. If you're monitored by a company, and those codes aren't working, it could be that they changed the codes on you. And if that's the case, you want to make sure you have those codes. This is your system. You should be able to do with it as you like, especially if you want to add and remove censors or change any settings. All right, so I'm going to go ahead and enter in 1111. That's just my normal installer code. I'm then going to go to Installation. I'm going to go to Installer Settings, and I'm just going to scroll down a little more, a little more, a little more, and you're going to see Partitions. Partitions will be under the general list. All right, now you can see here Partitions is currently disabled, meaning that you will not see Partitions at the moment. However, once I hit the little green checkmark on the right hand side, are you sure you want to enable partitions, so I'm going to go ahead and hit Yes. The panel will go ahead and reboot. It's going to ask me to enter in a code. Depending what code you enter in will determine what-- I guess-- I guess you can say what user the alarm system is going to go in. So for instance, right now, my alarm system has a user code named Michael. And that has access to Partition 1 only. It has a master user code, which has access to all partitions, 1, 2, 3, and 4. And then you can also entering your installer or dealer code if you're going to be adding more sensors. So for instance, right now, if I enter in my user 1 code, which is going to be a normal Partition 1 code, I'm going to just enter in 8888. It'll say, good morning, the user name, which for me was Michael, and you'll see it says, Partition 1 Disarmed. But I only have access to Partition 1, because that's all that the user was given permissions to. Now if I go ahead and go back into here, I'm going to hit the icon. In order to switch the users or to switch partitions, you need to enter in a different user code. I'm going to go into my lock screen again, so I can bring up my keypad. And when the keypad comes up, I'm going to go ahead and enter in my installer code, so I can show you guys what adding a different sensor into different partitions would look like. So once I enter my installer code, I'm now basically entered in as the installer. The system recognizes me as, OK, this is the installer. He's going through the panel. So I won't need to enter in my installer code again when I go to Advanced Settings, because it's already using the code that I used to unlock the lock screen. So I'm going to go to Installation, Devices, Security Sensors, and I'm just going to show you guys how you can change the partitions. See? Partition 1, Partition 2, Partition 3, Partition 4, and whatever sensors you learn in, you just switch to the partition you wanted to. And that is-- that's pretty much how you can control the partitions or how you can control partitions, add different sensors to different things. Now obviously, when you guys get the partitions, you guys are going to play with it. You're going to make it as you want. You may only be using one partition. You may be using all four. Who knows? But if you guys do have any questions about the partitions, feel free to contact us at support@alarmgrid.com. If you guys found the video helpful, make sure you hit Like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and enable the notifications, so whenever we upload new content, you guys get notified. I'm George, and I'll see you guys next time.