Upgrading a Honeywell LynxTouch to Use LTE

[WHOOSH] Hi, DIYers. I'm Jorge from Alarm Grid. Today I'm going to be going over how to upgrade your LynxTouch alarm system so that you can actually use an LTE communication device on it. So first things we need to go ahead and go over is a lot of you guys that are out there that have an existing system or that have moved into a house that has an existing system, this is probably going to be the best video and FAQ for you. The reason why is a lot of these older systems that are already pre-installed, most of them have cellular communicators, but the only thing is that they have the older versions. Now, what does this mean for you? Now, as you all know, AT&T and Verizon, they have their LTE communication paths, and then AT&T just released their 5G. So some of these guys, if you look at your cell phone, if you look at the cellular bars, some of you may be seeing 5G on there when before it used to say LTE, and then before that, you guys used to see 3G and 4G. Now, something happened in June of 2019, even a couple of months before then. But basically, AT&T announced that they were going to be shutting down their AT&T 3G, 4G cellular towers. So what does that mean for you guys out there? Now, they're not doing this until it's estimated February 22. But when these alarm manufacturers heard of this, what they ended up saying is that they're going to stop allowing any new activations or 3G 4G cellular cards that are out there in June of 2019. For those of you that have Verizon, the CDMA towers have also been estimated to shut down-- I believe it's a year before that, so it'd be in 2021. So this is just something so that you guys can start thinking about. So if you guys are currently active right now and you have an active CDMA or 3G, 4G communicator , you are eventually going to have to replace it, and this is probably why you're looking at this video or FAQ. Now, the 3G, 4Gs, like I said, you guys still have some time on them, but it's inevitable that you guys are going to have to replace them. Now, you guys, we're letting you know way in advance so you guys don't have to rush to do a last minute. And there's nothing wrong with jumping the gun and doing it right now. So the only thing with LTE communication devices is that they do require a new firmware update. Now, the new firmware update for the L5210s and the L7000s can actually be done with this-- it's an updated tool that Honeywell made for their LynxTouch systems. Now, something to keep in mind that's very important, only the L5210s and the L7000s will work within you LTE communicators. What does that mean for you guys out there? If you have an L5000, an L5100, an L5200, that's a specific case. I'm going to get to that in a second. But basically, any L5100s that you have out there that used to use the GSM DLP 5 4G-- it's a 3G, 4G cellular communicator on AT&T-- you will not be able to upgrade that to cellular because it's too old of a panel, and Honeywell is not making LTE communicators for that system. So basically, if you want, you would still be able to run it on Wi-Fi. But if you're looking for cellular you are going to have to upgrade the panel to a new panel-- L5210, an L7000, a Lyric. There's a whole different variety of panels you guys can upgrade to. Now, the special case with the L5200. So this firmware updater tool, you see here, it says, supports L5200 family LTE upgrade. That's a sticker on the updater tool, and what this sticker means, if you have this, it means that you are going to be able to turn your L5200 into an L5210 that's on the latest firmware that will then work with an LTE communicator. So for those of you that still have an L5200, you guys are in luck. Yeah, you guys just need to get this tool. Now, going with the firmware on your panel, you first-- if you're going to be upgrading to LTE, you need to make sure you're on the newest firmware update. The newest firmware update is version 9.00.201 and 9.00.209. 209 is the latest, and that's the one that you're more than likely going to get when you guys get this firmware updater tool. And I'm going to show you guys how to check this in a second so that that way, if you guys are interested in buying your LTE communication device, you guys will actually, before you buy it, you will know if you need this little tool or not. All right. So the first thing we need to go ahead and do is, if you have your alarm system pulled up, this is the main screen. We're going to go ahead and go to Security. Once you're at Security, you're going to hit More. You're going to go to Tools, and here you're just going to use a master code. This is the code that you use to arm and disarm with. It's the code that you use to make other codes with. So mine is defaulted at 1, 2, 3, 4. So if you use the correct code, you'll be taking to the screen-- Users, Events, Test Keypad, Day Time, Reminders, Slideshow. This is the master code menu. Now, to check the firmware update, very easy. You go to Test, and the revision number is right up there. Now, for those of you guys who are using the LTE AT&T or the LTE Verizon, they're both the same price on our website. The monitoring costs the exact same. A lot of you guys were, how do I know which one I use? On my cell phones, I use AT&T, or on my cell phones, I use Verizon. It doesn't matter for the alarm system because you are not going to be the one that's contacting these cellular companies and saying, hey, I need to add on another line. That registration of the SIM card is actually done by the alarm company when they activate your alarm system. So you do not need to contact AT&T or Verizon for any reason at all to get your system or to get your SIM card activated that's in the alarm system. It's completely independent from your cell phones and your cellular plans. All right? So the AT&T one will actually require revision 09.00. Usually there's another decimal right there in the middle. But if you guys don't have it, that's fine. It'll be 00201 for AT&T. So if you have 201 for AT&T-- I'm sorry. If you have 00201 as your revision, then that's perfect for the AT&T communicator. If you guys are planning on using the Verizon LTE communicator, you guys need to have 00209. If it says 00201, you guys will not be able to use the Verizon LTE communicator. You'll still need to get this firmware updater tool to get it up to this 209. All right? And really, whenever you're choosing AT&T or Verizon, you just want to make sure that you guys are using the correct-- or the communicator that has the best cellular signal in your area. So if you guys have anything lower than 09.00201 or 209, then you guys do want to make sure you go out and you buy this LynxTouch updater tool. So most of you guys out there that have a 3G, 4G, or even a Verizon CDMA communicator, you're going to notice that your firmware version is probably on 07 or 08. Those are too old. You need to upgrade to a new firmware updater tool. So make sure you check your revision on the system, your software revision, and that'll let you know whether or not, when you buy the updater tool, whether or not you'll need this. All right? So let me just hit the back arrow key, back out to the main screen. Now, after you guys have confirmed your firmware version, let's say you guys do need the updater tool. We actually have a bundle that comes with the updater tool and the LTE communicator. We have the tool, the kit, or the little bundle with the AT&T and a bundle with the Verizon communicator. So make sure you guys look at those. That way you knock out two birds with one stone. And just real quick, just so you guys-- we actually have an FAQ on how to update your Lynx panel on the updater tool. It doesn't matter if you're using an L5200, an L5210, or an L7000. That video, it's the same process for whatever panel you're using. So you'll need this, you'll need that video or that FAQ to walk you through it. And the LTE communicator, just so you guys can see here, you guys need to pop the panel open. So there's two tabs at the top that you just push down to unlock the cover. One second. Once you push down the two tabs here and here, the cover will swing open. And the LTE communicator is going to go right into this little slot right here. It'll come with a little female connector piece, and it goes on the left-hand side. The Wi-Fi module goes on this side, which is right underneath the ringer. And then, as you see, we have a Z-Wave module as well in this L7000. Now, the circuit board's going to look the same whether or not you have the L5210, the L7000, or the L5200. If you look at this little sticker right here, it will actually let you know the model of the system that you have. So this is an SA7000. That's just letting me know that I have an L7000. If you have a 5210, it'll say 5, 2, 1, 0 for 5210. And if you have a 5200, it'll say 5, 2, 0, 0 for 5200. Make sure that when you guys are installing these communicators, you unplug the backup battery, which is right here. If you guys have an LTE cable, you can remove-- well, actually, if you guys have the LTE cable, you have this little right here. And my other piece just fell behind the wall, but that basically just powers on the system. Or if you guys have the little adapter piece, you can plug it directly into here. Now, some systems are not going to have this barrel connector, so you may need to use the positive and negative for the DC power. So my system actually just lost AC power, so we'll be powered down. But yeah, make sure whenever you guys are doing the updater tool and the installation of the cellular communicator, that is pretty much how you power down your L7000. You just unplug the backup battery. You unplug it from the LTE cable, if you have it. If you're not using the LTE cable, just unplug the power supply from the wall. I don't recommend, if you have the splice cables going into the terminals, to unplug those because those are live wires. If you touch anything, you might fry or short circuit the system. So yeah, after you've confirmed the firmware revision on your system, the software revision, and after you've confirmed what which communicator works better in your area, whether it's Verizon or AT&T, you just have to make sure you buy the correct devices you need, and then you go ahead and do that. Now, when you're upgrading your system to LTE, and if you're planning on getting a monitor, for those of you guys who are moving into a house that needs this update and the cellular communicator, you need to make sure that the plans you're going with, that they're actually cellular plans. So Honeywell, they have internet Wi-Fi plans. They also have set of your plans. We usually recommend cellular as there are a lot more reliable. Wi-Fi is-- sometimes can be a little unreliable. What I mean by that is your power may go out. If your power goes out, you lose connection to your Wi-Fi. If a burglar cuts the internet line that's going into the house, your panel loses internet. If your devices just connector or if your router decides to act all finicky, we're all not strangers to having to go to the router, power it off for 30 seconds, power it back on, and then reconnect all the devices. I'm sure one of the guys out there have done that throughout having Wi-Fi in your house at least one one time in your lifetime. Yeah, so rebooting your router, reconnecting all the devices, we're not strangers to this. If you guys have a cellular communicator and your Wi-Fi goes out, you don't have to worry because you know your system is still being monitored. So cellular is always going to be a lot more reliable, and we usually recommend doing that. Just make sure you sign up for the correct plans according to what communication path you're using. If you guys have any other questions about upgrading your L5200, your L5210, your L7000, feel free to contact us at support@alarmgrid.com. If you found the video helpful, make sure you hit Like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon so that whenever we upload new content, you guys get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.