Upgrading a Honeywell Lyric to Use LTE

Hi, DIYers. This is Michael from Alarm Grid. And today, I'm going to be showing you how to upgrade a Honeywell Lyric to LTE. Now, the reason you will be upgrading a Lyric to LTE-- it's either you're adding cellular communication for the system, or you're upgrading from an old 3G or CDMA communicator. The 3G and CDMA Sunset is coming soon, so proactively upgrading to LTE is a smart decision. You don't want to wait till the last minute, because a lot of people will be trying to upgrade all at once. And not everyone will be able to be fit in. So doing this early is recommended. And with LTE-- the LTE networks are expected to be kept in service for a very, very long time, so you're future-proofing your system by doing this. Now, the benefits to adding cellular communication-- because the Lyric already has Wi-Fi connectivity-- but as you may know, internet outages are fairly common, so adding a cellular backup will keep your panel online during an internet outage. So this is the recommended communication path. We call this dual path communication, using both cellular and Wi-Fi. You have two paths-- dual path. So you have two LTE options available. We have here the LyricLTE-A. This is the AT&T LTE communicator, and it needs firmware version MR3 or higher. And there's also a Verizon model, called the LyricLTE-V, that requires firmware version MR9 or higher. We don't have the LyricLTE-V here, just the LyricLTE-A. But they're installed in the same process. They look pretty much identical. You will see a different model name on the sticker. But other than that, they're essentially the same. If you do need to do a firmware update for your panel before upgrading to LTE, then what you can do is you can actually activate the system on Wi-Fi first. Get the update, and then activate on cellular. You only need to do that if it's needed. If you're already on a high enough firmware version to support the LTE module that you're using, then you can just go ahead and activate on cellular, and then update the firmware as needed. But if you do need to update on Wi-Fi first, that is an option. Now, it's very important that you contact your monitoring company before you go and install the LTE communicator. They might have some information needed for you. They might need to do some things on their end, but always contact your monitoring company first before you do this. So if your monitoring with Alarm Grid, then contact us first. Or if you're planning to get with us first, contact us first. OK, so that covers everything I needed to tell you first, so let's get into this. So we are at the main screen of our Lyric system, and we're going to choose Security. We're going to choose Tools, and then we're going to enter in our master code, which is the main arming and disarming code. So we're going to enter 1, 2, 3-- I actually missed the 2 there, so I'll start from the beginning. 1, 1, [LAUGHS] 1, [LAUGHS] 2, 3, 4. Only took me a few tries there, but we got into the proper menu. So then we're going to choose Advanced, and then we're going to choose Install Cellular Module. And just to show you that you want to use the master code, the main arming and disarming code, and not your installer code, like you would normally use-- I'm going to show you that real quick-- but normally, we would click Yes right here and begin the process. But I'm just going to show you everything. So if I were to enter in my installer code here, which already is at the default of 4, 1, 1, 2, then I would get to the wrong menu. So I want to make sure I'm using my master code, which is the main arm/disarming code. And we have ours at the default. You usually change yours, but we have ours-- 1, 2, 3, 4. Hey, I got it on the first try this time. Great. So let me choose Advanced. And then we choose Install Cell Module. And we're going to choose Yes, we want to install the cell module. And then it's going to give us some instructions on the screen. Now, you do have the option, as well, to power down the system completely before doing this. To do that, you would unplug the transformer from the wall outlet, or unplug the barrel connection if you're using an LTE cable, to cut AC power to the system. Don't disconnect the wires at the panel. Either do the transformer or the LTE cable. Or even if you have a circuit breaker-- of course, you have a circuit breaker-- then cut power at the circuit breaker is also an option. And then you actually have to open up the panel and disconnect the backup battery. So that's another way to do this. Don't install the cell module while your system's powered on or not in this mode, this mode here. Because otherwise, you will damage your system or the cellular communicator. What we're doing here with this Install Cellular Module mode, it cuts power to the cell module, so it can safely be removed and added, as needed. And also, it stops the tamper cover, the side tamper cover that we're going to open up in a second. It stops the system from chiming during that. Otherwise, you get an annoying beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And we don't want that, so this is what we do before installing the cell module, to do it safely. OK, so the first thing I'm going to do, I'm going to press-- well, I'm not going to press OK right now. It says complete these steps, then press OK. So we're going to go ahead and do this. So we're facing the Lyric system right now. And on the right side when you're facing the Lyric, you'll have this cell module slot. All you have to do is push up, and then pull out. You see it's right where the silver part meets the front to the panel there. So we can put this aside for now. And we have our old communicator in here. This is a 3G communicator that we're replacing. So what we need to do, first, if you have a set screw in there, which you might, it's in the back there, you need to remove that first. It's the same size set screw that can be used at the bottom of the Lyric. So if maybe you swap them out or something, but it's a good idea to place it in there to not lose it. It is an optional screw, so we're not using it in this case. We don't have one installed. You see we're just going to easily pull ours out. But if you find that yours is not able to be removed, then it's likely you need to remove that set screw in there. So what we can do, we can just get our fingernail under there and pull out the blue tab. And then we can just pull-- I'll have to use both hands, I guess-- and we can pull it right out. So this is the old communicator that we no longer need. And just to point it out-- that's where the screw will go, right there, if you want to use it. But we're not going to use it. Like I said, it's an optional screw. So you just align it in place. I just want to see where I'm going in there. And then, there. So we have it in, and then we can just slide it in, and click it into place, just like that. Now, we have the cellular communicator installed, and so we just need to put this cover back on. Just put it into the holes. It's lined up, and then we push down. And it snaps into place, and it's nice and secured. So we've successfully installed the communicator, the new LTE communicator. And we've closed the side slot. So now, we can press OK. And it's going to take a little bit to detect the radio. We'll wait through that real quick. If you are looking for a monitoring company to activate with, then Alarm Grid happens to be a great option. You can contact us via phone or email. Our phone number is 888-818-7728. And our email is support@alarmgrid.com. And just as a reminder for our business hours, they are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 8 PM Eastern time. So make sure you're following Eastern time, 9:00 AM to 8 PM. Monday through Friday. Again, that's 888-818-7728, and support@alarmgrid.com for contact. So this is still taking a few minutes here. We'll wait for this to finish. So we have successfully installed our radio, and we'll press OK. And then we can just back out to the main screen with the Home button there. So now, we're at the main screen of our Lyric, and we're good to go. So now would be the time when we contact our monitoring company-- hopefully, Alarm Grid 888-818-7728, support@alarmgrid.com. OK, so if you found this video helpful, make sure to give it a thumbs up below to like the video. And remember to subscribe to our channel for updates on future videos. And feel free to call us or email us, if you have any questions about the Lyric, the LTE-A, the LyricLTE-A, or the LyricLTE-V. We hope you enjoyed the video. Thank you.