SteveInNorCal
Active Member
Good afternoon, all. I'm wrapping up the installation of my Elk M1 Gold. Right now working on communications.
Finally, on to my questions about communications...
Sorry for the long-winded questions, but it seemed background was necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve
- I installed the XEP module and brought it up fine.
- I created a GMX email account for simple SMTP mail and am successfully getting emails and text messages from both the "Test" button and a rule that fires off a "heartbeat" email or text msg every hour (for now -- will reduce to 1/day). Thanks to all who contributed to earlier threads on email difficulties -- it was relatively painless with all the kind background help many members provided across many threads.
- I created a dynamic IP host address using Dyndns and that is working well after configuring my router.
- I just installed eKeypad on my iPhone 4s and brought it up ok. Nice app so far. It synced quickly, too, over port 2601. Able to bypass/arm/disarm and control lights.
- I installed an Uplink 4500EZ GSM radio and also bought an AlarmRelay CS monitoring subscription.
Finally, on to my questions about communications...
- I was originally going to use my legacy POTS line to externally communicate to the M1, but we switched to Comcast for TV, Internet and voice, so I finally yanked out my 30 year old PacBell / AT&T copper line. Now that I've got solid IP communications and GSM communications, I'm wondering if I should just abandon putting the Elk on the Comcast phone line. Have others set up TRIPLE communications (Phone over IP, IP, and GSM)? The IP and GSM will communicate to the CS. I want to monitor the system remotely using phone over IP and the IP line. That seems like overkill, especially with eKeypad now running on my iPhone. But I can see cases where I could lose the iPhone and only have access to a regular phone. So it seems like this would be a nice, simple backup. What do you think?
- Here's the rub. I'm experiencing some Comcast phone difficulties that I haven't been able to solve. I set up the phone coms and was able to have the M1 make a call to my mobile using a simple rule that read me the time at 11:30 AM. But I am unable to go off hook and dial "***" to be able to send commands to the M1. Also, I can't get the Elk to answer incoming calls. I haven't yet tested dialing out based on alarm triggers, but that should work based on the success with the outbound call made via rules. Any ideas why "***" doesn't work and why the M1 won't pick up inbound calls? I'm dialing the "***" using our Panasonic cordless phone KX-TGE274S (DECT 6.0).
Sorry for the long-winded questions, but it seemed background was necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve