ELK M1 EZ8 wireless options? GE Honeywell or Elk?

[theedudenator]

In my old house I had the GE wireless for the Elk.
 
New house, looks like I have some options.
 
I see there is a Honeywell wireless driveway sensor I would like to use.
I already have some new Honeywell key fobs.
 
But is the Elk wireless better for coverage?
 
I have a foil backed insulated house with a metal roof.  My cell phone doesn't work in the house. My wife does barely.
Wifi inside the house seems ok.
 
I am not sure how good the coverage is going to be?
I was planning on mounting the wireless box in the master bedroom closet (using wiring from the old panel)
 

 

[Del91574]

All are supported on the EZ8.
 
Personally, I have yet to see the advantage of Elk's RF for anything but a keyfob. Actually, given the amount of quirks, bad batteries and devices, that in itself would steer me away (as a pro). Coverage for the devices shouldn't be an issue, the larger issue is going to be Keyfobs, but you can get a repeater to play with if you really have problems.

 

[ddennerline]

There is one small benefit for Elk two-way during enrollment. If the sensor/transmitter has problems connecting to the receiver, then a red light is displayed on transmitter. The red/green light feedback is nice UI feature.  In addition, it’s been six months and not one false alarm (albeit I did have a supervision communication problem). Hoping to get to one year mark without any nerve wracking Alarm company calls at work.
 
I say red/green light is small feature because a walk test will provide similar information. I do agree with Dell there is a tradeoff. GE/Honeywell wireless products have been around for some time and have proven themselves.
 
I have asked Elk on multiple occasions to stop shipping transmitters with cheap batteries and instead use Energizer CR2023. GE ships with Energizer batteries.
 
If you want a driveway sensor and larger selection of sensors, then Elk is probably not best choice. I am keeping my GE receiver installed (you can have multiple wireless receivers installed) because I need a driveway sensor.

 

[theedudenator]

Do you have GE and Elk wireless installed at the same time?

 

[Del91574]

Elk specifically stated that they do NOT recommend doing this. There area other items to consider before doing this.....it would not be a best practice install IMHO.