Looking for advice on switching to VOIP or cellular reporting. Either something to work with Caddx NX8e or replace the panel. Looking to convert to VOIP from POTS for telephone but currently use POTS for alarm reporting. Need something with fairly low monthly fees as a big point point in switching is to save a bit.
Equipment to replace Caddx with POTS line?
- Thread starter JimS
- Start date
Look at the HAI C3. It is a GSM dialer that uses a gsm card. If you have a current gsm provider contract you can add another line to your account and just insert the new gsm card into the C3. In my case i bought a T-mobile GSM card online for @ $3 the added a 1000 minutes to the account for $100. The minutes don't expire until a year has passed. It dials out just like a landline, and the alarm monitoring station has no idea it's being used. You can also hook it up to your house line and make cell calls through the device using your house phone. I'm currently using Alarm Relay (Watchlight) for monitoring. $8.95/mo prepaid a yr in advance + $35 activation fee.
Mark
Mark
While a C3 may be viable for some, there's some inherent items people forget about when looking at those units compared to a more "traditonal" cellular unit. The largest is supervision for the power and having it annunicate such to you in the event of an issue. A C3 has no provision to do such other than going "dead" to the panel, so if no supervision by the panel, you'd never know of an issue (forgot to pay or renew the SIM, or even inadvertently no power present).
The first item I'd ask is what format is the panel presently communicating to the CS with?
The first item I'd ask is what format is the panel presently communicating to the CS with?
You'd need to see what your CS supports as a vendor, as some are direct to them and through sub-dealers, such as C24 (DSC based units) or Telular, and Uplink can be direct from a dealer and any CS can monitor.
You need to determine if you're going to use cell as a primary or backup. IMHO, when considering VOIP, I'd keep the alarm as a cell-primary to avoid the common issues.
You need to determine if you're going to use cell as a primary or backup. IMHO, when considering VOIP, I'd keep the alarm as a cell-primary to avoid the common issues.
Currently use alarm relay. If I am going to use cell at all I am wondering about the need to do something else with cell as backup. Why not just use cell as primary and be done with it? I suppose the cell system could go down so having two systems would give some additional reliability but I think this is pretty unlikely. Would be interested to know what others think.
Del, I am not sure how to parse your sentence about some units not being supported by any CS and others able to be monitored by any CS. Can you restate which is which?
Del, I am not sure how to parse your sentence about some units not being supported by any CS and others able to be monitored by any CS. Can you restate which is which?
Ask your CS whose cellular units they support, as the cellular providers will not deal with end users for "real" alarm cellular units. A C3 is a glorified consumer cell phone,
You could use an Uplink 2530 or higher as dialer capture, primary only and not have to touch a single thing in the panel per se, then wire and program the supervisiory zone from the unit to the panel and be done.
Only item you would need is to make sure you either install an appropriate power supply or use the one that comes with the specific unit, along with an appropriate backup battery.
You could use an Uplink 2530 or higher as dialer capture, primary only and not have to touch a single thing in the panel per se, then wire and program the supervisiory zone from the unit to the panel and be done.
Only item you would need is to make sure you either install an appropriate power supply or use the one that comes with the specific unit, along with an appropriate backup battery.
On their web site (FAQ section) they say:
What cellular connectors do you recommend?
We recommend Telguard TG-1, Telguard TG-4, Uplink AnyNet, and Alarm Net 7845 gsms. If you do not see yours listed, please call us – there are other connectors that will work as well.
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They also say they can monitor via VOIP and have, or at least had, an interface they call ARIM (alarm relay interface module). Somewhere else I saw that it is a programmed PAP2T-NA. Not sure how they improve reliability.
What cellular connectors do you recommend?
We recommend Telguard TG-1, Telguard TG-4, Uplink AnyNet, and Alarm Net 7845 gsms. If you do not see yours listed, please call us – there are other connectors that will work as well.
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They also say they can monitor via VOIP and have, or at least had, an interface they call ARIM (alarm relay interface module). Somewhere else I saw that it is a programmed PAP2T-NA. Not sure how they improve reliability.
That's your answer 
You need to decide if you're going to use a cell as the primary and only communicator or still use VOIP as well (which I'd discourage). I would not recommend anyone use TCP/IP for a viable monitoring path unless you have close to a commercial or enterprise grade hardware and services....just not reliable or robust enough.
You need to decide if you're going to use a cell as the primary and only communicator or still use VOIP as well (which I'd discourage). I would not recommend anyone use TCP/IP for a viable monitoring path unless you have close to a commercial or enterprise grade hardware and services....just not reliable or robust enough.
Still haven't pulled the trigger on this... Just learned that the HAI C3 is standard rate with Alarm Relay ($8.95/mo. first year) while the Uplink unit is $20.95 -$23.95 (apparently depending on the cell carrier used). The C3 requires a SIM card but the GSM fees are paid by Alarm Relay for the Uplink - that offsets most of the difference in monthly fees.
Trying to sort out the rest of the pros and cons... There are also several uplink units - 2500, 2530, and possibly others.
Trying to sort out the rest of the pros and cons... There are also several uplink units - 2500, 2530, and possibly others.
Superjer2000
Member
DELInstallations said:
I have a C3 as the only method of dialing out from my Elk. While I agree with the point about the SIM card potentially not being renewed, if power to the unit failed and the C3's internal backup battery became exhausted I am pretty sure I would get a phone line trouble condition on the Elk when it periodically checks for a dial tone.
I currently use a Hai C3 with my NX8e, with a T-mobile pre-paid SIM card and Alarm relay. It's $8.95 per month for Alarm relay, and then $10 a year for the SIM card. The trick with T-Mobile is to charge up enough the first time to make the 'gold' level ($110 if I recall) and then your credit lasts for a year. At your one year anniversary you only have to charge up $10 and that lasts another year.
To the monitoring company the line sounds like a landline, and there is an added bonus of having an emergency cellular phone line out of the house if you need it. It works in a powercut, and no phone lines can be cut.
Anyway, it really is the cheapest way to get alarm monitoring (vs ~$50 per/month via some of the big names). You just have to remember to recharge the SIM once a year...
To the monitoring company the line sounds like a landline, and there is an added bonus of having an emergency cellular phone line out of the house if you need it. It works in a powercut, and no phone lines can be cut.
Anyway, it really is the cheapest way to get alarm monitoring (vs ~$50 per/month via some of the big names). You just have to remember to recharge the SIM once a year...
