HASHAH said:careh said:Beersy said:There is a GSM module that you had can add to your system. Unfortunately this requires a GSM SIM card which those of us on CDMA networks are "crap" out of luck without getting a cell plan solely for our alarm system (which increases your cost substantially). I am not aware of any additional cost to monitor, but then again I haven't looked into it.

Although your cell may be on CDMA - you most likely have a GSM network in your area as well.

Get a T-Mobile pay-as-you-go GSM SIM card. You can pick them up on eBay or get one as a deal here including a T-Mobile phone (which you can then sell).

The trick with these cards is to get them into 'GOLD' status. Gold status means that over time $100 has been added to the card. This could be $25 then $50 then $25 over a period of time or $100 all at once or any combination in between.

If it is a new SIM card add $100.00 to the card and it is good for a year. Before the year is over - add $10 to the card and the existing minutes roll over for another year - plus the $10 you just added.

If it is an existing SIM card - you only have to add enough $$$ to bring the total that has EVER been added to the card to the $100 mark. Meaning if the previous owner had, over time, added a total of $75 to the card - and now the card has $5 left on it- you only need add $25 to the card to have it hit the $100 limit which then gives you a year before the minutes expire and a balance of $5 + $25 = $30.

If the panel is only using the SIM card for alarm conditions then $30 will last quite some time. You can check the SIM card balance and expiry date online at T-Mobile.

It is possible that even if you do not have a T-Mobile tower in your area that their SIM card will work on a nearby GSM tower. You can test this quickly by placing a voice call with the SIM card in a T-Mobile (or unlocked) GSM phone. And for Canadians - the T-Mobile SIM works on the Rogers network (although it is .68 a minute).

There is no charge for receiving the secondary signal (assuming you are using the 'second alarm panel' method of communication described 2 months ago).

Services like AlarmNet/Anynet DO charge a monthly fee as they are monitoring your signal and then relaying it onto your main alarm monitoring company - that would be in addition to the fee you pay your main alarm monitoring station.

 

Is this a way around the $7 additional cellular backup fee as well?

Yes - there is no additional charge by the alarm monitoring company for this method. But you do have the one time expense of buying the second alarm panel (in my case off eBay so it was cheap!) and the T-Mobile SIM chip then the ongoing T-Mobile pay-as-you-go usage charges. Still - with this route you get dual redundancy (two seperate alarm panels calling in via two different communication paths).

Okay so I am considering getting this system. Its possible that another 5 households may also sign up for it with me. If I can get some suggestions:

-Where to buy equipment?
-If I buy a GSM Backup, do I not have to pay the $7 a month.
-Additional charge for using VOIP?
-For 5+ households, any other suggestions?

HASHAH said:

Examples of systems? Links? Do I have to have a 2nd panel, no way of using one?
Do I have to buy the second alarm panel? I cannot add a cellular backup to one system? Examples

The alarm system I did the dual redundancy on is a pair of Honeywell Lynx wireless panels. In my case (with the Honeywell Lynx) it was cheaper to buy a second panel - seeing as they are low in price on eBay.

If you have an alarm panel that has the built-in 'smarts' to switch to a secondary method of communciation using a regular phone line (meaning a phone jack that you can plug a cellular dialer into or a built-in cellular dialer that can be programmed to call the monitoring centre) - then you could use just the one panel. That secondary method has to allow for 'regular' means of communication - meaning it will not force you to send the secondary signal to 3'rd party monitoring sites - like Uplink. Becauase if you have to send the secondary signal to Uplink then you have to pay them a secondary ($5-$7 a month) monitoring fee.

A BIG benefit of having TWO panels is that if one panel dies - or thinks it got its signal through but really the signal is being delayed (see the wiki on 'ABN delays') then the second panel's signal is most likely going through. Nothing is totally foolproof (the monitoring centre could have a fire of their own when your alarm panel goes off / your fire department could be unavailable / etc.) - but this dual panel method does provide a layer of redundancy where you can reduce the risk.

I had a very bad experience and hence switched back to ADT. There is a bunch of customer service reps sitting back in India supporting US Alarm monitoring. Myself being from India know the level of commitment these guys have in resolving an isue and addressing customer needs. I still have the chat log saved for reference if anyone like to see. Never ever compromise your life and valubles for $10.00 Savings.

Hey guys, what's the general consensus about the Simon XT system? I just had ADT stop by and I talked to him for a few minutes. I asked if they could install a Ademco Vista system. The salesman didn't know anything about it, so he called his boss, who said it was very antiquated equipment.

Are they just pushing the Simon for ease of install? I have pre-wired for 2 keypads, and a motion sensor, but would still need a few wireless door sensors and a wireless motion detector.

I thought that the Simon's siren was integrated in the keypad, but this salesman was telling me it was separate.

HASHAH said:Okay so I am considering getting this system. Its possible that another 5 households may also sign up for it with me. If I can get some suggestions:

-Where to buy equipment?
-If I buy a GSM Backup, do I not have to pay the $7 a month.
-Additional charge for using VOIP?
-For 5+ households, any other suggestions?

Perhaps you and the other households can as a group invite proposals from various alarm companies. Note with some companies there may as in mobile phone be company agents and authorized resellers with different offers.

bumping this thread to keep it alive