EnvisaLink 4 Conflict with Alarm.com?

[BIC]

New system install of EnvisaLink 4, Vista 21iP & Alarmnet.com Verizon CDMA & IP Communicator (ADC-SEM-100-CDMA). AlarmNet was disabled on Vista 21iP. I get EyezOn notifications OK. Have cellular monitoring through Alarm.com.

Alarm went off (need to tune the pet motion a bit). Got notification from EyezON but not from central monitoring station. Called the installer. He said Alarm.com log shows hundreds of arm/disarms in one day, should be maybe 10-20, but did not show alarm going off.

Keypad addresses are:

16: Partition 1 Keypad
17: Partition 2 Keypad
18: Partition 1 EnvisaLink
19: Partition 2 EnvisaLink

Installer thinks Alarm.com is keypad address 25, but not sure. Installer will check it out tomorrow but wonders if Alarm.com communicator is conflicting with EnvisaLink 4. I am only subscribed to the cell monitoring, not the IP monitoring through Alarm.com. Supposedly, no other install procedures should apply and EnvisaLink 4 & Alarm.com should peacefully coexist. Thanks.

[GrandWizard]

Just answering because nobody else has.

I wouldn't trust those guys to hold my seat at the bar let alone monitor my house. Other than the GE NX box that interfaces to CADDX, all of their hardware for other platforms is junk. IMHO

But to answer your question, yes it is possible that their module is conflicting with the Envisalink but not as a keypad, it may be due to secondary communicator conflict. If that is the case ask your installer to switch you to "Shadow Mode" to avoid this.

[BIC]

I previously thought about the communicator conflict and using shadow mode, but EyezOn said that should only be necessary if using the AlarmNet card which was deactivated.

Anyway, the Alarm.com box had a keypad address of 25. Installer called Honeywell and changed address to 20 and all seems fine so far. Thanks for the response.

[GrandWizard]

If the on-board Alarmnet communicator was enabled couldn't use any other communicator so I think whomever you talked to in my group was mistaken about shadowing.

Just for our and the forum's reference, is there a datasheet or model number for this GSM communicator that they installed?

[BIC]

I think the module number is in my original post, ADC-SEM-100-CDMA. The book says the module contains model ADC-200H-EVD. It's Verizon 3G CDMA, not GSM.

EyezOn appears to have some slightly conflicting instructions. At this link https://www.eyez-on.com/EZMAIN/evl4honeywell.php it says to remove the jumper, while your PDF install guide says move jumper to lower position, which is where it currently is. Presumably, it doesn't matter, but you might want to change one instruction or the other.

EyezOn telephone support told me that if also using 21iP built-in AlarmNet, to use the shadowing. If using third party device, which I am, he said nothing to do, just plug & play.

So now, I have:

16: Partition 1 Keypad
17: Partition 2 Keypad
18: Partition 1 EnvisaLink
19: Partition 2 EnvisaLink
20: Alarm.com CDMA/IP communicator.

The default Alarm.com keypad was 23, which should have worked, but installer switched it to 20 anyway. The install manual says, "If the correct keypad address is not enabled, repeated reports of panel malfunction will be shown...." So, this is apparently what happened.

Also, the installer gave me the Alarm.com app to try and compare to the EyezOn. While the Alarm.com app is nice with a more attractive GUI and push notifications in app, for basic alarm operation, it doesn't really do anything more that would make it worth paying $10 per month for the service. It does arm/disarm without code. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Anyway, currently running the EnvisaLink with both Alarm.com CDMA cellular along with optional Alarm.com IP app.

Questions:

1. Since everything SEEMS to be working OK with the shadowing box NOT checked, should I still check the box? I'm guessing yes, but to confirm.

2. I will probably discontinue the Alarm.com app while keeping the cellular monitoring, would that change anything as far as the shadowing check box?

3. Can EyezOn be configured to arm/disarm without code on a PIN protected phone?

Thank you for your help.

[GrandWizard]

Questions:

1. Since everything SEEMS to be working OK with the shadowing box NOT checked, should I still check the box? I'm guessing yes, but to confirm.

2. I will probably discontinue the Alarm.com app while keeping the cellular monitoring, would that change anything as far as the shadowing check box?

3. Can EyezOn be configured to arm/disarm without code on a PIN protected phone?

Thank you for your help.

Hi, I looked up that device and it seems to just be a rudimentary keypad emulator, not a full-blown communicator like the Envisalink. So in this case you should NOT be using shadow mode.

As for being able to disarm your panel without a code, isn't that a little dangerous? As a matter of policy we do not store user codes nor clear passwords anywhere in our system. It looks that alarm.com actually tracks your user codes which is crazy.

[BIC]

I agree I don't like that Alarm.com shows/tracks the user codes. They also require certain programming changes to be made by the installer on their web site vice the control panel. But my installer isn't too receptive to changing monitoring to Honeywell AlarmNet. Says the support isn't as good as with Alarm.com. And I already paid for the Alarm.com module. Maybe at some point I'll look at the EyezOn cellular monitoring. Guess I would need the Honeywell GSM card for the Vista 21iP, is that correct?

I know I'm veering outside the tech support parameters, but you note the Alarm.com module is a keyboard emulator vs a full communicator. Where can I get some more info so I can understand the difference? Google wasn't much help there. Thanks.

[GrandWizard]

Maybe at some point I'll look at the EyezOn cellular monitoring. Guess I would need the Honeywell GSM card for the Vista 21iP, is that correct?

No, Envisacor has their own GSM backup module in the works. As soon as they have it we will support it.

I know I'm veering outside the tech support parameters, but you note the Alarm.com module is a keyboard emulator vs a full communicator. Where can I get some more info so I can understand the difference? Google wasn't much help there. Thanks.

Based on your comment about "remote programming" I'll take back my comment about that module being only a keypad. From the instructions, it is programmed to only work as a keypad but who knows what is happening remotely to the programming. Basically it comes down to this, Ademco created provisions for an external communicator, other than the dialer, to initially handle a now defunct radio backup service they called LRR (long range radio). It later expanded the role of this peripheral to handle any type of professional communicator whether it be on GSM or IP. This external communicator is enabled in section *29. It is a full communicator in that it is fully supervised by the panel, all the other hack-type GSM modules, whether through keypad sniffing or POTS sniffing, are not.

Ademco did not make allowance for more than one communicator on the system hence the need for the Envisalink "shadow" mode which cleverly gets around this problem in the event there is an existing communicator. That is why you need to know whether the alarm.com module is actually a communicator or is just keypad sniffing.

You should send us a note at support@eyezon.com and we can lookup your account and put this question to bed pretty quickly. We can tell from the telemetry of your module what is going on and whether the two modules are conflicting.

[BIC]

Email to support just sent. Appreciate all the help.

[BIC]

I asked support, "....I am NOT currently using shadow mode. Can you look at the telemetry of my (Alarm.com SEM) module and determine if it is a keypad sniffer and I should leave shadow mode off or it is a full communicator and I should enable shadow mode?"

Support said, "I don’t see any troubles or errors on your account so you can safely assume the GSM communicator you are using is NOT an ECP connected communicator and hence does not require the shadowing feature to be enabled."

I don't know what ECP means. Another issue has arisen. The installer put in the Vista 21iP, Alarm.com SEM & Envisalink 4 all together on Nov 10. The Envisalink did the Honeywell firmware update at that time. All ran fine until Nov 24 when I got an error beeping tone from the 6160V keypad. The keypad message was, "Check 103 Long Range Radio 0000." I did not receive my normal error email or SMS messages either from Alarm.com or EyezOn.

About 45 minutes later, I cleared the fault code from the keypad. Then, I did get the following email & SMS message from EyezOn, "LRR IP GSM Restoral." I have a Partition 1 & 2, but the EyezOn message says the event is from Partition 0. I never got any message from Alarm.com (all other security messages are always the same from both devices).

I checked this forum post

http://forum.eyez-on.com/FORUM/viewtopi ... =770#p3375

which states the rare error is likely from an Envisalink firmware update. But the incident happened exactly the same again on Nov 30. I was woke up after midnight by the beeper tones. Did I get three firmware updates in 20 days with the last two causing this error? Seems unlikely.

My installer thinks the error is from the Envisalink 4 because there is no real communicator installed, describing the Alarm.com SEM module as you did as just a keypad emulator which wouldn't cause that error. But, since the Envisalink, a full communicator, also has a keypad address, that doesn't seem to fit. I'm confused at this point. Thanks for any help you could provide. I can't continue with this keypad beeping as it can either wake me up or disturb the dog if I'm not home. If it would at least send me an error message, I could reset it remotely. But, there is no way of knowing unless I'm at home to hear the beeps.