Alarms Fibre and Wifi

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confusedoverhere

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Topic # 143295 9-Apr-2014 17:41

Recently customers are starting to look at Fiber, the only problems are the following when an alarm is involved.

1. Alarm only has copper telephone wire to it.
2. It can have ip card connected to alarm but the router is to far from panel.
3. Some panels can not have a Lan Cable run from panel to router (ie) cant run cable no access to ceiling and cant pull new cable through existing walls.
4. GSM units can be fitted but adds more cost to customer for monitoring and they dont see this as viable.
5. The other problem with GSM units is that they keep getting outdated (ie) G2 updated to G3 and now going through updates to G4 I see USA are doing replacements from G3 to G4 already out-dating existing gear.
Is there a Wifi dongle that can assist that runs on 12volt plugs into Lan on Alarm then received by fiber wifi router?

Or does anyone have recommendations to get around this.

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'That VDSL Cat'
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Reply # 1022313 9-Apr-2014 17:45

considering you already have copper running to it, that could be reused and converted to provide a Ethernet connection.

i personally wouldnt run my alarm over wireless, or PoE simply because of reliability. still, just as with GSM or even copper, things can go wrong so maybe that worry is a tad moot.

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gregmcc

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Reply # 1022314 9-Apr-2014 17:48

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Don't know what the big deal is with a GSM dialer, I just put one on my alarm when I moved from POTS to VOIP, put a 2 degrees prepay sim in and brought a $6 auto renew 50MB data pack, for $6 a month it's well worth knowing that if my alarm goes off i'll know right away.

If the customer feels $6 is too much to spend a month then they really don't care so I wouldn't let it bother you either.

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stuzz

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Reply # 1022315 9-Apr-2014 17:57

I have used a cheap Ethernet to wireless bridge.

It works fairly flawlessly once setup. That was taken care of by connecting to a pc, to connect it to the wifi.

I am getting a gsm/GPRS communicator also, as when the power goes off, so does the communication ability of the alarm.

Zeon

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Reply # 1022327 9-Apr-2014 17:59

Just bite the bullet and do a proper house rewiring :)

stuzz

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Reply # 1022328 9-Apr-2014 18:01

Zeon: Just bite the bullet and do a proper house rewiring :)

In my case, we are in rented accomdation, so everything had to be wireless.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1022329 9-Apr-2014 18:01

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If GSM monitoring is costing significantly more I'd find a better alarm company.

GSM is being used increasingly by lots of alarm companies, in part because some are too lazy/tight/ignorant to actually deploy decent IP solutions.

confusedoverhere

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Reply # 1022334 9-Apr-2014 18:08

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One thing ive heard some fiber sellers are forgetting to tell customers they may need UPS backup in case of power cuts as it is required for routers some were being fitted to new houses but I found one last week that isnt and the home owner was told its now up to the home owner more expense!

Im going to test a wifi dongle / bridge later in week. Thanks for comments so far.

stuzz

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Reply # 1022354 9-Apr-2014 18:15

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It is quite interesting how many people actually have no idea that installing a fibre connection normally means their alarm will not communicate any longer.

Only by our daily checking for 24hr timer tests, do they become aware. It should be made more prominent to them, by ISPs.

confusedoverhere

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Reply # 1022355 9-Apr-2014 18:15

stuzz: I have used a cheap Ethernet to wireless bridge.

It works fairly flawlessly once setup. That was taken care of by connecting to a pc, to connect it to the wifi.

I am getting a gsm/GPRS communicator also, as when the power goes off, so does the communication ability of the alarm.

nickb800

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Reply # 1022356 9-Apr-2014 18:18

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You can run ethernet over Cat3 (2 pair phone cable) so if you can isolate the phone cable run to the alarm panel and link it back to your router then that should work

sbiddle

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Reply # 1022357 9-Apr-2014 18:19

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I'm lost on this G3/G4 you're talking about. Do you mean 3G / 4G?

A UPS is not fitted as standard for any fibre installs. It's up to the customer or RSP to organise the UPS (which can be installed by the LFC).

coffeebaron

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Reply # 1022365 9-Apr-2014 18:30

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You could also use a POTS to IP converter, which means you may be able to trace a phone pair from alarm to router and stick the converter there.

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chevrolux

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Reply # 1022490 9-Apr-2014 21:30

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The easiest and best solution is to just fit the IP converter that AlarmNZ supply.

In most circumstances alarms have been retrofitted meaning running an ethernet cable to the panel rather easy. In houses that were pre-wired for an alarm panel and where retrofitting wiring is not an option I would suggest that the cable is probably Cat5e anyway in the majority of situations. That way it is just a quick re-configuration of the wiring and there you are.

I really don't accept that in some houses it is 'impossible' to run a cable - especially for a professional. There are only lazy tradesman. I feel I can say this because I have run cables in sh1t situations that look seemingly impossible. I do accept there are some late model homes that have odd construction (tilt slabs for example) that may have not been wired with Cat5e - but this is a tiny tiny portion of homes in NZ.

nakedmolerat

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Reply # 1022503 9-Apr-2014 22:12

There is no difference in price for GSM or copper - $25 a month for us. We just have to pay couple of hundreds to get it installed.

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1022521 9-Apr-2014 22:41

If you do go to Wireless let me know of your address so I can rock up with a laptop and deauth all the networks around there causing your alarm to not send any alerts back to the monitoring company, honestly it is a very bad idea.

Wiring your home up with Ethernet is not that expensive and I'll strongly recommend doing that personally. The other problem you face is the fact someone with a bit of know-how could easily just break the fibre heading into your house disabling the alarm if they were that inclined.

GSM Monitoring is the way to go here - it is reliable, can operate during a powercut (due to it being powered off your alarms battery) and also a bit harder to knock offline. That way also it is separate from your local network. Personally, I find that shoving a home alarm on a home network is not a smart idea as people do mess with them and could inadvertently disable your alarm. In a business it is a bit better as networks could go absolute years at a time without being touched and the fibre / phonelines in most cases are not as accessible to anyone with a bit of know-how.

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