I suppose you could plug it into a UPS for backup power.
Is there any cost effective way to get a backup cell signal with this system?
Correct, everything is on a UPS backup, including Hubduino.
Haven't done a cell backup yet...but its been in the back of my mind. Not too worried about internet going down or burglar cutting cable internet line (not easily accessible for my home).
I also have a camera system with AI object detection...so I know as soon as anyone steps foot on the property well before they get to anything they could potentially sabotage.
Blue iris and several cheap cams, linked into HE.
Nodemcu's / konnected everywhere hooked up to motion sensors, cheap contact sensors, and an rfid panel for ease.
Android phone with tasker and a payg sim to cover alerts.
Minimal cost, total reliability as far as I'm concerned.
Hardwired alarm systems are relics of the past. Modern professional wireless alarm systems are highly reliable.
Security and home automation are two entirely different things. Many alarm panels also include some level of home automation, and many home automation systems also include some level of security. That doesn't mean an all-in-one solution is optimal.
You have to decide what is important to you. For me the security and safety of my family and pets is paramount, and I won't trust that to anything but a professional-grade alarm system that is monitored 24/7, and uses cellular as its primary communication path.
Nothing against Hubitat (or any other HA system) but I would never trust it to monitor smoke detectors or intrusion sensors. Not that it can't, it's simply not designed to do so with the same reliability as a dedicated alarm system. If something goes wrong and a light doesn't go on when I want it to, it's a minor annoyance. If a smoke detector trips and nothing happens, someone could die or my house could burn down.
Dedicated alarm systems are closed systems that don't allow themselves to be compromised by user-supplied apps and device drivers or misconfiguration (for the most part). A home automation system that doesn't allow that kind of flexibility wouldn't be terribly useful. These two things are at odds with each other.
1 Like
While I agree completely with the rest of your post, I think this is a probably a bit of a harsh assessment 
, no battery changes required and pretty much bulletproof (unless the sensor fails of course or mice chew on the cables.)
1 Like
I suppose there might be cases where hardwired sensors still make sense, but in a typical residential system?
Wireless sensors are just as bulletproof as wired ones, if not more so. All you have to do is short out the wire going to a hardwired sensor to disable it (or use a properly sized resistor). Modern wireless devices have unique ids and encrypted communications between the panel and each sensor. A sensor cannot easily be spoofed and even if you jammed the frequencies, the panel would report a trouble condition at the very least.
Yes, you have to replace batteries but I've had a system in my house for almost four years now and I'm just starting to have to replace batteries. Then you have the cost of wiring, and no matter how careful you are, you can't completely hide the wiring.
I wasn't trying to get into a philosophical debate (again I agree with your comments about reliability of modern systems) about which is better.
Many residential systems predate wireless and are still running just fine decades later. Upgrading the control unit to any other brand is also fairly simple especially if you don't need to replace the sensors with more modern ones.
Cable terminations into a PIR aren't exposed on the outside and you have to either cut the cable or open the case to do this. Either way the sensor tamper or the NC connection will trip. In any case if you can reach the sensor without tripping it then I'd say it's a poorly installed system anyway.
Just to be clear I was only taking umbrage at this part "relics of the past", nothing more. 
I'm sure there are plenty of hybrid wired/wireless installs everywhere.
I have a preset hatred of any device I need to worry about with regards to batteries. Especially outdoor/low temps.
I'm not checking on a billion battery powered door, window (etc) devices spread around the home and shed, only finding out by chance one day that one of them actually died 2 weeks ago.
Perhaps if there were a solid solution for battery reporting I'd be more 'trusting'. There isn't. I lost track of how many times I'd lost the use of a Samsung button due to a dead battery, despite reporting 100= the day before.
Wired all the way. Horses / courses.
2 Likes
The Smart app "Device Activity Check" can do a pretty good job of letting you know if something is no longer reporting. It will can also be setup in groups so you can get faster updates if some devices provide heartbeats more frequently then others.
The hard part is to make sure your devices sent out a heartbeat of sorts. This is why I only use Ring Gen 2 contact sensors for all my doors and windows. They do a good job with that and send out that heartbeat fairly consistently so regardless of battery reporting i will know if they stop sending out status updates.
1 Like
Appreciate that. Not possible with my device choices 
Sure there is. No wireless alarm system with any self-respect would not report a low battery in a sensor, well before it stopped working.
Yes, Samsung buttons suck when it comes to battery reporting, it's a joke, They're not security devices however, they're cheap consumer grade electronics.
In general, I prefer hard wired things to battery powered as well. I used to install alarm systems as far back as 40 years ago when nothing else but wired existed, so I was extremely skeptical of wireless systems. But having used them for probably close to 15 years now, I'm a convert. I don't have a giant house, but between this house and a vacation rental I probably have at least 40 battery powered sensors of various types. Changing batteries is a pretty infrequent occurrence.
I'm referring to general wireless reporting, for general devices as opposed to a dedicated wireless alarm system.
I've used a variety of zigbee etc sensors over the years and have been less than impressed.
Moving onto my current 12v sensors?
Perfection.
As I said, horses // courses.
I avoid standard edition wireless sensors at all costs. I'm glad you're happy with your choices. I'm certainly happy with mine.
I know this is an old comment, but i wanted to add this. We have a Vivint system. In the last 90 days, one glass break sensor has been activated 3 times. 1st, by an ailing senior dog howling and crying in the same room (we foster and he was a Fospice dog), 2nd time, in the same room, same sensor, I was holding a tower fan tugging the cord to unplug it, and I dropped the fan. Triggered the glass break sensor. 3rd time, last week, our Kittens knocked the glass canister their food was in off the counter in the kitchen, and it broke. Again, set off the same glass break sensor in the office, granted this is not hard wired. I always wondered if glass break sensors really worked, i got m y answer Tuesday morning.
At the end of the day, no security system, whether hard wired or wireless will make a difference if someone really wants to break in.
I agree.
Which is why I thoroughly believe a smart alarm, dictated by various logical rules, is the best way forward.
But best = custom.
I love mine - can't fault it. But couldn't market it.
2 Likes
I suspect this is less accurate then you think. They probably just have a regular handshake with the device to know when it fails and not when the battery is low.
This is exactly why being careful with your choice of device is important. As I stated above, I suspect that most devices even for alarm systems don't report battery well, and more likely do regular handshakes to confirm the devices are still connected.
Before I got my C7 I had Smartthings ADT Alarm Panel. Yes the one that was actually an alarm system with Smartthings siloed on it. All of the darn sensors where ADT specific and none of them reported battery well. It was literally a 3 bar system not a % and I had several occasions where the motion sensors dropped before the battery showed it was dead.
When Smartthings and ADT killed the Alarm panel I went all in on Hubitat, and took a little bit of time to think about what would make the system reliable in my eyes. Sensors working is certainly important and one of my criteria was to ensure the sensor reported back regularly to the hub in some way, so it would know if a sensor went offline. I tried both the Aeotec sensor and the Ring G2 and the Ring one checks in almost hourly. With the Device activity check app listed above i can know within 2 hours of a sensor dropping off the network.
This is exactly it. Depending on the determination or skill of the robber they will do it or not regardless of the alarm system. My goal is generally when it goes off to make so much noise and commotion that it startles them to leave so i can check my cameras. If that doesn't work the alarm sytsem wasn't going really stop them in the first place. Ofcourse I will call the cops if I see something as well on my several cameras.
I would just say to anyone thinking of using Hubitat as the alarm to validate the pieces that you will use and make sure they do what you need before building it out. It proably took me a few weeks, a few purchases and returns, and then more setup time to decide on my gear to run my Hubitat as my home alarm system.
On a side not something to consider as well for battery reporting. Generally speaking, devices that use Lithium batteries will be crappy for reporting battery levels. That covers most devices that are used in home automation. Devices that use traditional Alkaline batteries though will do really well reporting battery usage. I have 2 Ring G2 Motion Sensors that report battery really well. There is a very good noticeable progression compared to all of the lithium devices. This probably is a characteristic of the technology. Lithium battery's are known for producing near their full voltage almost their entire useable live, while alkaline batteries have a good progressive drop in voltage over time for reporting.
That is certainly not the case in my experience. My panel reliably reports low battery conditions. In a few cases we were away for an extended period, and I could not replace the offending battery for over a month. The sensors continued to work correctly up until the time I replaced the battery.
There is a big difference between a sensor that reports a low battery condition, and a sensor that doesn't respond at all. I really can't imagine that my system is unique in this regard. Low battery, tamper, tripped and no-response are all distinct conditions that are reliably reported.
Of course it will. It might not stop the break-in attempt, but at the very least it tips the scale in your favor. It might scare off the intruder once the alarm is tripped. At the other extreme, a monitored security system could save your life by automatically calling the police.
What if you're in the shower? Or your phone is dead because you didn't put it on the charger correctly? Or it's in the middle of a software update? Or you have the flu and took something that made you drowsy? Or you left your phone in another room and that's where the intrusion occurred?
It's all a matter of how much risk you want to assume, I suppose. Personally, I don't want the security and safety of my family or property to be dependent on me being able to respond and fire up an app on my phone.
Agreed. Which is why my system responds in a variety of ways without me needing to do that.
Bedtime? Buzzer goes off in the bedroom and the cam feed pops up on a monitor in there. Voice alerts and warning lights external.
Plus our phones go batshit.
Away from home? Neighbours get texted as well as us. Siren goes batshit. Images get sent via telegram and email. Voice alerts again.
Big fan of not needing to touch a phone, log in and open stuff.
Again... All custom.
The checking of the camera is to know if i need to notify the police. It has nothing to do with if i am home. I am not going to say that is the better solution than to have a monitoring company notify them if needed, but it is a judgement call. It may not be the same for everyone either.
But similar to @djh_wolf when my alarm goes off I have 4 sirens that go off that are split between inside and outside of my home. Every light in my house gets turned on to illuminate the robber. There are a few audible alarms that occur inside to scream at full volume that there is a intruder and to get out now. It also notifies that the police are being called. I have also thought about setting up lighting to flash blue/red lights to help direction officers to the location.
Our door from the kitchen to the garage didn't latch all the way and opened in the morning a few weeks ago. My wife about had a heart attack from all the things that happened.
If any one of those examples occurred while I was home and a intruder did not leave initially then their day would get much worse real fast. If i was away then that is a risk i am taking. You see this is all a odds game though.
I deal with this in IT all the time where we have to measure the effort and cost vs what the return is. There comes a point with odds upon odds that the likely hood of something happening is so low the cost is no longer worth it. That doesn't mean this is the same for everyone, but what i have found works for me.
If i was dead set on making a fool proof security system I would use wired sensors for all perimeter access points, wired window breaks anywhere a window cold be used to access if shattered, Minimal motion sensors only in required places. Then have the system use local lan and cellular for communication out to a call center. All of this backed up with a battery backup.
At this point though I am a little jaded. I have seen to many occasions where the call center takes forever to call out, and even then if they call the police they have to be dispatched which can take another increment of times. As much as we would like to think the alarm system would stop a violent crime from happening, it is much more likely to stop a crime of opportunity instead.
1 Like
Good post.
I may be old / smug / stubborn, but I trust something I set up myself far more than any outside solution.
