I’m confusing myself more and more trying to figure out what I need and putting it in to action in terms of a security system. I literally don’t even have internet in my new home yet and am trying to plan before buying/installing.
I’m looking into Honeywell vista 21p or DSC power series. I’m starting from scratch here. My goals are to have a few wireless window sensors, a few glass break sensors, a few door sensors, a keypad and a few cameras. I understand that for these things to work with hubitat I need to use Envisalink. Beyond that I’m so so confused what to buy to make it all work together.
Can I have wired keypads and wireless sensors that still work together?
Will sensors from another brand work seamlessly with a Honeywell/dsc panel?
Can I add more sensors in the future on my own without the help of a professional installer?
I had a consult in home with a professional company for 2 wired keypads, 3 wireless window sensors, 4 wireless glass break sensors, 5 wireless door sensors, and 4 cameras (2 of which would be wired) and they quoted me $7000!! This seems extremely high priced even for a professional install. Is this average and I am simply sticker shocked? I’d much rather have someone just get and install it all for me to start with so I can then set up rules etc with hubitat to customize it and slowly add in new devices on my own but the prices of parts online seem to be exorbitantly less expensive, almost unbelievably so. I just don’t understand if I’m being ripped off or if this is just how it is. Please help!
Thanks. I’m reaching out to a few more places today but through research I saw there was only one “Honeywell installer” within 20 miles of me and I’m not sure how far some will travel so I’m trying to think ahead just in case.
Curious, is this system local, meaning camera/footage stored on your premise?
I've been roped into Ring for their Alarm, Camera's, Doorbell. Went this way since we were already using Amazon IOT stuff. A bit of a lag on Video/doorbell startup since stored in the cloud. I haven't done much integration into Hubitat yet, but works well with Echo/Alexa. All for $10 per month and a much smaller start up cost.
Why do you care about a Honeywell Installer? Many companies can preform the install. I was a security professional before retirement, and this system you want is a bare bones system that can be installed by ANY number of companies.
I’d be happy to hire pretty much anyone who would install the system for me. I saw on Honeywell website products must be purchased and installed by a “professional Honeywell installer”. If that’s not true I’d hire just about anyone...
I don’t have the option for local at this time as there is no stationary computer to connect that all up to. I was considering ring as an option... how is the integration with hubitat? How are the cameras themselves in terms of quality?
Does anyone else in your neighborhood have a security system?
Which installers did they use? Were they happy with them?
It sounds like you could benefit from the expertise of someone that does this for a living. That is something one should expect to pay for, i.e. someone else’s time and expertise.
The only good way to know if any one pro is the best or swindling you (more likely somewhere in between) is to try to compare estimates and reviews/references from other customers.
Camera's are good. I have a Ring Pro doorbell that is powered, and a stick up cam that is battery powered. Nice thing is we have them linked into the Alexa Show, but it does sometimes take 5-10 seconds to show, since it goes to the cloud and back.
The alarm system/sensors are easy to install on your own.
I don't have the integration setup yet with Hubitat. I've had some challenges with 2.2.5/2.2.6. Once that calms down, i may try that out more. I guess i haven't seen a big need to integrate it, except having some of the ring alarm door sensors triggering some actions locally with my devices. I arm and disarm through alexa/app.
I don't have any cameras but I am running a Hubitat integration with an Envisalink module on a Honeywell Vista 20P
There are 2 integrations.... See the following thread....
Option #2 uses a nodeproxy integration with a Raspberry PI. I had this running on Smarththings on a Windows PC. To be quite honest It is a little complicated to install, or at least it was for me. It took me some time to get it running on Smartthings. That is why I am currently using Option #1, which is a native Vista/DSC integration using Telnet. The issue with this one is it that the Telnet integration can be quite chatty. I got around this by setting it up on a dedicated Hubitat hub and connected the 2 hubs using Hubconnect. This works fine for me.
That panel has been around a long time and does not require anything special to install. I would also look into a DSC panel which has better networking integration before you decide.
I've just set this up over the last month or so and I'm really impressed with the integration. The sync between Ring and HSM is very easy and the integration pulls all of your devices into Hubitat. It's been rock solid for me.
Oh, and MUCH less expensive than $7k and you can install yourself very easily. Plus, if you use Amazon Alexa stuff it hooks you up with Alexa Guard which includes listening for glass breaking, voices, etc. when you're away and hooks in seamlessly with Ring. I went with the professional monitoring, too, since it's only $100 / year. You can also get the First Alert Z-Wave Plus Smoke / CO alarms that work with Ring.
Sounds like the Ring to Hubitat integration is easier to accomplish than the Honeywell Vista / DSC integration to Hubitat using Envisalink. This makes sense since the Ring devices, or at least the Ring Alarm Contact Sensors (G2) that I have, are Z-Wave.
The integration doesn't use Z-Wave, it sets up websocket connections to get the status from Ring. The Ring devices are all paired to the Ring hub via Z-Wave but not paired to Hubitat at all (directly) only via virtual devices that are updated as they get events across the websocket connection.
If you have some time, purchase the unit and the sensors yourself and dig the pdf/Internet to learn how to program it. Vista is quite challenging in term of programing (and I obtained last year a quote from a company who offered me to change my contract from ADT to them: they abandonned when I told them that I have a Vista 20 + extra relays).
I added a cellular-pstn gateway to mimic a landline phone and voilĂ , done
The challenge is there but for 7000$ (you can purchase the unit + sensors for probably 500$), worth the price (except if your salary is in the 6+ numbers).
Also, for those who responded and have used ring. Can you only view live in real time without paying for a subscription or is there an option for recorded video playback for a certain period of time?
this is good to know and I’ll definitely look into this as a possibility. Thanks!
