I've researched for hours, compiled a list of devices I want to add, in what order, etc to get my smart home venture started right and am now stuck on understanding the security system aspect, how I can get it to integrate with HE, and what it would include.
Hopefully the following makes sense bc the more I research the more confused I get. PLEASE help. I want safety/security but I also want to choose/set up all these security devices correctly so in the future I can use it with HE as well (basically just to arm/disarm/monitor) .
MY GOAL:
A reliable, self monitored, independent Security system. But also a system that I can use HE dashboard to monitor, arm, disarm, (and do fun stuff with the sensors if possible in the future). The security aspect is more important than the fun aspect which is why I am not going through HSM. If I want professional monitoring in the future I can use alarm.com or noonlight with this system (correct?)
MY PLAN:
Have a wired alarm system installed professionally (including keypad, sensors for windows/doors, & outdoor cameras)
Then add an interface (envisalink) to be able to arm/disarm/monitor via HE (correct?)
To view live stream of cameras I will need Blue Iris software as I can't do this directly through HE (correct?)
MY SYSTEM: I am looking at the DSC Powerseries or Honeywell Vista (suggestion of one vs the other?)
MY BIG QUESTIONS:
Regardless of whether I choose DSC or Honeywell, am I in essence choosing that brand/system for keypad, cameras, and sensors as well so that they all work together as one system (?) For example, I wouldn't buy a GSC keypad, use Arlo cameras and ST sensors because these wouldn't all work with the security system, correct?
Furthermore, if the above is correct, when it's time in the future to integrate with HE via Envisalink will all these components integrate/operate as individual parts in HE (cameras, keypad, sensors) or will they integrate and operate only as one big group (security system)
I really hope this makes sense. I am happy to give more info if needed to better get across my confusion if necessary. HELP PLEASE.
In my case I went with a Honeywell Vista 21ip (15 usable with zone doubling, 1 is a fire zone). The house came setup with a Vista 20p with 8 zones (7 usable, 1 is a fire zone) but I wanted to have each sensor on its own zone and the 21ip supports zone doubling as well as 4g lte and wired ethernet for dual reporting. I also added some zone expansion modules (8 zones each) to accommodate all the sensors. Envisalink was pretty strait forward to install. It's just 4 wires to the alarm and an ethernet connection and you're done. The Envisalink also brings over wireless zones unlike the Konnected boards.
Software side has two separate options. Option 1 is direct to HE. This has the benefit of being pretty strait forward to setup but it does cause a lot of traffic and is considered (chatty). It has been known to cause performance issues.
The second option is to use a Raspberry Pi to handle the communications and then pass on the events to HE. This option works very well and is what I have been using for about a year with no issues at all but it is a little more work to get setup.
As far as cameras go I would do these independent of the alarm system. Get some good quality cameras that support multiple streams RTSP and MJPEG. MJPEG raw stream is useful for viewing live feeds on the dashboards without having to re-encode the stream. Depending on what cameras you choose will determine if you can use them in HE. They need to support MJPEG raw streams to be able to view them natively without re-encoding or some iframe witchcraft.
If you want to record the streams, then something like a synology security station would do the trick. Could also use it as an encoder if your cameras dont support MJPEG. Blue Iris is a handy tool for viewing/recording/triggering events but requires an always on system to work. There are some creative implementations that can get around this but out of my area of expertise so I'll leave that to others.
If you go with Honeywell, get at least 1 6160RF keypad. This is very helpful for programming the system later.
To be perfectly clear about your second question. You're zones will be what comes over to HE along with their status. If your zone has 8 devices on it, it will only show the status of the combined group since they are all wired in series there is no way to distinguish between individual sensors. To keep things as simple as possible, I'd group all your windows in a room as one device. That will use up about 8 to 10 zones depending on how many rooms you have. Then use one zone for each door. That will take up another 3 or 4 zones. Have them wire in your garage door motor into the alarm and you can control through the Envisalink.
I have a separate dashboard with all my sensors on it so I can quickly scan through to make sure everything is closed up. I also have the related sensors in each of the rooms I split out on my other dashboards.
An added benefit of splitting out all the sensors, it makes troubleshooting a failed sensor obvious which failed so you're not wasting a bunch of time tracking down which in the string is bad. They don't fail often but when they do, the easier the better. I can do everything on the alarm system myself now and I never touched an alarm panel before this one. Even replaced a bad window sensor. Cost me about 10 bucks and 5 minutes of time. They came in a pack of 10 so I guess I have some spares.
If you pickup a Tuxedo Touch keypad you can also arm, disarm, panic the system via remote commands from HE to the keypad instead of going through the Envisalink. It's nice to have options in case you ever need them.
I've installed a couple of DSC systems with the Envisalink board interface to Hubitat.
Client has the responsibility to arm the system at night, or when going away.
I used the Telnet driver/interface which was originally put in by Doug (who has since left the platform).
This was SO informative and I appreciate it more than you know...
Just to clarify, with Option 1: direct to HE, this would mean I could indeed arm/disarm/monitor my GSC or honeywell system directly by hitting the button on the HE dashboard which essentially would send the message through envisalink to the system keypad to make it actually happen. Right? (I feel like that is a silly question to ask but I've confused myself so much at this point it would help immensely to clarify). I'm not ready to go the Raspberry Pi route just yet as I truly am about as new as a person can be with all this. Down the line maybe I can switch over if the system proves to be too high traffic.
any specific suggestions? What have you found you like?
My main use of the cameras would be for viewing/recording. I don't understand what you mean by always on system though and how it would affect/change things.
I'm holding out hope that the new google home integration will get my nest cameras working with the system. I use them for facial recognition to trigger stuff like turning on the sprinklers when the dog walker lady comes by, but I want to get the feeds on the dashboards which they can only do snapshots at the moment but may have an option with re-encoding soon.
As for my recommendation, look for cameras that support MJPEG and a feature called starlight. It's like color night vision also make sure they are at least 1080p so you can at least make out faces and such. 4k is nicer but you'll need more storage.
You will have to have a computer or some nas device to save the video streams to as they record.
The Tuxedo Touch keypad is a color touchscreen keypad but it also has a mini web server running on it. You can send post commands that will trigger alarm actions directly to the alarm system through the 4 wire connection to the panel without ever going through the Envisalink module. It's not a requirement to do this but it's a nice option to have. It will also work if you don't hardwire the keypad and connect through wireless.
Keeping my fingers crossed for this too... when that day comes maybe I'll know enough to actually understand the re-encoding part
I'll definitely check out synology security station then as I don't have a computer (besides a personal laptop) currently.
And circling back for a brief moment to my original post. I understand I can choose my own cameras and they are sort of independent of the security system itself. When it comes to sensors though do they have to be GSC or Honeywell in order to work with the security system itself on an independent level w/o HE HSM integration of any kind? Or could I still choose my own sensors as long as they're wired so they can run directly with the security system keypad?
You could use a paperclip as a contact sensor with a wired system it doesn't matter as long as it's a wired sensor. Your really just closing and opening a circuit... For wireless there are some compatibility checks you need to do to make sure the 6160RF keypad can see them but they're a general commodity sensor and easy to come by for cheap.
Most cameras support sending out a stream in a particular format. The most common one is H264 over RTSP. RTSP won't work natively with the image tiles though to display the feed on the dashboard. It only accepts MJPEG. Most middle to higher end cameras will support both though.
You can capture the RTSP stream with something like the Synology Surveillance Station and then send out an MJPEG stream from that because it will re-encode the stream for you.
This is actually starting make sense! Thank you! One more question in terms of sensors. Aside from security, can wired sensors be used for "fun" home automation things down the line (ie: window sensor senses window is open which sends message to turn AC off) or because they are wired to the security system they will only function as a security component?
Yes, if my wife leaves any door open for more than 5 minutes it turns off the AC and starts playing Metallica turned to 11 until she closes the door.
If it's about to rain and a window is open all our phones get a notification it's about to rain and which window is open. Also the fireplace light comes on just in case I don't have my phone around me.
I when I arm or disarm the alarm it changes the color of my Innovelli dimmer notification led in the kitchen depending on what mode it's in.
Wow!!!! I am so excited to get this all up and running so I can start making all these rules. I love cool tech but just never had the opportunity to do the "behind the scenes" work to make it all run. This will be a fun adventure (though frustrating at times too I'm sure haha) Thank you so much for your help again!
We live in Houston so no one ever opens a window... It's too damn hot, but the door sensors get used a lot for automations.
Be sure to read these and try to follow them closely... It will save you a lot of headache getting everything up and running smoothly:
In addition to everything else, pickup a z-stick or uzb7. It's a USB stick you can join to the hub as a secondary controller. It will help with pairing problem devices and getting rid of failed pairs. You can pickup the UZB7 on mouser for around 19 bucks or so usually.
Almost forgot but not related to alarm devices.... Save yourself a bunch of headaches and go with zigbee locks and motion sensors. Zigbee motion sensors are 2 to 4 times faster than their zwave counterparts and the Zigbee locks just always work and zwave locks can be hit or miss. For motion sensors the SmartThings 2018 model is my preferred option but they are not in production any more and can be hard to find. Next for me would probably be the Hue motion sensors. A lot of people use them with great success. For bathrooms I use the Nyce ceiling motion sensors with humidity sensing.
They use 2 double a batteries and last over 2 years with them. For Locks, the Yale SL 256 keyless is my favorite at the moment but they have a keyed option as well.
Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for all this info, as well. We have a DSC with two areas (two buildings). I installed an Envisalink but it never played well with the convoluted system required for my ISY-994. I'm looking forward to getting it up and running with HE ow that I've switched over. Future questions likely so thanks in advance.
Definitely going the zigbee route for a lock. I'm trying to stay Zwave free for now just because I'm so new to all this and know that without the right solid mesh setup I could be looking at more problems if I add zwave into the mix. Thanks! Currently looking at Yale and Schlage.
I have a good mix of both so I don't tax either mesh. I went with zwave for all the switches and zigbee for all the outlets. Gives me a good backbone for both. The perimeter sensors are all hardwired contacts through the alarm system to the envisalink and then to HE. All the inside contacts are zwave and all the motion sensors are zigbee.
