First off I’m sorry, I’ve browsed the forums a bit but can’t find all the info I need fast enough. I signed up for a home automation/ security package from Vivint from their door to door salespeople a little over a week ago and I’m about to start a 5 year term and my trial period during which time I can cancel is about to expire. I just found Vera Plus and I’m trying to find if it will meet all my needs well.
I had an existing security system that I hadn’t set up paid monitoring on yet, but it worked fine without that, just wouldn’t call 911 or me if anything happened. Existing security has wired window sensors, motion sensors, door sensors, sump pump, alarm speaker, and two DSC PK5501 control panels. There is a cabinet in the basement with the control panels/battery backup. Vivint cut those wires to hook up their own control panel to take over the alarm and added a wireless doorbell with camera (really like this one), two indoor cameras, a fire alarm, thermostat, extra motion detector, electronic door locks, garage door controller.
Ok so questions I would like answered please:
Could I rehook up my DSC system and have Vera control it? So I could enable/disable the alarm from say the control pads I already have or via Vera Plus through the app? Would any wireless z wave devices I install through Vera be able to trip the DSC alarm too? Does taking over the old system just involve buying a new board and hooking up all the wires to it?
I don’t have a landline, can I have Vera call 911 or fire, or even me via voip? Or via a spare cellphone with a cheap prepaid plan or something?
Can I program Vera to save any video files from the cameras to google photos or dropbox or something like that for free, or do I need to pay for their extra storage option?
Anyone know of a good doorbell cam that works with Vera Plus? I’ve grown quite fond of it in the last few days, seeing when people make deliveries and being able to talk to them on the intercom because i get a notice of motion detected or doorbell pressed.
Again sorry, I know most of this is probably already been answered, but I’m on a very tight time frame to cancel if I choose to do so
To control DSC you will need http://www.eyezon.com . internet connection course. i do believe you can use Dropbox to backup video clips too. but Vera can safe them on the system too. as for the door bell some guys are using http://aeotec.com/z-wave-doorbell. i dont know what Doorbell/cam are compatible with Vera. i currently have my door be setup with a Z-wave sensor and Relay. I been using Veralite and Dsc for over a year and its been good. plus you can add garage,door locks, and so on. VeraPlus suppose to add a great amount of devices since now it supports zigbee and bluetooth. still has bugs since it recently came out. i still have mine in the garage(not installed).
I had a sales person trying to sell me Vivint too. after telling him about my home Automation he told me he could get me t master codes and stuff so i could add devices. not sure how true that would of been. if you like messing with home automation i would go with Vera or any other Home automation. If you want something installed and dont want to mess with it. recommend Alarm.com they support DSC too. but for the price your going to pay in a 5 year period. if they are charging you 30 to 50 dollars a month. you could have your entire Home automation done buying sensors your self. " Vera is the easiest one to add DSC with envisalink, next would be Smarthings but requires running server. and Homeseer works well with DSC but its lot more money and not as easy as Vera"
One way to cheat, which I will be using for my system. Is to buy a z-wave relay module (I’m using one designed for a automated curtain controller), then get a wireless remote that can arm/disarm your system, and then solder the normally open wires from the relay across the push button solder points on the wireless remote. This obviously isn’t an elegant software solution. But this basic hardwired solution should prove to be much more reliable and hassle free in the end. I work as a professional alarm installer, and unless your panel has an option for what is called a “keyswitch zone” (some systems do have this feature but would require specific knowledge or alarm panel programming), this is the easiest solution. It is essentially a low budget z-wave-to-alarm bridge, which should not affect the use or programming of the alarm system.
As for calling 911. Alarm systems do not call 911. They call an alarm monitoring station, where an alarm dispatched calls your local police department and reports a burglary. This is why only monitored systems are able to notify police.
I haven’t played extensively with the notification aspects of the vera system yet, but I believe there was a way to have it email you, or trigger an email someway. I know that phones can also receive text messages from an email source. For instance verizon would be yourphonenumber@vtext.com. So it is conceivable that you might be able to have the vera trigger a text to you. Or if you integrated the vera with the IFTTT website, throught the maker option, you might be able to trigger texts or calls. I am unsure though, as I have not experimented with this aspect of the controller yet
I’m noticing notifications via the Vera app seems to be taking anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes to make it to my AT&T smart phone. I installed the app on my Verizon work smart phone and am seeing the same thing there. Seems Google’s notification system may be a big bogged down at times.
I recently purchased an el cheapo Freedompop cell with free monthly minutes and am intending to have Vera use the Tasker app and AutoVera plugin for that to call my cell for emergencies such as break-in, fire and the likes. The caller ID should be enough to let me know Vera is calling and it’s urgent. Easy enough to open the app and see what’s going on and take the action needed.
Best Home Automation shopping experience. Shop at Ezlo!