Xfinity Home Security And Automation Integration

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

Hi MCV,

XH = Xfinity Home Security and Automation

Been using this Vera2 system for a year now and am absolutely nuts about it. Possibilities are unlimited. I am a Comcast/Xfinity Technician and I had the privilege of having a Comcast/Xfinity Home Security and Automation in my home before it was released to the general public.

I would LOVE to help out in any way I can to get something compatible going between the two systems, as you can imagine, Comcast has a VERY large reach, so the demand will be there for compatibility.

Here is what I can tell you thus far. If you want additional information from me, let me know, I would like to assist in any way I can to make this easier/possible/etc for you guys. I’ve used Vera2 for about a year now, with a AD2USB bridge on my old security system to tie the sensors and what not into the Z-Wave system to setup scenes and triggers.

Here is what I had, and what I now have. I would rather only disclose model #s via inbox to developers that need the information to work with. Exscuse some of the layman terms talking, as I copied and pasted this from something I was pasting to a co-worker to describe the system I had.

EPS Security System. They used FirstAlert Panel and 2 First Alert Keypads, they really are just rebranded Honeywell 20p panel and 6150 keypads.
This system consists of 3 hard-wired built in door sensors, 3 Hardwired built in Smoke Detectors, 1 Heat Detector, 1 Flood Sensor, 1 Hard Wired motion sensor and a siren.

I have a Z-Wave system with close to 30 different accessories ranging from built in light switches, built in plugs, external plugs (for outside)thermostat, etc.
The “Brain” of this system is a Mi Casa Verde Vera2 controller.

I tied these two systems together with a module called AD2USB, it basically is hardwired into the 20P board as an additional keypad and reads what is going on in the 20P panel, strips the language and then “talks” to the Vera2 in a language it understands via a USB cable.

This allows me to setup up triggers using the sensors on my alarm system to trip certain lights, scenes, etc during various times of the day. IE: Slider is opened after sunset, back porch light comes on automatically. Motion sensor upstairs trips at night time, the night lights activate. ETC

What I NOW have, with Xfinity Home. I have my current setup +

Touchscreen, 4 wireless door sensors, another wireless motion sensor, wireless keypad, key fob.

How it works.

There is not a panel, but rather the touchscreen acts as the brain. No hardwiring needed (except the AC).

There was a module put in the 20P panel, as part of the “takeover”. The wires of one of the keypads was removed (I had them remove the wires from the AD2USB module, instead of their normal training which was to remove a keypad and put this module behind it, kind of makes the keypad gaudy looking) and was inserted into the new module, then they bridged another wire to the AD2USB module.

Used to be Panel → 2keypads and AD2USB

Now is Panel → 2keypads and new module and then from new module to AD2USB.

EDIT2: Now is Panel → 1keypads, AD2USB, New Module and then from the New Module to my main keypad.

The new module allowed the Touchscreen (“brain”) to read the 20P panel information and discover all the sensors and allow us to setup rules (aka scenes) with all the new stuff that came with XH and the stuff that was on my security system, but NOT the Z-Wave stuff.

I hope this all makes sense, let me know if you want pictures, better details, etc. Like I said, I am only will to disclose model numbers via inbox for the time being.

All the wireless stuff on the XH setups are Zigbee groan

There are also indoor/outdoor cameras, flood detectors, curtain sensors, glass break sensors, and much more I could have gotten with this system if I wanted to spend some money on it. Which I may do down the road. We’ll see how much functionality I can get out of this. Thus far, everything was free to me as an employee for testing in this market.

Everything works great, except, I have no way to getting the XH to interact with Vera2

EDIT: I mispoke. The UI4 is showing connection down for the panel and one of my keypads is not working. I am going to reconfigure a few things and will report back what I had to do. I am assuming that putting in that new module hijacked an address, probably 16 seeing as its my main panel that is no longer working and my AD2USB is set for address 18.

EDIT2: Everything is back up and functional. I moved the AD2USB directly to the board and bridged the main keypad off the new module. I am assuming the module uses address 16 by default and has to be behind the main keypad.

Still have the issue of trying to figure out how to get one system or the other to recognize sensors and what not.

The old alarm system sensors will trip on both the XH interface and the UI4 interface and trigger scenes and/or rules. The issue is getting the new stuff to trigger the ZWave stuff or vice versa.

When I look at the zones in the new XH setup, they are completely different numbers, including everything from the alarm system that was imported via the new module. But if I trigger something, say the back slider (sensor from old system) I will see it trigger the proper zone in UI4 (Zone #6) and it will trigger the proper zone in XH system (Zone #11 on that system).

EDIT3:
Another thing I noticed. With the AD2USB controller and Vera2, according to another post, due to limitations, the system could only see when a door sensor was open but could not sense when a sensor was closed, so it was only seen as a trigger. So there were some limitations. However, the XH system can actually tell (and set rules) between open and close, so you could set scenes based on open and/or close and the system knew when it was closed vs a timeout like the AD2USB. So that limitation must have been in the AD2USB module and not the 20P board itself as I was lead to believe.
Hope I am making sense. :slight_smile:

2

No interest in this? Have to say, I am a bit surprised. :o

3

Can you post close up pictures of the hardware they attached to your Vista panel and any other secret sauce they are not telling people about.

I have heard about this mystery system for over a year yet no one has seen anything other than some pretty pictures of a front end on some advertisement in the mail.
People here are all about open systems not secrets so I expect little will be done with a system with so little information.

As for close events.
You can detect close events by timeout or instantly with some additional programming on the panel recent updates to the driver for the Vera will allow for these AD2USB features
to be used.

As for the touchscreen I made my own using the AD2USBGUI so it is not a closed system and I can add stuff to it.

Re
Sean M

4

Do you have an email that we could communicate with?

5

mathewss@nutech.com or call my office all contact data is on our website at nutech.com

Re
Sean M

6

Can you send more info about alarm system that can be integrate by Xfinity. I just got a system from comcast don’t like the equipment. the brain box is nice but the siren sucks it’s not loud I want a better siren. The installer didn’t want to add a door senor to my garage he said in the winter it might seen false alarms. if this happen they will have to remove senor. Can you help

7

I have door sensor on both the entry and large door with no problems and live in cold Minnesota … it is not Xfinity but and old DC S system.

8

Think,

I am thinking about getting a system in Texas. I have some questions for you. cant PM for some reason. spinny02 aol.com

[quote=“Thinkfire, post:1, topic:171326”]Hi MCV,

XH = Xfinity Home Security and Automation

Been using this Vera2 system for a year now and am absolutely nuts about it. Possibilities are unlimited. I am a Comcast/Xfinity Technician and I had the privilege of having a Comcast/Xfinity Home Security and Automation in my home before it was released to the general public.

I would LOVE to help out in any way I can to get something compatible going between the two systems, as you can imagine, Comcast has a VERY large reach, so the demand will be there for compatibility.

Here is what I can tell you thus far. If you want additional information from me, let me know, I would like to assist in any way I can to make this easier/possible/etc for you guys. I’ve used Vera2 for about a year now, with a AD2USB bridge on my old security system to tie the sensors and what not into the Z-Wave system to setup scenes and triggers.

Here is what I had, and what I now have. I would rather only disclose model #s via inbox to developers that need the information to work with. Exscuse some of the layman terms talking, as I copied and pasted this from something I was pasting to a co-worker to describe the system I had.

EPS Security System. They used FirstAlert Panel and 2 First Alert Keypads, they really are just rebranded Honeywell 20p panel and 6150 keypads.
This system consists of 3 hard-wired built in door sensors, 3 Hardwired built in Smoke Detectors, 1 Heat Detector, 1 Flood Sensor, 1 Hard Wired motion sensor and a siren.

I have a Z-Wave system with close to 30 different accessories ranging from built in light switches, built in plugs, external plugs (for outside)thermostat, etc.
The “Brain” of this system is a Mi Casa Verde Vera2 controller.

I tied these two systems together with a module called AD2USB, it basically is hardwired into the 20P board as an additional keypad and reads what is going on in the 20P panel, strips the language and then “talks” to the Vera2 in a language it understands via a USB cable.

This allows me to setup up triggers using the sensors on my alarm system to trip certain lights, scenes, etc during various times of the day. IE: Slider is opened after sunset, back porch light comes on automatically. Motion sensor upstairs trips at night time, the night lights activate. ETC

What I NOW have, with Xfinity Home. I have my current setup +

Touchscreen, 4 wireless door sensors, another wireless motion sensor, wireless keypad, key fob.

How it works.

There is not a panel, but rather the touchscreen acts as the brain. No hardwiring needed (except the AC).

There was a module put in the 20P panel, as part of the “takeover”. The wires of one of the keypads was removed (I had them remove the wires from the AD2USB module, instead of their normal training which was to remove a keypad and put this module behind it, kind of makes the keypad gaudy looking) and was inserted into the new module, then they bridged another wire to the AD2USB module.

Used to be Panel → 2keypads and AD2USB

Now is Panel → 2keypads and new module and then from new module to AD2USB.

EDIT2: Now is Panel → 1keypads, AD2USB, New Module and then from the New Module to my main keypad.

The new module allowed the Touchscreen (“brain”) to read the 20P panel information and discover all the sensors and allow us to setup rules (aka scenes) with all the new stuff that came with XH and the stuff that was on my security system, but NOT the Z-Wave stuff.

I hope this all makes sense, let me know if you want pictures, better details, etc. Like I said, I am only will to disclose model numbers via inbox for the time being.

All the wireless stuff on the XH setups are Zigbee groan

There are also indoor/outdoor cameras, flood detectors, curtain sensors, glass break sensors, and much more I could have gotten with this system if I wanted to spend some money on it. Which I may do down the road. We’ll see how much functionality I can get out of this. Thus far, everything was free to me as an employee for testing in this market.

Everything works great, except, I have no way to getting the XH to interact with Vera2

EDIT: I mispoke. The UI4 is showing connection down for the panel and one of my keypads is not working. I am going to reconfigure a few things and will report back what I had to do. I am assuming that putting in that new module hijacked an address, probably 16 seeing as its my main panel that is no longer working and my AD2USB is set for address 18.

EDIT2: Everything is back up and functional. I moved the AD2USB directly to the board and bridged the main keypad off the new module. I am assuming the module uses address 16 by default and has to be behind the main keypad.

Still have the issue of trying to figure out how to get one system or the other to recognize sensors and what not.

The old alarm system sensors will trip on both the XH interface and the UI4 interface and trigger scenes and/or rules. The issue is getting the new stuff to trigger the ZWave stuff or vice versa.

When I look at the zones in the new XH setup, they are completely different numbers, including everything from the alarm system that was imported via the new module. But if I trigger something, say the back slider (sensor from old system) I will see it trigger the proper zone in UI4 (Zone #6) and it will trigger the proper zone in XH system (Zone #11 on that system).

EDIT3:
Another thing I noticed. With the AD2USB controller and Vera2, according to another post, due to limitations, the system could only see when a door sensor was open but could not sense when a sensor was closed, so it was only seen as a trigger. So there were some limitations. However, the XH system can actually tell (and set rules) between open and close, so you could set scenes based on open and/or close and the system knew when it was closed vs a timeout like the AD2USB. So that limitation must have been in the AD2USB module and not the 20P board itself as I was lead to believe.
Hope I am making sense. :)[/quote]

9

I had Comcast install their Xfinity Home Security system this weekend. This is my first foray into the home security world, however I have a technical background. Just want to give my 2 cents on this system.

It’s locked down. And not in a good way. It doesn’t allow for you to add your own devices, so you are stuck buying from Comcast and having them do the install. Along with this they add what they call a ‘security access point’ which is actually a Netgear WNR1000 router. The purpose of this is to supply 802.11 to the ‘brain’ which is an SMCRB5701-Z control unit. They keypad is also branded SMC and I believe the sensors are as well. Our motion detector has already stopped working >:(

I have a problem with the router for a few reasons. First off this particular router is known to be notoriously problematic. Second I hate having a device behind my network that I cant access. Once everything is setup the router takes 172.16.12.1 IP regardless of the addresses on the rest of your network and the login gets changed to something I have not yet been able to figure out. Default is ‘admin’ and ‘password’ or ‘1234’ for Netgear routers. But not after setup. I can understand why they do this but it bothers me that I can’t monitor a device on my personal network.

The router broadcasts a visible network :frowning: which is secured by WPA. Why they didn’t opt to make it hidden is beyond me. The installer insisted that it be placed before my primary router but I was able to move it behind my router after the fact. Regardless it bothers me having a device I cannot monitor or control behind my network.

The alarm in the SMCRB5701-Z is not loud enough to be heard by anyone outside them home. Comcast does not offer an external alarm.

In my tests it took an average of 7 minutes for Comcast to contact me after an alarm event. 7 minutes! Not only that, if the power goes out (wifi goes down), and there is an alarm event, the cell backup didn’t appear to work because I never got a call. The SMCRB5701-Z gets poor cell service in our area and when I check the connection it shows 1 bar, sometimes none.

I don’t feel like I can rely on this system. Comcast gives you 3 days to return it, and I’m going to be doing just that. I will check back, feel free to ask questions.

10

[quote=“conrad, post:9, topic:171326”]I had Comcast install their Xfinity Home Security system this weekend. This is my first foray into the home security world, however I have a technical background. Just want to give my 2 cents on this system.

It’s locked down. And not in a good way. It doesn’t allow for you to add your own devices, so you are stuck buying from Comcast and having them do the install. Along with this they add what they call a ‘security access point’ which is actually a Netgear WNR1000 router. The purpose of this is to supply 802.11 to the ‘brain’ which is an SMCRB5701-Z control unit. They keypad is also branded SMC and I believe the sensors are as well. Our motion detector has already stopped working >:(

I have a problem with the router for a few reasons. First off this particular router is known to be notoriously problematic. Second I hate having a device behind my network that I cant access. Once everything is setup the router takes 172.16.12.1 IP regardless of the addresses on the rest of your network and the login gets changed to something I have not yet been able to figure out. Default is ‘admin’ and ‘password’ or ‘1234’ for Netgear routers. But not after setup. I can understand why they do this but it bothers me that I can’t monitor a device on my personal network.

The router broadcasts a visible network :frowning: which is secured by WPA. Why they didn’t opt to make it hidden is beyond me. The installer insisted that it be placed before my primary router but I was able to move it behind my router after the fact. Regardless it bothers me having a device I cannot monitor or control behind my network.

The alarm in the SMCRB5701-Z is not loud enough to be heard by anyone outside them home. Comcast does not offer an external alarm.

In my tests it took an average of 7 minutes for Comcast to contact me after an alarm event. 7 minutes! Not only that, if the power goes out (wifi goes down), and there is an alarm event, the cell backup didn’t appear to work because I never got a call. The SMCRB5701-Z gets poor cell service in our area and when I check the connection it shows 1 bar, sometimes none.

I don’t feel like I can rely on this system. Comcast gives you 3 days to return it, and I’m going to be doing just that. I will check back, feel free to ask questions.[/quote]

That’s why the cable companies should not be in the alarm business. You want quality, buy from an alarm company. Equipment recommendations? Honeywell, DSC, Bosch. All are good as are others but those three are the leaders in the industry. Monitoring can be done via. IP, Cellular, Private Radio Network and POTS. Choice 1 would be PRN followed by IP. Either way two means of communication are a “belt and suspenders” approach, which is best. Wireless contacts work well so dont be discouraged by the poor quality of Comcast. They buy junk with little quality control. Stick with U.L. Listed equipment.

11

Thinkfire. I am interested in finding more about integration with a (my) Vista 20p. How can I get in touch

12

Thinkfire,

How do I access the installer menu of the touchpad. I have the code. Please email me at macrhino@me.com

13

I just recently purchased the xfinity home security system. The ALERT for: sensor for peripheral Siren 1 has been opened or tampered with in some fashion, went off in the middle of the night. I can’t get a tech out till Wednesday and was wondering if you had any suggestions for fixing the problem.

Thanks

14

Hey Thinkfire,

I want to know as well on how to access the installer menu of the touchpad. Is there a special code to access it? If you can please email me jemescolastico@hotmail.com Thanks!

15

If anyone has any information on how to access the installer menu, please let me know. It is ridiculous that they’re charging $50 for additional sensors plus a $20 install fee for each sensor.

16

Hey Thinkfire,

I want to know as well on how to access the installer menu of the touchpad. Is there a special code to access it? If you can please email me LMCICIOSR@gmail.com I have extra sensors and motions that are useless if I can’t sync them. Thanks!

17

ThinkFire,

Can you please provide the info for getting to the installation menu on XH touchscreen as well as the technician code? TIA: wolves3fan@gmail.com