New 2GIG System

Hi,

I’m a current customer with a 2gig GC2 system and am getting ready to move to a new house and will need a new system. I had a few questions before committing.

First, Are there any advantages (or disadvantages) to the GC3 over the GC2? I found a chart comparing compatibility between the 2 on the forums (the chart was made by alarm.com but was several months old). Have the compatibility issues been ironed out? I know there is only 1 secondary panel available for the GC3.

Second, I’m interested in adding flood sensors and a z-wave water valve. I know there are 2gig flood sensors and z-wave flood sensors. It seems z-wave sensors don’t work with the 2gig system. If a 2gig flood sensor detects a leak, does the system have the ability to tell a z-wave valve to turn off? I haven’t been able to pin that down.

Similarly, can I create a rule where if the temperature drops below, say 40 degrees, a water valve will shut off my outdoor spigots? I’m also curious if I can create a geo-fence where if I go more than say 50 miles from home my water is shut off.

Thanks for your help!

The GC3 is presented by 2GIG as a premium version of their alarm panel. It does have a much nicer capacitive screen, larger display, clearer visuals and an enhanced programming interface. Compatibility between the two as of firmware 3.1 is largely identical.

If a 2gig flood sensor detects a leak, does the system have the ability to tell a z-wave valve to turn off?

Yes, you would be using a 345 Mhz flood sensor like the RE219 along with a Z-wave valve. In Alarm.com you would create an automation rule turning off the valve when that sensor is tripped.

Similarly, can I create a rule where if the temperature drops below, say 40 degrees, a water valve will shut off my outdoor spigots? I’m also curious if I can create a geo-fence where if I go more than say 50 miles from home my water is shut off.

A couple things here: you wouldn’t be able to shut off individual spigots with a single water valve. You would be looking at valves for each spigot, at which point I think you would be better served with something like a Rachio controller and individual valves similar to discussion here.

The RE219 sensor would allow you to use both the flood and freeze functions to set up rules. The Freeze function would alert at 45 plus or minus 2 degrees. It restores when it increases 4 degrees from the alarm level.

I had to verify this, but Geoservices cannot be used to control water valves at this time I am told.

I recently went through the same situation and elected to stay with the GC2. The GC3 connects to secondary panels only via WiFi. This means if your WiFi goes down, your secondary panels don’t work. Personally, I think this was a huge misstep by 2gig.

Additionally, I was able to pick up used GC2 and TS1 on eBay for relatively cheap. I installed those in my old house for the new owner and was able to bring my current equipment to my new house.

I think going forward, Wifi as a communication means between peripherals on alarm systems is going to be more and more common. There are pros and cons definitely.

On one hand, Wifi can be extended and manipulated through consumer products so that a secondary touchscreen can be placed wherever it needs to be regardless of the house size or construction. There is always a way to get a quality signal. On the other, there are a lot of question marks and untested network challenges given the huge scope of consumer wifi products. There is the possibility of network settings or devices interfering.

With a direct connection like the TS1, there is no possible way of improving the signal and you are limited to its existing range. While this is not really an issue for normal homes, larger homes and more sprawling Ranch style homes can see issues with TS1 connection, as can installations with brick or metal in between the panels.

You also need to weigh the importance of the device. I would not rely on Wifi for communication with central station monitoring, but a secondary touchscreen is not a critical communication component and the system can still be controlled via multiple means if wifi does fail.

All fair points. Also concerned about opening up such a critical system to the broader internet as well.