I’m having an issue that I am seeing with alarm.com after I added in a new cellular module. I was able to activate it and with SuretyDiy customer service we got it all activated and confirmed it was working.
I’m now having an issue to where alarm.com is no longer seeing devices when my Simon Xti is being a secondary controller. I tried various comm tests. I also tried resetting z-wave and re-powering the Xti. No matter what, none of my devices show on alarm.com. On the Simon Xti, it says I have 43 z-wave devices.
I been trying for the past hour in case you need to take a look at the logs. Is there something that you can do from your end?
I still didn’t see any devices as of this morning. I decided to power down the panel, do a reset on the z-wave, then do a comm test. I then tested adding in one lamp module and it showed on alarm.com. I then deleted the device and confirmed that work.
I then made the Simon Xti a secondary controller and transferred over my devices via replicate mode. I see 43 devices on the Simon Xti. I did a comm test and as of 15 minutes ago nothing is showing up. I’m afraid that this new cellular module is not working with secondary controllers.
Just another update here. After literally just sitting there for a while, I finally started to see some devices. But my locks and thermostat never showed up. Ever since I been using HomeSeer, I have effortless transferred over those devices.
I decided to give it another try by deleting everything and then re-adding. As of a comm test as of 10 minutes ago, new devices are still not showing.
Just another update here. After literally just sitting there for a while, I finally started to see some devices. But my locks and thermostat never showed up. Ever since I been using HomeSeer, I have effortless transferred over those devices.
No other activity in the interim here?
The new module will have a newer Z-wave radio and version, so there may be differences in operation with the existing controller.
A few equipment requests sent to your panel are not getting a response from your panel with any new devices. I do see the recently deleted devices you previously saw. Did those come in in a staggered fashion? Or were they all visible at once?
That’s not good. I tried rediscovery and re-fresh and nothing here either. I can’t say for sure that the devices got added in a staggered fashion as it literally took about a day and a half for those devices to show. But from my previous experience on having the Simon Xti as a secondary, the devices usually all show at once.
I have a fear that the newer cellular modules aren’t playing nice as secondary controllers. Maybe the Qolsys ones would be better for me? I think this is how I am going to proceed. I am getting another z-stick from HomeSeer. My plan then will be to have to have two primary z-wave networks. The existing primary will exist on HomeSeer. It will function for devices that alarm.com doesn’t currently play nice with (such as my Fibaro RGBW controller.) But the Simon Xti will also be a primary as designed. All my devices that I may use on alarm.com will be set on the simon. Then with the 2nd z-wave stick I got, I will add that to Homeseer as secondary since they support multiple controllers at a time. That way I can still enjoy my “best of both worlds” Assuming the Simon sends over what I am expecting, this may be the best option for me. It seems that having the Simon a secondary controller has been flaky for me in the past. But I think those problems were tied to my Vera. HomeSeer is much more solid in my experience.
I will keep you updated on my experience once I get the new zwave stick
I’ve sent a soft reboot command to the Z-wave module to see if that spurs a response, as well as another equipment update request.
I have a fear that the newer cellular modules aren’t playing nice as secondary controllers
If nothing else changed, this is likely.
Unfortunately the secondary panel interaction is not officially supported or tested by manufacturers so it does require a bit of trial and error to weed out issues.
It seems that having the Simon a secondary controller has been flaky for me in the past. But I think those problems were tied to my Vera.
I’ve had really good luck with Vera being a primary for 2GIG systems, but I have not done so with a Simon XTi and couldn’t confirm unfortunately.
Here are my final results. With the new cellular module, secondary controller capability appears to no longer be available.
As I mentioned before, I tried adding a new zwave stick to my HomeSeer unit. This stick is set as a secondary controller by setting Homeseer to “receive from another network” and the Simon XTI to “Add Zwave Device” With my testing, I tried to add in a lock and a few lights that were primary in my Simon and Secondary on my HomeSeer. I got success. I did have to rescan my network with homeseer to control the devices.
For my workflow, this is great news. I can have my XTi work in primary, which is supported by alarm.com, but then still control my devices in HomeSeer for my scenes. And my other stick in HomeSeer works as a primary for certain Zwave devices not supported by alarm.com