FAQ: (2017) Bought house with DSC alarm. How to connect all sensors to smartthings?

[heythisisnate (Nate Clark)]

@TylerDurden I have some ideas for (and an early prototype of) a NodeMCU based OLED display that I can stick near my door that will display the status of SHM and sensors. This should help with the “oh I forgot it was armed” problem.

Anecdotal, evidence, but I haven’t had a false alarm yet.

[JDRoberts]

Keypads and Indicator Lights

Any of these would work with any of the options discussed in this thread so far, they are just independent devices controlled by SmartThings.

The Lowe’s Iris keypad will work with SmartThings and has a tiny indicator light that some community members used to show armed/disarmed.

It works pretty well, and does give you keypad functionality.

[OBSOLETE] Lowes Iris and XFinity CentraLite keypad DTH + Apps

Continuing the discussion from [CentraLite Keypads] (CentraLite Keypads - #985 by zcorneli): This DTH is based on @mitchp’s original code, with improvements from @RudiP, as well as: Nicer tiles (largely from RudiP’s work) Better support for the tome capability Supports the panic button both as a contact sensor and a button (button 1) Supports reporting motion via the keypad wakeup sensor. Improved pairing procedure to be more reliable Support for the Tamper switch (Via tamper capability) Support for Entry and Exit delay beeps via SmartAlarm + User Lock Manager Support for Exit delay beeps via User Lock Manager Can be used with User Lock Manager, or with User Lock Manager and SmartAlarm Keypad Improved User Lock Manager SmartApp: Support multiple keypads Support Keypad exit delay Imp…

Make sure you get the second generation keypad, as the first generation does not work with smart things.

On the lowes site, reviews tend to be very low because people hated that Lowes forced them to change to the new model. And it originally cost $49, which was too high, I think. But looked at just on its own, it seems to be a decent device, and now they’ve brought the price down under $20.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Iris-White-Security-Alarm-Keypad-Works-with-Iris/999925326

If you just want an indicator light, a community member has posted a project report on how he created a battery operated LED as an indicator light for his security system. You could choose any color plastic box you wanted. The same thread also discusses some other indicator light options.

Status Indicator Light

There has been a lot of interest in the creation of an indicator, in particular for the status of the Smart Home Monitor. In my case, I kept triggering the door sensor from the garage since my presence monitor sometimes took longer to respond than my walk from my car to my door. After my house called my wife to let her know that an intruder was in the house, I decided that I really should be checking on the status of the alarm prior to opening the door. Keypads have been suggested, and are a very good idea in that other people that come over to stay could use the pad to disarm the alarm, but I’m on something of a budget (my wife doesn’t understand my semi-obsession), and I haven’t been able to find anything for less than $40 to $50. What I’m looking for here is simply a light that would …

[TylerDurden]

Thanks Nate. I just found two Iris Keypads at Lowe’s nearby for $2.46 each! I couldn’t refuse. I really wish there was a way to make my Schlage Connect locks indicate an armed status. (There is an LED visible from inside the house, but I don’t think it’s ‘accessible’ to z-wave commands.) That would be ideal.

[cariacou (Mike)]

Quick update:

I managed to get access to the Installer & Master code of my DSC.
I am now comparing the Envisalink 4 (2015 device) to the Nutech AD2PI AlarmDecoder (I believe is a late 2016 device?)

Kevin_Nutech has been very helpful at answering my questions, and I am looking now to get some user feedback.

Does any of you have either the Envisalink or the Nutech device? Would you recommend it? Any missing features?

Thank you

[TylerDurden]

@cariacou

I managed to get access to the Installer & Master code of my DSC.

Hi Mike, was there any technical procedure you used to do this? If so, do you have any links to the procedure?

Thanks.

[cariacou (Mike)]

[kevin_nutech (kevin)]

The AlarmDecoder is not a “late 2016” device - it is continually updated, firmware, and software User upgradable. However, it has been out in some capacity since 2012 or so.

I will say that we have not released the latest DSC firmware yet, so only a handful of beta users have experience with the newest and way more robust features. It is possible to have your device shipped with the firmware, just let us know.