I have the above panel for my z-wave devices in my home, (door locks, lights, door bell etc etc). I currently control everything through an alarm.com subscription and app with the Qolsys hub panel.
I’m looking for alternative software or another way of controlling my smart devices in a single app if I end my alarm.com subscription. Ideally using the QOlsys hub.
Any solutions out there?
This forum is for people using the Samsung SmartThings ™ home automation platform, so all of the questions and answers are assumed to be in that context.
So in that context, it’s likely that most of your zwave devices could be manually transferred to the control of a new Aeotec “works as a SmartThings hub” device, which is the most current zwave hub for the SmartThings platform. (Local scene controllers and keypads might not work, though. We’d need to know the model numbers to verify those.) It would not be possible to use SmartThings with just your qolsys hub.
And there’s no easy or automatic way to do such a transfer: you’d have to individually exclude and reset each device, then go through all the regular manual steps to add it to your SmartThings account.
Also, you should be aware that even with the latest zwave hub SmartThings still has a significant cloud component making it unsuitable as a primary security system for most people. Just to name a few reasons why it is NOT a UL listed security system:
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there is no battery backup, so if mains power goes out, the hub stops working.
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there is no cellular communications option, so all notifications require an active internet connection AND require that the SmartThings cloud be operational.
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The SmartThings app always requires an active internet connection even your phone is connected to the same WIFI as your hub. (They didn’t have to design it that way, but they did.) So if your internet goes out, there is no way to arm or disarm the security features.
Unlike UL listed security systems, there is no keyfob or panel device for arming/disarming locally. All security mode changes have to go through the ST cloud.
- SmartThings can and does push out maintenance updates whenever they like, sometimes without prior notification, which will cause your hub to be unavailable. Usually the outage will only be for a minute or two, but sometimes it can be much longer. There is no way for a customer to deny or defer an update.
Many community members do use the security alert features of SmartThings for a secondary convenience system, but most choose something else for primary security. Of course that’s a personal choice, but it’s just something to be aware of.
If you’d like to discuss other possible alternatives to alarm.com , Reddit has a home automation sub forum which is brand agnostic and might be helpful.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/
If you have any additional questions on SmartThings as a home automation platform, we’d be glad to help. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of these issues before getting too deep into individual device details.
Thank you for the detailed reply it is appreciated. From what you say I think I understand what’s involved in trying to get Smart things up and running here. It’s not the best solution for what I’m trying to do by the sounds of it
This network was part of a new build smart home package and not something I’ve put together myself so again, thank you for the guidance, I’ll check the alternatives you suggested.