Ok, I have no idea what I am doing smart home wise. I have narrowed things down to just a couple options I guess.
I need a system that will allow 3 wireless cameras, 1 door lock, 3 lights, 4 door/windows sensors. And an alarm system. It looks to me the best system is the Honeywell Lynx l7000.
Does the SmartThings have all of these capabilities? I also like having the door pad to arm and disarm without having to scramble for a phone if the alarm is set off.
Not sure if I should just get the Honeywell system that does all this in one package or if SmartThings can do it ?
Smartthings can do anything in home automatisation which you like.
You want a door pad to arm/disarm the alarm?
Buy a tablet (hasnât have to be a fast tablet) and see in the community examples of making a door pad to arm/disarm.
There are many exampleâs of this and youâll notice that if you have questions, this is the community you will get answers
SmartThings is a good start for Home Automation and Home Security.
The great thing with ST platform is that you can mix and match devices from different companies.
ST hub V2 will have camera support, but not at lunch in a few weeks.
ST Multi sensors are great for Doors/Windows.
ST Motion sensors are great for home security.
ST Presence sensors can tell you if your kids or family are home.
ST FortrezZ Siren
If you want a door pad to arm and disarm the system, you can do that by installing an app on a Tablet from ST and you have a secure keypad. (SmartTile.Click)
Check these for Mounting the Tablet and the Dashboard app:
My own minimum requirements for a security system that monitors life-and-death emergency situations are:
it work when both the Internet and the power off
it have professional monitoring for both police emergencies and fire emergencies
it communicate with the monitoring center via cellular, not Internet.
At the present time, smartthings does none of the above. So I use a separate security system, for which I pay a monthly fee, and use smartthings for various home automation purposes.
There are other people who just absolutely hate to pay a monthly fee, or who really want to have everything all on one screen, so they will have different priorities and choose different set ups.
The Honeywell system and SmartThings were really designed for different purposes, and have very different features.
At the present time, there are no video cameras that integrate with the V1 smartthings hub for live streaming. We have been told that there will be some video streaming options with the V2 hub eventually, but we donât have any details or timelines yet.
Smartthings does not at present have any compatible wall-mounted keypads. Some people are using android tablets with a software display, but itâs important to note that that will not work if the Internet Is down.
Other people use a simple handheld security fob, and there are couple of options that do work with SmartThings.
Itâs also good to look at the specific features for each device. Several of the Honeywell wall panels for example, also act as a two way intercom with the monitoring center. A lot of people like that in a security system.
So it all comes down to your own personal preferences.
I thought ST supports DropCam. I know I used it before I switched to Nest Cam and was pretty happy with DropCam integration. Are there problems, I didnât keep up since I donât have those cams anymore.
Iâll give you another option. Scout Alarm. Aesthetics are good, if you pay the service you get cellular network and battery if electricity and internet are down, and it just announced ST integration. Theyâre constantly adding products and they have the door pad. You can get Scout and a ST hub if you want more home automation options that Scout doesnât offer (water sensor, AC outlets, lights, fan control, etc.)
The other thing scout doesnât offer is monitored calls to the fire department.
They do integrate with nest protect, but nest does not allow them to make a fire department call if a nest protect goes off. And they donât have any of the other typical smoke alarm devices. So if you have scout and your nest protect goes off, you can set it up to notify you, but the monitoring center wonât make the call to the fire department.
So Scout can call the police department But not the fire department. In contrast, if you got the Honeywell and signed up for the $10/month plan through alarm grid.com youâd likely be able to get third-party calls for fire as well.
Simplisafe, frontpoint, and ADT can also make both fire and police calls on your behalf in most jurisdictions.
Thatâs why when you look at security offerings you have to be really specific and not make any assumptions about what it offers even if it says âmonitored service.â Pin them down on the details.
As a quad, fire monitoring is really important to me, so I always get exact answers on that question, and it really amazed me at first how much they differed. It could even be the same monitoring center, but depending on the exact equipment a particular provider was using, they might not be able to make the same calls for you.
Just for future references, as an owner of both Wink and ST, I can tell you that there is nothing Wink can do, that ST doesnât do better. With one exception, support for Lutron Caseta products, which is very unfortunate.
I currently own a Wink hub and would not recommend it to you, for what youâre looking for. They do support Dropcam and Nestcam, have window/door sensors (very good ones. The best Quirky product in my opinion), but there is no control panel and things tend to be laggy. I have the motion sensor, which is basically the Monoprice, Eco-link motion sensor and some OSRAM lights, and they take some time to actually work.
It is not a bad system and it is improving with every update, but itâs just not as powerful as ST and doesnât have as much products in their compatible list.
Have only had hands on experience with NestCam implementation, and much like ST, they only provide still pictures, no live feed. And although they make use of the motion sensors on the cam, the alerts are hit and miss, and more miss than hit. Youâre better off using the Nest app to get alerts. There is a limitation with the new Nest cams. They only alert on motion every 30 minutes, so youâre better off to use an additional sensor if you need real time alerts. As for the control panel, if you think of Relay, while it looks good on paper, but in reality, you are much better using a tablet as suggested earlier on this thread. The Relay is really buggy, laggy and true frustrating experience. But again this is my own personal experience.
Hmmmm, not sure why anyone would buy either of these systems. It sounds like they both are kind of crappy right now. Has anyone Used the Honeywell products ?
There is a lot of hope around the V2. I wouldnât go out and invest in anything right now untill you learn more about what V2 can do. Just keep tight like everyone here. It may be worth waiting âfew weeksâ than spending time and money, like me, one hub at the time - I own seven - only to realize that nothing works as advertised. What differentiates ST from any other platforms is their flexibility and incredible community support.
1 Like
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
16
As you know, I really like smarttiles.click, and I recommend it a lot, but I donât see it as being an equivalent device to a Honeywell Lynx security wall mount panel.
Even if we donât look at a model with video, consider the device description:
With its uncompromising technology, reliability and selfcontained architecture, Honeywellâs LYNX Plus is an easy-to-install security system. LYNX Plus is a combination control panel, keypad, siren, dialer, two-way voice system and speakerphone in one. It offers full Contact ID information to your central station via TELCO, Internet GSM communications using the GSMVLP. It also offers two-way voice over GSM radio using the GSMVLP. The GSM radio or Internet communications module easily install inside the same plastic case as the LYNX Plus with no additional enclosures to mount. The new communications options give you the flexibility you need to address the emergence of VoIP, POTS migration to cellular and the growth of digital radio networks.
Two-way voice speakerphone over GSM. A lot of people consider that a minimum for a security system wall panel.
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
18
I agree.
It would be great if a few vendors made something like this that would be compatible with SmartThings & other platforms.
ie, make it just another âDeviceâ (llike a Thermostat) nstead of an entire security system itself.
That is the difference between a non-DIY system and a DIY system. When one considers home automation there are multiple factors to take in consideration. Cost, benefits, reliability, time available to dedicate to instalation and maintenance.
Completely agree with you on that. I believe that only hardcore DIY enthusiasts will stay with ST, Wink, Vera, Iris, etc., after theyâve won the Powerball. The rest of the people, and I include myself here, if thereâs enough money, would go to services like ADT, Xfinity, Control4, etc. Pricier, but they have everything you can think of in terms of devices, apps, scenes, etc.
