I’ve read the forums and done my research to find a lot of my questions but still have some i could not find…
Amazon reviews for ADT ST starter pack are terrible… I read them all and it seems like most are probably from people that do not understand how to set up the system? Thoughts…?
All my Door Sensors, Motion Detectors, Keyfob and Panic Button are Iris version 1. From my understanding they will not work? If i order a ADT ST Keyfob will the Panic Button sound the alarm on the hub and additional Utilitech Siren when pushed?
I will be using ADT ST Hub without the paid monitoring as i have with IRIS. As long as i have internet if my door sensors and/or motion detectors go off will it still text, call or alert me somehow on my phone?
Do i have to use dual branded ADT/ST sensors for it to alert my phone if cloud is down and to sound my alarm locally if internet is down or will any compatible sensors do this? I noticed the ADT/ST sensors look really bulky…
I have a Utilitech wireless 85d siren and Utilitech wireless water sensor. Will the siren sound when my alarm is triggered after grace period using ST sensors or does it need to be dual ST/ADT sensors? When my water detector detects water will it sound siren and alert my phone? I also have a Iris Garage Door Controller but could never keep it connected. Maybe it’ll work better with ST?
I basically use Iris just for my alarm system. No real home automation… Should this system be a good set up for me with no programming of codes required? Hoping rules are already built in for everything I’d be using this for.?
I’m waiting on the experts to respond as I have been learning a lot in regards to the ADT Hub. It appears to be a certified security system with HA capabilities. However, any other SmartThings Hub is not recommended for security purposes.
The bad reviews maybe linked to the “New App” fiascle. Just search New App vs Classic App and you will see what the fuss is all about.
From what I understand, if the internet is down and you are not using ADT/ST branded sensors then you will not have text or notifications as they use the cloud.
If your internet stays up then you will receive text and/or notifications using any sensors you like.
Don’t believe the Gen 1 Key Fob works.
Some “Things” will run local provided that you use a Device Type Hanlder (DTH) that runs local and an App that also runs local such as SmartLighting. These two factors must be true in order for SmartThings, on the HA side, to do something. If any portion of the chain depends on the cloud, such as Smart Home Monitor, then all bets are off for local processing. The ADT panel is its own thing and works more like a traditional Alarm System with battery backup and cell backup.
I use the same garage door controller. Only had to reset it a couple of times
So I guess the only question now is will the ADT panel trigger your siren? I’m thinking so as long as you have internet. If your internet is down then I’m thinking no.
The ADT Smartthings panel is essentially two systems in one. The alarm only works with the ADT Dualbranded sensors for alarm activity. Everything on the Alarm side is visible to the Smartthings side and you can use pretty much any standard Zwave/Zigbee sensor with it. You can augment this with a Smartapp called ADT Tools 2 to help the Smartthing side react to alarm activity. I would suggest using the panel with ADT tools 2 and will explain why as i answer your points below.
Many people are confused by the product. A large part of that centers around the isolation of the ADT Alarm panel from the Smartthings panel. Most of the anger comes from folks that want to use their old Zwave/Zigbee sensors to trigger alarm actions. Unfortunately that isn’t possible. It is fine if you are starting from scratch and aren’t invested in a tone of sensors, but bothered allot of people. ADT Tools actually has some functionality that tries to minimize this problem. It allows you to use non Dual branded sensors to trigger smartthings actions that are controlled by the alarm state.
You can use ADT Tools to trigger the siren when the ADT Alarm Panel has a alarm event. You would simply tell it to do so and then what action to take. The siren is one of the possible options. I will need to check to see if the keyfob is an option though. This may be a candidate for a feature update. I will correct this if it isn’t present.
As long as internet is present you should get notification either by the ADT official app or from ADT Tools
Since dual branded sensors are the only ones that interact directly with the alarm side they are a requirement for the most reliable setup. Anything else will have issues if there is a cloud issue. This isn’t just limited to Cloud outages though as if the cloud is having performance issues it is possible for Smarttapps to fail if the runtimes increase to much.
This will require ADT Tools 2. Simply put it will be part of the action triggered by the sensors as youhave them selected and setup.
Anything you get for the alarm side that is dual branded can be used for home automation. Obviously anything else you have connected with the Smartthings side of the system will work for HA. My suggestion would be to get door/window and motions sensors for anything that is critical for alarm activity. For other security need that aren’t as critical use what you already have with ADT Tools 2. Then just use what is left for HA.
