SmartThings Community

SmartThings, DSC Alarm, EnvisaLink4

#1

I could use some help.

I have a SmartThings hub, in addition to Alexa, Harmony, Phillips Hue, Sonos, etc.
I have a DSC 1616 alarm system

I had some fancy idea that it would be neat to leverage the sensors in my alarm system for some SmartThings automation.
Specifically, the motion sensors, the door sensors, and the smoke alarm. It would be nice to get notifications when I’m traveling. Perhaps turn on some lights if an alarm is triggered, you get the idea.

So I bought an EyezOn EnvisaLink 4 without doing enough research. There is no viable chance to run Ethernet cable to the alarm panel. It wouldn’t be worth it. Is there some way to go wireless with it?
How would I then integrate it with SmartThings to get notifications working?

I do have an unused Raspberry Pi 3 (has wifi) from another project that I could use. I’m not a developer, but I am savvy enough to follow instructions.

Am I attempting a boondoggle? I’m worried that it is more trouble than it is worth and I should maybe just return the Envisalink. Then I’d buy more sensors (to overlap with the sensors in my DSC system). Plus a new smoke alarm.

#2

Have you checked out konnected.io ?- Easy way to use your existing wired sensors. I would return the envisalink and look up @heythisisnate and his Konnected product.

It was a hugely successful kickstarter campaign. I used it to replace a Honeywell Vista 20p panel.

Good luck!

(Nate Clark) #3

Thanks for the ping @todds89.
@SackOHammers this is exactly why I built Konnected. Let me know if you have any questions.

(Graham) #4

I’m sort of in the same boat as SackoHammers. Konnected.io is cool, but I’m not willing to give up my existing alarm system just yet (for a number of reasons) … I just want access from SmartThings to the sensor states. So far I haven’t found any decent documentation for setting up an alarm server relay on something low-cost like a Pi.

(Nate Clark) #5

@GT1 we (Konnected) have a new product for you that’s going on sale soon. It allows you to keep the existing alarm system intact while monitoring the state of each zone in ST. Stay tuned.

#6

Thanks for the replies. I, too, definitely want to keep my existing alarm functionality with 3rd party monitoring.
I just wanted automation access to the sensors used by that system. I’ll keep my eye out for this future Konnected product.
For now, any way to this Envisalink get access to my sensors? Without running Ethernet to the panel?

Thanks,
Hammers

(Graham) #7

I ended up pulling an Ethernet cable to mine (had to punch some holes in drywall to do it, then repair). Wasn’t too bad in the end. However, if you want to go wireless you can find wireless - > ethernet bridges. They used to be more popular before everything started supporting wireless, but you should still be able to find them for less than $35.

#8

You could get a Alarm decoder AD2Pi which will allow you to integrated any sensors in your system and still keep your monitoring service. The link below has the Pi 3 included, but they also offer one without the Pi for $70 if you already have one. Since the Pi 3 has wireless you will not need Ethernet. It supports both DSC and Honeywell systems.

Alarm Decoder

(Dave N) #9

I run Alarm server software and have a WiFi bridge connected to my alarm panel; there is no eth path to my setup either. All has worked just dandy for years.

#10

Thanks for your replies, all. Looks reasonable to use either a wireless access point (bridge) to get some ethernet near my cabinet, or a Powerline Ethernet option.
I didn’t realize I’d also have add something additional to get Envisalink and SmartThings talking to each other.
So the Alarm Decoder solution might be a better fit.

I’ll re-evaluation my options. Thanks all.

#11

This sounds like what I’ve been waiting for!

#12

Hello, Can the konnected software be installed on the envisalink 4 hardware?

(Nate Clark) #13

No, Konnected runs on an ESP8266 wifi chip. The Envisalink is a very different product.

(rvs007) #14

I stumbled across this thread while researching on ways I can integrate my existing DSC alarm system into SmartThings. What @heythisisnate eluded to earlier is called Interface, and Konnected just released it.

This got me really excited as it was exactly what I was looking for. EXCEPT… it looks like for the Interface to interact with the existing alarm panel (to arm/disarm), it needs an unused zone and a relay (I think the relay is provided with the Interface), but there has to be an unused zone on the existing alarm panel to make it work. @heythisisnate, is that right? My DSC pannel has 8 zones and based on the wiring I saw, it looks like all 8 zones have something connected. Does that mean I can only interface with all the sensors currently hooked up to my alarm, but there is no way for me to interact with the alarm system (e.g. arm & disarm it) It seems that is the only missing piece of the puzzle that’s keeping the Interface from being the perfect solution in my case.

(Daniel Ionescu) #15

Yes. That also means that if you get one board you can only use it with 6 of your zones. If you have more then 6 zones, you need multiple boards.

I personally have been using this https://github.com/LXXero/DSCAlarm and this DSC -> EVL-3(4) -> Alarmserver -> Smartthings with a raspberry pi. I can interact with the panel and it also integrates with SHM.

#17

Yikes. Where does one start with the Alarm Server integration?

There is a lot of information on that GitHub, much of it old, but I can’t determine a clear step by step path from the beginning.

Thanks.

(Christopher Guthrie) #18

@heythisisnate I currently have a DSC system. I only have 4 wired zones, but have more wireless zones that are connecting to the alarm panel.

If I purchase your expansion product, would I purchase the 6 zone version?

(rvs007) #19

After contemplating both the Konnected.io and Envisalink solutions, I decided to go with Envisalink. It’s well worth the effort, and now my DSC system is fully integrated into ST and I can control arming/disarming as well as using all the sensors in my ST routines. I pretty much followed the sequence outlined on this page: https://github.com/LXXero/DSCAlarm. Set up the device handlers, then the Smartapp, then the Alarmserver on the Raspberry Pi. The Alarmserver set up took the longest as I had to figure out how to run the Alarmserver files and edit the config file (I’m a Raspi3 n00b)… But I got it all up and running in one night after installing the Envisalink to my alarm panel.

#20

I had tried setting it up under Windows, but ran into problems with which I could not get any help/support.

I’ve avoided the Pi route, because I have absolutely no experience with those.

I will give it another go. Maybe it will go better this time…

#21

Do you mind, sir if I consult with you if (when) I run into problems with this process? I’m going to try starting today.