What if burglar cut out the electricity first ? Should Smartthings still be used as security system?

[pstuart (Patrick Stuart [@pstuart])]

LOL, Features. Yeah, tell that to my wife. Security systems need to be close to 100% reliable. That isn’t even remotely possible with the inherent flaws in cloud first / only design of ST.

[Kokoro]

I used multiple UPS’s on the computer, network and home automation. My gateway is a Meraki with cell failover. But I also use Vivint for my primary alarm system, and it has cell fail-over also. I also have my office computer monitoring items at home, so if power, internet and cell all fail, it generates sms alerts to me.

It is just a matter of layering items to try and cover what you can. But the number 1 defense is really the “This house covered by alarm company X” sign in the yard and on all windows. The professional will move on to a easier target, and the idiots will try no matter what you have.

[JDRoberts]

@Kokoro

and the idiots will try no matter what you have…

Or just steal your yard signs. (Yes, that’s a thing.)

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[carmp3fan (Nathan H)]

@Kokoro

But the number 1 defense is really the “This house covered by alarm company X” sign in the yard and on all windows.

I prefer the ST connected turrets with motion sensitive ARs. Take someone out and get a notification (unless the SmartApp is down).

[Scott_Barton (Scott)]

Here is how you can make sure your SmartThings is up and connected even if a robber cuts power and internet.

Keep ST up and connected to internet even in power loss

I’m trying to make ST as reliable as possible as a security system, and that includes getting intrusion, smoke, and leak notifications even when the power is out or internet is down. Most of the security devices are battery powered so they will at least report to ST Hub when there is an issue. Just need to make sure ST can send the notifications to you. For that you need internet and power for those devices 24/7 no matter what. You’ll need 4 things: UPS Battery backup Router with 4G Failover capability 4G USB Modem for the 4G Router Sim card with service for the 4G Modem 1) UPS. I am using a $40 APC battery backup UPS It’s designed for Modems/Routers with low power draw and should last a few hours. My Cable modem, WiFi Router, and ST hub get plugged into this. [image] 2) 4G…

Here is how you can get a notification if power is cut or goes down.

Cheap and easy Power Outage Notifications

Got the 1st Gen Aeon Labs whole house energy meter for $9.99. It reports total kWh used (increments) as well as current Wattage being used (fluctuates). Using Core setup 2 Pistons: Using Capability: Power Meter (not Energy Meter) Drops below 25W send Power Outage alert Raises Above 25W send Power Back Up alert Or Without Core, use Energy Alert SmartApp: Go into Marketplace → SmartApps → Energy Management → Energy Alerts Setup an Power Outage Alert for when it Reports Below 25W and when it Reports Above 25W. This meter can run on batteries or AC power. It will report every 5 minutes on AC power and every 10 minutes on battery power. It will transition to battery power if it loses AC power. The caveat is that once it transitions from AC power to battery power, it won’t go back to…

[Scott_Barton (Scott)]

@michaelahess

You can use a smartphone with foxfi, then have an old WAP with DD-WRT setup as a client bridge, have it join the foxfi with a second router between it and your existing network, then set a metric’ed route on your primary firewall to forward at a higher metric out the phone/wap router.

You could set tasker to turn on the foxfi devices data service if your primary router looses connectivity to your main ISP’s gateway IP, DD-WRT would work good to script this on that end, basically a heartbeat. Even a normal PC with windows/linux could be setup to do this somehow I’m sure.

Woah that’s a lot of work. Just buy a router with 4G failover capability. See post above.