The Qolsys IQ Panel 2 and Zigbee Compatibility

5 years ago
22

In this video, Jorge talks about using Zigbee devices with a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Alarm System. Although there is a Zigbee daughtercard available for the IQ Panel 2 System, it is really only used to support a Qolsys Image Sensor device. The alarm system is unable to support conventional Zigbee devices.

Zigbee is a wireless smart home automation protocol that is very similar to Z-Wave. While Zigbee has many practical applications, it is not as commonly used as Z-Wave with home security systems. Most users will select Z-Wave as their protocol of choice because of its general compatibility with the Alarm.com platform. By setting up a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 with this service for alarm monitoring, a user will be able to operate their Z-Wave devices through both Alarm.com and the actual IQ Panel 2 System.

If a user expects to form a robust Zigbee mesh network around the IQ Panel 2, they are going to be very disappointed. While the Qolsys IQ Card-IS is a Zigbee daughtercard available for the IQ Panel 2 System, it only has one compatible device. This single compatible device is the Qolsys Image Sensor module. The best way to picture the Qolsys Image Sensor is to imagine a motion detecting sensor with a built-in camera for taking pictures. When the motion sensor is activated, the camera will take a picture of the area.

Any image produced by the image sensor will be available for viewing from Alarm.com. The user can also receive a notification with the produced image to their Android or iOS device. This is great for confirming any break-ins. If they check the image and an intruder is present, then they will be able to provide definitive proof of a robbery to the local authorities.

One thing to remember about the Qolsys IQ Card-IS is that it uses the same daughtercard slot as the PowerG daughtercard for supporting PowerG Sensors. This module is only available with the IQ Panel 2 Plus System. So if a user wants to use the Zigbee daughtercard and a Qolsys Image Sensor with the IQ Panel 2 Plus, they must remove the PowerG daughtercard first. However, in that case, they would really be better off buying a standard IQ Panel 2 System instead of an IQ Panel 2 Plus. The PowerG daughtercard is really the only reason why someone would consider an IQ Panel 2 Plus over the original IQ Panel 2, as they are otherwise the exact same system,

http://alrm.gd/get-monitored

Loading comments...