I’m having trouble using the ADC website and app to arm/disarm my system.
Have run the cell phone test a number of times and it comes back successful. 14/31 to 18/31 signal strength.
Reboot x2 with all power removed and no luck. Tamper and power notices come to my email and through the push feature on the app.
Removed and reseated the cell phone module with no luck.
I can see system events on the ADC website as well as the apps, so I know the two are talking.
When trying to arm, the ADC website says it is sending the command. After a period of time it says that it hasn’t heard back on whether or not the command is successful.
Additional info:
At one point the system was disarmed and I sent an arm command through the website. It said sending and after a few minutes there was no change so I rebooted the system. When it came back up it went immediately into armed mode.
Another time I ran the cell test and got an “error ack” message.
The subscriber name on the cell test screen is blank.
Communication is definitely spotty on your account and there doesn’t appear to be any Verizon tower issue in your area right now. I can send troubleshooting commands to your panel and I get a response but there are big delays in how long it takes to get the response. I’m seeing delays of 1 minute to 15 minutes to get a response from remote commands I send to your panel. Usually it’s just 10 or 15 seconds.
When you powered down the panel, did you happen to leave it off for at least 2 minutes? If you power off and then back on quickly then Verizon keep the connection to your CDMA module open and just picks back up where it left off. If you leave it off for more than 2 minutes then Verizon will close the connection and a new one will be created when you power back up. It’s a long shot but worth trying. Since the commands are eventually getting through and your panel is showing a solid signal strength (I’m currently reading 17/31) maybe we’ll get lucking and resetting the Verizon connection will help.
If not, the next step would be to escalate the issue to Verizon and get them involved. If they can’t resolve it then we’ll have to swap your cell module and antenna.
Tried it again, this time let it sit for 2+ minutes. System came back up and then armed and disarmed almost immediately. Sounds like the commands are queuing and coming through all at once when it establishes connection. Cell phone test came back successful at 21/31.
I armed the system at the panel and then logged into the iphone app. Showed that it was armed stay. Then I went to ADC and it showed armed stay. I sent a disarm command via ADC and don’t see anything at the panel.
Thanks for your reply on a weekend.
Edit, disarmed at the panel and then went to radio status. Said “error ack” after I scrolled down.
It seems like messages going from the control panel to Alarm.com are working pretty reliably but messages going from Alarm.com to the control panel are getting stuck, queued up like you said and then eventually received all together at the control panel. I’m going to create a ticket with Verizon to see if they can help. If they can’t, I don’t see any other option than to swap to cell module.
I’ve gone ahead and escalated the ticket to Verizon to see if there is anything going on with the coverage in your area.
In addition, Alarm.com tech support suggests that you power down the panel for a full 2 minutes and then run 3 consecutive cell phone tests once the panel is powered back up.
Powered down as requested. Removed all power including battery. Ran 3 consecutive tests and all came back successful. All three are reflected in my ADC history. Went to the ADC website and tried to arm the system. Was not able to do so.
Alright, that was just a test suggested by Alarm.com to see if we could get the communication on track. I will keep you updated as to the status of the ticket with Verizon.
I had not received any feedback, so I dug a bit deeper to find current status of the Verizon ticket. It seems that Verizon sent a technician to the tower in your area this week and reported back that they have a low signal in the area in general. It looks as though signals there, regardless of the carrier, are not incredibly strong. Any fix on Verizon’s part at this point is going to probably be long range, since its a tower signal strength issue in the area, rather than an issue with your specific module. I’d like to try switching your module out for an AT&T version, although we could find the same situation. How does cell phone coverage in the area work? Is there a noticeable difference in signal strength between carriers when you are making cell phone calls?
From a layman’s perspective, coverage here is great for Verizon. 4G LTE everywhere and no issues with dropped calls. I’m surprised they report a low signal strength. AT&T is almost unusable and still uses 3G for data.
Would signal strength issues cause messages to pass to ADC but not back?
Verizon 4G/LTE means nothing for the verizon CDMA cellular module. Its a 3G CDMA only module, it doesn’t use the LTE at all.
Most of the new towers going up for Verizon are LTE only, no CDMA 3G support.
The Verizon module will roam at 1x EV-DO off partner towers (like US Cellular) if available, if there is no CDMA/EV-DO signal, you will lose connection, and panel will not properly communicate
I had that happen to me when I was messing with the module…
ADC would send, but couldn’t tell if signal was successfully received by panel
(If I sent an arm command from alarm.com/mobile app, it would take a long time to arm system, like 10-15 min, and no successful confirmation would be received. The panel could receive signals somewhat, but not send…if I set off my alarm for example, ADC would never receive the signals…it was pretty much one way/spotty communication).
In my case, it was becuase I popped in/out one module for another, and swapped/replaced the sim card itself… Aka ‘hotswapping’
Then, Power off panel, remove cellular module. Power it back up so it clears all the cell info/data
Power back down, reinsert module and attenna
Also, for the 3G cellular modules, do not use the ‘in the panel’ antenna that the 2G celular modules used. You need to use the long antenna that goes in the wall behind panel
I don’t think low signal strength would necessarily cause the one-way communication problem. It’s possible, but you’re seeing signal strength measurements of 14-21/31 which are all sufficient for normal operation. We recommend at least 11/31 for basic usage and at least 20/31 if you’re using 2-way voice.
There is an area near Columbus, OH where we have a lot of customers and for some reason we have odd communication problems with Verizon modules in that area. So we use AT&T in that area instead, even though we normally use Verizon modules. Determining what the exact problem is for you would take equipment, time and experimentation. The problem could be with any of (in order of likelihood off the top of my head, not scientific)
The Verizon tower in your area.
The Verizon cell module in your panel.
The antenna attached to your cell module.
The quality of cellular service at your house.
The location/environment you have the panel mounted in your house.
The 2GIG control panel itself. (let's hope not)
If you hot swapped the module like rive suggested that’s a problem too but based on what you wrote before it looks like you’ve powered down and up again quite a few times. There are larger antennas available that might help but we haven’t needed them much since the 2GIG 3G modules became available. We even took them off the web store because they weren’t being used enough. We could try one of those if it came down to it.
Amanda is suggesting swapping the Verizon module with an AT&T module because it’s changes potential problems 1, 2, and 3 in one fell swoop so it seems like probably the fastest way to get you up and running. If you’d like to take more time and use a more methodical approach, we can do that too. Then the next step would be to swap the Verizon module with another Verizon module or swap the antenna with another antenna - one change at a time to isolate the problem. Let us know what you’d prefer, we’d love to get you up and running.
Just tried Rive’s suggestion and it didn’t work. I hadn’t hot swapped, but figured it was worth a try anyways.
The cellular coverage check says both Verizon and ATT will work here.
Let’s try an AT&T module as Amanda suggested. As you stated, it’s the fastest way to figure out what’s going on. I’m anxious to get up and running. I’m burning paid days of central monitoring.
Your signal is kinda weak
Shoot for a signal 20 or higher.see mine…
What type of atenna are you currently using? In the panel, or in the wall?
The one on the left is the “in in wall” antenna you should be using with your Verizon cellular module, the one on the right is the “in the panel” antenna, that is for the old 2G cell modules (and should not be used with your current 3G module)
In the wall antenna should go through the mounting plate of panel, and hang in the wall like so…
Your package shipped yesterday. You should have received two emails from Jay, one during the day and a resent version last night after you posted to the forum. Have you received one or both of those emails with your tracking number yet? Might have inadvertently ended up in spam. If not, I’ll send the email myself from my account.
Thanks Amanda. I didn’t receive the first email from Jay but I received the second.
Ryan, Amanda, Jay: I powered down, installed the ATT module and powered back up. Let me know when it has been linked with my account and I’ll power down and restart again.
