If you are looking to pick up the Alarm.com SkyBell HD, here is a handy guide that covers what you will need in order to utilize the Alarm.com SkyBell HD with your setup.
Alarm.com SkyBell HD. This should not be confused with the standard SkyBell HD offering. The Alarm.com version has proprietary firmware that does not come with the regular SkyBell HD. Additionally, if you already own a regular SkyBell HD there is no way (currently) to flash the Alarm.com firmware to the standard SkyBell HD. At the time of this writing you must have the Alarm.com SkyBell HD to allow for integration with your Alarm.com account. It should also be stated that the Alarm.com SkyBell HD does not work with the SkyBell proprietary mobile app.
You will need to have Alarm.com Cloud Video enabled on your account. Keep in mind that the Alarm.com SkyBell HD will count towards your camera limit.
You will also need to meet or exceed the following network requirements:
Frequency Band: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network only. Upload Speed: Minimum 1.5mbps but 2-2.5mbps is suggested. Wireless Strength: Good 90-100%, Poor 85-90%, Bad 84% or Lower. Keep in mind this is at the installation point.
It is also worth noting that the Alarm.com SkyBell HD must be installed using the Alarm.com mobile app.
We have done testing with Alarm.com Skybell HD and the Skybell app and have been informed the inverse is also true.
Using the wrong model Skybell HD will result in failed streaming, limited settings access, and we have noticed frequent saved clip failures. In fact the only thing that seemed to work without issue was getting connected. The non-Alarm.com model is not supported by Alarm.com, so the biggest issue is that it cannot receive proper troubleshooting. You’ll want to use a branded version.
We’ve requested from ADC to see if there will ever be an option to use non-branded Skybells and are awaiting word.
So… I want to make sure I’m using the right hardware…
When I logged into my alarm.com account today, I saw that there was a firmware update for my camera (Attached)…
Given what you see below, am I missing any of those settings (as I got my skybell directly from them)? If you feel that I’d be better off switching, I’ll return it and buy the alarm.com version.
Also, do you know how much the alarm.com skybell HD is?
One last thing… I have been noticing that the skybell HD (when used through alarm.com) is not bringing up the alarm.com app to the doorbell video immediately when I press the doorbell. It will do a pop up on my phone saying the front camera initiated video, and I hit OK, but it’s not nativly opening the app and taking me to the video when someone presses the doorbell.
I noticed that with the ring pro (had that installed but the video quality wasn’t good) when the doorbell would be pushed, the ring app would open up directly to the video of the person at the door.
Any thoughts? Could this be a result of the doorbell not being alarm.com stamped?
So… I want to make sure I’m using the right hardware…
When I logged into my alarm.com account today, I saw that there was a firmware update for my camera (Attached)…
Given what you see below, am I missing any of those settings (as I got my skybell directly from them)? If you feel that I’d be better off switching, I’ll return it and buy the alarm.com version
We’ve been informed by numerous reps at both Skybell and Alarm.com that the two distinct versions will not be fully cross-compatible. If you can get it to work, that is good news, but the concern here is that as it is not an Alarm.com version, there is technically no support. If say an issue occurs with video, we cannot have Alarm.com troubleshoot because the model is not officially supported. Based on how the products were differentiated and the confusion prior to launch, I do not expect full support for a non-Alarm.com branded version in the future.
I’m attempting to confirm the differences between the two. I was under the impression that firmware could not be loaded to a retail Skybell HD. That may have changed as it looks like you might have done so. However, we cannot recommend doing this ever, at least not at this time.
Who do i contact regarding the issue? Skybell or Alarm.com?
If it occurred with a different manufacturer’s cam as well as you stated earlier, it’s likely going to require carrier interaction. I can try to confirm with ADC whether this is seen on ADC models, but again, the model you have stated you are using is not supported by Alarm.com as they cannot guarantee function with a product whose software/hardware decisions they do not control.
Are you a suretyDIY subscriber? If so we might be able to use this as a test to determine what differences there are with the two versions.
When I initially installed the skybell HD, I set it up via the skybell HD app (before I even connected to alarm.com).
See attached for screenshot for alarm.com device settings… All settings operate correctly, i.e.- change LED color, outdoor/indoor chime, brightness etc…
Also, what firmware is the alarm.com version currently on? I was on 1099 earlier today but 1104 was available/pushed out.
I have two outstanding issues though that I would appreciate some thought on…
spoke to skybell today and they confirmed there is an issue with T-Mobile accessing live view on LTE… are you aware?
when someone presses the doorbbell button, what should the notification be on the alarm.com app (on iphone)? I’m seeing a notification like (Front Door Doorbell Camera video stream requested). Is this what I should be seeing for a button press? Or, I also see (Front Door: Video “Camera triggered”)
I’m also noticing I’m getting 2 notificationsfor motion detection… any ideas?
I have two outstanding issues though that I would appreciate some thought on…
I’ve heard of a few carrier issues (mostly Cricket and UScellular, I believe) and I recall hearing about T-mobile. Alarm.com has an open investigation working with Skybell, we are told, and are aware of this issue and working on a fix.
2, 3. You’ll need to contact your dealer for notification specific questions/remote troubleshooting of alerts. We cannot see your account, history, or your devices, which severely limits our assistance.
My $0.02 is that Verizon LTE has a problem too, at least from a sending perspective. I know I’m in the minority but we have Verizon LTE for our home internet, so this is what the Skybell uses for sending. Skybell HD just does not work for video for us. I have no way to confirm that the problem is Verizon LTE for sure (since we don’t have other connection options) but we’ve ruled out pretty much everything else. So, it’s interesting to hear that there is a confirmed LTE issue with other carriers on the viewing side.
Latest is 1104
I did not know the firmware did not auto update, so thanks for this, I am updating now.
I won’t torment you with this since you were kind enough to escalate to ADC several months ago, but since you’re curious
what is your upload speed at the device location? And is it consistent?
I’ve never clocked less than 5Mb up at the location. The wireless signal strength on the Skybell reads 100% (and it should given the proximity to the access point). We upgraded to a UniFi Security Gateway for the router, and this device does regular WAN bandwidth tests, so we can see the 5Mb up is pretty constant (fluctuates between perhaps 4-6Mb).
As part of troubleshooting I bought a new Cradlepoint LTE modem as well as the USG router, to replace the cheap Netgear modem/router combo we had been using. Didn’t help the Skybell but improved our LTE download speed from 25Mb to 50Mb, so that’s nice at least. We also tried connecting the Skybell directly to the router to rule out the UniFi wifi access point.
In going down the rabbit hole I discovered Verizon is known to have a SIP application layer gateway on their LTE network, which can cause problems with SIP audio/video calls. Unfortunately as far as I can tell Skybell is not using SIP, and instead uses CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol) for signaling. CoAP is so new there’s not much info about using or troubleshooting it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon is unintentionally doing something to mess it up.
Last month ADC did send me a replacement Skybell HD which behaves exactly the same, so we’ve now swapped out or bypassed every piece of hardware in the path. At that point I gave up. I could probably get ADC to give me my money back even though it’s way beyond the 30 day return window, but honestly I’m just too tired to swap out the doorbell again. So I’m waiting patiently in the hope that someone will figure out the problem, or that I’ll get access to better broadband service.
In going down the rabbit hole I discovered Verizon is known to have a SIP application layer gateway on their LTE network, which can cause problems with SIP audio/video calls. Unfortunately as far as I can tell Skybell is not using SIP, and instead uses CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol) for signaling. CoAP is so new there’s not much info about using or troubleshooting it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon is unintentionally doing something to mess it up.
Thank you for sharing. I’m planning on discussing Skybell feedback with ADC today or tomorrow, this will be good to bring up.
It may not be the majority, but even with a cellular ISP I would expect this to be a priority response. Unfortunately I think you are right about the ISP being the cause. I’ll see if I can confirm any of this for you or get additional details.
Thanks Jason. I am still ready to do any troubleshooting to help with this. I had previously done a packet capture, but unfortunately that doesn’t tell me much - I can see the packets flowing to Amazon Web Services (specifically AWS US-West) and then coming back to my phone, but without having a capture on the far end to compare with I can’t tell if packets are actually being lost or modified.
An easy test to do would be to see if someone can recreate this by putting a Skybell on a Verizon LTE hotspot. The guys at Skybell said anecdotally that they tried this at a trade show and couldn’t get the Skybell to work on a Verizon hotspot, but I haven’t been able to get them to try to recreate it in their lab.
Another important datapoint is that the problem persisted when I flashed to Skybell firmware and tried to use it with the Skybell app (on ADC support’s suggestion). Of course this was an ADC Skybell that was flashed to the Skybell firmware, so that does create a layer of uncertainty vs how a stock non-ADC Skybell might behave.
