Add GE Simon XT to system

[rossarmstrong]

Prior to the ISY adding ZWave capability, I was using my GE Simon XT alarm system to have remote access to my zwave thermostats.

 

After adding the ISY Zwave and not having a way to make the Simon a secondary controller, I simply deleted everything from the Simon XT and only used the ISY.

 

Now that the ISY Zwave module is a bit more mature and has additional commands/options in the Zwave menu, I was wondering if anyone has had success adding the Simon XT into the ISY?

 

I believe I can use the ISY to shift primary controller to the Simon XT but there appears to be no way to make the Simon XT a secondary controller.

 

But if I shift primary controller to the Simon XT, does anyone know if I will lose any functionality or control?

 

The main reason I want to add the Simon XT back into the mix is get remote control of my thermostats and locks when using the Alarm.com app on Android and iOS devices. As I have it today, I have to use Mobilinc to lock doors and then Alarm.com to arm the alarm.

[Chris Jahn]

Hi rossarmstrong,

 

You won't lose any normal Z-Wave functionality if you shift primary to another controller.  What you lose is the ability to add Z-Wave devices using the ISY and doing a network heal.  It shouldn't be a problem because you can always temporarily switch primary back to the ISY for those tasks if you need to.

 

One thing to keep in mind though, if you use secure devices (like door locks), make sure the controller that becomes primary also supports Z-Wave secure communication.  If not, in some scenarios its possible that the keys used in secure communication will be lost and you will have to add your secure devices again.

[rossarmstrong]

Thanks Chris.

 

One of the reasons I'm hesitant to shift control to the Simon XT is its lack of full functionality. It does not appear to have a way to shift primary contoller status to another device. This is what I ran into when I added the Zwave controller to my ISY.

 

I had to delete all the devices from the Simon XT network before I could enable adding my existing thermostats and my new door locks to the ISY.

 

I started this thread (http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/12065-adding-simon-xt-alarm-as-secondary-controller/) back in Dec 2013.

 

It appeared that the ISY did not contain a type of SEND functionality that some other Zwave controller (i.e. Vera) did.

 

I was hoping this may have been corrected or at least has an updated status on its inclusion in the ISY. 

 

Or perhaps, someone much smarter than me has figured out how to use these two together in a single network.