Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these days?

Any advice pls?

Thanks

Lee.

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

No contact - just a Pay As You Go SIM with credit that doesn't disappear
at the end of the month. Running cost of mine around £1.50 year.

GiffGaff SIMs are PAYG with the credit never running out. You only have
to use the number (sending a text message will do) once every 6
months(?). I have a third party GSM module in my bell box that is
programmed to send me "I'm still alive and working" text message every
two weeks and if the alarm is triggered it will send an appropriate text
to any number(s) programmed in its memory. The former message(s)
satisfies the need to use the SIM every 6 months.

My GSM module can be fully programmed via text messages from a mobile
phone. It can also send interactive text messages - for instance I query
the received signal strength and it returns an instant text message with
the figure.

With GiffGaff you can subscribe to a (monthly) data/phone/text package
that does expire on a monthly basis but this is optional. These
additional monthly packages are called Goodybags/Databags but you really
don't need them for a SIM in an alarm. Just put some ordinary credit,
say £10, on the PAYG SIM and the appropriate fee is deducted from this
credit for the texts sent (5p per text).

I also keep a throw away phone in my car with a GiffGaff SIM with £15 of
credit for emergency use. I just have to remember to make one phone call
on it every 6 months to keep the SIM alive. The same credit has been on
that phone/SIM for at least 3 years.

https://www.giffgaff.com/pricing




--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 28/11/2019 20:40, alan_m wrote:
On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do
you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is
a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms


It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5



Note the warning in this latter document that this does NOT support a 3G
only network.

A quick search suggests that there may be similar products from other
manufacturers that may have more functionality.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 20:40:15 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5


I'm about to put something similar together using a ESP32 SIM800L:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...-messages-sms/

Cheers, T i m

Like the idea of using and ESP32. I have done a bit of development using them so would be nice to include. How do you plan on integrating it with the alarm system? Would be super cool to be able to control the the alarm via ESP32 too

On Thursday, 28 November 2019 22:16:39 UTC, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 20:40:15 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5


I'm about to put something similar together using a ESP32 SIM800L:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...-messages-sms/

Cheers, T i m

Hi Tim,

You inspired me to do a little Googling on the ESP front. Not sure if you have seen this.....

https://github.com/konnected-io/konnected-security

It is ESP82660 based and they are porting to ESP32 but seems like this port will not be open source. They also sell kits but are US based...

https://konnected.io/

If you find out anything interesting or have a good path to explore, I might be interested in collaborating.

thanks

Lee.

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 19:08:39 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

snip

I also keep a throw away phone in my car with a GiffGaff SIM with £15 of
credit for emergency use. I just have to remember to make one phone call
on it every 6 months to keep the SIM alive. The same credit has been on
that phone/SIM for at least 3 years.


I get email reminders when it's going to expire and a 'we missed' you
after I do.

I think the O2 321 PAYG tariff might be cheaper than GiffGaff, if not
calling another GiffGaff phone etc (depending).

Cheers, T i m

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these days?

Any advice pls?


I have a Texecom Premier Elite alarm which has a wired connection to the
Internet. This gives me complete control over the alarm and
disagonotics from anywhere I can get an Internet connection. I get
emails if there are issues.

--
Michael Chare

"Lee Nowell" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone
line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit
flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good
deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of
getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't
use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre
supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my
exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a
monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated
e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it
with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't
looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these
days?

I'd go for this one myself. Much more convenient to be
able to check the camera to see if its a false alarm or not
and plenty of bandwidth with the new fiber service so
you can get a decent moving image from the camera.

Any advice pls?

Thanks

Lee.

On Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:23:40 +1100, Ray, better known as cantankerous
trolling senile geezer Rodent Speed, wrote:



I'd go for this one myself.

Nobody gives a ****, senile trolling pest from Oz!

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 85-year-old trolling senile
cretin from Oz:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the
phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has
been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty
good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am
thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all
together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would
bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering
which I assume will not work.

If you have VoIP, then they will offer some form of adaptor that will
present an interface that looks just like an analogue phone line[1], and
will respond to tone dialling in the same way the real line does. So
chances are the modem in the alarm would be unaware of the change.

[1] Normally called an FXS port.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my
exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also
require a monthly SIM contract too?

They will normally take any sim, so it could be a PAYG one - so long as
it makes some kind of call at least once every six months to keep the
number "connected"

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more
sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone
I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or
something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there
are some cool things these days?

There are - although research the security carefully and make sure the
setup is done well, since there are loads of "security" systems out
there making camera feeds available to anyone able to google!


--
Cheers,

John.

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