Z Wave security system

[lilshawn]

I have an existing security system in the house I just bought. The thought of spending.g 60 buck a month to have it activated and monitored is pretty lame and I have no idea what any of the codes for the existing panel are. All the sensors and door locks and everything are wireless "z wave" devices. Does anybody know of an easy DIY controller I could purchase to just have a setup monitor the sensors and send me a message via internet or something to my smartphone?

[BadMouth]

No personal experience, but I entertained the thought of installing a bunch of z-wave stuff during my renovation and did some research.
You just need a "Home Controller"

A lot of DIY types use this one: http://www.amazon.com/Mi-Casa-Verde-VeraLite-Controller/dp/B007005364/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1437577149&sr=8-2&keywords=home+controller

From what I gathered, you could get it to do whatever zwave related thing you wanted, but it will take a bunch of configuring.
(A lot like setting up an emulation machine)

That's just what I learned researching the subject.  Like I said, I have no personal experience using one.

EDIT:

VeraLite is the gateway to all these benefits:

•Easy Home Security. Keep watch over your home! VeraLite manages cameras, controls door locks and alerts you to activity when needed. You'll always know that everyone's OK.
•Reductions in Energy Bills. VeraLite lets you see and control household energy consumption and tailor it for savings every month, automatically or by remote control.
•Important Alerts. Wouldn't you love to get an email or text that the kids got home safely? That the delivery person dropped off your package? That your basement just got wet? VeraLite can send you one.

[lilshawn]

Thanks, it's a good starting point. I figured I have to buy some kind of dongle and set up a server or something its still better than a monthly service fee.

[dkersten]

You can build your own controller with a zwave dongle and an old PC (or even a Pi if you wanted to do it all in Linux) or you can go the easy way and use a Mi Casa Verde lite.  I have one and it is about as easy as it gets.  You could go so far as to set each sensor up through zwave or if the main security system brain is zwave or wifi, get that connected and have alerts set up to email/text you.  You can also have certain sensors either log information or alert you if triggered. 

There are plusses and minuses to not having a service, but a lot of it is dependent on if you are striving for a "security" system or just an alarm. 

Zwave is fun once you get into it.  I just added my porch lighting and my theater room to my controller and am thinking about some exterior cameras now (got one interior camera already and the front door lock is zwave as well).  Oh, and if you have a lamp you would like to control with a light switch on the other end of the room, you can do that with zwave too..  

[lilshawn]

In all honesty I don't really require a security system as nearly 99.9% of the time someone is home. (But what i do have is a 2 year old escape artist) But all this stuff is here and I might as well make use of it. If i can find some good software, I may just go the dongle route. I have heaps of sensors and home automation stuff all over the house. (flood sensors, window contacts, CO sensors, electronic doorlocks, temperature sensors, glass break, thermostat, PIR, Cameras, etc.) that were all connected to a security panel. through the security company's app, you could open the doors, change the temperature and everything. it's a neat setup, i'm just not interested in the 60 bucks a month they want for it.

I may also try hacking the panel and see what I can do there. It works and everything, I just don't have the code for it so I can't configure any settings or bypass anything.

[eds1275]

I may also try hacking the panel and see what I can do there. It works and everything, I just don't have the code for it so I can't configure any settings or bypass anything.

If you can find the service manual for it, there is likely an "installer's code" or "Master's Code." They are supposed to be changed when installed, but speaking to a few security types I know they say most installers do not know or do not care about that, and leave it at the default. For mine for example the default is 5555 and lets me into the menu.

[lilshawn]

Yeh, I looked up online for the installer codes and tried a few that where posted, but none of them work. It must have been changed.

 But this system seems to have a bit of a security issue... seems if you go into the menu to go into the zwave settings to modify the devices... it asks for the master password or the installer code to get in... but also allows you try an unlimited amount of times without penalty.

So I can manually brute force the code out of the system...and also doubled my chances at getting a code.

I've already run through 0000 to 1000. 

Also my fingers... 


EDIT:
ran through 1001 to 2300 last night as well. only 7699 to go.

hopefully the security company didn't have the forethought to disable all the codes remotely (if that's a thing they do) i know from research, this panel (a "2gig GO!" control panel)and is quite common. There exists a number of forums on it's hacking and setup with different companies. so I'm not totally for a loss here. If I can get in and get my own codes setup, I'm laughing. between this panel and a PI & zwave dongle, I think I'll have everything I need.

having 2 "controllers" shouldn't be an issue should it? I mean, I can use the security panel to unlock the door....if i use my smartphone to send a command to a computer inside to open the door, it's not going to throw off the rest of the zwave network or cause the panel to throw a panic because it didn't request the unlock is it?

sorry, just throwing stuff at the wall here...seeing what'll stick.

[dkersten]

having 2 "controllers" shouldn't be an issue should it? I mean, I can use the security panel to unlock the door....if i use my smartphone to send a command to a computer inside to open the door, it's not going to throw off the rest of the zwave network or cause the panel to throw a panic because it didn't request the unlock is it?

I think since you can use zwave remotes to control devices independently of the controller and still have a central controller that you can add zwave devices to more than one controller.  If you have your alarm panel send an alert on say, the door opening, if you used your other controller to open it then the alarm panel would send the alert because it is still talking to the zwave device.  I think you would be OK. 

[jtslade]

I'm very interested in getting my own security system setup.. Anyone mess with those 19$ monitoring companies that use Internet instead of cellular


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lilshawn]

most do connect through WI-FI now and just use a cellular modem as a backup. still others only use a cellular modem. I did find a 2gig forum (because apparently a dozen or so companies use this panel (Vivant, AGT, reliant etc.) that talks about purchasing a replacement cellular modem for switching the panel to a new company (apparently the company server contact data is hardcoded to the cellular modem)...plug it into the 2gig panel, and then that new company has a "self monitoring" service which is in the 20 buck range.

I'm not 100% sure what it entails, but I imagine they simply provide the smartphone app and alerts through their servers to your smartphone only. It would be up to you to contact the authorotay.

[jan25th]

EDIT:
ran through 1001 to 2300 last night as well. only 7699 to go.

I am betting the code is 9999

[lilshawn]

no, Ims smarter than that.

i first tried all the 1111,2222,3333 etc as well as 1234,2345,3456, etc... also 1379...basically all the common codes people use to make it easy to remember.

I've ran through all the dates now so it's not a date.

I also tried the digits of the serial number of the panel.

still banging away at it.