I thought the consoles were rentals only? Huh.. never knew that.
My big concern would be.. is i am not sure if the console itself, WORKS without being connected by/through rogers.
It might.. but might need a custom firmware or something on it to work as stand alone.. .as the current config is all designed to go through rogers for authentication, etc.
Beyond that.. the sensors SHOULD work with any other system which is compatable with them. (which ones that are? i dont know).
Such things as a camera?
Again, would depend on the software/system the core touch pad (weither re formated rogers one or other brand). Weither they can go THROUGH the monitoring software on the pad may be the question.
Beyond that.. just about any networked camera can be used with any network connection... just not tied in with say programmed things like a door opening, etc.
Unfortunately, not much.
Only had experience using the actual rogers system.
I have heard the same, that the sensors are zigbee.
One of the pannels.. was Technicolor.. the other i am not quite sure.
It would all be about finding COMPATABLE stuff.
(and again, comes down to a compatable base system then for everything to connect through, etc.
Unfortunately with all these new system, they are so interconnected, arent meant to be 'stand alone'
Compared to OLDER ones, which were stand alone, and really just called out when needed..
Hey @moraroad
@Gdkitty is right.
The Equipment (camera and sensor) can be reprogrammed but as far as I know with the same manufacture (Zigbee). However, your CCTV concept won't work. Since the Central hub needed is provided by rogers. (the servers and alert system)
Your Touch pad isn't the central hub per say, but it is the bridge to it.
That being said. You would some what need a replacement of your touch panel (touch pad is going to be a great tablet for the kids after that and not thing more).
....
However, installation, support and any potential warranty with it is thrown out the window when you go Solo like that.
even Zigbee won't support your current hardware as it is programmed for Rogers and that's a OS flash I believe.
@Gdkitty also mentioned about how old stuff was... YEAH I agree.
Old school had wiring. + and - and thats it. It was easy.
Now its all wifi and software this, firmware that... 😕 so it becomes proprietary hardware - even though as stock it WAS compatible.
Best of Luck though, Im sure you can find answers... but it's very limited.
Edit:
Main question to ask though, why are you even thinkin of cancelling Smart Home Monitoring?
I have it as well,
I use it for security but more importantly, Home automation is the reason I love it the most. If i start doing NEST and other brands their cost adds up - They have month cost too, fyi...
Anything bothering you?
What's the concern? Tell us, maybe we can help...
There are pros and cons to both Monitoring system and stand alone CCTV system. You probably want to make a decision after seing both cons (losses) and pros (gains) and try to compare apples to apples as much as possible...
What you are looking to do, is a full system change, this shouldn't be taken lightly... as it isn't cost friendly.
How closely do you read your bill @PSethi? Do you actually look into why the charges have increased or just look at the total? I'm sure if you actuall go into the bill and view the monthly charges you'll find out why the bill went up. It doesn't just go up for no reason, and even if there was an across the board price increase it would only happen one month, not over several months.
Just from personal experience, you probably had a promotion come off the account, you have late payment charges on the bill, or you have usage of some sort (assuming you have services other then the SHM).
Yeah, mine hasnt increased in price.
Well, it was a promo price of like $20 for the first year.. then went up to its regular pricing.. but has not changed from that.
Now, if you start adding other devices.. Adding a camera, adding the light controls, etc.. there is extra 'monitoring/control' montly feed associated with it. That could drive the price up.
But that should have been explained when obtaining the service.
As well should show up as a seperate line on the bill.
I am guessing due to the nature of how it interacts with the system.. it needs to be pretty specific.
While any IP camera should work in the case of being able to see it from it, etc... it would need to be able to talk/communicate specifically with the rest of the rogers system.. (specific protocols, etc?) to be able to do its functions like to send video to the system to be sent out to you, etc.
Yes, there are many other options for most of the things.. wireless switches, thermostats, smoke detectors, etc.. which still work wirelessly, and be able to communicate to, outside of the house, without having to have the rogers system and pay the additional fee.
I use about 3 different ones at home, ontop of my rogers system (Wemo, nest, iComfort thermostat).
The ONLY advantage with the rogers system.. is the ability to chain/connect actions.
- Smoke detector goes off, while system in allarmed state? Contact the fire dept.
- If time is > 7pm, when the front door is open, trigger light control to turn on the front hall lights automatically.
Things like that
I think the current plans, its $20 for the bassic package.
Automation, and remote access & alerts.
Unfortunately you wont likely really see it any cheaper than that, due to part of that, is the RENTAL of the touchpad. (that is the only part of the system that no one owns)
One thing i like about the newer pad, and the monitoring, if you so choose to use it, is that it has 2 way voice.
Now the first contact they try is actually to contact the house touchpad (asking for the security code), before even then calling the first contact, etc.
I would think that you would need to reset the camara first..
But at that point, would need to re-attach to the network.
The issue then comes down to, that its sort of designed to plug in wired to the rogers smarthome router.. connect on that network, i guess seeks out the touchpad, and pulls all the config for its wireless, etc.
I dont know if the device would just auto pick up an IP of a regular network. (even when just wired)
I think most of the rogers cameras are sercomm?
Might need something like this? http://www.sercomm.com/contpage.aspx?langid=1&type=prod3&L1id=2&L2id=3&L3id=7&Prodid=383
its used to connect the zigbee devices.. might act as a 'hub' for the cameras as well??
Might be best to reach out to Sercomm. Explain which camera you have.
Ask what/how, they may have some ideas.
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