Vista-21iP vs Vista-20P

Is the 21iP everything that the 20P is and would buying it now be a wise move for future advancement? Can I program the 21iP through my office LAN? Ideally, it would report alarms to my PDA/Cell phone, however, my internet cable and my phone land line are not physically secure. Best would be an on-board wireless connection device. It's the same old story, no matter what you buy, it's obsolete in 6 months or maybe less. Edit: I guess the 21iP has been around for a while... http://forum.doityourself.com/search...=87query=21ip The Vista 21ip is a great unit. However, what most people do not realize is that the iP connection is proprietary to Honeywell and Alarmnet. You cannot recieve emails or access the keypad remotely without out paying a dealer for this service. With that being said, the panel does support uploading and downloading through the Compass software (which can be found for free), but it is not very DIY friendly. Good Luck I'm coming to realize that these products are primarily designed to get the customer to $IGN UP on a contract with the monitoring company. Any chance of using the panel as an informal personal alarm is only a sideline benefit. Certainly, I'd like to install a system, have it under my own control and fully debug it prior to having any CS call out the cops or the FD. Fortunately, I live in an area where I can afford informality, nonetheless, I'd like an alarm when that door opens in the middle of the night or smoke arises. A call to my PDA while we are out would be a bonus. For this, I might as well save the extra $100 and stay with the V20P, using the money for a dialer or some such simple product that will dial my cell phone with a zone alert. Maybe just order a pager. It would appear that there is an overlooked marketplace for folks such as myself who need a link from the alarm panel to the Blackberry. (Like getting an extra $9.95 cell on my Verizon account and wiring it in via USB.) Maybe in another five years? Basically, the alarm industry is surprisingly conservative (the cost and hassle of UL listing for this stuff reinforces this tendency), and thus they tend to take a while before embracing technology changes. The liability issues for the security alarm industry are huge, so they err on the side of control. I see that the Vista-ICM (Internet Connection Automation Module) was the cat's pajamas and it was just what I was looking for. Effective January 18, 2010, Honeywell has determined to obsolete the VistaICM product and will be unable to provide e-mail alert messaging functionality support for the VistaICM after January 31, 2010. We recognize that this may cause inconvenience and hope that you understand that this was done to minimize future product challenges. Unfortunately, Honeywell is forced to take this action in light of recent concerns regarding our third-party supplier's ability to continue to provide long-term support of the VistaICM units and email messaging. It's sad that job security and product security (minimize future product challenges) take such precedence! Also, strange reading between the lines in that paragraph. Honeywell isn't the only show in town for alarm panels and systems. Does anyone know of another company's product that will function with wireless and wired sensors AND communicate with my computer and cell phone PDA in a private, non-proprietary, but reliable manner? DMP maybe, but not a DIY panel. Needs to be purchased from a dealer. ELK, maybe with a software package. Alarm dealers entire business model is run off of RMR (recurring monthly revenue) and alarm dealers are the largest customers of the alarm manufacturing companies. The AD2USB looks handy for hooking up the desktop PC but it doesn't do anything for the cell phone PDA. I'll get this figured out yet! The raceway is in for the hardwired contacts and keypads and I'm just about ready to push the main order button after cleaning up the finer points. I'm still not sure about the V20 vs the V21iP. I come into this from 50 years in the electronics industry, but the alarm industry has its own language. I did the deal! Vista 21iP Internet Ready Wired Alarm System Control Panel Ultratech Alarm System Back-Up Battery 12 Volt 7AH RJ Block and Cord RJ31X Ademco Alpha Keypad 6160 (3) Wave2 EX Piezo Interior Sounder DUAL Technology Pet Immune Motion Sensor DT-7435 (2) System Sensor i3 2-Wire Photoelectric Smoke Detector with Therma 2W TB System Sensor 194 Degree Mechanical Heat Detector BK-5602 (3) Ademco Wireless Receiver 5881 ENH Ademco Wireless Smoke Detector 5808W3 Ademco Wireless Glassbreak Detector 5853 Already have 5816 (3) or I hate to bring up an old thread, but I'm considering the Vista 21ip and I wanted to know if you were ever able to get it to work over the internet without a monitoring service? Thanks Nope, it's still a proprietary interface. Is there any alarm system that will work over the internet without a monitoring fee? Thanks There is a new product that will offer user monitored services over the internet, it should be coming out this Summer. Here is an article on it: Print: Honeywell's Home Automation Touchscreen: Security Optional - CE Pro

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