IT'S TIME
Upgrade to LTE
What you need to know about the necessary LTE upgrades
In an effort to meet customer demand for faster, more reliable cell coverage, cellular companies are transitioning their networks to full LTE (Long Term Evolution) service and dropping older lines. This will not happen immediately, however, certain areas of the country have already experienced loss of service due to these network changes. In order to ensure your alarm system communication remains stable, please contact us soon to schedule your LTE upgrade.
Questions?
Here are some common questions and answers regarding this LTE upgrade.
Your alarm system contains a cellular radio transmitter that communicates to our monitoring center. This radio transmitter sends signals over the wireless networks provided by carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. When these carriers upgrade their networks to the latest LTE versions, we need to be sure your alarm system’s cell transmitter is upgraded so it can successfully communicate your emergency alarm signals to our central station.
Unfortunately, the move to LTE is not something the security industry has any control over. We are at the mercy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and cellular providers (i.e. Verizon, AT&T) as they transition their networks to LTE. Security systems upgraded in response to the 2G sunset a few years ago will still be affected by this next sunset and require the newest upgrade.
Mobile companies are re-purposing their older lines to full LTE in order to provide faster, more efficient, cost effective networks to their customers. Unlike 2G & 3G, LTE lines can also share more devices on the same spectrum. As the demand for LTE coverage increases, mobile networks discontinue older networks to make room available for more recent versions of LTE service.
We understand there are some mixed opinions about 5G. For this reason, we want to assure you that our upgrade communicators do not operate on 5G waves nor are we installing 5G technology in your home or business.
The deadline was projected to be the end of 2020, however the transition to the LTE network was progressive and some carriers transitioned more quickly than others. Most areas of the country have seen the old network drop already. Please upgrade as soon as possible to avoid a service interruption.
Without this upgrade, your alarm system will cease communicating to our alarm center when your local cellular provider transitions to LTE. This will leave you without 24-hour monitoring of your emergency signals. We want to be proactive & upgrade your system as soon as we can so there’s no chance of a disruption.
Yes! The LTE network is up to 10 times faster than the 3G network. This means your alarm signals will be communicated to our monitoring center more quickly and efficiently, enabling us to respond even faster. LTE will also increase the speed of your remote app for arming, disarming, etc.
If you have a Honeywell Vista security system and some technical aptitude, there is a possibility you could try to install this upgrade yourself. We understand some people may want to avoid having a technician in their home due to COVID-19, and we want to provide options for you to keep your system functional. If you are interested in this option, you can try to do this yourself by following our step-by-step instructions here. There is a how-to video provided as well.
Please call us first so we can send you the needed upgrade equipment before you attempt this installation. After your equipment arrives, it’s important you call us and put your system in test mode until your installation is successfully finished.