Aqara alarm system extremely unreliable – is this normal?

[andreas36]

I’ve been investing more and more into the Aqara ecosystem in preparation for a big move to our new house. I’ve bought several cameras, door/window sensors, presence sensors, and other Aqara devices because my plan was to make Aqara the main smart home ecosystem throughout the house.

The more I’ve invested, however, the more I’m starting to regret it. I’ve already spent quite a lot of money on Aqara equipment, so it’s frustrating to now question whether I can actually rely on it.

For general smart home use, Aqara works pretty well, especially with Home Assistant alongside it. My biggest concern is something much more important: the alarm system.

I’ve started properly testing it before we move, and the reliability is honestly worrying.

I can arm the system in Away or Night mode and then test it by opening a door with an Aqara P100 sensor or a window with a T1 sensor. Sometimes the alarm triggers immediately. Sometimes absolutely nothing happens.

Everything is configured correctly in the Aqara app.

On top of that, around 50% of the time I get a timeout when arming/disarming the alarm in the app, and it can get stuck showing Away or Night mode.

When testing repeatedly, maybe 1 out of 10 attempts works exactly as I would expect: arm the system, trigger a sensor, and the alarm responds immediately. The rest of the time it feels extremely inconsistent and unreliable.

I’m seeing similar behavior with the cameras. They detect what they’re supposed to detect, but the alarm doesn’t necessarily trigger.

The strange thing is that the devices themselves seem to work perfectly. Sensor states update immediately in the Aqara app, cameras are responsive and work flawlessly, and my network connection is stable. The issue seems specifically related to the alarm system and how it handles triggers.

My setup:

• All relevant sensors are connected directly to an Aqara M3 Hub
• M3 is connected via Ethernet/PoE
• Internet/network connection is stable
• Cameras work reliably
• Sensor states update immediately in the Aqara app
• I’ve tested with HomeKit enabled and disabled
• I’ve tested with Matter exposed to Home Assistant and without it
• I’ve tested without Home Assistant involved at all
• The problem remains the same

At this point I’m starting to question whether Aqara’s alarm functionality is something I can actually trust as the main alarm system for our new house.

For lighting and smart home automations, an occasional failure is annoying. For an alarm system, it’s a completely different story. I need to know that if a door or window opens while the system is armed, the alarm will trigger every single time.

Is this normal behavior for Aqara? Are others actually using the Aqara alarm system as their primary home alarm and finding it reliable?

Or is there something I’m missing here?

[AqaraBot]

Hi there, it looks like you’re experiencing a support-related issue. We’ve automatically created a support ticket for you and will reach out via the forum email within the next two business days.

If other members have any suggestions or insights on this topic, feel free to share!

[gtxteo]

Hi, I have the same setup. M3 and child devices are exposed in Home Assistant through Matter. All works fine for me.
I added the M3 Alarm system via HomeKit with no issues. Arm, disarm, night mode, and disable are fine and are perfectly in syncing with Aqara Home App.
I have a Mini switch to arm or disarm the alarm manually, but I use automation with geofencing. The alarm arms and disarms automatically when I come or leave my zone.
Which kind of automation do you have? Do you active your alarm system manually or with any device as trigger?
And important, in the Aqara Home app, do you have manual settings in the “more and more” option for your alarm or not?
We need to know more of your alarm setup to help you.

[andreas36]

Thanks, that sounds very similar to my setup.

For testing, I arm the alarm manually in the Aqara Home app. I then wait until it shows as armed and manually open a door/window to trigger a P100 or T1 sensor. The sensors react instantly in the Aqara Home app every time, but the alarm itself does not always trigger.

Could you clarify what you mean by the “more and more” option? Which exact menu/setting in Aqara Home are you referring to? Maybe there is something there that I have missed.

Also, when you say you added the M3 Alarm system via HomeKit, how exactly did you do that?

Is it:

1. Aqara M3 → HomeKit Device integration in Home Assistant → Home Assistant → Apple Home

2. Or is your M3 connected directly to Apple Home via HomeKit, completely separately from Home Assistant? And then to HA via matter?

If you could explain that part of your setup, I would really appreciate it. Since yours is working reliably, I’d like to replicate your configuration as closely as possible.

[srl77411]

Leave Home Assistant out for a moment (you can add it later).

Add the Aqara devices to Apple Home (M3 Hub, Cameras or Sensors etc).

In Apple Home create a new Scene and name it “Leaving Home”.

Add Accessories for example: M3 Hub, Lights any Doors you want locked etc. Be sure to tap and set the lights to Off and the Aqara Hub to “Away” and any doors to Locked etc.

Now when you leave Apple Home will prompt you to run “When Leaving Home” you tap/select Yes.

When you select Yes it will Arm the system and monitor all those devices you set up in the “Leaving Home” automation.

Do the reverse for “Arriving Home”. Same process for a new automation named “Arriving Home” just set M3 Hub to “Off”. Lights back on or Door unlocked or in the case of a garage door set to “open” and it will open your garage door. It will disarm the system for you.

You will be cutting out the Aqara App and will use Apple Home and the geofencing of your iPhone.

When you return home and get close to your house you will get another notification asking if you want to run “Returning Home” automation in which case it will disarm the alarm and return all the sensors back to normal.

Now back to Home Assistant. (I hope others chime in on this part)
(Your option 2 is what I would use)

I decided to keep Home Assistant separate, If for what ever reason the above Alarm system fails or has issues (which has never happened yet) I can still set an Alarm as a backup and address the issues later.

Install Alarmo in Home Assistant (go to HACS) and download it. You can use all the Aqara sensors, cameras and any other security devices you have in Home Assistant and you will have a second security system to use that works just like the Apple Home system above.

You can also Arm both systems if you really want to mess around and see which one works best or is easier to use.

The only device missing from the Alarmo Home Assistant option is a Siren which you can get via Amazon

Here is a new Siren option recently released that works with HA

[gtxteo]

@andreas36 for the “more and more” option, I mean in the Aqara Home App do you also have a “Guardian” setup, where I can choose the delay for disarming when you come or when you leave, which trigger, alarm sound, perimeter device, and many more.
I’m an Android user, and I have connected my M3 hub to Home Assistant with a HomeKit pairing code to HomeKit Integration in Home Assistant. My Aqara M3 is connected primarily with Matter to Home Assistant, and only for the alarm system to HomeKit integration.
It work perfectly fine, with no issues.
I’m trying to set up my home assistant when I can, without HACS integration.
With this system, the alarm sound in the Aqara Home App is also exposed to HA.
So, you only need the Aqara Home app to set up new devices if they are ZigBee.

[mikkelgraverjensen]

I run an core Aqara set-up with arming and unarming via geofence and my U200 doorlocks, so if any of my family arrive Hove and the alarm is armed it disengage and set it to home mode. In the Aqara app you choose which devices should be a part of the alarm setup.

If a guest with a passcode unlocks the U200 the alarm is also turned off and when both U200 are locked it rearms the alarm again so if any member is at home it will just arm as night time and enable alarms for window and door sensors and if no family member is at home all sensors will be engaged and set to away mode so all motion sensors (P1, FP2, FP300 & FP400) is engaged as well.

Works every time. I also set an automation so if any of the doors (u200) are not locked and last family member leaves I get a warning so I can take action (if eg on of the locks wasn’t locked properly).

So for a clean Aqara set-up not including HA it worked like a charm for me.

[andreas36]

Thank you everyone for all the tips and help, I really appreciate it!

I’ve attached a video showing exactly how it looks and behaves on my side.

For this test, I’m using only one sensor. The sensor itself is working correctly, as you can also see in the app.

If anyone notices anything obvious in the video that could explain what I’m doing wrong, if I’m missing something, or why the alarm is behaving like this, please let me know.

Thanks again for taking the time to help me.

[coccolino_26]

Hello.did you check what devices do you have set for the alarm ?see the screenshot

You need to select there the devices you want to sound the alarm also make sure to select the volume to max too

[andreas36]

I’ve done some more testing, and suddenly it started working every single time.

I’m not sure if this is related to Aqara opening a support case and sending an invitation to access my account, or if it’s just a coincidence, but for now everything seems to be working as it should.

I’ll continue testing throughout the day and evening to see if it stays reliable.

I haven’t changed anything on my side. No settings, configurations, or anything else.

[coccolino_26]

Normally you do not need to make extreme automations for alarm just need to set all well in order to work when you activate the night mode or any other.

[andreas36]

Thanks.

I have everything set up except the Hazard Response. See pictures:

[coccolino_26]

Nice well it should work well now.i have set the hazard once because I have smoke detectors and water leak sensors on my house but if you do not have such devices then clearly you do not need to select nothing there.

[gtxteo]

I will suggest for your alarm automation, adding a delay of 1 to 3 seconds between the door opening and the alarm playing.