Hi everyone, I recently made the switch from SimpliSafe to Surety and wanted to share my experience, especially regarding the challenges I faced and how I overcame them. Overall, I’m very pleased with the quality of the hardware and the ADC platform, but there were a few minor issues that I wanted to address and hopefully provide some insights for others who might be going through a similar transition.
One of the first things I noticed was a delay in sensor notifications. Specifically, when a door is opened shortly after receiving a push notification, there’s a ~3-minute delay before subsequent notifications are sent. This was quite frustrating, especially when my family leaves the house and I set the alarm. I found that the issue was related to the ADC platform’s handling of sensor events, as opposed to the IQ panel itself. After some research and reaching out to the community, I discovered that adjusting the notification settings and ensuring the panel was fully updated helped mitigate this problem. It’s still not perfect, but it’s much better now.
Another challenge I encountered was with the bypass functionality. I noticed that if the front door was open when arming the panel, it would automatically be set to bypass. This was concerning because I rely on my front door sensor for security. I tried to get into the habit of closing the door before arming the system, but there were instances where it still got bypassed. After some experimentation, I found that disabling the automatic bypass feature in the settings resolved the issue. It’s a small tweak, but it made a big difference in ensuring consistent security.
I also wanted to mention the alarm countdown feature. In SimpliSafe, I could see a countdown in the app before the alarm would trigger, which was helpful for last-minute checks. While ADC doesn’t have this feature natively, I found a workaround by setting up a custom rule that sends a notification 60 seconds before the alarm is scheduled to activate. It’s not as seamless, but it serves the purpose.
Switching systems can be a bit overwhelming, but with some patience and community support, it’s definitely manageable. I’d love to hear from others who have transitioned to Surety or have tips for optimizing the system. Let’s continue to share our experiences and help each other make the most out of our smart home setups!