HKC VS Siemens App Discussion Stickey Temp
Ok this is the temporary Nest.
I currently have an android phone.
I'm running
Siemens SPC anywhere
and
HKC SecureCo
For the Siemens App.
I have a Sim card installed and I have it connected to a UPC internet connection. The Sim card costs me any time I get a text back from the panel. It costs me about 15- 20 euro a year
I don't count the UPC connection carrying phone/internet traffic as resilience, it is a single point of failure. As I have a sim card and a UPC connection, I have two different routes, not three
On the HKC option I only have a SIM card, the card will pick up the strongest network, if one drops it will move from say Vodafone to three.
I don't count this as resilience either as its is still a single point of failure. I'm told that this panel can have a module fitted to allow it to take in a phone line. This I would count as an alternative route.
The siemens App was free I only pay to keep the sim card active. The app would work over my internet connection. Getting the panel to connect over RJ45 to my router was not simple, I didn't do it but it took a little bit of messing around. I pay for my internet connection, if I already have it so it did not cost me more. I text my panel a lot so I pay about 20 euro a year to keep the SIM juiced up
Installation 2
HKC app, cost 8 euro one off, yearly maintenance cost on the Sim was 87 euro (maybe it was marked up, that it the supplier business and not really up for discussion)
Both apps work well.
The HKC panel could be installed in a house with no internet and its sim will get you going, currently 60-80 euro a year, if you have a phone line in the house some HKC panels can connect to the phone line if you buy a module to do so
As can the Siemens panel, if you buy the module for a sim card and and spend about 10 or 20 euro a year keeping the card alive you could installed it in a house with no internet and just use the sim to text the panel over and back, if you have the internet you could just connect the panel to your router and watch it that way using the app.
So these are the costs, they are there to look at not kill each other over.
Operation
When the Siemens panel activates I get a text. I can use the app to access the panel, but i get the alert by text, as is stands i need to have the sim card for the notification, I can also reactivate the panel over text, or turn it off. The app provides more detail I can see open zones etc, but I get the alert from a text, I pay for each text the panel sends. I can isolate any zone i want using the app, but not by text
On the HKC app, I get alerted by the App and I interact with the App. I dont get charged extra for interaction between the panel and the app.
As it stands I get a log of the activity on the HKC panel, but on this set up I cant see the status of the different zones, I cant seem to isolate a zone or see the status of every zone, maybe I'm using it incorrectly but it does not have the same level of detail on the alarm as the Siemens one does.
Polling,
I need some help here, does either app poll the panel, or the other way around?
As it stands I like the Siemens app as I get the alert via text, if i have no internet connection I can text the panel on or off, I have a little custom app to help, but you can get free text templates that you set up to sent a alarm on or off text.
If I have the internet I can use the app and isolate a troublesome zone and then reset the alarm.
Using the HKC app is simple, but if i keep getting issues with a zone , I don't think i can isolate it and arm the rest of the system like i can with the Siemens app.
I know this is compromising the system. But the alternative is to turn it off ,or go to the panel and isolate the zone at the panel. this is ok if you are near the panel, but not possible if you are not. I may be underselling the HKC app, but I don't think I can isolate a zone using the app. This is very handy if you are not home and want some level of protection.
When i turn off the data function on my phone, the HKC app stops working
So does the the Siemens app.
Having the texting functions each panel has is very handy, as you wont always have the internet
I know I've made mistakes, so feel free to correct me, and we can come up with a guide that users can use and that we can point people towards and we can also use to avoid more arguments over.