Stopped by a bank in Austin last week and changed my mind about wireless sensors.

I always figured hardwired was the only way to go for commercial jobs. But their system had been up for 3 years with zero false alarms from the wireless contacts. Makes me wonder if I've been overcomplicating things for smaller offices. Anyone else switch over recently?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora_ramirez1mo ago

You said "zero false alarms from the wireless contacts" which is exactly what got me too. But hold on, three years is not that long in the grand scheme of things. I've seen hardwired systems go a decade without a hiccup. I'd want to know what brand they used and if the sensors are commercial grade or just residential stuff with a sticker on it. Also, have they had any issues with the batteries dying at the worst possible time, like during a storm?

grace_hunt841mo ago

Yeah, the "commercial grade or just residential stuff" point is huge. A lot of these installs just rebadge cheap consumer sensors and call it a business solution. You need to look at the actual radio range and the battery specs, not just the marketing sheet. Three years with no problems sounds good until you realize the expected lifespan on the battery is only three years, so they're all about to fail at once. That's when you get a flood of trouble calls during the first big weather event.