Posted By:
Matt1 people found this review helpful
I owned an IQ2 panel for 7-8 years that I purchased through Geoarm. It worked great and had no issues. I was not having issues with the panel, but QOLSYS did not seem to be updating the panel software/firmware any longer as the last update was almost 2 years (it's 2024 now). In order to gain new functionality and ensure my system was running the latest updates/bug fixes, I purchased this IQ4 panel.
Purchasing was easy (like before) and I scheduled a "new install" appointment and they were able to transfer over all 319.5 sensors (no Z-Wave) to the new panel including my hardwire translator that had a number of hard-wired sensors from a previous ADT install. The new panel has been up and running for a week with no issues.
One cautionary note (unrelated to Geoarm or this panel) on upgrading to a newer panel with Z-Wave devices:
While still painful, the easiest way to transfer over Z-Wave devices to the new panel is to un-enroll each Z-Wave device from the old panel. Basically the same process as enrolling, you just choose to remove it on the IQ2 panel. You can not enroll a Z-Wave device in the new panel while it is still "configured" for the old panel/network. It took me some trial and error to figure this out. After I removed one switch and successfully installed it on the IQ4, I used the "delete all Z-Wave" prompt on the IQ2 panel. Apparently, this does not remove the Z-Wave device from the previous network setup. I was unable to install any of the Z-Wave devices in the new panel that were removed using this "all" function in the IQ2 panel. I had to determine the brand & model of each Z-Wave device and then locate a manual online and determine how to reset to factory default settings. Hardest part was determining the make/model of each device (mostly wall switches). Since my Trane Z-Wave thermostats are no longer produced, I had one helluva a time finding the manual online. Resetting those Z-Wave current network settings was a huge PITA because I had to reset the entire unit, not just the previous Z-Wave network. Had I just used the IQ2 panel uninstall process, I could have un-enrolled the thermostat from the Z-Wave network and then enrolled it in the new panel. I had to factory reset the entire thermostat and then go through re-configuring both thermostats to communicate properly with my installed units.
Lessons learned: Keep all your installed Z-Wave device manuals and if you are updating panels, unistall each Z-Wave from the current network first.Was this rating helpful to you?
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