Looking for a SIM only pay as you go for alarm system

flaneurs_lobster

Mister_G said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

O2 Classic sim? Still some available on ebay for little more than postage. Wasn't aware that ongoing top up was needed.

One thing to check on these sims is the "Must activate by" date on the packaging, I've got a couple and the date is 17/09/22.

The O2 Classic PAYG does not need topping up, but does need one chargeable event every 6 months.  I've had two of them now (both off of ebay) for over 2 years now.

Still available on eBay. Went looking last week and found 2 SIMs for 99p (including postage!). Put them in my basket and forgot about them. Some time later got msg to say price had been reduced to 20p. Sold. "Must activate by 10/08/25".

I wonder what commission is paid by O2 to vendors on activation?

Frozen_up_north

I recently had my alarm dialler stop working due to 3 turning off 3G.

As the alarm was old, I replaced it with one that uses the internet. It is a Yale Smart Alarm that uses 866 MHz wireless to regularly “ping” the wireless sensors and a wired RJ45 Ethernet connection to the router.

It has the advantage of being able to arm/disarm via a mobile phone app.

PHK

Frozen_up_north said:

I recently had my alarm dialler stop working due to 3 turning off 3G.

As the alarm was old, I replaced it with one that uses the internet. It is a Yale Smart Alarm that uses 866 MHz wireless to regularly “ping” the wireless sensors and a wired RJ45 Ethernet connection to the router.

It has the advantage of being able to arm/disarm via a mobile phone app.

This is more secure than the dial out type because it will also alert if the connection to the internet is lost (both at the alarm end and in the app) 

PHK

flaneurs_lobster said:

Mister_G said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

O2 Classic sim? Still some available on ebay for little more than postage. Wasn't aware that ongoing top up was needed.

One thing to check on these sims is the "Must activate by" date on the packaging, I've got a couple and the date is 17/09/22.

The O2 Classic PAYG does not need topping up, but does need one chargeable event every 6 months.  I've had two of them now (both off of ebay) for over 2 years now.

Still available on eBay. Went looking last week and found 2 SIMs for 99p (including postage!). Put them in my basket and forgot about them. Some time later got msg to say price had been reduced to 20p. Sold. "Must activate by 10/08/25".

I wonder what commission is paid by O2 to vendors on activation?

Off topic but you can get an idea here: https://www.elitemobile.com/ (the largest distributor of SIMs)

cymruchris

PHK said:

Frozen_up_north said:

I recently had my alarm dialler stop working due to 3 turning off 3G.

As the alarm was old, I replaced it with one that uses the internet. It is a Yale Smart Alarm that uses 866 MHz wireless to regularly “ping” the wireless sensors and a wired RJ45 Ethernet connection to the router.

It has the advantage of being able to arm/disarm via a mobile phone app.

This is more secure than the dial out type because it will also alert if the connection to the internet is lost (both at the alarm end and in the app) 

However if your wifi goes down you’re then blind to the alarm - if you’re away from home any activation won’t be notified. If someone was going for a new alarm system it’s better to have a dual comms channel - WiFi and cellular. 

cymruchris

I’m using Spusu in my home alarm at the moment as it gives me unlimited text and calls which suits the alarm system I have. I get notification by WiFi and text of any event, such as auto arming and disarming - and a call if the alarm is triggered. It costs £2.90 a month including vat on a rolling one month contract. That suits me for peace of mind. Never need to remember to top up - it just works. 

PHK

cymruchris said:

PHK said:

Frozen_up_north said:

I recently had my alarm dialler stop working due to 3 turning off 3G.

As the alarm was old, I replaced it with one that uses the internet. It is a Yale Smart Alarm that uses 866 MHz wireless to regularly “ping” the wireless sensors and a wired RJ45 Ethernet connection to the router.

It has the advantage of being able to arm/disarm via a mobile phone app.

This is more secure than the dial out type because it will also alert if the connection to the internet is lost (both at the alarm end and in the app) 

However if your wifi goes down you’re then blind to the alarm - if you’re away from home any activation won’t be notified. If someone was going for a new alarm system it’s better to have a dual comms channel - WiFi and cellular. 

That's not how it works.

If the WiFi goes down the app or control centre doesn't have contact with the alarm so  you get an alert that the alarm has stopped communicating so you know to investigate it. 

cymruchris

PHK said:

cymruchris said:

PHK said:

Frozen_up_north said:

I recently had my alarm dialler stop working due to 3 turning off 3G.

As the alarm was old, I replaced it with one that uses the internet. It is a Yale Smart Alarm that uses 866 MHz wireless to regularly “ping” the wireless sensors and a wired RJ45 Ethernet connection to the router.

It has the advantage of being able to arm/disarm via a mobile phone app.

This is more secure than the dial out type because it will also alert if the connection to the internet is lost (both at the alarm end and in the app) 

However if your wifi goes down you’re then blind to the alarm - if you’re away from home any activation won’t be notified. If someone was going for a new alarm system it’s better to have a dual comms channel - WiFi and cellular. 

That's not how it works.

If the WiFi goes down the app or control centre doesn't have contact with the alarm so  you get an alert that the alarm has stopped communicating so you know to investigate it. 

Yes I know - but that doesn't help if you're 300 miles away. That's my point. If you're not at home, and the wifi goes down - you're blind. Dual comm allows another channel. You're not going to call the Police to say - hey my alarm wifi has gone down I think I'm being burgled.

Frozen_up_north

“if you're not at home, and the wifi goes down - you're blind”

Some of us use a Raspberry Pi running a simple Python script that pings the web every couple of minutes, if it fails to get a response it power cycles the router. It’s not a guaranteed solution, but nothing is 100%.

The Pi and the alarm are connected via RJ45 Ethernet. The Pi logs any failures and has been running successfully for several months.