Re: GE Allegro

["shady" <sh@xxxxxx>]

"J Barnes" wrote...
> Any opinions on this panel?  How reliable is it?
>
> James


Seems to be good... a huge improvement over the Simon series anyway
(especially with the wireless phone module).

However (after installing maybe 30 of these panels), I do have some
issues...
- seems to get communication errors, especially while testing... i'm
assuming it trips over it's own feet when it tries to send too many signals
at once (more than one)
- phone module can be a pain to enroll... i suggest getting it enrolled
before you go to the other side of the house to mount it so you don't have
to go back and forth to check everytime to see if you got the little
sequence right
- panel will give a low battery trouble for the first few hours after
initial power up... just ignore it
- very limited number of names for the zones... no "patio door" for example
- other than the occasional failure to communicate troubles, i'm not sure
there's any kind of phone line monitoring... got all the way to testing for
signals last time i installed one... then i realized the jack wasn't plugged
in... panel seemed to have no clue
- minimum of 15 second dialer delay
- only 4 user codes, including master

Otherwise, it's a good little panel overall.  Easy menu based programming,
last one done without a manual or mask sheet or anything.  Seems to be easy
to use, haven't had to do any re-training yet.

Range seems to be good too.  I haven't had to use the included antenna
extension yet.  Furthest I've had to go was a door contact about 6 typical
wood/drywall walls, one layer of sheet metal, and about 150-200 feet away...
works flawlessly.