@mrgroot wrote:
I have the older alarmforce box that connects to a regular phone jack. It should work with fido home phone, right?
Hello Mrgroot,
Welcome to the community!
That would depend on how your security system is hooked up and monitored. Most older security systems rely on wired landlines. There are some newer systems that can use both wired landlines and wireless cellular access, but the system would need to be configured as such.
The Fido home phone is not a landline. It is a Wireless Home Phone (WHP), meaning there are no connections made to the house (it's a cellular home phone service). That is why you can take the WHP with you when you travel **edit** within Canada**. In theory, you could possibly plug your security box into the WHP adapter. However, without a wired landline, I'm not sure the security company would be able to monitor all that required monitoring.
I am doubtful that an older security system would be compatible with a WHP. However, your best option is to ask AlarmForce whether your particular system could be monitored without a landline.
Hope this helps 
Cheers
@mrgroot wrote:
Thank you, but I must admit I don't understand...if I can plug my cordless phone into the Fido home phone box and make a call without any additional hardware then why would my Alarmforce box be any different? How would it know whether it's connected a landline or WHP? As long as it has a connection wouldn't that suffice?
I must add that I spoke with Alarmforce but was not convinced that the tech knew what he was talking about and wasn't just trying to foist their cellular service on me (which he did mention)
Hello again,
One of the things security systems monitor is the integrity of the phone line. That is, they will monitor whether the phone line has been cut in an attempt to circumvent the security system. To do so, they usually send a constant stream of data back and forth between your alarm panel and monitoring centre. The bits of data sent are referred to as polling. The polling does not affect phone calls because it uses a different frequency. If your phone line gets cut, the monitoring centre will notice that the polling has stopped and treat the instance as an alarm. This polling can only be done with a direct connection like a phone landline or cable.
It is true that there are security systems which employ cellular devices as backup or even in lieu of landlines. However, those systems would likely require a different setup.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Hey @mrgroot
Certain Security and Alarm systems do not work with the Wireless Home Phone service. The reason for this is based on the fact that they require an actual landline telephone connection. Only your existing service provider for the security system will be able to confirm if it is compatible with a cellular-based connection.
The great news is that you have a 15 days satisfaction warranty in case things don't work out.
I hope this information was helpful.
