Wireless Burglar Alarm - 433 vs 868MHz

[Hammond]

I am looking in to a new wireless alarm. The latest standard seems to be 868MHz which is almost exclusively for use by alarms, rather than the old standard 433MHz which is cluttered with all sorts of things from garage buzzers to Harmony remotes.

Of course, sods law that the one alarm that meets all my requirements is one of the few that still sits on 433MHz. Has anyone ever had interference issues with a 433MHz alarm? Obviously less risk of interference is great but is it really an issue most of the time? I'm not rural, but I'm not in the centre of town either.

[jcm3]

I am looking in to a new wireless alarm. The latest standard seems to be 868MHz which is almost exclusively for use by alarms, rather than the old standard 433MHz which is cluttered with all sorts of things from garage buzzers to Harmony remotes.

Of course, sods law that the one alarm that meets all my requirements is one of the few that still sits on 433MHz. Has anyone ever had interference issues with a 433MHz alarm? Obviously less risk of interference is great but is it really an issue most of the time? I'm not rural, but I'm not in the centre of town either.

You'll want to pick your alarm installer, not the hardware. Use whatever it is the installation company knows best, there is very little difference in the gear, there is a huge difference in the quality of installations. If you have some specific needs, requirements, or interests, let them know and a good installer will set you up.

If this is a DIY project, ignore the above and make sure that whatever system you consider, its compatible with the central monitoring station you intend to use, and has the software tools available for programming to end users.

PS. All other things equal, 868 MHz enabled gear would be a better choice. The newer standard also includes limiting the duty cycle, so that devices cannot continually broadcast. This really helps in situations where interference might show up. 433MHz equipment may have slightly better range, but in most cases the two are rather close.

[Hammond]

PS. All other things equal, 868 MHz enabled gear would be a better choice. The newer standard also includes limiting the duty cycle, so that devices cannot continually broadcast. This really helps in situations where interference might show up. 433MHz equipment may have slightly better range, but in most cases the two are rather close.

Thanks, that's useful information. It's a DIY project and I'll be buying a complete (well, almost) kit so compatibility etc shouldn't be an issue. But I have two options on the table, one is 868 while the other is 433 but has RFID tag compatibility which is one of my main requirements for ease of disarm. I don't want to go for the latter, only to find I have interference issues and false alarms etc.

[adrianw]

Thanks, that's useful information. It's a DIY project and I'll be buying a complete (well, almost) kit so compatibility etc shouldn't be an issue. But I have two options on the table, one is 868 while the other is 433 but has RFID tag compatibility which is one of my main requirements for ease of disarm. I don't want to go for the latter, only to find I have interference issues and false alarms etc.

When I had my alarm installed, I went for keypads, that way if someone jumps on me or hits me over the head they still cant turn the alarm off, I think tags and remotes make it to easy.

[MB2]

I haven't experience of alarms, but I had to buy a 868 MHz doorbell to avoid interference with my 433 MHz doorbell despite all the claims of frequency hopping.

I think less risk with an Alarm however as tend to be more robust. I have a Honeywell Domonial and this has been great and has RFID (and works on 868 MHz)

[julian2002]

With the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution in progress 868 is becoming much more widely used. Any well designed system that uses RF comms should be able to handle intermittent connectivity. My current project uses the 868 frequency band and we have had to put significant effort into ensuring the system is robust in noisy environments, had the requires signal strength to penetrate walls and other obstructions and obeys the stringent duty cycle rules for the wavelength. For example the placement of appliances, routers, wfi-fi boosters have all had effects when field testing.
My advice would be to have the setup done professionally or be prepared to spend on frequency analyzers and packet sniffers (which an installer should have already and can amortize the cost of over multiple jobs) also if the system is problematic you will have some comeback, otherwise be prepared to compromise and have issues. You might be lucky though and be able to plug and play, it all depends on your house and it's contents.

[sprite1275]

I have an old yale wireless house alarm fitted to my shed. Not had one problem with it over many years.

[jcm3]

Thanks, that's useful information. It's a DIY project and I'll be buying a complete (well, almost) kit so compatibility etc shouldn't be an issue. But I have two options on the table, one is 868 while the other is 433 but has RFID tag compatibility which is one of my main requirements for ease of disarm. I don't want to go for the latter, only to find I have interference issues and false alarms etc.

Nearly every alarm system in the world is RFID compatible, typically through a 3rd party interface. The standard in RFID for access control is called the Wiegand interface, from the name of the company that sold most of the tag and card readers in use. I'm sure you'll find a solution for adapting a Wiegand interface to your system in no time flat.

[greasemonkey]

I have an old yale wireless house alarm fitted to my shed. Not had one problem with it over many years.

i have an 8 year old DIY keypad wireless yale system which is old tech now,it has performed faultlessly with just battery changes now and then.had no issues at all with false alarms etc..

[stevec]

433 is also very close/in amateur bands, you can buy a 4W walkie talkie for not much and if keyed up then the few mW the blipper puts out won't stand a chance. Is how they were doing carparks and stopping people locking their cars.

[AnGel]

Wireless alarms are highly vulnerable to the interferences. Though it is a DIY process and the installation process is easy, the improper installation can damage your system and it becomes easy for the criminals to hijack your system. I personally dislike the wireless systems because of its high inference.

The 433Mhz and 868Mhz systems don't have much difference in range. Both bands belong to ISM bands. 433Mhz is used in many applications but 868 Mhz bands are used for the wireless sensor communications. The 868Mhz is less prone to interference than the 433Mhz band. So 868 Mhz band are highly recommended for the alarm signals. The433Mhz can travel greater distance but both have same radio frequency transmission performance.

If you are looking for a less interference system, then better choose any wired burglar alarm system because it is less prone to interferences. Climate, the building material of the home, other radio frequency devices can damage your signals. Also, remember, the burglar alarms don't provide complete home security.

[oldoakknives]

I’ve had an AEI system with autodialling for over ten years. Never known any interference happen

[Kingstepper]

How does climate affect the signal in a house?

[oldoakknives]

How does climate affect the signal in a house?

Ermm there aren’t many climate changes in my house.
Seriously the wireless detectors don’t suffer nor the autodialler.

[Chris_in_the_UK]

I’ve had an AEI system with autodialling for over ten years. Never known any interference happen

How do you know this?

Lot's of burglaries/activations?

[Richard123]

I have a GE Simon XT installed in my home. I installed this last year when there were burglary attempts in our neighborhood. Simon XT alarm system monitoring provides an advanced wireless security with 40 zones of burglary and fire protection. It also compiles with the SIA false alarm standards. Some of the other standard features of the same are:
It has built-in PSTN 2-way voice capability
It supports both crystal and SAW LearnMode sensors
Also supports the repeaters
It has Indoor and outdoor motion sensors
It also supports 2-way RF products
There is a chime feature for monitoring door, window, or motion activity
It has 1 master access code and 8 programmable user access codes of 3 to 6 digits
I have also got 100-event buffer with time-and-date stamp
The panel voice and beeps can be disabled
The Program panel has built-in touchpad
Also, the firmware flash upgrades can be done remotely.

There are other features too which I am not completely aware of. So, if you are still looking maybe this could be your thing. Hope this helped.

[oldoakknives]

Our new house has a Pyronix 868mhz system which we've taken over and had the installers upgrade a bit. Can't say much about the 868mhz except it seems to work fine so far and has an App based control system as well as key fobs.