DSL, Landline and Home alarm system?

Question

I'm trying to get rid of my landline and use DSL for my home alarm system monitoring and alerting.

I have a DSL and I want to get rid of my landline (naked DSL is offered by Bellsouth/ATT), but my home alarm system uses the landline to be monitored and to call the central office when tripped.

My DSL enters on one end of the house and immediately goes into the modem and then goes into the electrical system via a unit. In my study I have another unit which plugs into the electrical outlet and then I plug my wireless router into it.

In my bedroom closet I have the alarm system which plugs into the landline.

If I get rid of my landline, I can get skype and a $30 unit which allows me to plug in and use my set of cordless phones, but how do I get my alarm system integrated into this configuration.

Thank you

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Often times alarm systems are kind of buggy with digital phone service, but it depends on the provider.  I'm not sure about using one with skype.

I'll try to explain how to do this the best way I can without drawing a diagram.  You can always e-mail or IM me if you need additional info/help.

The alarm system should have seizure over the existing phones, meaning that the phone line goes through the alarm first and then is routed to the phones.  The alarm phone cord usually has red, green, yellow and black wires.  The Red and green attach to the feed in the box outside the house or at a junction point in the house and then the phones are connected to the yellow and black wires of the alarm line.

So, what you could do to get everything in the house setup is:

-Determine which line outside is the set of alarm wires

-Determine which line goes to a phone jack near the device providing the digital phone service.

-Disconnect the alarm wires from the feed (should be the red and green wires, this will thus disconnect the phones)

-Instead of connecting a phone into the device providing digital phone service just connect it with a phone cord into the phone jack.

-Connect the red and green wires from the alarm to the red and green wires (or possibly blue and white/blue striped if it is a newer home) from the line leading to the jack the digital phone device is at.  This will give the alarm seizure.

-Connect the other phone wires to the yellow and black wires from the alarm   (red goes to yellow, green goes to black).

This will allow you to use all the phone jacks in the house and the alarm to be setup.

Answer 2

your alarm can not be used with skype, the QoS of skype is not compatible with data transmissions like alarm systems, fax machines, satellite boxes, and dial up networking.

You can contact your alarm company and see if they are able to monitor your alarm with an internet connection in place of a phone line, they may be able to do so by upgrading or replacing your alarm equiptment.

if all else fails drop your phone service to basic dial tone service, it should only  be around $10 or so per month, it may actually be the same price, or cheaper then getting naked or dry DSL, as the cost for DSL with out voice service is more expensive then DSL with phone service.