Should I get SME for Alarm.com or AlarmNet for my Vista 20p? If Alarm.com, LTE w/ fallback or LTE Cat-M w/ no fallback?

Hey r/homesecurity!

I posted previously here: https://www.reddit.com/r/homesecurity/comments/zw5ngr/should_i_reuse_this_system_in_new_house_or_scrap/

Some updates:

  • I upgraded to. a 6160RF so I can program it.
  • Battery is pretty much shot and dies after ~30 minutes (found out when I killed the breakers to do some electrical work). Replacing this.
  • I now have my own passcode to it.
  • All of the sensors work. Some of the smoke detectors and CO monitors are close to EOL, so will be replacing those.
  • I bought a few additional window/door open sensors and connected them.

I also changed all of my primary light switches and my landscape light switch over to Lutron.

Now I’m looking for a central monitoring service for the alarm component, and better integration between my Honeywell system and other smart home things (e.g. Lutron).

It looks like I have 2 primary options: get an SME for Alarm.com or AlarmNet (which looks like Honeywells Total Connect system).

Would you recommend going one way or the other knowing that I have a significant investment into the Lutron ecosystem (but no other smart home items yet)?

If Alarm.com, it looks like there are 2 Verizon SMEs… 1 for LTE/IP (4G LTE w/ 3G HSPA, and 2G GSM) and 1 for LTE Cat-M/IP (4G LTE CAT-M1 Network, No Fallback). Both have wired ethernet and also function as a Z-wave controller. Is one seen as preferential? Does it make a difference?

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