New Video Series: Testing Multi-Channel Z-Wave on the IQ Panel 4 and Alarm.com
This series was born out of my own confusion (and maybe some frustration). Over the last two years I’ve experimented with a number of Z-Wave devices that weren’t on the ‘official’ supported list for Qolsys/IQ or Alarm.com. In a lot of cases I found support for many more devices than were officially listed.
However when it comes to Multi-Channel devices (devices with more than one endpoint to be controlled, like a two outlet smart plug) my experience was not so clear cut. I found myself spending hours troubleshooting bizarre behavior that I assumed was an automation or other configuration issue only to eventually discover it was actually the IQ or the ADC cloud itself that wasn’t working 100%.
Alarm.com did a multi-channel device beta last year, and a few months back declared support for multi-channel devices. However they only seem to list a single multi-channel device on their compatible device list.
To bring clarity to both myself and the greater community of those of us using, integrating and installing these panels, I thought I’d gather up all of the multi-channel devices I have here at the lab and test each of them against the IQ Panel 4 and alarm.com, documenting those results. This was the birth of this video series.
What This Series Does
I’m putting every multi-channel Z-Wave device I have on the bench and running each one through the same test protocol on the IQ4 and Alarm.com. Here’s what I currently am planning to test: (not in any particular order)
- Zooz ZEN16 Multi Relay
- Zooz ZEN17 Universal Relay
- Zooz ZEN14 Outdoor Plug
- Zooz ZEN30 Dual Switch
- Zooz ZEN52 Dual Relay
- MP26Z Dual Plug
- Shelly 2PM Relay
- Shelly Wave Pro 3
The Testing Regimen
Each episode will cover the same set of tests:
Z-Wave mesh inclusion, local panel control, ADC cloud control, ADC automations (sensor-triggered and arm-status-triggered), ADC scenes, ADC schedules, and then Z-Wave LR inclusion if the device supports it. LR gets its own look because I’ve found the endpoint behavior can be very different from mesh.
What this series is not
The goal here is just to document how things work today. Any issues that surface in this series are not intended to be an indictment of the devices themselves or even the alarm system. Zooz, Shelly, Minoston, Johnson Controls, alarm.com and others make excellent hardware. What we’re testing is how the IQ4 and Alarm.com handle the multi-channel side of things (perhaps) differently than other z-wave hubs. Maybe, even, alarm.com and Johnson Controls may see these and work on trying to rectify any abnormal or unexpected behavior whether this means changes in their products or working with manufacturers to make them integrate better. And if those companies want any of my help, I encourage them to reach out to me. 
How to Find the Series
This link will take you to the YouTube Playlist for all videos in the series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLHqtCFgANjc
Video Playlist: Multi-Channel Z-Wave Functionality Testing on Alarm.com and IQ 4
Episode 1 Is Live
The first episode covers the Zooz ZEN16 Multi Relay, and it’s on YouTube now.
Watch Episode 1 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vf-a9rppB1c
I’d love to hear from you. Have you run any of these devices on an ADC-based system? What challenges did you run into? Are there other devices you’d like to see tested? Let me know in the comments below.