AlertMe Users' Forum

Last post, folks! I'll be moving this forum into a subdomain of my tech site "BirdsLikeWires" and letting this domain back out into the wild in November. If everything goes according to plan it should continue to exist in a semi-dormant state here: https://alertmeforum.birdslikewires.net/ ...

One potentially final post to anyone who may still pop by here! I had a good go with SystronicsRF but things have gone very quiet recently, which is a real shame. In the meantime I discovered Hubitat and their extensive community who also have support for AlertMe devices as a side effect of supporti...

Okay folks, I have made a decision. There's useful information on this forum, but to be honest, the place is becoming a target for spambots and I don't have the time to keep going through phpBB's ridiculous update procedure. I like its user interface for the forums, but there are better options out ...

Hehe, well, I'm certainly in no hurry to tinker with anything and the guys at what is now SystronicRF appear close to releasing a universal platform for this, which is very interesting. I've been terrible at looking after this forum recently though, just haven't had the time - I'm actually being spa...

Hey everyone, Well, things are pretty quiet around here at the moment and while I have no problem hosting the AlertMe Users' Forum, I am a bit sick of dealing with phpBB. This is the only place I still have to manage a phpBB platform (more or less) and would quite like to move over to a different fo...

How are things going on this now; the videos look very interesting!

Absolutely, I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands!

They'll be very mass produced and engineered down to that price; whether that means they've reduced the quality in the process, I have no idea without having one to use and take apart. But you're right - the best way with Amazon is usually to buy, try and return if they don't suit your needs. I've n...

Sounds fantastic. If you're abstracting the server code from the devices, it should be relatively straightforward to add devices from multiple manufacturers like 'plugins' to the main system.

Excited to see what you come up with!

Sounds very interesting to me! A unified way to control multiple home automation systems from an open source Hub would be a very worthwhile project, as so many of these platforms are abandoned by their original manufacturers, leaving users either with totally useless hardware, or with gear that can ...

Oh wow, that's considerably worse than I was expecting! And I guess a hard reset of the hub is pointless as it won't be able to load the configuration? Exactly - the Hub really does rely upon that external server to handle all of the configuration, mainly because it was all done through the web int...

Just out of interest - What's the expected behaviour of S&S 'locally', now that the plug has been pulled? I was under the impression that you'd still be able to arm/disarm, but 24hrs after posting the above the key fobs have stopped working (no noise on any of the fobs and no interaction with t...

Wowsers, yes, that's the end in the UK! Lowes Iris is still up and running in the US (no sign of that closing) but in the UK the Hive platform is knowingly not supporting those original devices. I'm thinking of getting hold of an Iris base to do some testing with, but I'm rather enjoying running my ...

Had a letter through the post last week to say that the Safe & Secure service was being switched off in 30 days from the date of the letter. Letter was dated 9th November, so that makes Saturday 9th December 2017 the switch-off day for S&S - I think we can guess that it'll more likely be the...

I did a restart with the pin but nothing changed - still flashing red ... If the Hub is looking for a configuration, it'll never find it. Looks to me that once the Hubs request an update, they discard their original configuration expecting to receive the latest version from the server, but the serv...

Anyone else seeing this as well? Yup, mine noticed the server was gone a couple of days ago. End of the line for that little guy. Ah, did all of your rules stop working too? In which case, I'm guessing it called out for an update, the update failed because there was nobody to respond and now it'll ...

I'm afraid there is no simple alternative right now. Your best bet would be to take the offer of a Hive system, or contact support@alertme.com if you haven't seen an email about it.

So far as I'm aware, you're correct. I'd already started disassembling my system to test with the XBee modules, so my Hub no longer has any working rules, so I can't confirm for certain. However, anything pre-programmed into the Hub should continue working - it just won't have any connectivity to th...

It's all happening here and here at the moment. Lots to do, but it's possible.

Have a check for the IP address of the camera on your router. Once you've found that out (it'll likely be 192.168.1.3 or similar) visit that address with your browser - it should open a web page where you can twiddle with the configuration.

I'd say if you're looking for the security side of things, Hive is definitely not the place to be right now. I think they'll get there eventually, but it's certainly not their focus, so that's probably out for you. The most similar system with probably decent longevity would be the new Nest Secure p...

The honest answer is "I don't know". I just bought the XB24CAWIT-001 and re-flashed it with the ZigBee firmware using their XCTU software. Maybe there's something different about the models you linked to; or perhaps they just come pre-flashed with the ZigBee firmware. If in doubt, grab the...

Just a little notification that as of now, the AlertMe servers have gone offline.

RIP, api.alertme.com - nice working with you!

For the time being Safe & Secure is still online, but I'd guess that will be shut down by the end of November.

Can you tell me what XBee module you bought? I wouldn't mind playing around with one but want to be sure I buy the right one ... Sure, it was an XB24CAWIT-001 which comes with a little whip antenna attached. You'll also need an XBee USB Adapter . If you're doing any testing on a Mac you'll need to ...

Server Shutdown At the end of October and end of November 2017, AlertMe and British Gas will be closing down their servers based on the original AlertMe platform. This will include AlertMe Energy, AlertMe Security and British Gas Safe & Secure. More details available here . Those of you using t...

Server Shutdown At the end of October and end of November 2017, AlertMe and British Gas will be closing down their servers based on the original AlertMe platform. This will include AlertMe Energy, AlertMe Security and British Gas Safe & Secure. Beyond this time the existing configuration on you...

Team_Dandism wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:33 pmIf anyone figures a way to hack the hub or make it connect to a local server so we can still use the sensors that'd be great.

Progress is being made!

This time the Python script builds an array of available devices and loops through them, turning them on and off. They're not all known immediately, which is why the start is a little stuttery. 239201179 The next step is to try integrating the actions of the plugs with services like IFTTT, but the b...

First working attempt to automate a SmartPug.

With the imminent demise of the AlertMe servers I’ve started experimenting with the PyAlertMe library written by James Saunders . I’ve had some success - there are some oddities that have cropped up, but on the whole I can now control a SmartPlug pretty reliably. I actually started with the simpler ...

The other options I considers - using Pi and Zigbee modem with James Saunders code to create a bridge between Alertme ZB protocol and proper ZB protocol - using Pi and Zigbee modem with James Saunders code to create API that Alexa can drive directly. Keep in touch if you get anywhere with this. I'v...

Just to let you all know that I had my Hive system installed last week. As Noisyvoid says, there is no contract or subscription to Hive Live, so nothing extra to pay. The new thermostat is a clever piece of kit which communicates directly with the receiver attached to the boiler and can operate as a...

On the plus side, I'm loving the Hive Thermostat. Smartplug is a smartplug but good that it works with Amazons echo. I'm rather looking forward to this bit - now that I've considered it, the thermostat is something that I may well find very handy. However I'm a bit disappointed in the other sensors...

Just when I thought it was safe to migrate my devices... I'm told via Twitter that "customers affected should be receiving an email regarding their options", but no reply on whether there will be a follow-up to the message below, because there aren't a lot of options presented here: https:...

mw631774 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:09 pm I have not received anything from AlertMe.

Drop them a line - support@alertme.com. They were very helpful.

I would consider switching to Hive if the AlertMe sensors would work with it but apparently they don't. Therefore there is no reason to stick with AlertMe/Hive. Yes, I think they're missing a trick here. I'm taking up their offer because I'm interested in playing with the kit and can migrate my exi...

I’m trying to find out about this myself. Safe and Secure is no longer actively sold by British Gas, but they do still have a number to call to order additional devices - not that I’ve tried calling it, mind you. I have a S&S system which I used for testing the app with (as has a friend) and we’...

Ah, checked my inbox and found my email from AlertMe. It's a good offer; I think I'll be taking them up on it and seeing how it fits with me. What a shame I won't be able to use the existing devices I have, though. I have asked if the British Gas Safe & Secure system will stay alive - the two we...

Oh, no! I've not received anything, though my system is up and running and my mailing address is correct. It's a real shame, I've loved using and tinkering with this system over the years. Is there any contact information on the letter you received? I wouldn't mind dropping them a line. It's certain...

The API is far from dead - alive and kicking and most of the docs have been published here now!

The older v2 API is still available and I'm sure I have a copy of the v5 API from when it was public. I'll see if I can dig that version out. EDIT: No need. It's all here . The v5 API is the one still used by BG for Hive (EDIT, they're on v6 and beyond now) - I was in touch with them about adding su...

Thanks - it might be a good idea! I'm rather at a loss as to how people manage to keep these phpBB boards clean, particularly when nothing seems to stop the account registrations of the spammers.

Leave it with me a bit and I'll see if I can sort it out.

You'd need to have something in between the two, such as the IFTT service or some of your own code - there's no way to directly link the two, unfortunately. The AlertMe / Hive sensors chat over a protocol called Zigbee, which neither the Echo or Samsung systems support. Although... if you're using H...

After an incredibly long period of time, I've finally managed to get a reasonable spam prevention system working on this site. The version of phpBB I'm using right now is pre-release, so there are a few rough edges, but it means you can now sign up and post without requiring a lengthy wait for me to...

I've recently got a second hand hub . Which is at the moment surplus , but would be useful if I could use it as clone of my already existing hub . Achieving two sources for doorbell and alarms ..does anybody have a clue how and if this is possible ? Don't think this would be do-able. The API has su...

Same here - can't find the original date, but they stopped charging me quite some time ago as well. I'd happily pay a nominal fee for the service as-is; still use it every day, but I guess the costs associated with collecting the cash must outweigh the benefits by now. Particularly since everything ...

Just seen these; I didn't notice any problems at my end, though I've not been into the portal for a few days. Alerty seemed to keep working for me just fine, but then I was only turning on and off a few plugs.

Hmm, sounds like a streaming issue - though difficult to tell from whose end it would be. I haven't used the camera recording function of AlertMe in a while as the quality of the recordings was a bit low, so I can't really advise - ah, except I will have old recordings on there. I'll try tomorrow an...

Sorry to see you go, terry, but totally understandable. They've got a good team working on Hive at British Gas, but I get your frustrations. I'm locked in to the original system because of the flexibility it gives with assigning actions to devices, which just isn't replicated in the BG product at th...

Recently I'd been having a lot of problems with my Hub unit whenever it lost power. It would invariably not run on battery for any length of time and when mains power was restored, it would hang on reboot. I knew it was appearing on the network, as I'd receive an email to say 'Hub Reconnected', shor...

Hi all, You may have noticed over the past few months that this forum has been hit pretty hard by 'kitchen spammers'. I don't know about you, but my kitchen is pretty much fine right now, and I wouldn't come here to learn about getting a new one. In an effort to trim the spam, the forum now has user...

That does look like an interesting kit! Best looking gear I've seen since AlertMe - do post back and let us know how you get on with it!

Funnily enough, I've got Nest Protect smoke alarms too. I did like the idea of having a unit that integrated with AlertMe, but with nothing on the horizon, I went with Nest. To be honest, I'd have gone with any decent looking unit that could handle interconnections, but they were either very, very u...

The latest iteration of the Hive system from British Gas is out now. Fancy thermostat! There's also a redesigned Hub (Hive Nano 2 Hub v2) unit, given the AlertMe designation of HUB320, or so I'm led to believe. But the interesting thing from my point of view are that automation devices (SmartPlugs, ...

I was probably a little slow to get this news, but AlertMe is now owned by British Gas. To be honest, I think this is a great move for the future of the platform. The team behind Hive have been enthusiastic from the start and have been very successful at getting those tiny little AlertMe / Hive Hub ...

The videos are served out via RTSP - just right click on the video and you should get an option in your browser to 'save as' or copy the link to it. You'll then need something capable of saving from RTSP feeds; probably VLC would do it.

But the bottom line seems to be that you CAN'T order spares from the British Gas number above..... Oh dear. That's not good. Guess it's eBay for the time being, then. I'm surprised it's taking them such a long time to push out any more Hive products, actually. They seem to be going very softly-soft...

Great - glad it's working for you! I spotted a couple of minor cosmetic things in v1.53, so another update will appear at some point soon. Just wish I had more time to work on it! Definitely want to add firmware upgrading one day. They're not always pushed automatically, so a control for it instead ...

Over the moon to find an app that supports the BG safe and secure system! I've bought Alerty, but when i open it, it just freezes. The message 'Head over to the details tab...' is shown, but touching there (or anywhere on the screen) doesn't do anything. I'm on an iPhone 5S, running iOS 8.0. Any id...

That's a bit of a tricky one at the moment. I've looked into various other systems myself over the past couple of years, but not found anything that really fits the bill. Where they all tend to fall over are the devices themselves; in my book it's fine if the Hub portion of a system is an ugly brick...

Really? That's no good. They most certainly do still manufacture them.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_388563-41166-BT ... Id=3735313

Tada!

They did, but just for the Energy-only systems, as the new interface lacked quite a few features that were present in the older one; most notably the ability to program the system to do anything useful with a Button accessory. I believe the most fully-featured system with the new interface is the Lo...

Just to let you all know that the AlertMe website has been revamped and there is no longer a shopfront - it's business-to-business only now. Energy Systems can no longer be purchased from AlertMe, which is a shame, 'cos they were good value with the screen. Accessories are still available from Briti...

Updated opening post with latest info.

Wow, that's disappointing. When I was last in contact with them (only a few months ago) they were very much in favour of people having API access. Who was it that you were in contact with? Craig Chandler was my contact and he was very helpful.

Right, the app should now be available in all App Stores and now has support for British Gas Safe & Secure systems!

The only thing I would like: To actually get the accumulated credit back when I cancel. I don't know about the UK, but in other European countries you have a right to get the money back on your prepaid phone account when you cancel it. It is your credit, you paid the money but didn't use it for any...

dannydev wrote:So my question is how long is it locked for or do i have to email AM and ask them to unlock it for me?

I did this some time ago and if I remember correctly, I had to go back to the AlertMe website and do a 'forgotten password' reset. That unlocked my account and had me up and running again.

Anyway, about your app: I would love to buy it, but I'm not using the UK AppStore. Would there be any disadvantage for you if you made your app available in other countries? I'm currently using the German AppStore, but maybe there are more users abroad. Apologies for my delayed response! Yes, I'll ...

Just wondering if anyone has tried getting ninja blocks to work with their alert me system. I have a feeling its not possible but thought I would ask. Not seen those before, but they look cool. Unfortunately, I doubt very much they'll chat to an AlertMe Hub - even if it's the Zigbee protocol that t...

Thanks your suggestions. I did try AlertMePI last year but it failed on my Raspberry Pi on these steps: sudo /usr/bin/cpan -i Crypt::SSLeay sudo /usr/bin/cpan -i RPC::XML::Client Instead I'm using your other AlertMePy module. Could you give me an example on how to call the history? It keeps complai...

Any plans to port it to android or a web based app? Nope, I'm afraid not. There are plenty of API scripts out there on which to build a web interface and as everyone's needs are different, I can't see it being massively helpful. As for Android, there's such a variety of devices, capabilities, versi...

Real-time updates are... tricky. Really, the only way to do it is to use one of the API interfaces available on GitHub and run it in a loop in your own script. Then configure the devices you are interested in to write a log message that your script looks for. It's not exactly real-time, as you would...

I've just purchased your app. I'll let you know my thoughts after I have had a play... I like to look of it in the screenshots. Great stuff - hope it's working out well for you! Next on my fix-it list with the app is improving its behaviour on cellular networks; it's a little impatient at the momen...

Just to let you all know that Craig at AlertMe sent through my API username and password today. The word is that they didn't want their whole API floating around on the internet any more, but they're more than happy for users of the system to request access. They're very willing to give access to fo...

I'm in the midst of the iOS 7 update to Alerty at the moment and I've had to make a decision with regard to iOS 6. Unfortunately, although it was not originally my intention to do so, I'm going to drop iOS 6 support in the next release. There have been so many user interface changes in iOS 7 that ma...

Q1 - Can you let me know if AlertMe EVER did supply internal sirens for their system or was it only BG systems that had this option? Only the BG system had a siren of any kind - they sold an external alarm box. However, it would be very easy to make your own using the AlertMe system. Simply connect...

I understand its for security reasons to control and know who is accessing their api and ensure its restricted to their customers, fair enough :) Suggest you contact customer support. Well, if that's the case, that's reasonable. If I had an API, I'd be quite interested in knowing who was using it a...

D'Oh! Thought it might be user error :oops: :D Yeah, I've found I can't open v5 despite putting-in my credentials though I can log-in to view the dashboard as usual, weird! I've sent them an email, see if they reply..... Just given them a call - they've asked me to email in a request for access, so...

I'm still not getting anywhere though, no doubt "user error" :oops: I followed your advice but as I use Windows 8, I downloaded a copy of WizTools.org RESTClient3.2.1 but I'm getting the same "NOT AUTHORIZED" reply!? :? I'm entering https://api.alertme.com/v5/login/ChrisB75/mypa...

daroca wrote:Can someone confirm if it is just my account.

It's not just your account - I can no longer get access either. Hmm, this is not good news. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Availability As of July 2014 the only actively marketed AlertMe equipment in the UK is Hive from British Gas. At the time of writing there are no officially supported accessories for the Hive system. Energy Systems are no longer available direct from AlertMe, which is a shame, because they were a b...

wobbles wrote:I have sent you a PM but it is still sitting in my Outbox for some reason.

Yeah, they sit there until they're read. Read and responded now!

Hi and thanks for the info - I realised since that using Hercules, I was trying to connect to the AM hub on my LAN!!! D'Oh! :oops: Thing is, ever since I've been trying through Google browser using https://api.alertme.com/v5/login/MYUSERNAME/MYPASSWORD/Laptop (obviously putting in my details) but i...

Heh roobarb, thanks for the welcome and suggestions :) I only recently started looking at python, well linux, after getting a Rasberry Pi so my knowledge is very limited. What I really want to be able to do is send http commands from Demopad - do you know if this is possible? I've emailed AlertMe c...

Awesome, always nice to have more people on board! If you're having a play with the API, check out this PHP interface , my Perl interface and my (very basic) Python interface . The Perl one uses the old v2 API, but it still works fine. The v5 API is the current one, so if you're writing something yo...

More information! I spoke to BG yesterday about all this, as I have a Safe & Secure system as well as the AlertMe-own one. They are "no longer promoting Safe and Secure as a product", or in other words, they've probably decided to get out of the 'security' side of things and just do e...

I'm new to this forum and ordered an AlertMe starter kit today. I'm a bit worried though because they don't have any smart plugs in stock and I can't find anywhere else that sells them - is AlertMe still going ok or should I cancel my order? I'd give them a call - they're certainly still up and run...

Watch the video. If I thought I needed a Hive system at the start of the video, I've been convinced out of it by the end! So, my car breaks down and I wonder about my heating, do I? Save that 20p and put it towards the repair of my Mini? The user interaction required by this system is why it won't b...

Any clever ideas how I might get sshd running? It does have wget on- but i'm not sure if such a thing as a precompiled dropbear/sshd exists? No idea, I'm afraid - I've not tried anything other than chatting to the device over the TTY / DEBUG port. I know it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyw...

Interesting service - I'm going to hook it up to one of the test systems, as I'm not exactly enamoured by the idea of putting my AlertMe username and password into their system. I'm interested in sending some of my data into StatHat or one of the sites they support as a feed. That way I can publicis...

Just a quick post to say that I haven't forgotten about the app! I have a to-do list, though when I'll get time 'to-do' I'm quite sure! I'm thinking that an iOS 7 update may be the next big thing, as there will be quite a few things to change once that's out. The app does run on iOS 7 just fine, but...

Blimey, good work! It would be lovely to get the sensor values locally rather than having to go via the web API, so please let us know how it goes!

mw631774 wrote:I've raised the issue with PlotWatt and the developer of the API on GitHub. Just wondered if anyone got their AlertMe system working with PlotWatt at all.

I remember trying, but I'm sure I hit an issue at the PlotWatt end as well. Didn't have much time, so I just abandoned it, I'm afraid.

Certainly will. Any device that you could buy from AlertMe previously will still work if you buy it from British Gas. It's actually AlertMe's recommendation; they've said they will fully support a system configured with devices from BG. Just don't expect the new, BG-specific devices to work!

Genius!

All the security gear needs to be bought through British Gas these days. Looks like they've got the UK exclusive on it for now.

The question is, what else do you want from your system? Is there some feature that your current system can't give you? Remember that although development on the AlertMe-own gear has stopped, the services are still here and available for the foreseeable future. If there's another system that can do ...

Right, I've been happy with v1.01 for a bit now, so I've uploaded the new version to the App Store. Fixes are pretty much as before: - Improved behaviour of SmartPlug buttons on the Overview screen. - Relay state icon now shows whether a safety is in place or not. - Corrected a bug where the wrong s...

That would be perfect. Yesterday I was testing over 3g and it was largely spot on. Couple of bugs: At one point I had poor 3g coverage and got a dialogue that the alertme servers where not responding as quickly as we would like. That was followed by several of the same dialogue within the space of ...

I'd like to see an indication of actual cost - I know that never worked in the official app but it the one thing I wish they'd got right. Cost prediction for the month to come / so far for the current month / predicted for today etc. That data is in the system, so should be reasonably easy to pull ...

There's a little feature in Alerty that isn't at all apparent, but which I find really handy: Safety Switches. Because it's very easy in the app to turn SmartPlugs on and off, I realised I could quite easily switch something important off accidentally. There's no such thing as a safety switch in the...

Download: http://birdslikewires.co.uk/download/alerty/beta/Alerty101b1.ipa.zip Changes Improved behaviour of SmartPlug buttons on the Overview screen. Relay state icon now shows whether a safety is in place or not. Corrected bug where incorrect system could be shown as selected on the Details scree...

First; thanks for becoming a beta tester! Beta testing for Alerty will basically require you to run the latest beta, give it some hammer and report back to this beta section of the forum on anything that behaves strangely or you think could be improved upon. There will undoubtably be faults and pro...

Hehe - I'm still to play with SiriProxy, but that would be a fantastic use of it!

If there are any people out there who would be willing to be beta-testers for the Alerty app, I'd be very happy to hear from you. I probably only need a couple of people, preferably with different systems, who would be willing to play with potentially broken software and report back to me on just ho...

Alerty Available Now! I've been working on a third-party interface to AlertMe based Energy and Security systems. Developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Alerty uses AlertMe and British Gas APIs to bring a new control interface to users of AlertMe's systems. It has been built to be quick and straig...

My question is this; are the S&S and Remote Heating Control system integrated in any way? The most obvious use case is to prevent the heating turning on if nobody is in the house but from what I can gather, BG require you to have two hubs and two accounts. At the moment, the two systems are ver...

I know that it is possible to pair up other devices (such as an Alarm Detector) with the Energy system, but the reality is that without the reporting functionality, it's not really any use - it gave me temperature readings, but that's about the lot! Keyfobs were more useful because they gave presenc...

I've just tried pairing a Display (as purchased with the currently available Energy Kit on the AlertMe website) with my original AlertMe Security system. I can't remember if this was ever a configuration that was supposed to work, but I can report that it does! The Display paired perfectly and appea...

APrettyBee wrote:Draft API.... There's probably a few of these nuances in there.

Hehe, they've been 'draft' for years.

Hmm. I don't have any devices that log anything - so I can't see. The implementation is as per the API doc, so it should work. Sorry, I should have been a little clearer in that I don't blame your code - I've got a method in C that's written in precisely the same way, as per the docs, but it still ...

Happy to help! I've also got a java implementation if there's any interest. Fancy! :) Just a quick question - with API v5, do you have any problems with the 'caller' parameter? No matter what I do, my caller property never shows up in the logs. All I get instead is 'disarmed from the api' and never...

That SmartThings system looks increasingly interesting with that interoperability for other devices. If they get the API stuff right, it could be a real winner. The lack of UK in-wall controllable plugs and sockets is a real problem right now - interstitial devices like the AM SmartPlugs are good, ...

APrettyBee wrote:For anyone interested in getting started with php and the V5 API, have a look here http://www.peterbatey.com/articles/alertme-api.html

That's great stuff. I was going to start looking at baking some AlertMe stuff into a site and this has really saved me some time!

NB. They have compatibility over and above SmartThings' own sensors, supposedly on account of the SmartThings hub packing multiple different kinds of radios, including Zigbee. https://twitter.com/RobertAndrews/status/335077724634882050 You wouldn't get an AlertMe sensor to talk to it, even if you w...

Interfacing the two would be dependent upon their respective APIs. This is an area in which AlertMe is particularly good - their API for the Energy and Monitoring systems was well publicised at release, and an updated version is available these days. However, for the British Gas version the API has ...

Hi, Just wondered when you think the python module would be available? I'm interested in testing on my Raspberry Pi. It's up on Github if you'd like to have a play with it: https://github.com/birdslikewires/AlertMePy There's some documentation and I think everything works as advertised! Please post...

If I buy some of the British Gas Safe/Secure equipment will it work with my exisiting alertme hub? Seen as alertme have now stopped selling the security stuff! Yes, anything that AM sold if you buy from BG will work fine. In fact, it's officially supported! The BG-specific products probably won't p...

'Fraid I have no news - I'd love to get a system to do some testing with, but the cost of that on top of my actual system makes it somewhat restrictive! Hopefully someone else will have had a play with this.

There's usually a connection delay when switching between broadband and GPRS, as I don't believe that the mobile data connection is maintained permanently (rather, it fires up on demand). I've only noticed it a couple of times, so I don't know how long the switch takes. As for the battery - do the L...

I haven't tested it yet... I have now tested it. It works really well. :) Rather than trying to repeat my efforts with the AlertMePI script, I think I'll post a bare-bones script for v5 that covers the basics of getting authenticated. The API v5 documentation is really good, so once you've got one ...

Thread resurrection; I have just discovered that there is indeed a new API - or at least, it's newer than the one I knew about previously. I haven't tested it yet, but the documentation is here: https://api.alertme.com/v5/docs/ A great project which uploads energy data to the PlotWatt service is ale...

You can definitely sell a system to another person - when I spoke to them they seemed happy to allow new account registrations with previously sold devices, just as long as the previous owner contacts them by email to confirm that they want the hub disassociating from their account. Don't forget tha...

I was doing a quick bit of Googling and bumped into a couple of interesting pages; one from David Boyce Design and the other from eg technology . Those links take you to design concepts for the AlertMe devices. They're the more recent variant of the motion sensor, plus a version of the alarm sensor ...

I've spoken to them today, and the reason they aren't offering it is because British Gas offer their product as Safe & Secure (which makes sense). They have also now admitted that some accessories will work with the AlertMe hub. We must have spoken to them at pretty much the same time! Yes, the...

Wow, that is a shame. I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to see what's going on. Interesting that they were selling the same products as British Gas, but cheaper, and by quite a margin.

1. The SmartEnergy comes with a small black "Hub nano" and the SmartMonitoring comes with a big white "Hub classic". What's the differences, other than appearance? For example, does the nano have stuff like the speaker saying "security disabled", etc? The nano hub does...

m@t wrote:You're the one I keep loosing out to on fleebay

Haha! Really? Sorry about that!

I've got all the kit I need at the moment (in fact, some may well be going back up at some point), so there'll be no competition from me. Unless someone's selling a lamp, of course.

If you're making use of the system, I'd say yes. Check on eBay - I've picked up some bargains on there. There's not always something, but kit does crop up from time to time.

Looking forward to how you get on! I have a Button in pieces at the moment, primed to be integrated into our house's traditional doorbell once the hallway is decorated.

I think with the components available, there's definitely some good hacking fun to be had!

I also asked about the system they sell & I was told its no longer available, (disscontinued) I feel this is unfair to you all as you've spent a lot of money on this system with promises of new products. The energy and monitoring systems they sell are still available, certainly on the website a...

Well, at least they've been straight with you - much better than the failed promises of before. I still find the current dashboard just fine - accurate graphing and the API are the killer features for me. As for the additional features in Iris... Yes, they've really done that product properly. Like ...

Now that's a clever system! Particularly using the already present temperature sensors - the AlertMe hub is very good at controlling things reliably once programmed. The stickier bit is having to have a separate computer running to send out the 'on' command so the house is warmed before you get home...

In addition, AlertMe's 'magic rules' provide the ability to intelligently automate devices so they work together and the system learns your habits and preferences to automatically adapt without your constant intervention. SmartMonigtoring incorporates applications such as security sensors (motion a...

Do the numbers here not work? https://www.alertme.com/help They do seem to be making it difficult to find information and buy the kit on the new website. Those numbers are fine, so far as I know. Also, the chat feature is always pretty swift - I've used that a lot. They've added a shop button to th...

wildcat wrote:Does anyone know the new support phone numbers?

Didn't know they'd changed.. You could try a quick chat session from your account and ask them if they're not in the usual places.

Madass wrote:I also have an alarm detector that is at 2.2r1. Anyone confirm if theres is the same?

I've only just got my hands on an alarm detector, so I'll let you know once I've started using it. If you give the help desk a shout though, they'll upgrade all of your devices if they need it.

Wow - interesting stuff! How did you get access before the OS fires up? On the original hub it very quickly dives into launching Linux, so I've never been able to turn on SSH or get root access.

I bought a system from eBay and it didn't come with a SIM. It's actually a test system for me, so I didn't bother getting one, but I believe you can get a replacement from AlertMe. My guess is that the card is tied to the account you use, so unless its cancelled at their end, you'd need to pass on t...

That's great info, thanks for posting. I couldn't swap to the British Gas system because I rely so much on the AlertMe API, but it may well be an option for others. It would be interesting to see if British Gas devices (like the pet friendly sensors) work with AlertMe kit...

wpiman wrote:There are $99 at Lowes. I live in the United States. The internal circuit board says it is a Alertme.com mini hub v2. 2011.

Really, $99? Do you get any sensors with that, or is it just the hub unit?

You never know. I imagine they figured if you had access to the hardware, you'd have control of the system anyway. I got a Lowe's Iris Smarthub made by alert me and I see a 4 pin header on there. Can I just hook the wires directly up from the COM port on a PC? No level translation needed? I see ano...

wpiman wrote:Did you try the usual suspects?

root with no password
root with password password
root with password root

For a security system, I'd have been disappointed if it were that simple!

BobbyBrownPants wrote:I'm just using an: If time = 0800 then send email to alertme@alertme.com, subject disarm ****

You can only have one forwarding address in IFTTT though, can't you? Do you have the alertme@alertme.com address set as that?

I came into AlertMe via the non-subscription route, so I just hadn't clicked that you could so this via email. IFTTT would be perfect for this. Great thinking!

There's an AlertMe Facebook page?

I'm pretty sure that AlertMe uses some form of encryption between sensors and the Hub. At a guess, you'd need to appear to be an AlertMe Hub before the sensors would be happy to talk to you. I may, of course, be entirely wrong - it might be post-pairing that the security kicks in. Hmm. Interestingly...

Do you get the same data issues using the traditional dashboard stats (My History > Graphs)? I've always found these to be pretty reliable (and a better style) than the new-style dashboard.

: No-nonsense graph. ;)

My Hub has been fine, but then I've only ever connected it to the Draytek and my Netgear switches.

And there are videos too: http://www.lowes.com/cd_Iris+Video+Center_1339427453484_

The pricing difference is certainly irritating, but I think it's fantastic that a big company like Lowes is piling in to this and doing it properly. They've obviously hooked up with AlertMe, specified a real end-to-end product lineup which AlertMe have produced for them and they're (hopefully) going...

anyone got a walk through on how to get the camera to work on my iphone, the router i have got is a cisco e4200, using bt infinity in the UK. What exactly do you mean by "work on your iPhone"? Are you after viewing the image remotely or at home? You mention your router, so I'm guessing yo...

Very true. If you change the GPL'd stuff, you have to make those changes available. But you can run your own copyright code on Linux and there is no requirement to make the source for that available.

Shout it from the rooftops! The clock is correct again!

How have people been getting on over the past couple of weeks? I've had the odd 'reappeared' message in the logs, but nothing more problematic than that recently.

Welcome to the forum, Rob! Well, that's a bit of a problem. It has been a while since I registered a hub, but it is all done through that account page - it should take you through the setup bit (where it seems to be dying on you) and then ask you for the Hub ID code to associate it with your account...

I'm not sure what you mean by profile, but I usually use the motion JPEG stream, which is:

Code: Select all

http://<ip>/img/mjpeg.cgi

Hope that helps!

I'd agree - they delivered a great product, realised that they wouldn't make their fortune alone and went chasing funding, utilities and major stores. It seems to be working out for them, but there's no doubt us 'early adopters' (which I saw us referred to as in one of their presentations) have been...

...and it's back this morning. I wonder if it's a maintenance task or something running on the server that's killing the login? If it is, they really need to sort it out.

Confirmed here. API is down, web login is dead. It's really not good enough, if while these systems are off the security side is essentially useless.

Don't see why not; you'd just need to fit a minijack-style plug to the wires coming from the replacement ferrite clip. However, are different clips calibrated differently? Do they give different readings dependent on their size / density / other properties? These things could affect the readings fro...

Okay, API now seems to be back and web login has let me in, but no data on dashboard.

Hate to say it, but I see the same thing. No emails received, but the web login and API appear to be down.

They switched to 10mbps a while ago for 'stability reasons', but I've never really had any trouble. Connected directly to the Draytek Vigor 2700.

Is it working better?

You're half right; the SmartPlugs do act as repeaters (they extend the ZigBee wireless mesh, so devices can be further away from the Hub and still connect to it), but they don't offer any increased processing capability. Same goes for the Lamp.

Had to laugh at myself there. I genuinely thought you meant Halo the video game, not Halo the home security system.

Is the Halo camera the same model as the AlertMe / SiteCom one?

No problem! How strange that an AIFF headered file works!

Well, please post back here and let us know how you get along. Would be good to know.

Not sure I quite understand what you're asking here - are you wanting to use a different ferrite clip with the AlertMe transmitter box (maybe possible, depending on the clip and connector) or interface a whole different box with the Hub (not possible, I wouldn't have thought).

Not really any tips, I'm afraid - other than I think I just used .wav files. Worked perfectly for me out of the box (used to use one of the effects from iChat as an indicator that a keyfob had arrived home).

I also get 'configuration load failed' errors, but on a system with considerably fewer devices than yours. This happens every time a new device is added and requires a forced reset of the hub each time (paper clip in the reset hole does the trick). I saw a video from AlertMe once with them controlli...

Still no fix for this time issue. Spoke on Friday and they don't even have a timescale of how long it might take.

I may have quipped that it would resolve itself come October.

As a comparison to the Nano Hub, I soldered some header pins to the debug holes on an AlertMe Hub (full version, although this output was recorded while disconnected from it's comms board). Using a TTL-232R-3V3, pin 4 is furthest from the DEBUG label and follows the same order: Pin 4 is GND (Black),...

I think you need a bit more in the way of authentication going on in there. I've not looked at the guts of using the API in quite a while now, but I'm not sure if a https curl request is enough? There were a number of good PHP example scripts kicking around at one point, which should show you exactl...

You may or may not have noticed, but since last weeks' outage there are problems with the clocks being GMT and not BST again. I have raised a support ticket with them again, and they're looking in to it. There was a hint that for whatever reason, fixing it is not as straightforward as they would lik...

Well, would you look at this!

AlertMe are in the Red Herring Top 100 for 2012!

Despite the name, this is not a bad thing. Perhaps we're going to see all this take off soon.

Sorry if you've seen this already, but I've just bumped into it... It's no secret that AlertMe are looking to grow through other companies, and British Gas Safe & Secure is just one example. Very interestingly, they've recently teamed up with Lowe's in the USA, and are going to launch a system c...

I always forget how to reset the AlertMe Devices back to factory defaults (ie. ready to be found by a Hub in Search Mode). So here are the techniques! First, find the Tamper button. This is usually inside the device, just above the battery compartment. There are a few exceptions; the Keyfob , the La...

Cheers, tonkos - added to the list. I wonder if the SmartDisplay works with the monitoring hubs? Just tried to find this information out and noticed how it's very difficult to see the systems on the AlertMe site. There are pics of individual devices and small images of the kits, but nothing like the...

In case you're having problems, or suffering from a version junkie affliction, here are the latest firmware revisions for various AlertMe devices. If you are not running these versions, contact AlertMe Support and they will be able to perform an upgrade on your system. If you know of any more recent...

roobarb! wrote:Hehe. I've just noticed that this forum is still on GMT.

Right, well, I've changed the settings in the board config and under your User Control Panel (top left) you can configure BST under 'Board preferences'.

I did notice yesterday that an alarm trigger (I set it off on purpose when I got home) took nearly three hours for an SMS arrive at my phone. Also, the clock has reverted to GMT instead of BST again. Just finished a chat with them now; they're aware of the clock issue and are trying out a fix on my...

Everything was looking like it was working again but I've just had another email saying the hub was disconnected. Still having problems it seems! I think that email may have been genuine - the server realising that the hub really was disconnected as it came back online. I got one at around the same...

The new dashboard exists. It works. It's in use every day. Just not by us AlertMe customers.

Now if you're a British Gas Safe & Secure customer, then you get this.

Seems somewhat familiar, doesn't it?

Also, when quizzed for more details on Twitter, AlertMe replied thus: We'll keep you updated here but the message is on the support site, if you are logged in and search for status update So, you have to log in (using a login service which is down, so that's easy), then search for 'status update' to...

There's a problem with the web interface now, as well.

: alertmeloginerror.png (26.45 KiB) Viewed 33767 times

Update 1: Oh, and the server now seems to be down. No API, no pings.
Update 2: Page seems to be back (pings would appear to be ignored), but still no login.
Update 3: Login now works, but dashboard loads no data.

kit wrote:So you are the face behind http://code.google.com/p/alertmepi/ ? Thanks for that - it helped with writing my app

Yup, that's me. I almost uploaded an update yesterday - but then realised I broke more than I fixed. One day!

Fantastic! I've been waiting for someone to do this for ages. Resisted the temptation to sneak around in my own hub because it is actually sat there, behaving itself and being an alarm system.

Well done!

I used to have this problem too, but since the last round of software updates (must be a year ago now) it has been as stable as anything. I'm assuming the help desk has made sure you're up to date? I also assign a fixed IP to the hub using the MAC association feature in the Vigor 2700 (good routers ...

terry wrote:The online dashboard is slow to update.

Someone probably forgot to feed the hamster.

Alertme say they have a software problem and apparently have been working on for the last 2 weeks without success. Hmm. Could you do me a little favour? Next time you're on your system, could you look at your last reported action and let me know if the website has updated for BST? I think everythin...

Might just be your account - just tried exporting some data from mine and it was fine...

I very much enjoy the description of the Button.

"Deters and frightens intruders while alerting the neighbours."

Yes, it is terribly scary.

Regardless, on topic: any one know if there is a newer version of the web API? I've been using version 2 (which is relatively ancient: https://api.alertme.com/webapi/v2) and have no idea what the AM guys are doing/care about third-party development. The reason is I've found a bug lately with one of...

If you've ever thought the recording quality was a bit ropey on the camera, here's an easy way to make it better. If you use your browser to bring up the camera's web page (as you may have done to set up the wireless configuration) and log in on the Administration link (default username is 'administ...

Well, thought I'd give it a shot, but at least on my camera it fails with: Error: Upgrade file format error I tried a few different firmware files (v1.0.06, v1.0.10 and v1.0.11) but with no luck. What version information is on the back of your camera? Mine says it is an RC8021, currently running fir...

Not tried, but tempted. So long as certain settings remain editable in the firmware, it might be okay (even if they need setting manually).

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