With its Home Alarm Advanced security pack, Somfy offers an alarm system that is both complete, upgradeable and capable of operating in all circumstances.
Presentation
Somfy is expanding its range of connected solutions for the home. With its Home Alarm Advanced, the Savoyard company intends to respond to a problem that affects most connected alarms: disconnection in the event of a power failure and the Internet. To counter this phenomenon, Somfy has built its entire system around a gateway called Link Advanced, which can operate for 14 days on battery power and continue to send notifications in the event of an intrusion using the mobile network.
The pack is launched at 649 €. It consists of the gateway, an interior 110 dB (A) siren, an interior motion detector, three IntelliTAG detectors, two remote control badges and, finally, a control keypad. To this is added a five-year subscription included in the price, after which it will be necessary to pay 2,99 € / month. Note that the system is fully scalable by adding additional elements within the limit of 50 sensors. An IntelliTAG in addition will cost you around fifty euros, while the outdoor siren is displayed at a price of 149 € per unit.
Ergonomics
The installation of this security pack begins logically with that of the Link Advanced which it is preferable to place in the center of the house in order to optimize the communication with the other peripherals of the system. In the absence of an Ethernet socket, it is important that the wifi reception is excellent. During our tests, if the iPhone picked up the network in the first location chosen, this was not the case with the gateway. We had to change it to improve this famous wifi reception. The Link Advanced can also be placed on a piece of furniture or fixed to the wall.
The installation of the other elements of the kit did not pose any major difficulty. You just have to follow the very well described steps in the application and quickly everything is functional. The principle is essentially the same for all peripherals: activate the power supply and let the smartphone find them via Bluetooth. IntelliTAGs are bonded with a strong adhesive which has been shown to be very effective, including on painted wood.
The motion detector should ideally be placed at a height of 80 cm if it is placed on a piece of furniture. This is a model compatible with the presence of animals weighing less than 25 kg. You can therefore leave your cat when the alarm is active. The keyboard is quite bulky; we would undoubtedly have preferred a more compact product, but this is not really prohibitive in our eyes. After entering a code, it allows you to activate or deactivate the system, or to switch to night mode where only the IntelliTAGs will be active to prevent an intrusion during your sleep.
It is advisable to think carefully about the installation of the various elements of the pack in order to optimize your protection. For example, by placing the motion detector so that it covers a corridor, a staircase, but also possibly an opening, this allows you to free an IntelliTAG to install it on an unprotected window or door. A necessary part, but interesting knowing that the pack is scalable.
Communication between the gateway and the peripherals takes place most of the time via the Somfy Protect radio protocol (868,1-869,5 MHz) given for a range of 200 m in a free field. We wanted to reach its limits in a real environment. Unfortunately, the reality is much lower. Thus, we were not able to make the gangway communicate with an IntelliTAG placed at a distance of 35 m as the crow flies, but with between the two elements a partition and a load-bearing stone wall. As for the badges, they rely on Bluetooth to connect to the Link Advanced, in this case with a range of around ten meters.
Convenience of employment
To control the alarm system, Somfy has provided several options that adapt to lifestyle and needs. You can use the keyboard, the badges provided or the application. Regardless of the bias used, you will find the same four possibilities: activation / deactivation of the alarm, night mode and the Panic function which allows you to manually trigger the siren. Somfy has also planned smart modes. Intelligent activation thus passes the detection of the opening of the entrance door if it is equipped with an IntelliTAG and at the same time the arrival of your badge within range of the Link.
These two almost simultaneous actions will automatically deactivate the alarm when you return home. For activation, it's the opposite: opening the door and a badge that has become out of reach. It is of course possible to adjust the activation delay to give you time to exit before the alarm is armed - the settings range from “immediately” to 4 min.
Obviously, we feigned a few intrusion attempts: no complaints, the IntelliTAGs reacted after a few shoulder knocks given to the front door. Same efficiency for the motion detector. The indoor siren supplied in the pack sounds loud enough to make it painful to be in the same room for more than a few seconds.
Using the Home Alarm Advanced system is therefore rather easy.
Application
With a sober design with even a dark mode that adapts to the namesake mode of iOS, the application is in Spanish. It opens with the representation of badges, but obviously serves many other things. A functional richness which does not rhyme here with complexity. Everything is tidy! It is through it that we will be able to create user accounts of three categories with each time different rights: owner, child and guest. Everything is done with a few clicks and at any time, an account can even be deactivated. It is also from Somfy Protect that you can access the video feed of a brand camera.
The application allows you to add equipment, those we have already mentioned, but also cameras (interior and exterior) and roller shutters if they are based on Smoove and Situo remote controls (for now). The user will access the specific settings of each device. For example, you can activate the self-protection of some of them, such as the siren or the Link Advanced: the idea is quite simply to notify you of any movement. It is also possible to adjust the sensitivity of the IntelliTAGs.
This can be useful if your front door opens onto a street frequented by trucks which generate vibrations that can make the IntelliTAG sensors “sing”. Last example, the motion detector has three profiles: without animals, with an animal weighing less than 10 kg and with an animal weighing more than 10 kg. Somfy seems to have understood that there is nothing worse for an alarm system than generating false alarms. We also have access to a Security Scenarios panel: our roller shutters can close automatically when we activate the alarm. Of course, Google and Amazon voice assistants are supported, as is the Tahoma box, of which you can discover our test here.
Additional services can be purchased directly: video recording and storage over 7 or 30 days (from € 4,99 monthly), professional remote monitoring with on-site intervention (€ 9,99 / month), etc.
The Somfy Protect application is a real success, because it is stable and fast. It already offers a lot of possibilities, but it is not finished, as more should arrive quickly in the form of simple updates. Thus, we learned that a calendar function is planned for this summer. The user will be able to establish a calendar automating the activation of his alarm.
Highlights
Autonomous Link Advanced (battery and GSM link).
GSM subscription included in the price for a chandelier.
Complete pack.
Quick and easy installation.
Scalable product.
Weak points
A good wifi network necessary.
Actual range of the Somfy Protect radio protocol.
Conclusion
Note globale
Positioned at the top of the range, the Somfy Home Alarm Advanced is in our eyes a clear success. It provides a high level of protection while being rather easy to install and use by the whole family. Capable of operating without electricity or wifi thanks to its batteries and its GSM connection, this system thus fills a gap often highlighted on more traditional products. Another plus, its scalable nature will allow you to modify your installation. Admittedly, the price of the pack, but also that of the possible additions that you will share more, can seem a little high, but it seems to us fully justified.
Sub Notes
