Picked the wired panel over wireless for a house in Tulsa today

Had to choose between a hardwired Vista panel and a wireless Qolsys for this old 3-story house. Went with the wired because the crawlspace was wide open and it saved the customer $200 on sensor batteries. Took me 6 hours to run all the wires but the signal is rock solid and no interference from the old plaster walls. Anyone else still prefer hardwired on big jobs like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora8631mo ago

Yeah that microwave interference thing is real, I've seen it happen with certain wireless panels and old appliances. Plaster and lathe is basically a faraday cage too, makes wireless a nightmare. Running the wires through that crawlspace was probably the easiest part, but fishing them up through the walls between floors is where the real time goes. Always worth it though, you'll never get a call back about dead zones or batteries dying at 2am.

terryk281mo ago

Heard a story from a buddy who did a house in Tulsa last year. He went wireless on a similar three story old place with plaster walls. Said the signal kept dropping on the second floor every time someone turned on the microwave. Customer was furious and he had to go back and run wires anyway, ended up taking him two full days. Cost him way more than your six hours and the customer was out the extra money for the wireless panel too. So yeah, I think you made the right call, especially with that crawlspace open. Hardwired is just peace of mind on those big old houses.