Ditched my hardwired panel for a hybrid setup on a high-end home near Austin

I swapped out a traditional wired panel for a Vista 21iP with a wireless expander on a 6,000 sq ft house, and the install time dropped by about 4 hours. The homeowner wanted full coverage in their detached garage and pool house, which would have been a nightmare to trench. Has anyone else tried mixing wired zones with a wireless keypad on a larger property like this and seen better reliability?

2 comments

2 Comments

murray.jana1mo ago

6000 sq ft here near San Antonio with a similar Vista setup, and that wireless expander is a lifesaver for the same reason (limestone runs deep in this whole region, honestly). We did a detached garage about 150 feet back and the garage's own subpanel made mixing zones easy - we just ran one wire from the main panel to the garage for power and let the wireless handle the door/window contacts out there. The keypad is wired inside the main house though, mostly because the homeowner wanted a hardwired feel near the front door and I wasn't about to mess with a wireless keypad that could have battery issues when the alarm gets armed daily.

sage_green1mo ago

Our last project was a 5500sqft house outside Nashville with a detached workshop 200 feet from the main house. Vista 21iP with a wireless expander saved us from digging a trench through freaking limestone. Mixed zones have been solid for over a year now, not a single false alarm.