Comparison of Qolsys IQ Panel 4, IQ4 Hub And IQ4NS

Hey guys, Hayden here from alarm system store. I'm bringing you a comparison video of the three base models of the Qolsys IQ panel systems. Essentially, there is the IQ Panel 4 the IQ4HUB, and the IQ4NS and Qolsys also makes the IQ Pro, which we may do a video on in the near future. But if you haven't heard of Qolsys or the IQ panels, they are essentially self-contained, all wireless alarm systems, and they're easily one of the best, if not the best, on the market in terms of user friendliness, whether it be installation style companies or DIY companies like ourselves. And today, we're basically just going to be breaking down the differences between the three systems that we carry.

There's essentially, like I said, the IQ Panel 4 the IQ4hub as well as the IQ4NS and the first thing we're going to be going over is identical features between all three of the panels, because all of them are built off of the same platform. Essentially the IQ4hub and the IQ4NS have some features removed to lower the price point and kind of give you guys options. So first thing that we're going to talk about is the fact that these systems are multi SRF capable, which means they can use four different wireless cards for different wireless manufacturers. So power G is the main wireless card that's used nowadays. And that is for DCS 915MHz Power G wireless technology. And the other options include the 319MHz, which works with interlogic systems, as well as the Qolsys S line wireless technology. And the third card is the 345MHz wireless, which works with Honeywell Legacy Wireless, as well as 2GIG Legacy Wireless. The last card that can be used is the 433MHz, which works with the discontinued DSC Power Series Wireless in. Essentially, this brings you options so you can take over existing legacy wireless systems or you can build something brand new with a new wireless set up, totally optional. Whatever you guys want to do with your panel.

These panels are at a max limit of 128 zones across four different partitions. So there's a lot of space in these panels. you can pretty much cover any commercial or residential sized building without too much trouble with them. they do also come with a Z-Wave card built into the panel, which covers 137 Z-Wave devices. These are separated by type, however, so I would recommend checking out our website alarmsystemstore.com, and on the product pages for these systems, it will break down what the different Z-Wave types are. These IQ panels are also capable of using a wired to wireless translator, and they have one in the 319MHz frequency, as well as the power G frequencies that allow you to incorporate hardwired sensors into your IQ wireless system. And essentially, the way this works is that the translator has all of the hard wired zone inputs, and then it transmits all of those inputs wirelessly to the IQ panel itself. Moving on. We also get an alarm.com dual panel communicator that uses cellular LTE that comes in either AT&T or Verizon in the US, as well as wi fi for backup. this can be used to connect to alarm.com self-monitoring, or you can, hook it up to a central station so that you can be monitored whatever you want to do. But essentially this is where your remote interactive capabilities are going to come from. All of the IQ panels also come with a 24 hour lithium polymer backup battery, which is essentially exactly that 24 hour backup battery in case you lose AC power. And they all come with an 85 decibel built in siren. So you can see on the, pictures there, each one has a speaker output that's used for charging. it'll tell you, you know, whenever a zone's open, things like that. But in the event of an alarm, it also has that 85 decibel indoor siren built into the panel. These panels are also designed for commercial use, because they do hold up to 242 user codes. So like I said before, with 120 zones in 242 user codes that you can pretty much cover any size building, whether it be commercial, residential, and you'll be able to give all your employees access codes in the event that they are needed.

So from here in the first panel we're going to be taking a look at is the IQ panel 4. And this is the full feature panel and was the initial launch panel during the IQ 4 era. And it was an upgrade to the IQ panel 2+, which came out a few years ago now. So essentially what Qolsys did was pack as many features as they could into that IQ panel package. So we're going to be going over specifically what comes with the IQ 4 that does not come with the hub or the IQ4NS. So the first main feature is that every IQ panel for is dual RF capable. And what that means is that it can come with two wireless cards built in. So all of them will share you the power G wireless card because power G is easily the best wireless you can get right now, but essentially they all come with a secondary wireless card if you choose. So you can get a power G plus 319, power G plus 345 and a power G plus 433MHz. And basically what that allows you to do is take over existing wireless legacy sensors that can then be replaced by power and G sensors as needed, or as you feel like upgrading them. So power G is the best wireless you can use because it's encrypted, it has frequency hopping, it has incredible range, but wireless sensors are expensive, so using what you have and upgrading as needed is an incredible feature for these panels. All of the IQ panel 4s also come with an eight megapixel flex tilt front facing camera. That is that black rectangle you can see at the top of the panel pictures there.

And what this camera does is any time the system is armed, disarmed or somebody enters programing, it will take a snapshot of who is in front of the panel at the time during alarm events. It will also record a short video through that camera in case it can catch whatever might be going on. If you do have alarm.com interactive services as well, these pictures and videos will be sent to your phone so that you can see them at any given time. And if you have alarm.com, you're also able to actually peek in through that camera so that you can kind of check on the home or business as needed. Included with the IQ 4 is three echo canceling microphones, as well as four 4-watt speakers. And the main feature for these is live answering alarm.com video cameras as well as video doorbells. And what this allows you to do is anytime somebody comes up and ring the doorbell, you can answer it directly on the IQ panel as well as receive feed from the video of those cameras. So you can actually see whoever's on your porch at the time that you're answering the call, and speak to them as needed. The panel also comes with a built in glass brake sensor, as well as a motion sensor that uses the microphones and the camera, respectively, but essentially you can enable these in programing and have this the panel act as a couple additional sensors as well. It also allows the ability to use Bluetooth to your phone. And this allows a Bluetooth disarming, which is kind of like proximity disarming. So whenever you come within range of the panel, while the Bluetooth on your phone is active and connected to the system, it will disarm on your way up. And you saw that in the initial IQ 4 video, a lady had her phone in her backpack, but as she was approaching the house, it connected to Bluetooth and disarmed the system and unlocked her door so that she could get into the home. Using Bluetooth, you're also able to play music directly out of the IQ panel for if you wish. And that leads us into the last feature of the panel, which is that the IQ panel 4 is the only option for using the IQ base, which is a speaker base for the system which increases your music output is also the only option that comes in black upon request.

So moving on, we're going to start talking about the IQ4HUB, which is an upgrade to the IQ HUB that came out a few years ago. But essentially the hub systems are slimmed down versions of the full feature panels, so they removed some non-essential features to significantly lower the price point, while retaining the majority of the security system features that make the system great. It also retains the seven inch touchscreen that you've seen for the IQ panel four, as well as the hub. The for that touchscreen usability. So to start breaking down the differences between the panels and the reason that the IQ four hubs exist is mainly to give you that significantly lower price point so that people can have options on what they're actually purchasing in their alarm system. The main physical difference between the panels is that the hubs are only single SRF capable, meaning that they only come up with one wireless card built into the panel so you can have power G, 319, 345, or 433 so these systems can be used to take over existing legacy systems if you wish. However, it is recommended if you're going to an IQ panel to use that power G, because that is what's going to give you the most wireless features. From there, they also remove two of the three microphones out of the system, which does take away the ability to use the glass break sensor that is built in. However, you will still be able to live answer the alarm.com doorbells or video cameras, as well as see what's going on on the cameras through the screen, because it does retain that seven inch touch screen. They've also removed three of the four wide speakers, so you do not lose the ability to use the 85 decibel siren. However, you may have a little bit less output in terms of music or in terms of the chime of the system itself. And the last thing that they've removed is the front facing camera from the system. So you do lose the disarm photos and the live peak in and stuff like that.

However, you will still be able to live answer your doorbell off and whatever other alarm.com features that just require a microphone, speaker and touch screen. All in all, the IQ hub is still a perfectly viable option for a lot of homeowners out there. A lot of people don't even use the camera in the additional microphones and speakers for their intended purpose anyway. So by removing those that you get a panel at a much lower price point while retaining most of the security features that make the IQ panel great. The biggest limitation, however, is the fact that the single SRF only allows you to use one wireless technology with your system, so if you do take over an existing system, you do have to continue replacing sensors with that same wireless tech. Or you can start a whole brand new system. If you do so, I do recommend using the power G model, because that is going to give you the best wireless option available. And last but certainly not least, is the IQ 4NS. This is this is newest IQ panel. And if you haven't guessed thus far the NS in the title stands for No screen.

As you can see from the video there, none of the IQ4NS panels come with a seven inch touchscreen built into the panel. Now, this does limit user functionality on site at the system itself. However, this system is uniquely designed to be used strictly with apps. So you program the system using an IQ installer app, and you also use the system with the alarm.com app that I've mentioned many times so far. Basically, the system offers you the lowest price point while retaining the same security features that it calls this IQ panel provides. Now, as I mentioned, the IQ4NS is the lowest price point version and it is just a no screen variation of the IQ panel. It does still retain all of the same security features that were mentioned in the identical listing from the beginning of the video, but you are limited to a single SRF for the panel, so you can use power G and use 319, 345 or 433. Which means if you do take over a panel, same situation applies. You do have to replace the sensors with that same wireless tech. However, if you're looking at a new system, this is ideal because it gives you the option for power G so you can have the best sensors going forward. Now, outside of lacking the seven inch touchscreen, the biggest physical difference between this and the IQ hub is that this panel has no microphone in it. It only has a single 2-Watt speaker, so you still do get the 85 decibel siren out of the panel. However, it removes the ability to live answer calls to your doorbell or a video camera through the system itself. If you're using alarm.com, as you should with this panel, you'll still be able to answer them on the app as normal.

You just won't be able to do it on the panel itself. As I mentioned previously, the IQ4NS is exclusively programed using the IQ installer app. This is an app, of course is designed to program the IQ for NS and the IQ Pro panels. It can be found on both Android and Apple app stores. But essentially, once you get the system, you log in through the app, connect to your system, and it allows you to get in and actually set up the panel. I do have a video of me doing this that I will post down in the description below. So if you want to see how that works, you're welcome to check that out. But moving on. The daily usage is strictly through a Alarm.com service, so technically you can use a local keypad with the IQ4NS. However, it doesn't make much sense to buy a panel in addition to a keypad when you can get a system like the IQ hub for a similar price. However, if you do go with the IQ4NS all of the daily features will mainly be used through alarm.com so you can arm and disarm. Check your zones, things along those lines. However, if you are at the panel itself, there is a button on the side that you can press that will give you the current status of the panel, so it will tell you if there's any trouble conditions. It will tell you if any zones are open things along those lines. However, I would highly recommend against using this panel for local setups because it is designed specifically to be used with the alarm.com app for daily usage. If you want a system that is capable of local on site usage, I would recommend the IQ hub or the IQ panel 4.

So that's really all there is to say about the IQ panel systems. As you can see, they're very robust. They offer a lot of different features, and they offer a lot of usability where a lot of the alarm systems are not quite so user friendly. So if you are a DIYer and you want to put in your own IQ panel system, check us out at AlarmSystemStore.com. We're essentially just a DIY e-commerce platform where people can come in, put their own systems in and get no contract service monitoring or self monitoring, whatever you want. And we also offer free programing on our systems. So you tell us what you want to do with it, we'll program it. And then whenever you receive it, all you gotta do is stick it up on the wall. So if you're on our YouTube channel, please leave a like and subscribe and you can check out our other IQ videos using the link down below. And if you're on our website checking this out, we hope you enjoyed what you're seeing and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out. All right, I will catch you guys on the next one.