TECHNOLOGY Akash Sablok
Safe by HUB6 Almost all offices and most homes have some type of protective alarm system. While having a system is helpful, notifications of an intrusion are the most important component. The most popular alarm monitoring option available for most businesses and residences is a dial-up or Internet-connected 24-hour monitoring station. If an alarm is triggered, your system dials up or sends a message to the monitor station that assesses it to see if they need to call the police and yourself or just you. Bringing this step to the modern age is Safe from HUB6. The Safe hub is an add-on to your current DSC or Honeywell alarm setup. The Safe hub can connect to the main alarm panel and will utilize the existing door contacts, window contacts, motion detectors, and more. The only wiring required is the connection from the Safe hub to your alarm box; clear instructions and connectors are all included in the kit. And of course, there’s a YouTube video explaining the process, as well. You can also wire the Safe by Hub6 into a keypad, but it’s the less attractive option as you’ll have a visible gray wire connecting the two devices. And I personally do not have an Internet connection near my alarm keypad. The Safe hub also connects to your Internet router via Ethernet (regular Cat5 cable) or, thankfully, wirelessly. Since phone lines and Internet lines can be cut by thieves, the Safe hub also comes with a 3G cellular connection.
Photo credit: Jaslyn Thorne
Summer Tech The best part is that the 3G connection is free for the life of the product and it’s included in the $299 purchase price. Notifications appear on your smartphone or the system can call a neighbour. Good alarm systems make good neighbours. If you still want monitoring, even just as a back-up, HUB6 offers a 24/7 professional monitoring package for $10 a month, significantly less than the $25 a month most traditional monitoring companies charge. The HUB6 package is pay-as-you-go, with no contracts. Now to your smartphone . . . once you install the Safe by HUB6 app (search for “Hub6” on iOS/Android), the app helps you make the final call by showing you the 3G and Wi-fi signal strength when you’re standing next to your master control-panel location. If neither of those is sufficiently strong, you have your answer re. which connection method to use to connect Safe to the outside world. In day-to-day use, the Hub6 app is very straightforward. The home screen shows you the current status of your system, for example, “Ready to Arm,” and lets you choose the two main arming modes: Away and Stay. Once it is armed, you can disarm it using the same code you use on your keypad. Additional users can be added with their own key codes; that saves you the hassle of trying to do this through the keypad. There’s no way to bypass a sensor on an open window or door, however; that can be done only using the alarm keypad. The zones tab will show you the status of each zone (open/closed) that may make the task of bypassing those sensors a little easier. The Safe by Hub6 has some pleasant extras. It’s IFTTT (If This Then That) compatible that gives it the ability to auto-arm when you leave the house and lets you integrate both Alexa and Google Assistant. “Hey Google, keep out the bad guys!” All told, Safe by HUB6 is a clever and effective way to give an old alarm system new utility. The Safe comes with a 1-year warranty from Hub6.
Safe by HUB6 MSRP: $299
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
BC Notaries Association
Volume 28 Number 2 Summer 2019
