Hi,
I am running the integration with docker and get the following:
2023-03-03 14:48:51 - INFO: Starting texecom2mqtt v1.2.3 (Node v16.13.0)…
2023-03-03 14:48:51 - INFO: Connected to alarm, sleeping for 2 seconds…
2023-03-03 14:48:53 - DEBUG: Panel socket closed
2023-03-03 14:48:53 - INFO: Panel disconnected, exiting now
This is on a Prem Elite 412 V16.12.05. I have a comip installed and also use the Texecom app. Any ideas where to start looking?
Thank you.
The installation instructions state:
It’s not recommended to run this app on the same physical connection as the official Texecom Connect app. You should use only one of the applications or use a dedicated physical connection for each.
Given this, I want to stop the official Texecom Connect app from running on the same physical connection before I install the Texecom2mqtt app, but how do I actually do this in practice - are there any instructions? Also, is this easily reversed, i.e. if, for whatever reason, can I revert back to the official Texecom Connect app (and take off the Texecom2mqtt app) on the physical connection? How would I do this?
Thanks very much
If you have a firewall, block the Texecom from all internet access - this makes it easy to re-enable for updates, etc, without changing the alarm config.
Otherwise, I believe, it’s the ARC settings you need to remove. Although in my experience, the device (certainly in the case of a SmartCOM) still tries to talk to Texecom to a certain extent, so personally I prefer the firewall option.
Thanks.
The firewall suggestion sounded great but unfortunately my router actually doesn’t allow me to block individual devices (it is a Sky NR801 router). I have a mesh system which allows me to restrict total network access of a device but that’s no good if I want the device to communicate to my Home Assistant.
Is there maybe a website that the Texecom App communicates with that I could block on say NextDNS (as I use that for my DNS and I can block URLs)?
Thanks again!
Quick dump of the DNS requests my Smartcom makes, over 5 minutes:
cloud.texe1.ltd.
cloud.texe.com.
broker5.texe.com.
broker5.texe1.ltd.
So perhaps:
*.texe1.ltd
*.texe.com
This will also block the texe.com website, however you could poke around and try to guess how many ‘brokerX’ entries there might be, not sure if mine always uses ‘broker5’
… you will probably need to reboot the device (and wherever the DNS is set) to ensure the DNS record isn’t previously cached? Or wait for the TTL to expire, before it presumably gets ‘nulled’
… this is assuming that it doesn’t also try direct an IP, I have no idea if it does.
Thanks for this.
For some reason blocking *.texe1.ltd and *.texe.com does not prevent the SmartCom communicating with the internet, but maybe I need to reboot the device as you say (although I’m not sure how to do the Texecom is ‘hard-wired’ in and given it is a maintained alarm, I am worried about tripping the fuse will mean I need to call the engineer etc).
I actually realised I do have the ability to block certain IPs in my Sky router, but this isn’t effective as all my devices are connected to a mesh behind a double NAT (I wish I didn’t have double NAT, but the Sky NR801 modem router cannot be put into bridge/modem mode so I have to live with double NAT).
All my devices are on my Mesh network - I wonder if I put my SmartCom directly on the Sky router so I could use the Sky router firewall, but then I guess that means it won’t be able to properly communicate with my HA instance, which is behind another NAT?
Thanks
Can you set a firewall block on the router element of your mesh, so on the inside of your double-nat?
I looked at installing a mesh a few years ago, and decided not, I don’t fancy double nat.
Thanks - unfortunately there is no such functionality on the router element of my mesh… 
The double NAT only happens because my Sky modem router does not have a modem/bridge mode. If it had a modem/bridge mode I wouldn’t have double NAT.
Just a note, but the connection to Texecom Cloud can also used by alarm management companies to monitor the health of their customer’s alarms in addition to feeding the Texecom Connect mobile app. It’s possible that by disabling this (even using DNS / firewall changes) you may limit the ability of your management company to look after your alarm.
Just a note, but if this is the case and you don’t want to lock them out, you may be better leaving well alone and adding an additional ComIP port to use with HA without disturbing the existing alarm.
Assuming, as an example, that:
Sky network: 192.168.1.0/24
Sky router LAN side: 192.168.1.1/24
Mesh WAN side: 192.168.1.2/24
Mesh LAN side: 192.168.2.1/24
Mesh network: 192.168.2.0/24
Then putting the Texecom on the Sky network, with for example, 192.168.1.100/24, a device on your Mesh network will be NAT-ed behind its ‘WAN’ address (HomeAssistant, etc), so will appear to talk to the Texecom from the Mesh WAN address, i.e 192.168.1.2/24 in my example above (same local network as the Texecom).
HomeAssistant only needs to be able to initiate connections TO the Texecom, not the Texecom initiating connections TO HomeAssistant - because the Mesh network will NAT devices behind an address in the Texecom local network, this should indeed work.
The other way around would not work (Texecom initating connections TO HA), not without port forwarding anyway, as the Texecom would have no route to access the Mesh Network (192.168.2.0/24), but the method above should work.
This does assume that the Mesh network does not block RFC1918 (local addresses) ingress on it’s WAN interface.
It is important to understand what ‘Maintained Alarm’ means - if an engineer physically visits once a year, to change batteries and check things, then blocking the SmartCom should pose no problem. But as @daern mentions above, doing this WILL block their remote access and if you do not have another remote signalling method (outbound mobile phone call, etc) that remote alerts will not be possible.
P.S Does the Mesh network not have a way to bridge instead, rather than act as a router? So that the Mesh network provides wifi, no DHCP server, and the network devices get addresses from the Sky router DHCP server instead?
Thanks - this is a very good point!
I guess the question is, how do I add an additional ComIP port? Is this something I’d need my alarm management company to do or could I DIY this?
If you have the engineer code or Wintex access, then yes it’s pretty easy. If not, then you might have to get them to do it for you.
Cheers everyone again and all very good points.
On ComIP:
I don’t have an engineer code (and presume my engineer will not share?) or Wintex access.
How do I know if I already have both ComIP and SmartCom connections (so don’t need to make any modifications to add a ComIP connection)?
On locating the Texecom on the Sky network:
Are you suggesting putting the Texecom on the Sky network without any modifications to either the Sky network or the mesh network and that the HA could initiate connections to the Texecom and that’s all that’s required (subject to no blocking of RFC1918)?
What about notifications / alerts where the Texecom would initiate contact with the HA - would this work in this scenario?
Thanks again for everyone’s help. I’m learning a lot here!
At the end of the day, it’s your alarm, not theirs - I would assume. My alarm company just noted down that I had the engineer code, presumably so they would just charge me if I broke something.
They’re separate modules, cards, whatever you want to call them.
Yup.
The TCP connection is established from HA → Texecom, data is then ‘streamed’ over this connection. Texecom does not establish connections to HA.
This is the ComIP manual:
Might help when looking to see what you have, and also explains how to set it up in the panel.
A typical Texecom Elite panel has three serial ports - two used by Smartcom (“Smartcom” and “ComIP”) and a third will be used by a second ComIP if fitted. I can give photos of the inside of my panel if it helps, although worth noting that you probably don’t want to remove the lid unless you have the engineer code, or you’ll get a tamper alarm!
Here you go. Smartcom in red, ComIP in blue:
You’ll notice that I’m using the ComIP via the communicator port and a ComPort+ adapter. Pretty generic setup, otherwise.
thanks for the additional info.
OK - i’m not going to open the box up as I don’t want a tamper alert!
I tried putting the firewall for outbound and inbound, then removed inbound - now I have a COM2 alert and it won’t disappear even if I put my CODE and reset…help!
So I started the app in HA - I just entered my IP address in the config but otherwise didn’t make any changes.
The log reads:
You’ll also need a UDL Password at minimum. The troubleshooting section of the documentation will point you in the right place, but again you’re going to need an engineer password to create a UDL password.
Thank you.
My alarm maintenance company will not provide me with their engineer code.
They have suggested they can change the engineer code to one of my choice, but then they will no longer offer me a maintenance contract or provide a contracted emergency call out facility. Would that be problematic?
I’d like to have a maintenance contract at the same time as using the Home Assistant integration - is that even possible? I’d also prefer not to have to get a ComIP.
Thanks
It’s hard to know what to suggest here as only you know your own circumstances, but I suspect that most here probably installed their own alarm or, at the least, maintain it themselves and thus are not bound to the arbitrary rules of third party management companies. The only thing I could suggest if you really want to go down this route is to swap your alarm maintenance to a company that will actually understand and support what you’re doing (perhaps even installing a ComIP for you?), but obviously this is a decision that may not be feasible.
Speaking personally, I fitted my own system and while I can’t get someone out at 3am if it goes off, I installed and configured it myself, so wouldn’t have any problem resolving whatever issue there was. My own system went in around 2 years ago (as a control panel swap out to replace a system I installed 15 years earlier) and has been faultless since then, with the exception of a single, failed PIR that I had to replace. Honestly, “alarm maintenance” is really just testing it from time to time, checking the logs and changing the control panel batteries (and sensor batteries, for a ricochet system) periodically. I’m very careful with my house insurance to not claim that I have a managed / maintained alarm system, but this has never been a problem for me.
Yes I presume so, if they support it offline, without using Texecom Cloud (which I presume many companies do as not everyone has the connectivity required to support this), but if they want to manage it remotely using the online services, you’ll pretty much have to add a ComIP to support a parallel communications path for HA.
There’s a good technical forum here which has a few pro alarm engineers lurking and can help with specific alarm issues that aren’t directly related to HA. They might also be able to advise you better on seeking a maintenance contract under different terms.
