Can I keep using a PSTN dialler over a VoIP line?

It is not reliable. The handshake tones diallers depend on frequently fail to pass through VoIP compression, so signals succeed sometimes and fail other times. Replace it with an IP or 4G communicator.

What polling interval should I use?

Whatever the monitoring station specifies for the grade of service the client is paying for, referencing AS/NZS 2201.5. Shorter intervals detect a failed path faster and use more cellular data.

Does the client need a dedicated SIM plan?

Yes, a data SIM appropriate to the polling load. Establish who owns and pays for it at handover, in writing, because an unpaid SIM silently ends monitoring.

How often should a monitored system be tested?

Confirm with the monitoring provider and the client's insurer. In practice an annual service visit including a full end-to-end transmission test on every path is the minimum defensible position.

Alarm Communicator Setup (IP and 4G)

Q: Do 3G alarm communicators still work in New Zealand?

No. All three New Zealand mobile operators completed their 3G shutdowns by 31 March 2026. Any 3G communicator must be replaced with a 4G unit. The panel will often show no fault, so this needs checking physically.

Knowledge Base › Alarm Systems · Last reviewed September 2026 · Connixtech technical team

An alarm communicator transmits events from the panel to a monitoring station. In New Zealand today that means IP over the site’s broadband, 4G cellular, or both as a dual path. The two older methods are gone.

Do 3G alarm communicators still work in New Zealand?

No. New Zealand’s mobile operators — 2degrees, One NZ and Spark — shut down their 3G networks from the end of 2025, with the last operator completing its shutdown on 31 March 2026. The NZ Telecommunications Forum specifically warned that 3G-reliant devices, including security and medical alarms, would stop working.

Any 3G communicator still fitted is no longer reporting — and it may show no fault at the panel. On every service visit to an older site, check what the communicator actually is and test transmission to the monitoring station. A panel that has quietly stopped reporting looks completely normal from the keypad.

PSTN is going the same way. Copper voice lines are being withdrawn as fibre rolls out, and diallers connected through a VoIP adapter are unreliable: DTMF handshake tones frequently do not survive the codec, so signals fail intermittently in a way that is very hard to diagnose.

Which standard covers alarm transmission?

AS/NZS 2201.5:2008 sets a rating system for alarm transmission systems and paths. It is a separate part from AS/NZS 2201.1, which covers the client’s premises and explicitly excludes transmission to a remote centre.

If an insurer or monitoring provider specifies a grade for the transmission path, that is the standard they are referencing. Confirm the required grade before you quote, because it drives whether single or dual path is acceptable and how often the path must be polled.

Choosing a path

Dual path alarm reporting diagram showing a primary IP path and backup 4G path converging on a monitoring station receiver — Dual path. Both routes must be polled independently — a backup path that is never polled fails silently, and you find out on the night it was needed.

Path	Runs in a power cut	Runs in an internet outage	Ongoing cost
IP (broadband)	Only if router on UPS	No	Nil beyond broadband
4G cellular	Yes, on panel battery	Yes	SIM plan
Dual path	Yes	Yes	SIM plan

Specify dual path for any commercial or insurance-driven site. Broadband outages and deliberate cable cuts are both real, and the point of monitoring is that it works when things go wrong. For a residential site with a modest risk profile, single-path IP with app notification may be adequate — say so explicitly, so the trade-off is the client’s decision.

Before you configure anything

Request from the monitoring station in writing: account number; receiver IP address and port or domain; reporting protocol (Contact ID or SIA); encryption key where required; polling interval for the grade of service; secondary receiver details; and the test procedure.

Put the account on test before you start generating alarms. Failing to do this results in an unnecessary response callout and an unhappy client.

IP path setup

Connect to a switch port on the client’s LAN — not a spare port on something that gets unplugged.
Assign a static IP inside the client’s subnet, outside the DHCP scope, with correct mask, gateway and DNS.
Enter receiver IP or domain, port, account number, protocol and encryption key.
Set the polling interval as specified. Polling is how the receiver knows the path is alive — without it, a dead communicator is indistinguishable from a quiet site.
Confirm the communicator reports connected, and ask the monitoring station to confirm they see the path online.

Firewall note: most modern communicators connect outbound, so no inbound rules are needed. If the client has a restrictive outbound firewall, arrange the destination IP and port with their IT before install day.

Put the router on the same backed-up supply as the alarm, or the IP path dies with the first power cut — precisely when it matters.

4G path setup

Check signal at the actual panel location, in the enclosure, with the lid on. Metal enclosures and plant rooms attenuate badly. Record the signal strength as a baseline for future service.
If signal is marginal, relocate the antenna outside the enclosure or use an external antenna. Do not accept a marginal reading and hope.
Fit a 4G/LTE data SIM on a network with coverage at that address. Coverage differs by operator, particularly rural.
Enter the APN supplied with the SIM.
Enter receiver details as for IP, then confirm network registration and receiver connection.
Record the SIM number, plan, expiry and who pays for it in the handover pack.

An expired or unpaid SIM is one of the most common causes of a silently non-reporting site. Consider LTE-M or NB-IoT communicators where available — designed for low-data always-on devices, with better building penetration.

Dual path configuration

Set the primary path (usually IP) and the backup (4G).
Set switchover behaviour: how many failed attempts, or how long, before failing over.
Set independent polling on both paths. If only the primary is polled, a failed backup goes unnoticed until the day it is needed.
Configure a path fault as a reportable event, both to the monitoring station and at the keypad.
Test each path independently by disabling the other.

Testing

Account confirmed on test before starting
Every event type transmitted and confirmed: intruder, panic, tamper, mains fail, low battery, open/close, periodic test
Zone numbers and descriptions confirmed correct at the monitoring station end — a signal arriving with the wrong zone label is worse than no signal
IP path tested with 4G disconnected
4G path tested with Ethernet unplugged
Failover time measured and recorded
Path fail event confirmed received
Mains removed: system and communicator run the required standby period
Periodic test signal scheduled and confirmed
Account taken off test; keyholder list confirmed

Pull the network cable and leave it out longer than the failover time. A dual path never tested by actually breaking the primary is an untested dual path.

App notification is not monitoring

Many panels push notifications to the client’s phone. Useful, but not a substitute for professional monitoring — nobody responds while the client is asleep or overseas, and insurers generally do not recognise it. Set expectations in writing: self-monitoring notifies, monitoring responds.

Fault-finding

Symptom	First checks
No connection to receiver	Receiver IP/port typo; account number; firewall
Registers but signals rejected	Wrong protocol; wrong encryption key
Works on the bench, not on site	4G signal in the enclosure; site firewall; VLAN
Intermittent path faults	Marginal 4G; router rebooting; DHCP changing
Wrong zone descriptions	Zone mapping at the monitoring station
Stopped months ago, no fault	3G communicator on a dead network, or expired SIM
Fine until a power cut	Router not on backed-up supply, no cellular backup

Specifying a monitored system? Connixtech’s technical team is available Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm NZT. Email info@connixtech.co.nz or call +64 27 284 7161. See also Alarm Panel Programming and Alarm Zone Configuration.

3G shutdown dates verified via the NZ Telecommunications Forum, September 2026. Transmission standard references via Standards New Zealand.