As more and more people become interested in security and smart home to protect their homes and businesses, more and more companies are advancing to offer home security services. Often the landscape of potential home security providers includes internet providers like Xfinity and Spectrum.

With over 312 million internet users in the US, it may seem to make sense. You already have an internet provider. Why not ‘bundle’ your services and simply set up your home security through that internet provider. And that’s exactly what they’ll tell you. Here’s a cautionary tale before you bundle:

Charter Spectrum recently announced, “effective February 5, 2020, [they] will no longer be providing or supporting Spectrum Home Security service.” This may not seem like a big deal – Charter wants to ensure they “are bringing [customers] superior, consistent and reliable service” in the areas they are best suited. But, the keyword in their announcement is ‘supporting’.

All the security equipment that Spectrum customers invested in, which normally supports the Zigbee standard, will be rendered inoperative come February. This means the equipment will be TOTALLY USELESS. This is because the companies that Charter acquired (Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks’) locked the hardware to their specific cable systems. Which means, it’s currently impossible to repurpose the equipment with another alarm system or service. 

While a simple firmware update from Spectrum could unlock these devices, no announcement has been made that Charter will be doing so. Evidence of their lack of support continues beyond stopping service and keeping equipment locked. Spectrum signed a deal with Ring and with Adobe (another home security service provider); both of which are offering to replace the Spectrum equipment with a new system, meaning more money to customers.

Keep in mind – Spectrum, a company that does not specialize in home security services and only entered the market because of opportunity, is discontinuing home security services to focus on their core business.

Our core business is protecting you and your family through professionally monitored security. Let our security experts custom design a security system to best suit your needs. By having 24/7 monitoring, your home will be protected, even when intruders attempt to tamper with your security. Call us today to learn more call our security experts to set up your free consultation.