By default the house modes of your Nero Gateway and Paradox alarm will operate independently of each other. You can configure them to operate in one of three ways:
- Nero follows Paradox arming
- Paradox follow Nero house mode; OR
- Nero and Paradox match each other regardless of where the change was made
We recommend that if you enable sync of Nero house modes to the Paradox alarm that you also enable PIN code or Touch ID lock in My Nero and on your phone to prevent unauthorised use. We also recommend you secure your Nero Gateway to prevent unauthorised users have access to the web interface on your local network.
This guide will focus on two way syncing of both the alarm panel and the Nero modes. To change it for one direction syncing (options 1 and 2 in the introduction of this article) simply remove the trigger and action of the direction you don't want.
Install additional plugins
To enable mode matching you will first need to install the HouseModes Plugin that allows access to house modes changes from within scenes as a trigger.
- From the web interface of your Nero, navigate to Apps and then Install Apps from the grey side bar.
- Search for the HouseModes plugin and click the Details button
- Click the Install button and then confirm. Wait for the installation to completely finish.
Create scene to sync Away state
- Create a new scene and select device as the trigger type. Select the appropriate arm area from your Paradox (for example Arm Area 1 if you haven't renamed them before integration) and then use the Armed detailed state option as the trigger type. Select Area is armed as the trigger type. Click Validate.
- Add a second trigger using the HouseModes Plugin installed earlier. Select the option for Away and click Validate.
- Select Devices on the next screen and select the same two items - HouseModes Plugin and Alarm Area. Click Next.
- Enter the arming PIN for the alarm system and the mode you want it to enter. You should use the standard Arm mode, however if any of your sensors are open (for example a window or door) the arming will be blocked by the alarm system. Force will override these errors but may also cause unexpected alarms. Set the HouseMode to Away.
- Follow the rest of the wizard to save the new scene and give it an appropriate name.
Create scene to sync Home state
- Create a new scene and select device as the trigger type. Select the appropriate arm area from your Paradox (for example Arm Area 1 if you haven't renamed them before integration) and then use the Armed detailed state option as the trigger type. Select Area is disarmed as the trigger type. Click Validate.
- Add a second trigger using the HouseModes Plugin installed earlier. Select the option for Home and click Validate.
- Select Devices on the next screen and select the same two items - HouseModes Plugin and Alarm Area. Click Next.
- Enter the disarming PIN for the alarm system and click the disarm button. Set the HouseMode to Home.
- Follow the rest of the wizard to save the new scene and give it an appropriate name.
Remove delay when changing Nero house modes
By default the Nero will wait 30 seconds after changing mode before sending the commands you have configured in the scenes. You can change this to suite you.
- From the Dashboard go into the House Modes settings
- Change the time to wait to settings that suit you.
Vacation and Night house modes
You can follow the steps above to also sync the night and vacation HouseModes with the alarm state by changing the triggers as appropriate. Night HouseMode correlates with the Stay mode of the alarm system. Vacation HouseMode doesn't have a direct correlation in the alarm states, it is usually best to use the alarms Away mode but this will vary based on your usage of the vacation mode.
Extending these scenes
You can add other actions to these scenes to increase their usefulness, for example when you set the home into Away mode you may want to ensure that all lights are turned off and the HVAC system is put into eco mode. Remember to test your scenes to ensure no options are overriding arming your alarm system.