Unpopular opinion: I think the Honeywell 5800 wireless sensors are more trouble than they're worth in old buildings

I installed a full set in a 1920s house in St. Louis last month, and the signal kept dropping from the motion detector in the back hall. I had to move the panel twice and still get a low battery alert every other week. Has anyone else had this much trouble with them in plaster and lathe walls?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinson.quinn1mo ago

Plaster walls eat those signals for breakfast.

leeknight13d ago

Wait, isn't it more about the metal mesh in old plaster that kills the signal, not the plaster itself? I had a similar issue and my electrician told me the wire lath behind the plaster is the real problem. @leelewis might want to check if his place has that old steel mesh, because swapping to a mesh router helped me a ton in my living room.

leelewis1mo ago

Tell me about it. My house is a total dead zone. I tried to watch a video in the kitchen last week and it buffered for a solid minute. I swear the plaster just absorbs the wifi like a sponge.