A “Com Fail” message on your security system keypad means that a your control panel attempted to transmit a message to the central station and failed. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, a loss of phone service due to a power outage. Even a temporary loss of power may result in a “com fail” message.
ADT Customers, please call your ADT representative. SHIELD Security can not assist you in clearing this message.
Note: A “com fail” message does NOT necessarily indicate that your security system is not working now… It only means that there was a temporary loss of communication. Often, this happens in the middle of the night when your system is attempting to send a test message to the central station. So, in the morning, as you are leaving for work, you may see a “com fail” message on your keypad. Before you leave, take a moment to clear the message by following these steps:
How To Clear The “Com Fail” Message:
Clearing the “com fail” message is easy. It involves simply sending a signal through to the central station… Reset the cellular transmitter.
- Step One: SHIELD Security Systems clients, please call your local office.
- Step Two: State that you had a “com fail” and need to clear your alarm panel.
- Step Three: Give your false alarm password. (Your system will be put in “test mode” temporarily.)
- Step Four: Arm your system.
- Step Five: Open a door or window… Let the siren blare for at least 20 seconds
- Step Six: Silence the system by entering your user code.
Done! – Your system keypad should be cleared.
Other Common Issues:
“Com Fail” is one of several trouble messages that you may see on your security system keypad. Although it is concerning to see any trouble message, in most cases the problem is temporary and can easily be handled.
Below is a chart that shows some of the most common reasons of alarm system trouble.In some cases, you’ll be able to fix the problem yourself. For more complicated issues, however, you’ll need to schedule a service call for a professional service technician to assess and fix the problem.
While the the possible causes of a lit trouble light are endless, the most probable cause and solutions are outlined here:
| PROBLEM | POSSIBLE CAUSES | SOLUTION |
| Low Battery On Main Control Panel | Normal control panel battery life is 2-5 years. | Replace the battery in the control panel. |
| Power Supply | Control panel outage, power outage to the house, loss of power to plug, transformer for the system is dead. | Check the plug that the system transformer (a little 3″x3″ cube) is plugged into. It could be “dead” due to lack of power to the house, a tripped circuit breaker or a “popped” GFI plug (usually located in the basement).
Reset power; all should go back to normal (unless the transformer for the system went bad – If that happened, you’ll need a service call.) |
| Telephone Line Trouble | Traditional “land line” systems are always looking for dial tone to control panel. If the house phone is dead this trouble condition will exist. | Check to see if your phone line is working. You may want to contact your phone service provider to have them test it remotely. |
| Low Battery On Wireless Devices | Normal battery life on a wireless device is 3-5 years. | Replace the battery in the device that has a low battery or schedule a service call to have trained technician replace the battery. (We highly recommend replacing ALL wireless device batteries when one is showing up as “low.” |
| Communication Failure “COM FAIL” | The control panel attempted to get a signal to the central station and it failed. | First, determine if your phone line is working. (Have your recently lost or changed phone service?) To clear “Com Fail” message, call our office and have us put your system on “test.” Then, arm the system and open a device on your system (eg. window). Let the system go into alarm (actually making the siren sound). At this point, the system will send a signal to the central station and clear your communication failure. If this does not work, you’ll need a service call so that a trained technician can assess and fix the problem. |
| General Wiring Problems | Some wiring from the control panel to the devices in the house is “supervised” for integrity. If a wire gets cut, chewed through by an animal or just breaks, this could cause a trouble condition on the system. | There is usually nothing you can do to fix this trouble condition. A service call will be needed so that a trained technician can assess and fix the problem. |
Main Takeaway:
If you notice a “com fail” message on your keypad, call us. Warning signs like “beeps” and “blinks” means that something is not quite right and should be fixed. Ignoring the problem or waiting until “later” isn’t the most desired solution. And, on behalf of all the security providers out there, please don’t wait til the day before you plan to leave for vacation to alert us to the problem! Chances are, your issue can be handled right over the phone. Worst case, a service call might be in order.
The ADT error code 103 gets displayed on the ADT keypads when there’s a problem with cellular or internet communication on the system. Most of the time this error code indicates a problem with the cellular connection or signal.
Other reasons that can cause a 103 error message to appear in the keypad are issues such as a loose tamper cover, the communicator is not registered, the communicator loses contact with the monitoring network, loose cables, and connection, etc.
In this quick guide, we will list a few instructions on how to troubleshoot ADT error code 103. All you have to do is follow the suggestions and you can fix the issue yourself without the need to have a technician come to your house.
What does ADT error code “103 check lngrng radio” means?
The message “103 checks lngrng radio” on your ADT system means a problem with the system backup communicator. This warning message appears on alphanumeric keypads of ADT Safewatch Pro 2000 and ADT Safewatch Pro 3000 systems when the system is experiencing communication problems.\
Another error message you may get is “Check 103 Long Range Radio” which means that there’s a problem with the mobile communicator connected to your system.
Additionally, error code 103 may also appear if the cellular radio loses the cellular signal. It’s just letting you know that the system is not on the network and the issue needs to be addressed.
For example, if there’s a temporary outage of your local mobile network such as routine maintenance, general problem, power outage in the area, trees damaging the wires, or new construction, these may interfere with your signal and trigger the system to display error 103.
How to Fix ADT Error Code 103
Before entering the commands on the keypad, troubleshoot the system by performing these basic steps.
Test out your system
The first basic important step is to restore communication with your alarm system. Maybe the cellular outage in the area was probably fixed and the signal was restored. Now you need to restore the ADT’s communication. , but communication should now be restored.
Start by contacting ADT or your monitoring station to arrange for a test to be performed on your home alarm system.
In many cases, error 103 will be fixed once the system is restored and tested out by the monitoring center. If the test comes out as successful, wait a few minutes, and most likely the error 103 will go away.
Power cycle the panel
Sometimes the error 103 shows up when the mobile device is no longer correctly registered with the ADT system. In this case, you can use the oldest trick in the book which is turning off and on the panel.
ADT suggests that turning off the system and then turning it on fixes most of the basic problems. So, that’s what you should do. Power the panel off, wait 60 seconds, and then power it on again. Check out if the connection is established.
Check the strength of your signal
Another suggestion is to check your signal’s strength. Enter the installer code + 899 and the panel will tell you the signal strength and whether the system is registered properly. Select the options 1 to 3
- Option 1: It displays a message saying that it is in programming mode.
- Option 2: It displays the signal strength. Ensure the signal is strong.
- Option 3: If it displays “POOR” or “FAIL”, it indicates that the unit is not communicating properly with the network. Move the control panel to a place with a stronger signal.
The signal strength should be between -94dBm and -20dBm (required). If the signal strength ranges between -95dBm and -120dBm, the system will perform poorly or fail altogether.
Fixing the ADT error 103 via keypad
To successfully fix the ADT error code 103 yourself without the help of an ADT technician, enter these commands on your keypad:
- Place your system into test mode (enter your master code and type 5).
- Open the ADT keypad
- Disconnect the white cable from the circuit board for 20 to 30 seconds (as seen in the picture below)
- Reconnect the white cable back to the circuit board
- Close the keypad
- Enter your master code again into the keypad
- Press the “Off” button two times
- Check again. The ADT error code 103 should disappear by now
What do I need to do to reset my ADT alarm code?
These are the basic instructions for changing the user codes in the ADT system by the use of the keyboard. It depends on the model, if it doesn’t work just check the user manual.
- To re-program the system press the asterisk (*) followed by the number 5.
- Enter the four or six digit master code number (the one you use)
- By inputting the numbers 01 through 32, you can choose the User Access Code that you intend to modify.
What if the ADT error code 103 doesn’t get fixed
If you tried all of these and the error 103 still shows on the screen, then might be time to call the ADT technical support. Try to solve the issue through the phone, if they send out a technician they’ll charge you for the service.