Commercial fire alarm system over wifi

Fire Alarm General Discussion
1

Commercial locations are different than homes, but

I take care of the computer network for a small business. They had a lightning strike recently and that blew out their 20±year-old fire alarm system.

one of the guys there is talking about a wireless system that would use the wifi I installed.

Seems wifi is another layer of potential issues vs. existing wires to each sensor. And I have heard Residential Security Solutions & Alarm Monitoring | a.p.i. ALARM of residential security alarm that is wireless. But that’s not using the existing wifi, they have their own frequency/network?

Anyone know much do / can a new commercial fire alarm system use wifi? Maybe an app on a phone to the control panel for status info. But inside the building to send signals within the building in case of fire/hand pull fire alarms?
the wiring is old but I’d bet more reliable than wifi.

2

If it’s WiFi, then that’s going to be a no go.

If it’s Wireless, such as Fire-Lite’s SWIFT technology (SWIFT Wireless | Fire-Lite | Honeywell) that would probably be okay, but may require AHJ (fire department) approval.

Best thing to do would likely be to replace the old system with a new, hardwired system. It’ll be the most reliable, and though it may be more money up front, it’s guaranteed to meet code and should last long.

No matter what, make sure to get a quote from a licensed company for the work.

3

Also, if you want to give us some more details of the fried system, please do! Would love to hear what it was, what are the existing field devices, etc… That’ll help us point you in the best direction.

You can take pictures if you are unsure of model numbers.

4

Thanks for the information.