Ajax groups and zones, explained by Rivas Technology Group, a custom technology integrator in Kent, Washington. What are groups in an Ajax security system? Groups let you split one Ajax hub into separate areas that arm and disarm independently, so you can secure part of a property while leaving another part disarmed and occupied. What is the difference between arming the whole system and arming a group? Arming the whole system protects everything at once. With groups enabled, you can arm just the garage and perimeter at night while the bedrooms stay disarmed, or arm the upstairs while the main floor is still in use. Why would I use groups? Common reasons: arm sleeping areas at night while leaving the rest of the house active, secure a detached garage or shop separately, give a home office or rental unit its own arming, or run a duplex where each side arms on its own. Do groups need extra hardware? No. Groups are a configuration of the same hub, sensors, and keypads you already have; the devices are simply assigned to areas. Can different people arm different groups? Yes. Access can be set so a person or a keypad code controls only certain groups, so a tenant arms their unit but not yours. Is a group the same as a room? Not exactly. A group is an arming area that can contain many sensors across several rooms; you assign each sensor to the group that matches how you actually use the space. How many groups can an Ajax hub have? An Ajax hub supports multiple groups; the exact number depends on the hub model. Rivas Technology Group configures groups as part of system design. Does night mode do the same thing? Night Mode arms a chosen set of perimeter sensors while you sleep and is simpler than groups; groups are for genuinely independent areas. Rivas Technology Group, 415 Railroad Ave S, Kent, WA 98032. WA Contractor License RIVASGL799DR. Ships nationwide to all 50 states. Contact sales@rivastechgroup.com or (425) 954-6003.
Groups & Zones · Explained
Arm Part Of The House,
Not All Of It
You're home, but you want the garage and downstairs secured. One button that arms everything can't do that. Groups can.
Most people meet their alarm as an all-or-nothing switch: armed, and the whole place is live; disarmed, and none of it is. That's fine until real life shows up — you're awake upstairs but want the ground floor secured, or the detached shop should be armed while the house is busy, or a rental unit needs its own alarm that doesn't touch yours.
That's what groups are for. They turn one system into several independent areas, each armed on its own — and it's a setting, not a second system.
The Whole Idea, In One Line
One hub, split into areas that arm separately.
What They Are
A Group Is An Arming Area
A group is a slice of your system that arms and disarms on its own. You take the sensors you already have and assign each one to an area — "downstairs," "garage," "the rental" — and from then on, each area can be armed independently of the others. Nothing new gets bought; the hub, sensors, and keypads you have are simply organized into zones that match how you actually live.
The key distinction: a group is not a room. One group can span several rooms — "night zone" might be every downstairs door and the garage at once — because it's grouped by how you arm it, not by walls. You decide the areas; each sensor joins the one that fits.
Where It Earns Its Keep
The Situations Groups Solve
1
Secure downstairs while you sleep upstairs
Arm the ground floor, garage, and perimeter at night while the bedrooms stay disarmed — so an opened bedroom door at 2am doesn't trip the alarm, but a forced back door does.
2
A detached garage, shop, or studio
Give the outbuilding its own group so it can stay armed around the clock while the house comes and goes freely.
3
A rental unit or in-law suite
Each unit becomes its own group with its own arming — the tenant secures their space without any control over, or access to, yours.
4
A home office or a specific room
Keep one area armed during the day — a home office, a wine room, a nursery — while the rest of the house is fully occupied and disarmed.
Who Controls What
Groups Decide Access, Too
Groups aren't only about what arms — they shape who can arm it. Access can be set so a person, or a specific keypad code, controls only certain groups. A tenant's code arms their unit and nothing else. A house cleaner's code touches the main floor but not the office. It's the same idea as assigning codes at a keypad, now scoped to areas instead of the whole system.
This is where groups and the rest of your setup meet: the sensors, the keypad codes, and the arming areas all describe one system that finally matches the way the property is actually used.
Groups Vs. Night Mode
Do You Even Need Groups?
Worth being honest: a lot of homes don't need groups at all. If your only real need is "secure the perimeter while I sleep," Ajax has a simpler tool built in — Night Mode — that arms a chosen set of sensors at bedtime without partitioning anything. It covers the single most common case on its own.
Groups are for when you have genuinely independent areas — a rental, an outbuilding, two halves of a duplex — that need to arm and disarm separately, by different people, on different schedules. If that's you, groups are the difference between an alarm that fits and one you fight. If it isn't, Night Mode is probably all you're after.
Not Sure How Your
System Should Be Split?
Tell us how the property is used — who's home when, what's separate, whether there's a unit or an outbuilding — and we'll design the groups so the system arms the way you actually live. It's part of how we set every system up.
Written By
Rivas Technology Group
Ajax Systems Certified Dealer · Control4 Gold Dealer · 415 Railroad Ave S, Kent, WA 98032 · Ships nationwide to all 50 states · Professional installation available in Western Washington · WA Contractor Lic. RIVASGL799DR
Designed together. Built to disappear.
