Anyone up on home security systems?

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I'd like to get some kind of security system for the house. I know nothing about this subject. A coworker was telling me he did a massive amount of research on the different companies offering home security systems and he said Vivint was by far the best and had the most secure technology in their system. He said ADT was a distant second. I can get a discount on ADT through USAA for what its worth. What do you guys know and think about this topic? Many thanks for any input!
 
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I don't know which is the best, but I recently installed "Simply Safe" wireless systems to my house. I'm not very techie, but it turned out to be very easy. $16 a month for monitoring and calls to police if needed. I have 21 sensors on doors & windows, extra loud alarms inside and outside, key fobs to turn the system on/off...about $600 invested. I intend to add a couple of cameras shortly.
 
Originally Posted By: tc1446
I don't know which is the best, but I recently installed "Simply Safe" wireless systems to my house. I'm not very techie, but it turned out to be very easy. $16 a month for monitoring and calls to police if needed. I have 21 sensors on doors & windows, extra loud alarms inside and outside, key fobs to turn the system on/off...about $600 invested. I intend to add a couple of cameras shortly.


This is what I use. Works great. I've set it off accidentally a few times and the call center is ringing my phone almost immediately.

To the OP: Are there professional burglars targeting your house? My goal is to deter the typical opportunistic criminals.
 
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Look at the SimpleSafe and see if it meets your needs. Well first you need to organize your needs.

You might also consider a smart hub like ones from Samsung. It will not call the police but it can notify you for motion, door opening, fire/CO and temp and water on floor.

Dog.
 
how good are your DIY skills? IMHO the best is a hard wired system. if you can drill holes and run wire they are not too hard to install. programming them is easy also with all the help on the net. and it will last a long time. you can get them monitored or not. they will pa for themselves in a year or so if not monitored.

i would say many times the bad guys are gone long before the cops show up. you can hook up a board that monitors the alarm that you can access from your phone. pair it up with a camera system and you can pretty much see and know everything that goes on at home
 
The monitoring is a colossal waste of money. All these things do, when they're not falsely alarming 99% of the time, is call the police to your house/business when the alarm goes off. If it is in fact a false alarm, you'll also get fined for it depending on your locality.

Go with a video camera system that records to the cloud somewhere. Much better and if anything happens you'll actually have proof.
 
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Thanks gentlemen! I'm not too good with electronics so I think installing and setting up the system properly is beyond my ability. Are there companies that set up custom monitored home systems?
 
Simplisafe is very easy to set up.

All the alarm companies like ADT will custom design and set you up. But the only part that takes some extra thought is where to position your motion detectors for max coverage.
 
Timely topic...one of my cars got broken into Tuesday evening, along with several others on the street, and there have been several home break-ins and attempted break-ins. We are the first subdivision outside the Cincinnati city limits, and social ills involving heroin addicts are becoming an issue. They panhandle at the Shell and Speedway stations on the corner, and periodically OD at the White Castle or McDonald's. We see a lot of Indiana license plates at that intersection, apparently buyers from Lawrenceburg and thereabouts come to our exit off I-74 to buy, then OD on the way home.

My wife wants to just move and be done with it, but I'd rather hunker down and try to preserve the neighborhood as long as we can do that safely. A security system is under consideration...the large labradoodle barks and looks ferocious so he is a deterrent, but he can't call the boys in blue if something happens.
 
I installed a DSC system myself with some wired and some wireless sensors and it has an envisalink board so I can monitor it from my smart phone (we have no landline)

Its basically just here to make noise if the door is opened when its armed, we have cats and even with pet safe motions at our old place we would get false alarms all the time so this time I did door triggers and window sensors for all my low lying windows along with a glass break sensor in the basement. The whole thing cost me about $800 including a spool of wire and 2 control panels with 3 key pads and a ton of wireless sensors since I installed a separate stand alone alarm in my detached garage too.
 
I like my Simplesafe. Never hooked up service to call police as retired lady next door is always home and could call police when the super loud optional outdoor siren goes off. I doubt a thug would hang around long with that thing going off. Guy across street is a former marine and gun nut and I don't think the thugs could get by him...
 
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