What do you use for home alarm systems?

[Eric]

Thought I would put this out there to get an idea of what others use. We were using a paid service for years up until 2020 when the contract expired and then decided on DYI once the contract expired in 2020 and then went with Nest Secure, we don't really need the monthly service but knowing we can add or remove it any time is a big selling point.

However, Nest Secure went belly up just months after our purchase (WTG Google) and while they continue to support it, we'll never see any upgrades and can't add new sensors, etc. I'm good for now but will likely eventually upgrade to something less likely to be abandoned. I know there's SimpliSafe and Ring, anyone have experience with these? One thing I'll never go back to is contracts so that will be off the table.

 

[lizkat]

Thought I would put this out there to get an idea of what others use.

A back door that could use a little WD40 on its hinges?

Convention that you don't go up on someone's porch without having been invited.

Neighbors with well known affinity for the 2A.

Low population density, bad roads and good luck, so far.

 

[Renzatic]

I have a motion detector aimed at the driveway that only seems to go off in the dead of night.

 

[fooferdoggie]

We had someone of an alarm when we had SmartThings but HomeKit won’t sound a alarm but we have Arlo cameras and all the locks and doors tell us if they are opened.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[DT]

Just haven't felt like we needed one, we have cameras (now), we're a bit rural-ish, not in a through road, lots of people always at home, outside, in their driveways, coming and going. The cameras are mostly for silly little things like kids whacking a mailbox or something.

I did toss up some glyphs, sacrificed a couple of small animals, you know, standard protection type magic ...

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Paradox wired and wireless system with indoor and outdoor perimeters. Plus cameras on a separate system.
0-24 security service.

 

[ronntaylor]

A crazy mother in-law known for her death stare!

We are thinking about a camera system with two-way communication due to neighborhood kids wrecking havoc last few months. I'm of the opinion that security cams some times attracts thieves that feel you must have something valuable in the home due to the security cams.

My twin uses Wyze cameras and motion detector lights around all four sides of the property (although that may be part of the Wyze system, can't remember). For the most part, the cams film the birds and critters using the bird feeders and bird bath in the back yard. Although it did scare off a couple of drunks trying to get in the house 3 o'clock in the morning once. And caught a portion of pit bull attack on a couple of elderly neighbors.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I've never forgotten this Andy Capp comic...

It's the middle of the night when his wife wakes him in the dark. "Andy! Wake up! Someone's downstairs!"

Andy replies, "Well, if he thinks he's going to get anything, he's flogging a dead horse, isn't he?"

She thinks about it for a second and they both turn over and go back to sleep.

That's pretty much our house.

 

[fooferdoggie]

same here.
Now I have a hue motion sensor to turn the outside lights on but it is wacky it will turn them all off whenever they come on as a nightlight a few times it turned all the lights on full blast in the middle of the night.

 

[Alli]

My twin uses Wyze cameras and motion detector lights around all four sides of the property (although that may be part of the Wyze system, can't remember). For the most part, the cams film the birds and critters using the bird feeders and bird bath in the back yard. Although it did scare off a couple of drunks trying to get in the house 3 o'clock in the morning once. And caught a portion of pit bull attack on a couple of elderly neighbors.

We also use Wyze. They’re great for keeping an eye on the birds and squirrels. We also have Ring doorbells front and back. We have ADT, but never turn it on…it’s most because the discount for a monitored system is greater than the cost of the monitoring.

 

[ronntaylor]

We also use Wyze. They’re great for keeping an eye on the birds and squirrels. We also have Ring doorbells front and back. We have ADT, but never turn it on…it’s most because the discount for a monitored system is greater than the cost of the monitoring.

for the most part the Wyze is used to amuse them with birds v squirrels fights. The latter group supplies lots of time of funny videos as they go spinning on bird feeders, slide down greased up poles and are on the losing end of fights with larger birds or the rare ground hog.

Another brother swears by Ring doorbells and has offered to install them here if we finally decide on putting up cams.

 

[hulugu]

The two mutts we adopted seem to keep sketchy people at bay, and the UPS guy on his toes.

We have a few remote, motion detectors that are attached to lights.

At the mountain house, we rely on the remoteness of the place. We do have a few trail cams that send a message when they see something, but that's often critters, and our neighbor's cows. I once asked our neighbor to check on a car that was in our driveway—turns out, it was his niece, who came to visit and went to the wrong house.

 

[Herdfan]

My mom had Vivint. Not great CS, but OK. Service itsself was rock solid. More expensive to setup, but it does work. Plus, if you need one, they offer a small pendant to wear with a button to press in case of an emergency.

 

[Roller]

Thought I would put this out there to get an idea of what others use. We were using a paid service for years up until 2020 when the contract expired and then decided on DYI once the contract expired in 2020 and then went with Nest Secure, we don't really need the monthly service but knowing we can add or remove it any time is a big selling point.

However, Nest Secure went belly up just months after our purchase (WTG Google) and while they continue to support it, we'll never see any upgrades and can't add new sensors, etc. I'm good for now but will likely eventually upgrade to something less likely to be abandoned. I know there's SimpliSafe and Ring, anyone have experience with these? One thing I'll never go back to is contracts so that will be off the table.

We've had SimpliSafe for more than a year. Easy to install and very reliable so far.

 

[Eric]

We've had SimpliSafe for more than a year. Easy to install and very reliable so far.

I'm thinking that will be my next system, you aren't required to have monitoring are you? That's the biggest thing for me, there may be times I want it for a month or two here or there but want the option without contracts (though I understand you get price breaks with them).

 

[Roller]

I'm thinking that will be my next system, you aren't required to have monitoring are you? That's the biggest thing for me, there may be times I want it for a month or two here or there but want the option without contracts (though I understand you get price breaks with them).

Yes, that's correct — monitoring is optional, and there are no contracts. We're monitored because our home is often unoccupied weekdays. If something happens, especially a fire, we'd want to have a response as quickly as possible. (We're a one-minute drive from the closest fire station.)

We once had a different system that was often unreliable. The alarm would sound even after entering the PIN on the keypad. And monitoring was more expensive.

 

[DT]

That's pretty much our house.

Yeah, you know, for the most part, anything we have that has value to us, nobody wants, the other stuff, they can have we'll replace it - and our computer equipment we stash in a secured location if we’re traveling, just because it would be a PITA to replace. We work from home, so this place is occupied like 95% of the time.

So far the Eufy cameras are pretty awesome, I need to decide a better mounting location, since they're battery powered, I don't have to worry about proximity to an AC supply. Heck, I thought about just mounting them right on a couple of trees, high enough to be out of access without a ladder.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thought I would put this out there to get an idea of what others use. We were using a paid service for years up until 2020 when the contract expired and then decided on DYI once the contract expired in 2020 and then went with Nest Secure, we don't really need the monthly service but knowing we can add or remove it any time is a big selling point.

However, Nest Secure went belly up just months after our purchase (WTG Google) and while they continue to support it, we'll never see any upgrades and can't add new sensors, etc. I'm good for now but will likely eventually upgrade to something less likely to be abandoned. I know there's SimpliSafe and Ring, anyone have experience with these? One thing I'll never go back to is contracts so that will be off the table.

Mrs AFB. She only leave the house for 2 hours a week max!

 

[Herdfan]

We've had SimpliSafe for more than a year. Easy to install and very reliable so far.

My daughter has that in her apartment. Was easy to install on 2 doors and she seems to like it. She doesn't have monitoring because it's an apartment, but she can get alerts like when maintenance comes by.

Which was the reason she got it. She came back from being home and her deadbolt wouldn't turn all the way because some maintenance guy had filled the deadbolt hole with spray foam. So she freaked and spent that night at a friend's. She went to the office the next day and found out they had been air-sealing for better efficiency and this guy was basically an idiot who sealed up every hole he could find, including a bunch of deadbolt holes. She felt better, but still got the system.

 

[Roller]

My daughter has that in her apartment. Was easy to install on 2 doors and she seems to like it. She doesn't have monitoring because it's an apartment, but she can get alerts like when maintenance comes by.

Which was the reason she got it. She came back from being home and her deadbolt wouldn't turn all the way because some maintenance guy had filled the deadbolt hole with spray foam. So she freaked and spent that night at a friend's. She went to the office the next day and found out they had been air-sealing for better efficiency and this guy was basically an idiot who sealed up every hole he could find, including a bunch of deadbolt holes. She felt better, but still got the system.

Did the maintenance guy also fill up the peephole in the door?

Seriously, I understand why people opt for no monitoring because of the cost. As I said, we do it because it could save the day in some situations where we're not home. In addition to smoke and CO2 detectors, we have two water sensors, one in the laundry room and another by the water heater upstairs. I haven't yet installed a doorbell camera. SimpliSafe just came out with a wireless, battery-powered outdoor camera with motion detection, which I may do next.