Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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begemot wrote:I'm looking into this now too. It seems the packages are designed to require you to purchase extra entry sensors regardless of the tier. I have at least 12 possible entry points so will need lots more sensors. Need to do the math and a CBA (I really need a vacation).
I needed 5 more sensors and one more motion sensor. Still, cheaper.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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begemot wrote:I'm looking into this now too. It seems the packages are designed to require you to purchase extra entry sensors regardless of the tier. I have at least 12 possible entry points so will need lots more sensors. Need to do the math and a CBA (I really need a vacation).
Roll your own. The good wireless contact sensors are somewhere between $40 and $60 a shot - once - and are available on the open market. The big alarm companies charge a lot, don't let you have access to your own equipment if you want to move to a different provider and are often staffed by -precisely- the people you're trying to keep out of your house.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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shinzen wrote:Remember though, you can also use motion sensors and glass breakage sensors. If you use window locks and secure your doors properly, you should not need to have a sensor on every window.
Motion sensors are fine, but there are a bunch of drawbacks and they definitely don't replace the need for access sensors. The issues include-

1.) When setting a perimeter-only mode (i.e. stay mode) relying upon interior motion sensors means that some chunk of your home becomes no-go. This is fine when setting a fully armed (away) mode, but if you ever want to get up in the middle of the night to go look for something the odds of triggering a false alarm are near inevitable. I made the mistake of programming my system this way at first.

2.) Motion sensors aren't cheap (2-3X more than decent access sensors), need to be calibrated and aren't much good if you have, say, a large dog or even suitably acrobatic cats.

Glass sensors are a good idea but are only helpful if glass is actually broken to achieve entry (vs a sash being pried with a crowbar, lock being picked, etc) and need to be placed and tuned to work correctly. They're important to have but are primarily useful in addition to entry sensors.

The only reason not to have access sensors is because the alarm company charges a ton for them for the item itself, for its installation and for ongoing monitoring. I self-install and have sensors on ten doors and another eight or ten windows in addition to glass break sensors and a few motion sensors (activated only when away) and it's been a big win to immediately know (via the annunciator, the monitoring app and the monitoring service) *exactly* what triggered an alarm.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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shinzen wrote:Remember though, you can also use motion sensors and glass breakage sensors. If you use window locks and secure your doors properly, you should not need to have a sensor on every window.
Good point. Although I'd prefer both - these 12 (13, actually) windows and doors are on the main and basement levels and are easily accessible and not difficult to open without breaking glass - internal sensors may be more cost-effective.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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senorgrand wrote:Don't forget motion spot lights and clearing away plants that obscure the line of sight from the street to a door or window.

Also, leave the light on in the spare bathroom. In Malcolm X's autobiography, he says it was the best way to keep people from breaking in. It's the only light that can be on at 3am and mean there is a good chance of someone being awake at that hour.
Good point about the spare bathroom light. I haven't thought of that.

I have motion spot lights but line of sight is a different story. We live in a densely-populated area, have many large windows and an open floor plan. There were few trees and little privacy when we moved in 3 years ago, so we've been planting crap like crazy. Not great for security but I work from home and enjoy attending meetings in my underwear.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Inquisitor wrote:You might want to look at the price list on simplisafe
Checking it out. Looks like the "Economy" and "Classic" packages are the best deals for me, adding needed items (13 entry sensors, 2 motion sensors, 1 glass break sensor, 1 panic button, 2 keychain remotes, 1 extra siren)) separately. Both hovering at around $570. Not bad. It may be family meeting time.

Great thread!! :)

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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begemot wrote:
Inquisitor wrote:You might want to look at the price list on simplisafe
Checking it out. Looks like the "Economy" and "Classic" packages are the best deals for me, adding needed items (13 entry sensors, 2 motion sensors, 1 glass break sensor, 1 panic button, 2 keychain remotes, 1 extra siren)) separately. Both hovering at around $570. Not bad. It may be family meeting time.

Great thread!! :)
Ordered this configuration (-10%) Will post review once installed. :)

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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begemot wrote:
begemot wrote:
Inquisitor wrote:You might want to look at the price list on simplisafe
Checking it out. Looks like the "Economy" and "Classic" packages are the best deals for me, adding needed items (13 entry sensors, 2 motion sensors, 1 glass break sensor, 1 panic button, 2 keychain remotes, 1 extra siren)) separately. Both hovering at around $570. Not bad. It may be family meeting time.

Great thread!! :)
Ordered this configuration (-10%) Will post review once installed. :)
I've had this installed for a couple of weeks and here are my thoughts (this is my first alarm system so my point of reference is limited.)

Pros:

- Connectivity from base station to sensors is solid. I have many sensors, some quite far from the station and they all respond reliably.
- Configuration changes using the USB stick/keychain remote or keypad is easy. Adding/removing devices and changing behavior is a breeze.
- Base station voice and feedback is well done. I wonder if I can change voices, like on my GPS.
- Both sirens are very loud. I can't imagine an intruder remaining inside after setting them off.
- Installation is easy. Instructions are clear and the sticky tape is really...sticky.
- Arming and disarming is easy and intuitive.
- The base station looks like a giant, glowing dildo

Cons:

- Build quality of some parts (especially the keypad) feels flimsy.
- One of the two motion sensors was DOA. It took a few e-mails and a call to get them to send a replacement. All other sensors seem to work as intended.
- Keychain remote isn't designed well. It's combined with an oversize USB stick with a loose cap that falls off easily and a battery door that slides off when inserted into a port. The panic button is too easy to press by accident (easily disabled). The USB key and the useful configuration utility it contains should be offered as a separate unit, making the remote a more practical keychain addition.
- If you choose to keep it as a self-contained system without immediately buying their monitoring program, the base station will vocally berate you and the keypad will keep flashing a "no connection to dispatcher" warning message. You must request and receive a separate programming update to disable this behavior.
- The base station looks like a giant, glowing dildo

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the system and appreciate the advice.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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- The base station looks like a giant, glowing dildo
:roflmao: Yeah, it does. Good point on the keychain remote- I don't use it so hadn't encountered that issue. The keypad isn't quite the same quality as our old ADT pad was that's for sure, but it is functional.

One additional thing we did have happen- new old house and the garage entry door was pretty beat up, so it didn't close securely. Just enough to say it was armed ok, but about a minute after we left the house it set off the alarm. No issues after figuring that out though. They were on point with the call back to me after that incident, so seems that the call center part is good if you use that.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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