Home hardening/Alarms

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So perusing the options for alarm systems these days, and it looks like there's at least some additional options other than paying $1000 for installation and $50/month for ADT's monitoring service- I have always felt that they and Brinks were a rip off personally, preying on a captive market that didn't really have many options. Wanted to find out if anyone here was using something other than the big two, and if so, what are your experiences, did you DIY install, etc.

Sweeping generality, it looks like there's a few options. The bigger names (GE/Honeywell) still have spendy sensors, and have gotten into a little home automation via Zigbee or Z-Wave, and some of the smaller guys have sensors that are way less, but still have wireless cellular modules available, while the latest tech uses wifi- which I like in concept, but newer also tends to mean buggier, which I'm not a huge fan of. Most of them can either not use a monitoring service, so it dials you, or you can add alarm.com for about $15/month.

So any thoughts?
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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One summer before I became a cop and had to respond to false alarms, I sold and installed alarm systems for a security company. Lots of half-ass installs out there, and lots of customers that consider their alarms their security. It's not - it's there to tell you when security has been breached.

Mobile phone technology is going to change the landscape of the alarm business. The UL rated central monitoring station isn't really needed anymore for most applications, and a savvy user with web cams needn't ever report a false. Camera coverage that would have cost $$$$$ a few years ago will cost $$$ to the low $$$$ now, and give you images that are actually worth a damn for identification to boot.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Having lived in Sac and had an alarm, here's my advice.

If you are looking for an alarm to thwart theft while away, alarm your garage and your bedroom interior door. Most valuables are kept in the bedroom and thieves will always go there. Put the sensor in your interior bedroom door frame and close the door and arm the alarm. Putting one in the garage makes sense since those break-ins are less risky and a lot of valuable stuff is in garages these days.

If you have pets, don't do motion alarms. Sacramento charges you after your second false alarm and cats and dogs climbing on places their not supposed to be while you're gone will trigger almost any system. Also, Sac requires you get an alarm license for response alarms.

If you are looking for a system for home intruders, I don't have much advice. Upgrading your bedroom door to a solid core door with a good lock would buy you the 3 min needed to get your gun and call cops and hit a panic button (which is a good alarm add-on).

I had ADT in sac. They're good. Make sure they don't skimp on signs and decals on the install. ;)
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"Person, woman, man, camera, TV."

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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SwampGrouch wrote:One summer before I became a cop and had to respond to false alarms, I sold and installed alarm systems for a security company. Lots of half-ass installs out there, and lots of customers that consider their alarms their security. It's not - it's there to tell you when security has been breached.

Mobile phone technology is going to change the landscape of the alarm business. The UL rated central monitoring station isn't really needed anymore for most applications, and a savvy user with web cams needn't ever report a false. Camera coverage that would have cost $$$$$ a few years ago will cost $$$ to the low $$$$ now, and give you images that are actually worth a damn for identification to boot.
This. All of it.

What is it that you want to protect? Specific threat? Just general security?

An alarm won't prevent anything. But that doesn't mean they are useless. Personally I think that local companies are better than the big national ones. Many will do an install without requiring a monitoring contract and many of the systems out there are compatible with aftermarket stuff like sensors/automation/cameras, etc.

Hardening is prevention and really isn't all that difficult or expensive. Anti-kick methods for doors, iron rods for accessible windows, a 'hard room' to retreat to (a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood screwed & glued to each side of an interior door, along with some interior bracing and strengthening of jam, strike plate, latch and hinges sort of stuff, along with corresponding reinforcement to appropriate drywall areas will 'slow' intruder down a bit)...

It really depends upon what you're seeking to do.

A word of caution: Advertising that one has an alarm system (like putting a sign in the front saying "ADT") tells whoever what to look out for and what to defeat. And even the most tweeked out meth junky can, in a moment of clarity, defeat an alarm system sufficiently to get in and out before the cops show up.
Subliterate Buffooery of the right...
Literate Ignorance of the left...
We Are So Screwed

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Yeah, not looking at the alarm as hardening, but as a large noisemaker and alert system more than anything. Putting the anti-kick plates onto the doors, adding an "invisible" security door, and some work on windows are on the list- but being able to hit the panic button for a very loud siren is a bit of a deterrent as well, particularly if it annoys the neighbors enough to have them call the police as well. Added to that a very large, very loud German Shepard, and hopefully it makes us less desirable to hit than other locations.

Swampie- That's the type of system we're considering- with these days having smartphone access cameras for verification, and push alerts, I'm not sure of the value in having an actual monitoring system these days- might slow down the response in fact, as they call whoever is listed to verify if there's an emergency- If instead I get a picture on my smartphone with a thief on it, I can call directly.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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I went through this a couple of years ago when we moved. I ended up using alarm.com for monitoring and sourcing a GE panel and sensors. I have an absolute ton of windows / sliding doors and have glass break, sensors, motion, etc on -everything-. I also went for CO, smoke, heat and water sensors on a pretty widespread basis. I want to say I ended up using 50+ zones out of the 96 the panel can handle, with about 80% or so being wireless and the rest being wired. The system has both a land-line and cell connections and the monitoring service lets me track and control it online. I added all the voice annunciation, etc. There are motion sensors and whatnot as well as special setups for some of the more sensitive areas. I wired up four keypads and have a couple more that I'll add in when I get around to pulling wire again.

The hardware in total was under $2K (and could have been somewhat cheaper if I'd planned ahead better) and the service itself is $20 or $30 a month and includes their setup with the local emergency dispatch, permitting and whatnot. It's not the cheapest monitoring, but they've been absolutely on the ball for various false alarms, smoke and water sensors going off, etc - to include me giving the ambush code by mistake and making friends with a VA state trooper. They can do video and home automation as well, but I don't really want to do either through the same system (for other reasons).

The setup definitely took some doing and the alarm systems themselves are somewhere between nostalgic and horrifying in how primitive they are to configure and operate but overall if I had to do it again I definitely would.

I can get into more specifics if folks are curious.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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I use SimpliSafe system, self install, wireless, uses cellular tech instead of wifi, with a battery back up. Pay like $10 / month for their monitoring. A friend was taking care of our cats and forgot about the alarm. I had the cops sent because he didn't call me first, the monitoring service did. No issues once I called the PD back and let them know it was likely my friend. They offer CO2 monitors and fire detection also.

I have 2 IP cameras for me to use that are not tied in to the system. Then, locks and such for the actual house.
Texan Liberal interested in guns

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Thanks for the recommendation, decided to go with the same setup through Simplisafe. $15/month, no contracts and you own the equipment. Also, from reading, it appears that all the alarm companies outsource the response center to the same places. Not sure why one would be willing to pay $50/month in this day and age. Did opt for the louder siren and the panic button for the bedroom.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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shinzen wrote:Thanks for the recommendation, decided to go with the same setup through Simplisafe. $15/month, no contracts and you own the equipment. Also, from reading, it appears that all the alarm companies outsource the response center to the same places. Not sure why one would be willing to pay $50/month in this day and age. Did opt for the louder siren and the panic button for the bedroom.
I know someone who just took a job at simplisafe. Seems a neat company.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Inquisitor wrote:
shinzen wrote:Thanks for the recommendation, decided to go with the same setup through Simplisafe. $15/month, no contracts and you own the equipment. Also, from reading, it appears that all the alarm companies outsource the response center to the same places. Not sure why one would be willing to pay $50/month in this day and age. Did opt for the louder siren and the panic button for the bedroom.
I know someone who just took a job at simplisafe. Seems a neat company.
Just looked at their website. I am impressed.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Yeah, as was I. Not bleeding edge stuff, but frankly I'd rather it work than be all buggy, so can deal with slightly less aesthetically pleasing equipment. Would be nice to have the touchpad for home automation, but I'm sure if I did go that route it would crash at some inopportune times. Doors are hardened at this point, next up is windows.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Got your alarm let you homeowners insurance company know, many states give you a discount.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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From having worked in law enforcement and coming in contact with many burglars I can tell you the most effective deterrent is a dog. In regards to ADT, and its ilk, I suggest you read up on Kansas' most infamous serial killer, known as BTK. Its makes you wonder about the vetting those companies do. I should point out that even though he had a degree in criminal justice every police agency he tried turned him down after simple psychological testing. He was accepted as a dog catcher and by ADT!

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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JoelB wrote:From having worked in law enforcement and coming in contact with many burglars I can tell you the most effective deterrent is a dog. In regards to ADT, and its ilk, I suggest you read up on Kansas' most infamous serial killer, known as BTK. Its makes you wonder about the vetting those companies do. I should point out that even though he had a degree in criminal justice every police agency he tried turned him down after simple psychological testing. He was accepted as a dog catcher and by ADT!
Oh we have a giant Shepard as well. The alarm is just the final layer. If anyone decides to go through her I would be surprised

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“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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We just received a simple, 2 camera setup in the post yesterday to help us monitor/record the exterior of our place. Hopefully it'll help, but this alarm system seems like a great option for my place and my sister's new home.

Please keep us updated as to how it works for ya.
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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Home invasion sleeping scenario:

Front line defense. Both exterior hardened metal solid core doors with interior double barred. Windows are high. Intruders would need ladders and sledge hammers.

2" solid core interior doors with extras, not divulged, on sleeping quarters, high quality deadbolt plus interior barring method. With a dog to wake us up. Plus car panic button/cell phone.
Armed to the teeth. No unloaded firearms, always locked and loaded not in a safe.

Pre-steps: Hear dog. Assess the situation. Realize someone is in the house. Click the car panic button. Prepare for war.

#1. Get out of line of sight of bedroom door.
#2. Call the police.
#3. Pray that the police get here before I have to go into therapy for the rest of my life!

I hope that is enough......


Why this level of threat protection:

When I was around 16-18 and home alone(back before anyone locked doors and out in the country) an intruder came in my house.
I was in my bedroom in the basement. I heard a car come in the driveway and I thought my Dad had come home to get some clothes for a trip.
But, I heard footsteps going to the front door. No family or friends ever went to the front door always the back door.

The door opened and someone came in and started going through the house, room to room.

Now I was really frightened. I picked up my shotgun out of my closet and held it pointed at the door. The footsteps eventually came down the basement stairs and stopped outside of my, by now locked, bedroom door.
I was so frightened, time stopped, and I had tunnel vision. I racked the bolt and chambered a new round so the intruder could hear that I had a gun.
I was so adrenalized I was shaking like a leaf.
Nothing happened and I cannot tell you how long I watched the door. Eventually I looked out of my bedroom window and no cars in the driveway. So I figured whoever it was had left in a hurry.
I shouted and shouted at the closed door. Probably an hour before I dared to open it and look out. I searched the whole house and no one was there.
I stayed in my car with my pistol and my shotgun until my parents came home hours later.

From that day forward my world changed and situational awareness became paramount. I was no longer a little girl. I took charge of my own self.

I will never never be anything besides armed to the teeth locked loaded ready for war whatever room or yard I am in!
But if someone has a gun and is trying to kill you ... it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.
Dalai Lama

A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Had ADT some time ago. The only good thing that I can say about their service was the sensors on the doors that let us know if they had been opened -- no matter what -- whether the system was armed or not -- the door beeps let us know. At the time we had a need for that. My step-daughter had been -- difficult -- and there were times she would try to sneak out and get into trouble. We had a crap-ton of police visits thanks to her. At least three a month for about two years.

Beyond that, I can't say that they worked out any other manner. We purposely had gotten the emergency panic alarms -- hit the button and police are supposed to come - regardless of a call or not. I managed to hit the panic button just before she got me in a corner with a knife to my throat. Luckily for me, the spouse came in before anything bad happened to me. But the panic alarm didn't work. The step daughter left the house within a few days after that.

I don't know exactly where she is. Only that she isn't in CT. Beyond that, I don't care.

All that said, my black lab weighs 140 lbs and he has a very manly bark. He is what comes after the locked doors & windows. I am looking at some of those screeching alarms for doors and windows. That would only be necessary if someone is willing to fight Bailey and his man-bark. On his hind-legs, he stands 5'5". I know that because I am 5'3", and he has two inches on me. We had to have some cable rewiring done and we had to take Bailey outside because he was not happy someone was in his house.

Right now Bailey is my most effective offensive weapon. Locks are defensive. Guns are last resort.
First of all, let's call it what it really is...It's not a gun buy-back, because the government never owned them. It's a gun turn in.

Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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Ok, an update. Based on the recommendation above, I decided on the Simplisafe alarm.

1) Super easy to install. Whether you use the screws or the double sided sticky tape
2) Configuration is also super easy. Way, way easier to adjust than the ADT system we had
3) Opt for the extra siren. The siren from the base station, although audible, isn't nearly as loud as the extra 105db siren
4) Works exactly as advertised. Right now just using the $15/month plan, may upgrade to the $24/month plan as I like the idea of using my smartphone for the remote and getting text alerts

All in the system cost $380, but considering the last time we had ADT in CO, it was $1000 after you added on more than just three entry sensors, and at $15/month instead of $50, it's a no brainer. You don't need ANY special skills to install these things, the base station just picks up the sensors as soon as they are turned on. Panic button really, really works, and man is this thing loud. Nice option when combined with the rest of your home security planning. So far I have nothing negative to say at all.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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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.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Home hardening/Alarms

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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.
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"Person, woman, man, camera, TV."

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