The ones we hear the most about are Ring and SimpliSafe. Are there other systems that should be considered? And why?

Not sure the doorbell component of Ring would be of much use as our front door does not face the street. If I want to see who's there I can look out the window. Although there is something to be said for protection from "porch pirates".

Another consideration is that we have a 60# GSP that wanders from my bed to the living room couch and back, during the night.

I am an analog guy in a digital world so keep any explanations in simple understandable terms. My son is the IT guy in this family and can help with any installation.

The home is a ranch with a walkout basement. There is the aforementioned front door - which is the main egress and ingress to the house. There is a door on the deck, off the kitchen. Access to the stairs for the deck is from the back yard, which is fenced (only 4' chain link) and locked. A single door and a sliding glass door open into the back yard from the basement. There is a door from the garages (3) under the house. All single doors are door knob locked and key dead bolted. The slider has a non-keyed lock accessible from the interior only and I have placed a 2"x 6" in the door track.

OK, what does the collective brain have to say/recommend.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

I'm old school when it comes to alarms.

I have an old school system with wires to the sensors. I HATE the wireless sensors that use batteries. My mom has one of these. Sure it was easy to install, but there's always that one sensor that needs batteries, is too far away to have a solid signal, etc. IMHO, the wireless sensors suck, but others might disagree. Oh, I broke one of the plastic housings on a sensor trying to change a battery. Cheap shit from Asia. No thanks.

The weakest part of the old systems was the old telephone line, but now these systems come with cellular / radio links to the monitoring company. I pay about $1 per day for a reputable monitoring company. The alarm system has full power backup by means of it's internal backup battery. I can lose power for about a day and the thing will keep being 100% functional regardless of my internet status etc.

Fully independent of the security system, I have a hobby-grade camera system that I play around with, but honestly, my first line of defense is the traditional alarm system. With my alarm system, the monitoring company can respond quicker than I can to get the cops to my home if something happens. Trying to watch what's on my cams with my cell phone after getting a text alert from my cams, while out and about etc, and then calling the police on my own if I see someone on the cams is a fools game. But I still like that I record what's going on 24/7 with my cam system.

I have a SimpliSafe system and have been very happy with it.

I tried once to set up a GE wireless system (before SS was really ready for prime time) and concluded that I would have needed a team of engineers from GE to make it work. Sensors that wouldn’t program, contacts that wouldn’t close, range and signal issues, etc., just like radioman said.

Not so with SimpleSafe. I figured I’d give it a shot and it could not have been easier. If you can figure out how to post to this forum, you will not need your sons help, as your interwebz skills (opening browser, finding web site) are plenty advanced enough already. I have to swap out the four rechargeable AAs that power the keypad every six months or so. It literally lifts off the bracket - no tools required. Other than that, the system has been maintenance free.

I’ll stick with SS > Ring because I have a Ring doorbell and a side from a natural aversion to having all of my eggs in one basket, that goes double when the basket is Amazon.

-Rob

SS. Works well. Good smartwatch alerts. Buy with confidence.

I’ve gone through a traditional monitored system like ADT, to Simplisafe, then Nest and now finally Ring. Ring has been the best by far. Cheap equipment, very poor connectivity, and bad cameras plagued the others. The Ring setup is reliable and was very easy up set up. We have four cameras plus the video doorbell and sensors all over. Customizing the cameras and sensors is also easy so our German Shepherd doesn’t set things off. Having a solid WiFi setup is a must.

Do not advertise the actual wireless system that you use.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UlNkQJzw4oA

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Do not advertise the actual wireless system that you use.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UlNkQJzw4oA

Any computer can be hacked (just ask the NSA) and any alarm system can be disabled too. I understand your point, I have SS but post a sign from a monitored alarm company that traditionally uses wired components even though I am not using them. I have layers of protection, well lighted property, locked and secured entries, cameras, SS alarm system, safe and if all else fails insurance. My aim is to discourage thief’s from picking my property, yep, they may go to my neighbors dark property with the garage door open and valuables in plan sight, but at least it is not me they are hitting. BTW, I have warned my neighbors about vulnerabilities but they refuse to do anything.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing, not advertising what frequency to “jam.” A $25 China radio isn’t a big investment for criminals.

I have been very satisfied with Frontpoint, they do charge a hefty monthly monitoring fee ($47), but they respond with a call to my cell phone within a minute of it being tripped, and require my password to avoid a call to my local PD. I know this because I have a motion detector as one part of the system. until I figured out the height that this needed to be placed, higher than the back of the couch that my Shih Tzu's got on. Little fockers!
https://www.frontpointsecurity...%20security%20system