OT-Home Security

Eggtucky

This is REALLY OT, but just curious. Have been researching home security systems recently. Lotta choices..any recommendations??

BENTE

i have ADT it works good for me...




they are really helpful when we have to call them (which is rare)...


it was already here when we moved in so there was no decision making for us.. it was cheaper to just have it turned on and monitered, rather than going through the whole process......



HTH

Boatman

Smith & Wesson works the best, IMHO

Boxerpapa

When I'm home, Glock works best for me. However, I have Bay Alarm. I have no complaints against them. I can't speak for other companies, but with Bay Alarm, you own the equipment.

Eggtucky

hehe..yeah well I already got S&W..but looking for something for when I'm NOT here and my family is

Spring Chicken

Brinks for the main house. But I don't own the equipment.

Rodney Dangerbird for the Coop and I'm stuck with him.

Spring "Safe And Secure" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Eggtucky

Yeah..I'm kind of comparing between ADT and Brinks... hard to get all the details from their sites and don't wanna have to have them come here yet..looking for another Rodney Dangerbird but don't see any on the net! :P

Fidel

I've been with ADT for a long time. Their prices can be beat, but the service is top notch. I use them in my home and in both office locations.

Make sure that on the contract it clearly indicates that you are buying the equipment and not leasing it - that way if and when you want to switch to a different provider you can. And I would recommend against the equipment protection service plan. New sensors are cheap and easy to install by yourself should one ever fail.

I save almost as much on my homeowner's premiums as the monitoring service costs. The biggest benefit to me is the fire protection/monitoring. If a smoke alarm goes off ADT calls the fire department. There is also an attic temperature alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm. Those all give me great peace of mind knowing my family has that protection.

Ross in Ventura

I have ADT and real happy with them. They also do a real neat job.
Ross

Eggtucky

Thanks Fidel that is great feedback and recommendations.. turns out Brinks doesn't have service in my area so I have ADT coming Weds afternoon

Eggtucky

Thanks Ross...looks like I have ADT coming Weds..

Boatman

OK....just checkin

WileECoyote

I have installed a number of alarm systems and used to sell the equipment for commercial and residential needs. My preference is to buy and install my own equipment including a programmable dialer, then I set it up to call me, a neighbor, and/or a close relative in the event of a problem. We will respond much faster than the monitoring service ever could. No delays to verify your identity, place you on hold, check the alarm panel remotely, relay information to the local responders, and wait for help to arrive. Also no errors in translation and no monitoring fees.

For those that have monitoring service: try it yourself once, preferably with your siren disconnected or muted. Arm the alarm panel after dinner and wait an hour or so, then open a window or door and make note of the exact time. Do not answer your phone when the alarm company calls since you probably won’t be doing that in a real emergency. Wait and see how long it takes for the alarm company to detect and verify the alarm, attempt to call you a few times to see if it is a false alarm, then dispatch police, then for the police to arrive. It will be 5-10 minutes if you are lucky, typically as long as 20-30 minutes and in a few cases the help never does show up! You might get a warning from the police or have to pay a small fine for the false alarm but this is generally better than finding out the hard way when your family’s lives are on the line.

False alarms happen all the time and police are not excited about responding to the automated calls from monitoring services. Don’t believe me? Get a police scanner and listen to the police in your area on Friday and Saturday nights. The routine home alarm calls have the urgency of someone jay-walking on an unused road. Police will respond but the low priority will surprise you. Heck, less than 2 years ago there was a fleeing felon trying to break into my back door. The police were chasing him for attempted murder and he tried to con me into opening the door, coming outside, loaning him money, or giving him a ride. I called 911 and kept them on the phone for 5 minutes, and they admitted they were already in the general area looking for him, and it still took them over 20 minutes to arrive by which time the dude was long gone! Thank God that I am also a firearms instructor and I was able to convince the felon that it was in his best physical and spiritual interests to quit pushing on my door and immediately retreat. They eventually caught the guy hiding on our land… early the next morning! If you live in a small or mid-sized inner city then police response times are generally better but not always since they are sometimes tied up with other calls. In rural areas there are sometimes only 1-2 squad cars on duty for the entire county, particularly during low crime shifts such as Sunday evening. I have friends and family in law enforcement so I know these things. Police are reactionary, not proactive, and a monitoring service just introduces additional delays in an already-too-long process.

Back to the alarm topic:

You can still program your own panel / dialer to work with various monitoring services and their service rates are cheaper than if you rent or buy the equipment from them. This also allows you to switch service providers without contracts or losing the equipment or having to buy new proprietary stuff.

The kits which ADT / Brinks / etc. typically install are usually worth about 1/5 of what they charge you. You can get an entire kit with a panel, power supply, siren, strobe, keypad, and a few sensors for under $100 and sometimes for under $50 if you get a good sale. The accessories are pretty cheap too and it is easy to install them as long as you know how to run wires and connect color-coded or numbered wires. You can also buy your own kit and pay a local electrician to install for less than most alarm companies without signing any contracts.

I highly recommend the following accessories / features if you want proper protection:

- panel mounted in a hidden but easily accessible location (back wall of a bedroom closet, behind a picture, etc.)
- indoor AND outdoor sirens (to wake you and your neighbors at the same time)
- bright outdoor strobe light(s) visible from the nearest public road (so emergency vehicles can find your house quickly without looking for the address number)
- hard-wired magnetic switches on EVERY window and door (minimizes false alarms, provides more detailed info. when there is an intruder or problem)
- several keypads with detailed status displays (allows you to see and control the alarm status instantly when there is a problem: bedroom, family room, kitchen are good places or wherever you will spend a lot of time)
- programmable dialer which can work with other monitoring services or your own numbers to call and play a recordable message (you can buy these for $50-$100 or more)
- battery backup capable of running the full system for at least 12 hours including several alarm-and-reset cycles
- fully concealed wiring (protects the system from tampering, vandalism, or accidents when you are moving things around in the home such as spring cleaning)

Things to avoid:

- over-use of motion detectors which are often used to cover large areas to avoid the hassle of running more sensors and wires (you want to know that the window by the couch was just opened, not that something in your living room / dining room / foyer area might have moved...)
- unprotected zones such as second floor windows based on the assumption that thieves will not go there (Murphy’s law applies here)
- proprietary equipment that can only work with a specific monitoring service or that cannot be programmed by the owner

I could go on for days about home security which should include a lot more than an alarm system. The sad fact is that I (and most criminals) can enter 95% of the homes in America in less than 2 minutes simply because they have poorly designed or incorrectly installed locks. It is also easy to enter a home without being seen due to all the errors in outdoor lighting, landscaping, and other simple things that we do out of ignorance or laziness. You can turn your home into a virtual fortress with just a few hours of work and it doesn't cost much either. Examples include:

- trim hedges and trees to provide clear view of windows, doors, and entrance areas from the street
- install motion-activated floodlights out of reach from the ground and tune them properly to prevent false alarms
- install small hidden steel locking pins in window frames to prevent them from opening more than 6-8 inches unless the pins are removed from the inside
- where possible, use deadbolts which are keyed on both sides, especially in doors which have glass windows or partial openings (keep the interior keys nearby and show kids where to find them in case of fire or other emergency: we tie ours on fishing line and hide them inside the curtains or set them on top of the door frame)
- replace the small cosmetic screws on your metal door-lock strike plates with long steel bolts that go into the 2x4 door frame (also consider new locks or strike plates if yours do not properly align with the door lock mechanisms)
- replace one screw in every door hinge with a locking pin or extended screw that protrudes into the door frame and the door (will prevent the door from being kicked in quickly)
- replace hollow core doors with solid wood or steel doors, especially on main entrances and your safe rooms such as the master bedroom (deadbolts are a good idea on bedrooms too!)

Well enough ranting. Just couldn’t help myself on this topic. I have experienced 3 break-in attempts in my lifetime and seen relatives burgled twice so I learned a lot and just wanted to share some info that might help.

AZRP

Joe, security chief. -RP

Eggtucky

Wow dude..that's a LOT of really good info!!..thanks for taking the time to post all of that...excellent points and I'm sure very valid...you didn't mention where you buy all of these components...

Unknown

OMG. If this alarm is for securing your family from intruders, forget it. Teach them the proper basics of gun ownership. If you can't do it, go to your local gun shop and sign up for a class. An alarm or a tuff dog will not stop a "looped" out crack head wanting to do harm on you or your family. By the time the intruder enters your house, the monitering service responds and/or calls the police, it will be too late.

Alarms are good for times when you are away from your home and someone decides to break in, but no way will it protect you from intruders.

This isn't the 50's where you could keep your doors unlocked at night.

I was always told that it is better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Fidel

and a dead body can never testify against you...but that's a story for another day.

Like I said, it is best for the ancillary products and services in my opinion. I agree completely with your post.

Big'un

Exactly, how do the eggs protect the dog? :woohoo:

Unknown

BTW, pending on the outcome of the next presidential election, now would be a good time to look into finding alternatives to an alarm. Statistics have proven when firearms were outlawed, the crime rate went up.

I believe it is Switzerland where it is required for every family to own some kind of firearm. The crime rate is almost non existant. San Fransicko has outlawed handguns, guess what? crime rate goee up

Big'un

Thanks for all of the effort you put into that post. I noticed a few things that I had missed. Great job!

mad max beyond eggdome

gee, and the crime rate in japan and britain is almost non-existant, and there are almost no guns to speak of, so go figure. ... if you live in a neighborhood where you feel you need an arsenal to sleep well at night, i'd think seriously about moving. .. i sleep perfectly well at night with the dufster sleeping at the foot at my bed. ..urban area with fewer than a handful of murders every year. ...



and before everybody beats me up, i have no objection to responsible gun ownership. ..you're a hunter, great, own all the shotguns and hunting rifles you want. . .you a target shooter, great, own competition weapons. ..you even feel the need to protect your house, great, own a single handgun to protect your home. .. but there is no reason to own ten M16s or AK 47s and hide behind the 2nd amendment, and there is no reason why you can't wait 7 days to buy a gun while someone runs a background check on you. . .

oh boy, let the debate begin :woohoo: :woohoo:

Eggtucky

You gotta love it when somebody jumps in and steals your thread and so obviously doesnt know wth they are talking about..if you wanna gun ownership debate..start your own OT thread PI, ..otherwise if you don't have anything constructive in response to my question..please don't bother in responding to my thread :woohoo: :woohoo:

Car Wash Mike

I bet a Snickers Bar and a fast rodent and Joe is gone. :woohoo:

Mike

Mike in Abita

Has he completely recovered from his operation? Hope the little fella is doing well.

Celtic Wolf

The D.E.W line here doesn't like snickers and fast rodents just irritates him. He knows that fast rodents get slowed down by a sudden increase in weight do to hot lead deposits from the Redneck Security System.



D.E.W = Dog Early Warning
Redneck Security = My father-in-law.

If they fail, the Yankee Security System won't.

Unknown

Crime rate is high in Britian

Celtic Wolf

You obviously need to have a long discussion with AlaskaC's husband, because dead men DO tell tales.

Cecil

A large sounding dog and as a last resort, Smith & Wesson

Walt

Car Wash Mike

This high tech security dog, found and successfully ate a whole bag of Zagnuts when the In-Laws showed up. :ohmy: :woohoo: Yep hidden in the luggage.
Been gone a couple years, had him for 18. But the memories are great.


Mike

mad max beyond eggdome

hear hear. . .sorry for adding to that. .. although i was serious about the big dog. ... can't get more bang for the buck than your basic 25 buck donation to the local aspca or other rescue foundation, although the bigger the dog, the bigger the dog food bill!!, i'm sure azrp will vouch for that, just like i can ...LOL

Celtic Wolf

Once again your politically incorrectness is showing. A recent ruling by our Supreme Court has made it perfectly clear that no state or local government can outlaw weapons ownership. They can require registration and license, but can not outlaw ownership.

District of Columbia v. Heller.

Whether McLean or Obama get elected it would still take ratification of 75% of Congress and 75% of the states to change our 2nd Amendment rights. Do you honestly believe that 75% of the voters of the US are against the 2nd Amendment?

As for Max's statement about the crime rate in Japan and England being low.. He needs to rethink that too. Illegal Firearms are on the rise in the UK and I suspect the same in Japan.