slo’s FRIDAY 9/30/22 poll - Home Security System

[lovin'fl]

We have a new house that came with one installed but we didn't activate it and don't plan to.

Might get a Ring as we go out of state for long stretches (like now) and worry about the house (like now because it's in FL).

 

[CdnCarrie]

Yes we have a monitored alarm. Upgraded to wireless about 5 years ago.
No cameras however.
And we have a dog as backup.

 

[tvguy]

Our house warming gift to our daughter when she bought her house 3 years ago was a camera system. Does give her and us peace of mind, but mostly it shows her neighborhood cats walking through her yard, and the mailman arriving. She did have a situation where a neighbor's car got hit on the street and they suspected another neighbor. They asked my daughter to check her cameras, and while she didn't want to get involved in a neighbor dispute, she did check and the car that was hit was out of view of her cameras.
I do see lots of security and Ring videos posted on NextDoor and Neighborhood watch pages, so the cameras don't stop crime, just record it. But even the best video rarely results in someone being arrested.

 

[georgina]

We had one at our old house, the basic monitored system with door alarms and motion detectors inside. (No cameras) Had it installed after a break in while we were away.

we do not have one in our new townhome. We feel pretty safe here, but I might be interested in a video doorbell camera. The only ground level access is the front door and 2 front windows, garage door in back.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Ring Doorbell + Ring security system. We have never had any problems, but nice to have just in case.

 

[design_mom]

We have a big, black dog… but it’s a poodle so I’m not sure he’s scaring anyone. Other than that we don’t have a security system… but we do try to lock up well when we leave.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We have a monitored alarm system with door sensors and glass break sensors. We also have an Arlo camera system, but it isn't monitored by our alarm company.

 

[wenrob]

I chose “dog” as our security system. She has a very loud, scary bark. I have found delivery people all the way down on the sidewalk when she gets going. She’s pretty much harmless but I do think she’d go on the offense if we were actually threatened. Let’s hope we never have to find out.

We do have a Ring Doorbell. I don’t really think of that as security. More like a notification system to let me know when a package has arrived or if I should bother answering the door. The live feed rarely ever works so that’s pretty much useless.

No security system but this summer we did get lucky and find the key to our garage entry door so we can lock it now, if we ever remember to.

ETA: After looking at @slo ’s pictures, I got a little worked up again about our neighbour’s new doorbell cam. It’s situated directly across from our front door, exactly 33’ away (we live in a condo complex). Knowing that our comings-and-goings are being passively recorded and could show up on some random social media site sometime, for whatever reason and totally beyond our control actually makes me feel violated.

If they have their zones set up correctly you are probably not being recorded at all. Doorbells do not record a constant feed and you have to be in the zone to trigger a recording. I have mine set up so that it doesn’t trigger until someone hits the second step from the sidewalk. Otherwise it would be going off constantly all day. I also have mine set to not go off at certain times like when my older DD worked very late evening/wee morning hours. With your situation being a high traffic area I’d imagine they probably have it set up for the area immediately in front of their door. (unless they like being driven batcrap with their phone/tv/chimes going off every 10 minutes) So unless you happen to be entering your condo at the same time they have someone coming in to theirs it’s probably not a thing. Those recordings are usually only kept for ten days and most people don’t even look at them. I hope this makes you feel a little better about it.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Yes, we have one. It's not connected to a land line. We also have cameras at all our entry doors.

 

[ronandannette]

I chose “dog” as our security system. She has a very loud, scary bark. I have found delivery people all the way down on the sidewalk when she gets going. She’s pretty much harmless but I do think she’d go on the offense if we were actually threatened. Let’s hope we never have to find out.

We do have a Ring Doorbell. I don’t really think of that as security. More like a notification system to let me know when a package has arrived or if I should bother answering the door. The live feed rarely ever works so that’s pretty much useless.

If they have their zones set up correctly you are probably not being recorded at all. Doorbells do not record a constant feed and you have to be in the zone to trigger a recording. I have mine set up so that it doesn’t trigger until someone hits the second step from the sidewalk. Otherwise it would be going off constantly all day. I also have mine set to not go off at certain times like when my older DD worked very late evening/wee morning hours. With your situation being a high traffic area I’d imagine they probably have it set up for the area immediately in front of their door. (unless they like being driven batcrap with their phone/tv/chimes going off every 10 minutes) So unless you happen to be entering your condo at the same time they have someone coming in to theirs it’s probably not a thing. Those recordings are usually only kept for ten days and most people don’t even look at them. I hope this makes you feel a little better about it.

Thanks for this; I do so hope you are right. There is only a fairly narrow walkway in our courtyard between the two buildings and their door is directly across from ours. I'd imagine it would need to be set at 5' or less (literally so close someone could actually be ringing your doorbell) to avoid being activated by general activity in the area.

The whole idea just creeps me out. I realize there are security surveillance cameras all over the place in many public locations now, and I go about life quite happily without ever thinking about it. But somehow this just feels different.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't have one because I don't understand how it would dissuade anyone from breaking in. Seems like a good deadbolt would do a better job.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I don't have one because I don't understand how it would dissuade anyone from breaking in. Seems like a good deadbolt would do a better job.

Ours definitely saved our house. About 12 years ago, I was at work one day and got a call from the alarm company that our alarm was going off. I couldn't leave, so I called my in-laws to go check it out. When they got there and met the police, they found someone had busted in our backdoor, but not taken anything. I am 100% certain that when that alarm started going off, they bolted. We have an outside siren with a blue light on the top that is situated just above the door that the burglar busted in. I imagine he/she about we their pants when that went off.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I have a Ring doorbell and they're accompanying security system. I feel incredibly safe in my neighborhood, but I still couldn't imagine not having one.

I do have two indoor cameras that I can record or watch live, but those are more to see what kind of shenanigans my cat is getting into when I'm away.

 

[tazdev3225]

I always tell the robocalls I like to play with that I have a very good system, it has 4 legs and barks. That gives my husband enough time to get his gun that shoots real deadly things at people. They usually hang up. I'm not joking though we have a very noisy dog and my husband is retired law enforcement so he keeps a gun near him in the living room and bedroom.

I am planning on replacing the garage wall in a couple of weeks and my grandson is installing motion sensor spotlights and a camera. He will also add a camera at the front door. We have had a lot of issues in my area with catalytic converter thefts as well as car break ins. I want to make sure my house has some extra protection if I need it.

 

[fly girl]

I have a Ring doorbell and they're accompanying security system. I feel incredibly safe in my neighborhood, but I still couldn't imagine not having one.

I do have two indoor cameras that I can record or watch live, but those are more to see what kind of shenanigans my cat is getting into when I'm away.

Same, but only 1 camera indoors.

 

[MIGrandma]

No we don’t have one and not planning to, at least in this house. We are hoping to move into town in 4-5 years though, might consider it then. We have a dog that will bark and alert us to anything right now.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I don't have one because I don't understand how it would dissuade anyone from breaking in. Seems like a good deadbolt would do a better job.

Majority of home break-ins are the result of opportunity and during the daytime. So if one house has cameras and next house doesn't, which one do you think they will choose? Doors and ground floor windows are the 2 most common entry points, so a good deadbolt just means they will moved to the windows.

 

[MillauFr]

Majority of home break-ins are the result of opportunity and during the daytime. So if one house has cameras and next house doesn't, which one do you think they will choose? Doors and ground floor windows are the 2 most common entry points, so a good deadbolt just means they will moved to the windows.

What good is the camera going to do? So you get pictures of people. What is anyone going to do with those pictures?

 

[tvguy]

What good is the camera going to do? So you get pictures of people. What is anyone going to do with those pictures?

Unfortunately, you are right. My Facebook Neighborhood Watch page and NextDoor feeds often have videos of alleged crimes, and the rarely do those video result in an arrest. As I stated a year ago, the cameras at my daughter's house do give peace of mind, and she can see around her house if she hears something, but not likely the cameras will stop a problem, but hopefully the burglar alarm will. And there is a downside to cameras. There was a hit and run on her street where one neighbor was suspected of backing into another neighbors car. The neighbor asked her to check her camera recordings, fortunately, it was out of range of her cameras, because that could have turned into a sticky situation.