What do you have for home security and what do you pay?

[eeyoresmom]

I'm moving to a new house that has 3 doors and a few windows at ground level ( house is a split). I got a quote from ADT that includes sensors for glass break on those windows. $45/month for the wireless plan and $250 for installation. I just started looking into Simplisafe and got a quote for $250 for the equipment but not sure how that would work for those very low windows.

 

[afan]

I've had Vivint for years. I think they are 40-45 a month. I got mine on a deal when a sales person was going through the neighborhood so I didn't pay for the equipment. I referred my parents and I don't remembered what they paid. They have fantastic customer service and I've been happy with them for over 10 years as have my parents. Had a low battery alert last week and while I was trying to get the sensor off and it all sorted they called about it to confirm it wasn't being tampered with. They have a mobile app but none of us use it. We do use the key fob to turn the alarm on and off though.

 

[tvguy]

$45 is in the ballpark. Most here do the installation here for free if you sign up for 3 years of monitoring. And most includes ADT here. I got a quote from them.

 

[DLgal]

Door and window locks and a baseball bat. Haven't needed to use the bat yet...

 

[NC Disney Dad]

I paid about $400 for my Glock 17. Light on it was about another $100.

 

[dina444444]

If your willing to do the work with installing the wiring etc. I would look at Alarm Relay for monitoring. They charge around $9/month if you use a land line and around $17/month for cellular.

 

[afan]

If your willing to do the work with installing the wiring etc. I would look at Alarm Relay for monitoring. They charge around $9/month if you use a land line and around $17/month for cellular.

That's one thing I forgot to mention. Vivint can run off cellular so you don't have to worry about having a landline. I would imagine most companies are this way now. But it doesn't cost more to do it.

 

[cvjw]

We use simply safe and are very pleased. Our system was around $1000 and my husband installed it. We have lots of windows and doors and each one has a sensor on it. We have panic buttons, security cameras, water detection devices and remote arming devices. I think my husband bought every gadget they make!

We pay $24.99 per month for monitoring.

 

[meghanb133]

We have ADT and pay $62 a month. We have 3 cameras front/back/indoors and window censors in every window of our two story house. Most of the sensors were already on the home when we purchased it, we paid to add a few and for the cameras. I think about $260. We also have the ADT pulse app so we can control ouralarm from our phones.
* edit to add - we live on what I like to think is a super quiet street and the alarm is more for peace of mind.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

2 large, loud dogs and 1 small, stealthy dog. They work for kibble and tennis balls.

 

[supersnoop]

We’ve got a local company that provides monitoring for $17/month with no contract.

 

[DisFan22]

We have ADT and pay about $42/month with taxes. Installation *I think* was about $400 or so. We've never had a problem with them, and I like the system. I'm also able to control it through a smartphone, and there weren't any additional fees for that, which I liked.

We purchased Nest Cameras outright, and setup them on our own. I never did a cost comparison, but from my Google Searches I think ADT charges more than Nest does for Video Storage, and we were able to purchase our cameras during a Black Friday sale, which saved additional money. We also purchased our own smart lock, and DH set it up.

With that said... when you are comparing security companies, I can not urge you enough to do your research. For whatever reason, a lot of these big companies like Brinks, Vivint, ADT are in bed with "Authorized Dealers" which can be completely hit or miss. A lot of them will promise the world - and completely underdeliver. I highly recommend researching any "Authorized Dealer" with the BBB.org, Yelp, Google Reviews, and see what complaints show up. Some are very good companies and will give you a better deal - but when I was shopping around, I felt like I was being a little deceived and the sales tactics were overly pushy. Make sure you ask about the monitoring contract length as well, when doing the comparison. One local company here wanted to sign us for Seven Years... and we had originally planned to move after Three, so that would have been horrible.

I'd also consider asking neighbors for recommendations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If your willing to do the work with installing the wiring etc. I would look at Alarm Relay for monitoring. They charge around $9/month if you use a land line and around $17/month for cellular.

There are multiple companies that offer wireless equipment and operate via cellphone lines (and not your cellphone line). We used Frontpoint security for our old home. Our new neighborhood is so safe, we don't need one here. I installed all the motion sensors, window and door sensors, break glass sensors,smoke detector and the base station (it was easy). We paid for the full service where they call the Police if you get an alarm. I could set the alarm and deactivate from my cell phone. It ran us about $45 a month and we paid for the devices up front. We had a two year contract with them. When we moved, we could have brought the sensors and stuff with us, but left it for the new owners. We had tons of windows and doors and pretty much maxed out the system with all the devices. We didn't have a camera system, but the company has since added cameras to their list of equipment.

 

[wenrob]

A medium size dog with a very loud, scary bark. She works for kibble, chewies, bones and the occasional slice of cheese.

I do plan on getting a Ring Doorbell and camera. I think footage storage is something like $20 a year. You can link up with people in your neighborhood that have them. Kind of like a virtual neighborhood watch.

 

[kymom99]

A medium size dog with a very loud, scary bark. She works for kibble, chewies, bones and the occasional slice of cheese.

I do plan on getting a Ring Doorbell and camera. I think footage storage is something like $20 a year. You can link up with people in your neighborhood that have them. Kind of like a virtual neighborhood watch.

Two years ago my sister's home in a rural area was burglarized in the middle of the day. They just kicked the door down and helped themselves. No luck catching anyone. Six months later a home in the general area was hit, but the owner had Ring. He was able to provide lots of footage. It took social media to ID the thieves who were eventually arrested. They admitted to about 100 burglaries, including my sisters

 

[wenrob]

Two years ago my sister's home in a rural area was burglarized in the middle of the day. They just kicked the door down and helped themselves. No luck catching anyone. Six months later a home in the general area was hit, but the owner had Ring. He was able to provide lots of footage. It took social media to ID the thieves who were eventually arrested. They admitted to about 100 burglaries, including my sisters

People post footage from their cams quite a bit in my feed. From what I understand the Ring network would essentially work that way, your neighbors would be able to share footage of something hinky. No doubt social media is helpful that way. I’m glad they caught the guys who robbed your sister’s home.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We have the simplisafe system and $25/mth surveillance. It has been great. I also have a ring doorbell.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I have a 120 lb dog, and a tiny dog that yaps at the slightest noise. Thye cost me about $50/month in dog food and another $400 in annual vet bills and heartworm prevention. They've done the trick so far.

 

[smiths02]

Whatever company you go through. Remember that police response time along with the response time of the security system company is long. A security system calls the police for you, it does not actually protect you or your belongings. The best burglars can be inside your home, get what they want and leave long before officers will get to your house in many cases.

Most house break-ins involve kicking in the door. I highly recommend StrikeMaster reinforcement and good/real deadbolts for your doors. My DH also installed Nightlock barricades.

We also have Ring cameras at our front door, side door, and in our basement to alert us if an intruder comes when we are at home and to provide evidence to the police. (The Ring cameras work off Wifi which we have backed up at our house with an emergency powersource in case the intruders try to cut power to the house).

We also store what valuables and important documents that we can in a large safe. That will mitigate what is stolen if a break-in occurs.

Also, don't forget fire safety. Many homes don't have both ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors.

 

[tvguy]

Whatever company you go through. Remember that police response time along with the response time of the security system company is long. A security system calls the police for you, it does not actually protect you or your belongings. The best burglars can be inside your home, get what they want and leave long before officers will get to your house in many cases.

Most house break-ins involve kicking in the door. I highly recommend StrikeMaster reinforcement and good/real deadbolts for your doors. My DH also installed Nightlock barricades.

We also have Ring cameras at our front door, side door, and in our basement to alert us if an intruder comes when we are at home and to provide evidence to the police. (The Ring cameras work off Wifi which we have backed up at our house with an emergency powersource in case the intruders try to cut power to the house).

We also store what valuables and important documents that we can in a large safe. That will mitigate what is stolen if a break-in occurs.

Also, don't forget fire safety. Many homes don't have both ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors.

Depends where you live. Police haven't responded to residential burglar alarms here in many years. Now, if you alarm goes off and you are home and call 9-1-1, they WILL respond. Apparently over 95% of all residential burglar alarm calls when nobody is home are false alarms.