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

[smiths02]

Where we live, the police arrive very quickly. We found out the hard way, and help was there before we knew what was up.

Most police departments even with a quick response time don't show up fast enough.

I don't ever assume that the police will respond to my alarm going off but my intent for getting a home alarm system was to (1) alert me that someone is trying to get into my house when I am home and (2) will hopefully scare off a would-be intruder when said alarm goes off if they were to break into my house quickly whether I am home or not.

An alarm going off may not deter all burglars but they will know that a loud noise is likely to draw attention so their time in my home will hopefully be short since the clock is ticking versus someone who just has a dog barking at them if I weren't home. My neighbors would never bat an eye at a barking dog.

I am not a fan of just glass break as it doesn't deter someone from jimmying a window open when I am home. Same goes for just having motion detectors as a primary. Motion detectors need to be turned off if occupants are home. I paid extra to have a sensor on EVERY door and window. I worry about my personal safety while I am home. Stuff can be replaced, people not so much.

I pay about $45 a month for ATT Digital Life.

I agree that the loud noise and knowing they are in your house is good. You don't need to pay for monitoring for that. But I understand people doing that.

I've known several people with alarm systems who have been burglarized and the police never caught the in burglars.

My biggest point was that I would worry more about making my house difficult to break into and protecting my belongings (StrikeMasters, NightLocks, a large safe that can't be moved).

 

[GreatLakes]

We have SimpliSafe and pay for the standard monitoring instead of the interactive. We really like the system and it was easy to install. It uses both cellular and WiFi but I always recommend you set up a segregated vLAN for IoT devices which is what we've done for this. It came with a free camera which I'll get set up eventually and we are planning to install a Ring Doorbell at some point when I have a little spare time.

I think an alarm can be a great addition to security but it is the last line of defense, not the first. Having a lit exterior, motion lights, a dog, and good deadbolt are all more important than the security system but having it is a nice piece of mind. We have it as much for the fire monitoring when we are not home as we do for the police notification in case of a break in. If a fire breaks out when we are not there we want the chance that our dog gets out alive and having that monitoring alone is worth the $14/month.

 

[Pooh2]

We also have Simplisafe, $14.95/month.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have SimpliSafe and pay for the standard monitoring instead of the interactive. We really like the system and it was easy to install. It uses both cellular and WiFi but I always recommend you set up a segregated vLAN for IoT devices which is what we've done for this. It came with a free camera which I'll get set up eventually and we are planning to install a Ring Doorbell at some point when I have a little spare time.

I think an alarm can be a great addition to security but it is the last line of defense, not the first. Having a lit exterior, motion lights, a dog, and good deadbolt are all more important than the security system but having it is a nice piece of mind. We have it as much for the fire monitoring when we are not home as we do for the police notification in case of a break in. If a fire breaks out when we are not there we want the chance that our dog gets out alive and having that monitoring alone is worth the $14/month.

I installed a Ring doorbell at our new house and I couldn't get any video or audio on my phone. I worked with Ring for months before I finally told them to just send me a new doorbell. Took about 15 minutes to install the new one. But I didn't put it at the door until I tested it next to the router and at the front door. I've got it at my door, but my door is set back and I get half wall and half steps. I may move it to the other side of the door.

 

[MillauFr]

My biggest point was that I would worry more about making my house difficult to break into and protecting my belongings (StrikeMasters, NightLocks, a large safe that can't be moved).

Agreed. Best way to avoid thefts is to make it more difficult to break into your house. Having pictures of the people breaking into your house isn't going to do much good when the police are not going to investigate or try to catch the crooks.

 

[smiths02]

Agreed. Best way to avoid thefts is to make it more difficult to break into your house. Having pictures of the people breaking into your house isn't going to do much good when the police are not going to investigate or try to catch the crooks.

Our police department will publicize photos on FB at least.

IME, the police department will not do anything about fingerprints or blood (from a broken window) left on the scene as long as no one was hurt.

ETA: In our cases...the camera also acts as our alert system just a side benefit that it might capture evidence for the police.

 

[MillauFr]

Our police department will publicize photos on FB at least.

At least they do that. I think many posters here think the police are going to review the video and try to spend time investigating the break ins. In the majority of cases they will not. Here they just forward you a link so you can fill out an online police report that will never get followed up on.

 

[Hikergirl]

Agreed. Best way to avoid thefts is to make it more difficult to break into your house. Having pictures of the people breaking into your house isn't going to do much good when the police are not going to investigate or try to catch the crooks.

True, but not everyone lives in an area where break ins aren't investigated. We used footage from trail cams to prosecute someone once.

We had ADT for years but then just decided to stop paying for the service after we replaced our windows with ones that have security locks.
We have motion detecting lights all around the house, a loud dog and firearms. If someone breaks a window, or breaks down the door, we will hear them and our dog with alert us. The firearms will provide the protection.
I have looked in to Simplisafe for more peace of mind when my kids are here on weekends by themselves.

 

[auralia]

I was going to change to simply safe due to cost of ADT.. imagine my surprise when I contacted ADT to cancel and they matched simply safe... my 45$ per month plan dropped immediately to 15$ per month And they came an installed the new equipment simpli safe was going to sell me for 200$... for free. I was shocked that they price match the "self serve" guys, but it saved me almost 600$ in a year!

 

[LYSE]

At least they do that. I think many posters here think the police are going to review the video and try to spend time investigating the break ins. In the majority of cases they will not. Here they just forward you a link so you can fill out an online police report that will never get followed up on.

Yeah it's going to depend on where you live, but the camera's serve multiple purposes even if the police don't care about reviewing footage, they could be an alert system for you, you could use it to check out what's going on without going to check it out your self, if you are watching someone in your home and you call the police that call is handled at a much higher priority then just a burglar alarm because you are reporting to them that there is an active burglary in progress. And finally the footage could be useful for you to ID the local teenagers.

Security is about layers people! And don't forget the number one thing to do to be more secure...avoid living in high crime areas if you can.

 

[holden]

We've used a local company for the past 20 years. It's $94/quarter.

 

[mmbrad02]

We currently have a Ring doorbell and pay the $20 annual fee to be able to review our video. We have had it almost two years now and been very impressed, and need to look into their other options. We were lucky enough to inherit the doorbell from my inlaws, as they bought it but their internet is not strong enough to support it. Luckily for use they had it too long to return, so they just gave it to us

Two years ago our daughter was attacked by the neighbors dog in our yard. It's a long ordeal, but we added two outside security cameras then, and the footage is recorded on a hard drive on a computer in our home (DH is an IT Network manager; otherwise I honestly would have no clue how all this works). They are cameras that we purchased off Amazon for about $120 each; I'm not sure if DH had to have any additional parts to get this going on not, expense wise. It was primarily for the purpose of making sure the dog was never on our property again but it works to also monitor everything else going on. He reviews the footage just about every night because he is curious if nothing else.

We also own a firearm.

We do not pay for an outside monitoring company as, early on, it was never in our budget, but overtime with DH's background we have felt comfortable with what we have been able to do on our own.

 

[kymom99]

Our police department will publicize photos on FB at least.

IME, the police department will not do anything about fingerprints or blood (from a broken window) left on the scene as long as no one was hurt.

ETA: In our cases...the camera also acts as our alert system just a side benefit that it might capture evidence for the police.

Very true about the police.

 

[FloridaNative8]

We've had Vivint for several years now - front/back/garage door alerts, and the windows in each of our kid's rooms. We also have 2 internal cameras, the smoke alarm, and the thermostat (the smoke alarm is pretty sensitive, my first couple forays into using coconut oil for sauteing set that off!). I've used the mobile app to watch clips from the cameras, change the thermostat, and arm/disarm the system. We didn't pay for the equipment and pay about $70/month.

We also have the Ring doorbell, and LOVE it. We pay the monthly $3 fee for cloud storage of the video.

About every 3rd house (including our next door neighbor) has cameras in our neighborhood. We are not in a high crime area (just a rash of car break-ins into unlocked cars by some teenagers, and one targeted burglary). Between all of us we have our small neighborhood covered!

 

[DisFan22]

Only twice during the three years did they call us within 4 minutes of the alarm going off (the average was seven minutes before they called us). We tested the alarm about once a month and in the three years, they only asked for the password once.

This doesn't sound like ADT at all. Every time we've set off our alarm, they call within two minutes. And they have always asked for the code word.

When I first called to cancel they offered 29.99, when I pushed it further down to 25 they at first said no, then a manger got involved and asked me what company they were competing against, I truthfully said it was north star alarm and Bam done deal.

Truth be told Northstar was at 34.99 but was offering a few new peices of equipment which realistically aren't needed, I argued 25 was fair since they would give me no new equipment (they originally tried 29.99 with new equipment but what they could offer turned out to be a downgrade.)

I called in earlier tonight! The representative told me "North Star" doesn't service our area -- so I told her I meant Slomin Shield. She was able to lock in $26.99/Month for me, and we still have the Pulse and Cellular. We didn't extend our contract either - so I'm a happy camper . Thank you so much.

 

[LYSE]

I called in earlier tonight! The representative told me "North Star" doesn't service our area -- so I told her I meant Slomin Shield. She was able to lock in $26.99/Month for me, and we still have the Pulse and Cellular. We didn't extend our contract either - so I'm a happy camper . Thank you so much.

Nice your welcome.

 

[jo-jo]

Can I bump this up? Any new thoughts?

We have had brinks for 11 years, who bought the company we had before. Had that for about 8 years. We still have the same sensors from all the those years ago. Paying $60 plus tax. Was going to cancel and switch to simplisafe. Brinks offered to lower cost to $42, install new sensors, add 2 water alarms, one motion and one indoor camera for a charge of $112. Simplisafe for all of that plus a bit more, $300 and $30 a month. But self install. We had DS for that.

Feeling a bit of a sucker with brinks. Wasn't something I really looked into for a few years.

Thoughts?

 

[Communicore1991]

Can I bump this up? Any new thoughts?

We have had brinks for 11 years, who bought the company we had before. Had that for about 8 years. We still have the same sensors from all the those years ago. Paying $60 plus tax. Was going to cancel and switch to simplisafe. Brinks offered to lower cost to $42, install new sensors, add 2 water alarms, one motion and one indoor camera for a charge of $112. Simplisafe for all of that plus a bit more, $300 and $30 a month. But self install. We had DS for that.

Feeling a bit of a sucker with brinks. Wasn't something I really looked into for a few years.

Thoughts?

Have you had any interactions with Brinks' monitoring center? As in, did your alarm ever go off and they contacted you? Or did you have an issue with your keypad/sensors in the middle of the night and had to call in? What was your experiences like?

Years ago we had Slomin's and a family member caused the alarm to off when they were leaving. They called us from their car, proceeded to drive home, and 15 minutes after that call, FINALLY Slomin's called us to let us know our alarm was going off and see if we wanted the police dispatched. If that were a home invasion or we were being robbed, plenty of things could have happened during that time. We ended up cancelling our service with Slomin's after that.

So although you're paying more per month to Brinks, is the service worth it to you?

 

[jo-jo]

Have you had any interactions with Brinks' monitoring center? As in, did your alarm ever go off and they contacted you? Or did you have an issue with your keypad/sensors in the middle of the night and had to call in? What was your experiences like?

Years ago we had Slomin's and a family member caused the alarm to off when they were leaving. They called us from their car, proceeded to drive home, and 15 minutes after that call, FINALLY Slomin's called us to let us know our alarm was going off and see if we wanted the police dispatched. If that were a home invasion or we were being robbed, plenty of things could have happened during that time. We ended up cancelling our service with Slomin's after that.

So although you're paying more per month to Brinks, is the service worth it to you?

Well both. We had an issue with key pad and called in and had to go through press one for this , press two for that. We did have a smoking burnt pan (not flames) on stove, I had stepped outside and they called fire department. We were back in before the trucks got there, didn't even know they were called. I spend 20 mins trying to contact them to cancel alarm as police , two trucks plus people in cars pulled up. My DS called about 15 -20 mins later, saying he was called what was going on.

 

[LYSE]

Can I bump this up? Any new thoughts?

We have had brinks for 11 years, who bought the company we had before. Had that for about 8 years. We still have the same sensors from all the those years ago. Paying $60 plus tax. Was going to cancel and switch to simplisafe. Brinks offered to lower cost to $42, install new sensors, add 2 water alarms, one motion and one indoor camera for a charge of $112. Simplisafe for all of that plus a bit more, $300 and $30 a month. But self install. We had DS for that.

Feeling a bit of a sucker with brinks. Wasn't something I really looked into for a few years.

Thoughts?

You can simply re program your alarm to be monitored by someone else

This is who we use:
https://www.alarmgrid.com/monitoring

They can guide you through re programing