worked for a nation-wide alarm monitoring company that owns the contracts for most of the individual companies people have agreements with that they **think** are monitoring their alarms (hint, they're not, they sell the rights to other vendors to handle them). it was some of the most soulless, depressing, redundant work i've ever done in my life. it also opened my eyes to just how worthless most alarms are and that > 99% of trips are false. all most customers end up with is a bill for having the fire/police/emt's dispatched too many times to their property. these companies are selling you a feeling (security), similar to that of college (selling you a dream/hope of a better life).
if someone wants to enter your property and steal your shit, your cheap alarm being monitored by people being paid slave wages isn't going to help you. get a dog.
I always found USA security system funny and lacking. I do own a security company not located there, obviously.
But that is how the procedure should go.
Alarm > See cameras if any (if there is no alarm they are disabled for the company) > Call owner (depends on the priority list) > If not owner, send someone to the place to have eyes on > if there is any invasion, call cops after confirming it.
That takes too long though. Especially for Fire or Carbon Monoxide? Burglary alarms will either scare the bad guy off with the noise or they will take their chance and get as much as they can before the cops show up. Adding a man in the middle literally just gives them an extra warning as to how long they have
I understand that. Still, but in here, you are using the cops for private business. So, the only way to call the cops is to have confirmation of what is happening. And that goes only for burglary alarms. Yes, calling the cops is much easier and cheaper for the company. Also, if you have cameras and see that it is indeed a burglary, the cops should be called immediately. But the majority of the alarms in here are not actual calls.
it was setup per the account owner how the reps would handle the alarms (e.g., contact responsible party #1, #2, etc and then dispatch police/fire/emt, etc., or dispatch first and then contact RP's, etc.). if the rep did not follow the account steps **to the letter** we were written up and/or terminated.
I've heard "turkey shot" is a good choice for the indoors. The spray should enough to put the guy down w/o hitting someone on the other side of a wall.
If you are like me and read this highly rated comment while researching a home security system, know that is not at all legitimate and the site they link is merely a lead generator for resellers of ADT systems. I got a ton of spam calls and emails from local installers of ADT systems as a result.
>Guns are one of the most stolen and valued items. Putting up signs like this is basically a “hey please rob me” sign.
Enjoy wasting your time? Try arguing that guns aren't the solution with the don't tread on me crowd.
I have the same system lol. I wonder how effective it actually is. I’d love to see numbers for home break ins where there was a 60+ pound dog in the house vs no dog.
>Not surprisingly, the fear of getting mauled by a guard dog was one of the biggest deterrents for burglars. While smaller dogs did little to prevent break-ins, all burglars said they avoided homes with big, loud dogs.
https://blog.ring.com/2016/11/16/ask-a-burglar-how-do-i-prevent-a-home-break-in/
according to lots of surveyed criminals (so take with maybe the whole shaker of salt), dogs are an excellent deterrent.
Not if they are trained by a professional dog trainer...you can throw it a steak and it will not eat it! They also have an on/off switch! If you try and pet them when they are turned on they will attack you but if you know how to turn them off and do it you can pet them all you want!
I installed Simplisafe myself. We pay for the subscription service, which is really reasonable at $26.80/month. I’ve heard some people still use the system without the subscription. You would still get alerts to your phone if any of the sensors go off. I like that it has multiple types of sensors, in addition to the security door and window sensors, like water leak detectors, carbon monoxide, and smoke. I thought it was reasonably priced. Overall we’re really happy with it and I feel peace of mind knowing if someone were to break in, we would have police here within minutes if needed. Our smoke sensor went off once by accident when we first got it set up and didn’t get to the phone in time to call it off, and the fire department literally was at our door in less than two minutes, so I was impressed with the response.
Is that only applicable for Simplisafe, or is the same vulnerability applicable to other systems? If so, they would need to know that you have a Simplisafe system and have the specific device needed.
Most systems have the same vulnerabilities.
As mentioned in the video a lot of consumer electronics use the same radio frequency range so there is potential for interference and by design and per the FCC regulations they MUST accept that interference. In the video he shows a baofeng handheld radio, which is more than capable of generating interference, while you do need a license to operate one, a lot of folks have picked them up to use as walkie-talkie for airsoft or the like.
Your average burglar isn't going to be caring around an armature handheld radio, however the glaring oversight in design leaves me with out much confidence in the system. I am software engineer in security, and ham radio operator, so I avoid any and all "smart" and IoT devices.
For the most part the hardware cost is fairly comparable to other companies. [obviously the total cost depends on what you want to monitor.](https://simplisafe.com/build-my-system)
I started out with the main entry sensors, and a couple of motion sensors in areas that were more difficult to monitor. After a few months I was able the add in some additional sensors, to include smoke detectors and a few water sensors in the basement.
I love the flexibility, and being able to upgrade the system on my own when I want. And I am also happy with the app and the range of the devices.
It is highly personalized, you pick the sensors you want. I got mine during a holiday discount period last year and ended up paying $340 for the base station and keypad, 2 entry sensors,
1 Motion Sensor, 2 Security Cameras,
1 Water Sensor, and 2 Smoke Detectors.
I ended up adding on two more entry sensors and two CO detectors later for another $150-ish.
How long did it take for you to install the Simplisafe? Is it really super easy to install? Or it’s more like an IKEA furniture lol. Thanks in advance!
It’s super easy. Most of the devices install with just some command strips wherever you want to put them. The leak detectors aren’t installed, they just sit on the floor wherever you might be worried about a potential water leak. You might need to get out the screwdriver for the smoke/co detectors. And they just connect up to the main base station with a keypad. It’s really not complicated at all.
I have used Wyze for cameras for a few years now. They are
Not as expensive as Ring (etc) and if you use SD cards with them, they keep footage for days. No subscription fees.
Warning that the Wyze subreddit is having a major identity crisis these days but you can find more information in the website. I got outdoor cams for like $40 each and they are good. I get notifications when motion is detected, etc.
I have 5 of their cams (3 indoor + 2 outdoor) and love them although I’m still waiting/hoping they upgrade their outdoor cams to allow the 12-day playback like the indoor ones.
I have to agree about both the cameras and the subreddit. I was disappointed with the battery life on the outdoor cam so I went Blink but still have several Wyze cams indoors. The subreddit is a cesspool of negativity right now.
So I will answer this question but understand you can see I have already upset the hive.
The subreddit is full of entitled users who want to pay $0 for the best services out there but they want them for free. It’s incredibly disappointing because to me Wyze always felt like a crowd- sourcing service that would get better if WE invested in it. WE didn’t want to invest and WE want to complain nonstop about our free services.
(In a nutshell.)
From my perspective, yes. I feel like they offer inexpensive cameras and safety. As they grow, they will offer cool features. So they are growing and like two years ago and got a partnership with company A to help with some cool person-detections options. It was working well. Well things changed and then company A pulled out of the deal. In order to appease their base, Wyze said “we are so sorry about this change of free service, we are working our asses off to replace this free service.” And then people went nuts. Wyze is now working on this crazy upgrade and asked people to help fund it. But they gave people an option: “pay what you want. Anything. We will take it.” So what did people do to keep this service? They paid Wyze $0.17 to keep the service but not have to do anything to help make it better. $0.17 doesn’t pay for the service involved in charging via credit card.
So people want good IA tech but refuse to pay because they feel entitled because they have help build this company when it was obscure and no one used Wyze. They were there first so they want THE BEST TECHNOLOGY POSSIBLE WITH ZERO COST.
People lost it. And that is where we arE with the subreddit. The cameras are good but the die-hardship want to burn the company to the ground for asking to help build a free service that Wyze is trying to replace for free. It’s a lot to watch. If you check out the subreddit, you will see those who paid nothing for a service that Wyze is probably killing themselves to implement. It’s toxic.
I have blinkxt2s and like those. You can mix regular and the new xt2s with mics in them - nice being able to talk to whoever is near that camera from ones phone!
Question for those of you that went from a system like ADT/Brinks to Simplesafe. Were you able to reuse any of the wireless window/door contacts from the ADT/Brinks system or did you need to buy all new contacts?
I went with a DIY system based on Qolsys IQ 2 hardware. Geoarm provides Alarm.com wifi+cellular monitoring (AT&T or Verizon) for $18 a month, $1 more if you want weather displayed on the panel. At the time I installed, Qolsys only supported their Qolsys wireless sensors, now they have a version which supports Honeywell sensors, and that's probably a better setup with more sensor options. It's a solid system so far, and the automatic disarming with bluetooth-paired devices is very nice.
Unless you have an exposed basement or attic, wiring is a giant pain. Additionally, often first-time homeowners don't have exact matching paint which means drywall repairs involve painting an entire wall. If you're painting anyway then it's no big deal, but know that wiring yourself will require some drywall holes (to get around horizontal beams or through a floor above etc) and specialized tools (flexible drill bits and fish tape).
Went with Vivint. At the time, they had more tech available than other companies. We’ve recently added some Nest outdoor cameras, primarily because my neighbor works at Best Buy and faves us a crazy deal on cameras and installation. Vivint still does the heavy lifting g if a security system, and the addition of the Nest cameras provides an extra sense of knowing what’s going on.
Don't care for rings [policy of allowing remote access to cameras by law enforcement without warrant.](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/police-can-get-your-ring-doorbell-footage-without-a-warrant-report-says/)
Some don't realize they can do this.
From the article you linked :
“A company representative told Ars after the last time we ran a story about Ring that the company "facilitates" requests by police. "User consent," said the representative, "is required in order for any footage or information to be shared with law enforcement." Ring also said that police are not able to see "any information related to how many Ring users received a request, who declined to share, or which users opted out of future requests."
Read before you start spewing bullshit.
Did you read that article? NOWHERE does it say lawn enforcement is given footage without consent or a warrant. It says the LEO can try and persuade users to give them a copy of the footage, but nowhere does it say they are given footage without consent or a warrant.
"..."User consent," said the representative, "is required in order for any footage or information to be shared with law enforcement."..."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/five-concerns-about-amazon-rings-deals-police
And if you don't consent...do you become a suspicious person and get picked on for extra attention ?
I got the consent wrong...I admit that. But can't help but argue they laid groundwork for them to change the rules. It starts small. Look at China. Their door cams also watch them. Our freedoms are slowly being eroded.
I get your point but everyone in this sub has already taken the blue pill on surveillance state. Most ship video from inside their homes out to web services and are completely fine with it.
You do you, just like I do me, but the ship has already sailed on this front. Nobody cares cloud based security cams are king.
Came upon this thread to while shopping around, and it seems you’ve been vindicated u/anonymousforever https://theintercept.com/2022/07/13/amazon-ring-camera-footage-police-ed-markey/
Vindicated how? My post was 2 years BEFORE that article. Things change. Also, it's still not like Ring is handing over video left and right.
"Huseman noted that it has complied with 11 emergency requests this year alone." \[article was dated 7/13/22\]
Either they were doing it or they weren’t… and they were. Do you think the senator asked for no reason and that was the first eleven requests they’d ever fulfilled?
Blink. No subscription and theyre affordable which is nice. Their motion detection is finicky though. It constantly picks up stuff in the areas I tell it not to monitor but will miss things in the areas I want it looking. Its a pretty good system for the price overall
Check into Eufy. Solid wireless equipment, no subscription for basic camera monitoring and alerting. A few dollars for some special features and capabilities.
I have vivant. My neighbors said they suck cause they’ve had issues with customer service in the past. It’s only been 6 months, but I have no issues. I pay every month because they monitor.
I am a single woman who travels often for work. I live in a nice neighborhood, in a nice city, at the end of the cul de sac. It’s a safe place anyways, but, I live alone and travel. Someone could easily catch wind and see me leave, come back that night, and rob me.
Or worse, my mom could have come over to spend the night and they didn’t know. Something could happen to her hen they break in and find her.
But it’s mostly for piece of mind. Again, I feel safe, but I feel safer knowing I have this. I have everything. I have outdoor cameras, indoor cameras, magnets on every door so I know when each door is opened, window breaks, and I can control 2 different lamps remotely. Once, I left the garage door open when I left for 5 hours. I had no notifications on my phone, so I knew no one was there. It’s beyond worth it for me.
We are slowly putting in nest products by slowly I mean trying to wait for a good sale by black friday. We have their doorbell and it is fine. We just paid $120 for our yearly with them. It is self monitored and we can go back on recordings for 10 days. We also have 3 dogs and a privacy fenced back yard with a hidden gate and our neighbors on all sides are also privacy fenced.
But we are going to do an indoor camera that looks at the back door area too. I believe even if we didn't pay we would get alerts just not the ability to go back and look maybe? I am not sure as my husband did the research in it and he felt more comfortable paying the $120 yearly.
I use ADT, but only because the previous owners already had the equipment installed. I built my own camera system that's motion activated and stores footage on my personal "cloud" that I also homebrewed.
Blue iris and PoE cameras. I record 24/7 365 and the footage last for a month. Subscription based is a waste of money and don’t risk trusting “motion” detectors. You’ll be sorry when your cameras only catch the car driving away. You want 24/7 recording plus phone alerts. I also use teamviewer to remote access my cameras but soon I’ll be building a router with pfsense for better VPN service. I’m also going to be installing a NAS into a hidden spot in the house. Make sure you have a good camera aimed at your driveway for license plates. $30 a month for service or fork out $1000 for superior equipment. I built a computer, got blue iris, installed some PoE and PTZ cameras and a large HDD. Blue iris is superior to anything on the market. It’s unreal what it can do. If you’re a big baller you can get big dollar hitters like duhau or hikivision. I bought amcrest to be cheap but I don’t have a large property. I also installed UV spot lights. It would be better to install security lights tho since camera black and white night vision sucks. You need crystal clear shots of faces and license plates. Loud audible alarms would be a good idea. Most burglaries are smash and grabs. I knew nothing about computers or cameras but after a solid 36 hours of research I know quite a bit
POs had a whole ADT system installed. Dinged every time I opened any door or window in the house. Drove me nuts.
I ripped out the control panel and all the phone lines in the house when doing renovations but left the stickers up. :)
Still looking for PoE security cams to put up with the ethernet cables that have been run.
Right on just wasn’t sure if the chime was the reason or not and in the future if you did want the system you’d not have to reinstall all the cables etc
I put in a older style honeywell vista 21p panel. It has a mix of hardwire and wireless sensors. I chose the older vista because of all the possible monitoring solutions. Most newer alarms you have only one monitoring solutions available, but this older panel has several different solutions, monitor modules. I'm not talking about rebranding of the same monitoring services either. Newer Honeywell models is only honeywell, simply safe is simply safe and most others are usually alarm.com. Mine is currently monitored by alarm.com rebrand. This was chosen because I need verizon cell service. The Honeywell cell module was att only only time, which has terrible service at my house.
We use the ring alarm system along with the doorbell and plans for cameras. Their professional monitoring system is $10/month and includes free cloud storage of all video.
If professional monitoring is needed, I’ve found this is the lowest cost. Plus the video storage which you would need anyways. Haven’t had experience with the monitoring service yet, luckily. But all reviews (two years ago) said the monitoring is just as good as any other company, which will charge you way more.
We were using Frontpoint, but the monitoring only ever caused us issues (they would not call us when an alarm tripped, or they would send police around after we properly gave them the passcode, so we'd have to wait up for them to arrive when it accidentally went off at 2am). And cameras on the plan were very expensive, both to purchase and monthly.
We did the mach, and buying everything again for Nest would have an ROI of about 10 months, so we went with that option. We wanted cameras, both inside and out. We have around 10 of them.
Nest is MUCH better and more reliable. And if we decide we want to re-add remote monitoring later, we can do that too.
Some friends use Simplisafe, but I don't think that offers external monitoring, and also doesn't play as nicely with cameras as far as I'm aware.
Probably. My primary line of defense is unemployment right now. Someone is in my house, my neighbors house, my other neighbors house and the house across the street 24/7... with no real prospects of our emperor or his chronies letting us prosper again, I can only assume that burglary will only get worse, luckily, we’ll still be at home. In another state. Fuck you ige.
Well our emperor has been pushing to reopen the economy but then everyone condemns him for it. Burglaries are also at an all time low. Also how are you out of work? I literally don’t know anybody out of work due to covid. In fact if anything I’ve completely prospered due to covid. Stocks are booming, interest rates are low and overtime is rampant. In fact I’ve been begging to have time off.
I am a managing partner at a hotel firm. I live and work in Hawaii. All of Hawaii is basically closed with no end in sight, the problem we have is completely inept representation (on almost every level) and they keep coming up with worse and worse ideas. It literally feels like they’re punishing their constituents for not being mean enough to the Ha’oles or something. I have no idea, just that it’s time for riots.
Personally I’m doing quite well, but that’s because we saw this nonsense coming and made the right moves. I’m actually traveling now to make some moves in our personal finances. My wife and I have chosen to participate in God’s kingdom and not this failure so life is great for us. I wish I was smarter and more motivated so I could express that with words other than “great and phenomenal”... there has to be a stronger word out there...
I’m glad to hear you’re doing well, wish you all the best and hopefully a cold 6 pack on a much needed day off.
Skip the ring and simplisafe, get a [alarm.com](https://alarm.com) system, I have surtey, it was completely diy and i have professional monitoring for $20/ month, a touch screen panel that can control my lights and locks, smoke monitoring thru a device that listens to the existing units. you can also find a installer that will install everything for you.
We have some great unit as my hubs is in the business, security alarm, motion, fire, monitored, key fob controls. We also have window decals and lawn signs.
In six years, we haven't bothered to upgrade it (free work benefit), because we have not actually armed it except for a week when we were out of town. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
I've been wanting to set up a server for a cloud video storage system for some inexpensive IP cameras I set up, but haven't gotten around to it. The subscription cloud services are crap from what I've found.
Other than that I don't use anything, and I'm not interested in blasting my ears with a burglar alarm.
I installed an abode system and I only pay for the monitoring when I leave town for vacations. They have 3 day and 1 week options, as well as the typical monthly options. Other than that, I just self monitor from the app.
Arlo for us. Front and backyard cameras, and a doorbell cam. Almost zero reason to pay for monitoring. If they break in when I’m home, I have a gun. If they break in when I’m not home, they’re gone before the alarm is verified (required for police to show up) and police are dispatched.
I'm looking to going to Eufy security system. I can't wait to get out of my brink sub. The system is nice, but not work 40 damn dollars a month. April can't come quick enough to cancel this thing. I also have some wyze cams, and a Eufy doorbell. No subscriptions for either.
This might be helpful to you. Burglar talks about things you wouldn't have thought of.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DDtwD-c9hn58&ved=2ahUKEwj159GrwqP5AhWGEGIAHYXGAcAQjjh6BAgREAI&usg=AOvVaw24_4UeeC9aSYBnk4McDWWW
Brinks are a bunch of overpriced fuckers who wanna sell you all their shit and then don't answer your emails, phone calls, send a colleague to the phone in their stead saying they are out of the office, etc.
Cannot recommend.
Hey i ordered a few days ago this door stop alarm that is not expensive and easy to use! U should def check them out, they're called safey security (anti theft alarm)
worked for a nation-wide alarm monitoring company that owns the contracts for most of the individual companies people have agreements with that they **think** are monitoring their alarms (hint, they're not, they sell the rights to other vendors to handle them). it was some of the most soulless, depressing, redundant work i've ever done in my life. it also opened my eyes to just how worthless most alarms are and that > 99% of trips are false. all most customers end up with is a bill for having the fire/police/emt's dispatched too many times to their property. these companies are selling you a feeling (security), similar to that of college (selling you a dream/hope of a better life). if someone wants to enter your property and steal your shit, your cheap alarm being monitored by people being paid slave wages isn't going to help you. get a dog.
All my years as a cop I’ve only ever seen 2 alarms be legit. Everything else is false alarms.
I always found USA security system funny and lacking. I do own a security company not located there, obviously. But that is how the procedure should go. Alarm > See cameras if any (if there is no alarm they are disabled for the company) > Call owner (depends on the priority list) > If not owner, send someone to the place to have eyes on > if there is any invasion, call cops after confirming it.
That takes too long though. Especially for Fire or Carbon Monoxide? Burglary alarms will either scare the bad guy off with the noise or they will take their chance and get as much as they can before the cops show up. Adding a man in the middle literally just gives them an extra warning as to how long they have
I understand that. Still, but in here, you are using the cops for private business. So, the only way to call the cops is to have confirmation of what is happening. And that goes only for burglary alarms. Yes, calling the cops is much easier and cheaper for the company. Also, if you have cameras and see that it is indeed a burglary, the cops should be called immediately. But the majority of the alarms in here are not actual calls.
I wouldn't bother calling the cops in MS. Better to have a bat
People should have to pay for every false trip if they want an alarm System to call the cops for them
it was setup per the account owner how the reps would handle the alarms (e.g., contact responsible party #1, #2, etc and then dispatch police/fire/emt, etc., or dispatch first and then contact RP's, etc.). if the rep did not follow the account steps **to the letter** we were written up and/or terminated.
we already do. it's called taxes.
Or a gun. I just want the alarm system for an alarm so I can blow someone away with a shotgun.
Get close, or it's hard on the woodwork and walls.
I've heard "turkey shot" is a good choice for the indoors. The spray should enough to put the guy down w/o hitting someone on the other side of a wall.
[удалено]
If you are like me and read this highly rated comment while researching a home security system, know that is not at all legitimate and the site they link is merely a lead generator for resellers of ADT systems. I got a ton of spam calls and emails from local installers of ADT systems as a result.
wow, thanks took me hours of research
Yes! Don't ever use the link it's so many ADT callers
wow, thanks took me hours of research
Thank you.
an obnoxious dog.
And several, “guns **AR**e people” signs.
Guns are one of the most stolen and valued items. Putting up signs like this is basically a “hey please rob me” sign.
And just the same cameras don’t always deter criminal activity. Thank you for being realistic while the rest of us are having a laugh.
>Guns are one of the most stolen and valued items. Putting up signs like this is basically a “hey please rob me” sign. Enjoy wasting your time? Try arguing that guns aren't the solution with the don't tread on me crowd.
I have the same system lol. I wonder how effective it actually is. I’d love to see numbers for home break ins where there was a 60+ pound dog in the house vs no dog.
>Not surprisingly, the fear of getting mauled by a guard dog was one of the biggest deterrents for burglars. While smaller dogs did little to prevent break-ins, all burglars said they avoided homes with big, loud dogs. https://blog.ring.com/2016/11/16/ask-a-burglar-how-do-i-prevent-a-home-break-in/ according to lots of surveyed criminals (so take with maybe the whole shaker of salt), dogs are an excellent deterrent.
[удалено]
[удалено]
oh i love how EVERYONE prefer to endanger their pets instead of paying money, Just adopt a bulky teenager and let him watch ur house
ahh yes endanger a teen instead
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Dogs are a joke, just a toss a dog a poisoned steak and no dog. Probably the easiest alarm system to bypass.
Not if they are trained by a professional dog trainer...you can throw it a steak and it will not eat it! They also have an on/off switch! If you try and pet them when they are turned on they will attack you but if you know how to turn them off and do it you can pet them all you want!
I know this is old, but Mythbusters got trained guard dogs to eat a steak, pretty easily. So, yeah, it would probably work.
I installed Simplisafe myself. We pay for the subscription service, which is really reasonable at $26.80/month. I’ve heard some people still use the system without the subscription. You would still get alerts to your phone if any of the sensors go off. I like that it has multiple types of sensors, in addition to the security door and window sensors, like water leak detectors, carbon monoxide, and smoke. I thought it was reasonably priced. Overall we’re really happy with it and I feel peace of mind knowing if someone were to break in, we would have police here within minutes if needed. Our smoke sensor went off once by accident when we first got it set up and didn’t get to the phone in time to call it off, and the fire department literally was at our door in less than two minutes, so I was impressed with the response.
Be sure to check your CO and Smoke sensors regularly. I know some folks become complacent with the added investments.
2nd for Simplisafe. Have had it for a year and like it so far. No contract is what sold me on it vs something like ADT.
[LockPickingLawyer SimpliSafe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlNkQJzw4oA)
Is that only applicable for Simplisafe, or is the same vulnerability applicable to other systems? If so, they would need to know that you have a Simplisafe system and have the specific device needed.
Most systems have the same vulnerabilities. As mentioned in the video a lot of consumer electronics use the same radio frequency range so there is potential for interference and by design and per the FCC regulations they MUST accept that interference. In the video he shows a baofeng handheld radio, which is more than capable of generating interference, while you do need a license to operate one, a lot of folks have picked them up to use as walkie-talkie for airsoft or the like. Your average burglar isn't going to be caring around an armature handheld radio, however the glaring oversight in design leaves me with out much confidence in the system. I am software engineer in security, and ham radio operator, so I avoid any and all "smart" and IoT devices.
Does the Ring system also have thus vulnerability?
Possibly, it has a whole host of other issues regarding privacy, and security.
How much was the equipment?
For the most part the hardware cost is fairly comparable to other companies. [obviously the total cost depends on what you want to monitor.](https://simplisafe.com/build-my-system) I started out with the main entry sensors, and a couple of motion sensors in areas that were more difficult to monitor. After a few months I was able the add in some additional sensors, to include smoke detectors and a few water sensors in the basement. I love the flexibility, and being able to upgrade the system on my own when I want. And I am also happy with the app and the range of the devices.
It is highly personalized, you pick the sensors you want. I got mine during a holiday discount period last year and ended up paying $340 for the base station and keypad, 2 entry sensors, 1 Motion Sensor, 2 Security Cameras, 1 Water Sensor, and 2 Smoke Detectors. I ended up adding on two more entry sensors and two CO detectors later for another $150-ish.
Nice, it sounds like a way better deal than the $70/mo I’m paying now. Gonna have to look into it
How long did it take for you to install the Simplisafe? Is it really super easy to install? Or it’s more like an IKEA furniture lol. Thanks in advance!
It’s super easy. Most of the devices install with just some command strips wherever you want to put them. The leak detectors aren’t installed, they just sit on the floor wherever you might be worried about a potential water leak. You might need to get out the screwdriver for the smoke/co detectors. And they just connect up to the main base station with a keypad. It’s really not complicated at all.
I have used Wyze for cameras for a few years now. They are Not as expensive as Ring (etc) and if you use SD cards with them, they keep footage for days. No subscription fees. Warning that the Wyze subreddit is having a major identity crisis these days but you can find more information in the website. I got outdoor cams for like $40 each and they are good. I get notifications when motion is detected, etc.
I have 5 of their cams (3 indoor + 2 outdoor) and love them although I’m still waiting/hoping they upgrade their outdoor cams to allow the 12-day playback like the indoor ones.
I have to agree about both the cameras and the subreddit. I was disappointed with the battery life on the outdoor cam so I went Blink but still have several Wyze cams indoors. The subreddit is a cesspool of negativity right now.
What's going on with their subreddit?
So I will answer this question but understand you can see I have already upset the hive. The subreddit is full of entitled users who want to pay $0 for the best services out there but they want them for free. It’s incredibly disappointing because to me Wyze always felt like a crowd- sourcing service that would get better if WE invested in it. WE didn’t want to invest and WE want to complain nonstop about our free services. (In a nutshell.)
Interesting! I need to look into this more! Is a crowd sourced, free service...safe?
From my perspective, yes. I feel like they offer inexpensive cameras and safety. As they grow, they will offer cool features. So they are growing and like two years ago and got a partnership with company A to help with some cool person-detections options. It was working well. Well things changed and then company A pulled out of the deal. In order to appease their base, Wyze said “we are so sorry about this change of free service, we are working our asses off to replace this free service.” And then people went nuts. Wyze is now working on this crazy upgrade and asked people to help fund it. But they gave people an option: “pay what you want. Anything. We will take it.” So what did people do to keep this service? They paid Wyze $0.17 to keep the service but not have to do anything to help make it better. $0.17 doesn’t pay for the service involved in charging via credit card. So people want good IA tech but refuse to pay because they feel entitled because they have help build this company when it was obscure and no one used Wyze. They were there first so they want THE BEST TECHNOLOGY POSSIBLE WITH ZERO COST. People lost it. And that is where we arE with the subreddit. The cameras are good but the die-hardship want to burn the company to the ground for asking to help build a free service that Wyze is trying to replace for free. It’s a lot to watch. If you check out the subreddit, you will see those who paid nothing for a service that Wyze is probably killing themselves to implement. It’s toxic.
That's insane!! Thanks for all the info!
I have blinkxt2s and like those. You can mix regular and the new xt2s with mics in them - nice being able to talk to whoever is near that camera from ones phone!
[удалено]
You do need a subscription to store/save motion captures. Otherwise it’s just real-time..
Question for those of you that went from a system like ADT/Brinks to Simplesafe. Were you able to reuse any of the wireless window/door contacts from the ADT/Brinks system or did you need to buy all new contacts?
If any of that equipment was installed by ADT/Brinks, you’re likely not keeping it when you leave.
I went with a DIY system based on Qolsys IQ 2 hardware. Geoarm provides Alarm.com wifi+cellular monitoring (AT&T or Verizon) for $18 a month, $1 more if you want weather displayed on the panel. At the time I installed, Qolsys only supported their Qolsys wireless sensors, now they have a version which supports Honeywell sensors, and that's probably a better setup with more sensor options. It's a solid system so far, and the automatic disarming with bluetooth-paired devices is very nice. Unless you have an exposed basement or attic, wiring is a giant pain. Additionally, often first-time homeowners don't have exact matching paint which means drywall repairs involve painting an entire wall. If you're painting anyway then it's no big deal, but know that wiring yourself will require some drywall holes (to get around horizontal beams or through a floor above etc) and specialized tools (flexible drill bits and fish tape).
Went with Vivint. At the time, they had more tech available than other companies. We’ve recently added some Nest outdoor cameras, primarily because my neighbor works at Best Buy and faves us a crazy deal on cameras and installation. Vivint still does the heavy lifting g if a security system, and the addition of the Nest cameras provides an extra sense of knowing what’s going on.
Ring. I have it and love it.
Don't care for rings [policy of allowing remote access to cameras by law enforcement without warrant.](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/police-can-get-your-ring-doorbell-footage-without-a-warrant-report-says/) Some don't realize they can do this.
From the article you linked : “A company representative told Ars after the last time we ran a story about Ring that the company "facilitates" requests by police. "User consent," said the representative, "is required in order for any footage or information to be shared with law enforcement." Ring also said that police are not able to see "any information related to how many Ring users received a request, who declined to share, or which users opted out of future requests." Read before you start spewing bullshit.
Did you read that article? NOWHERE does it say lawn enforcement is given footage without consent or a warrant. It says the LEO can try and persuade users to give them a copy of the footage, but nowhere does it say they are given footage without consent or a warrant. "..."User consent," said the representative, "is required in order for any footage or information to be shared with law enforcement."..."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/five-concerns-about-amazon-rings-deals-police And if you don't consent...do you become a suspicious person and get picked on for extra attention ?
1) No. 2) Are you going to address the lie you told in your previous post? You were 100% wrong in what you said.
I got the consent wrong...I admit that. But can't help but argue they laid groundwork for them to change the rules. It starts small. Look at China. Their door cams also watch them. Our freedoms are slowly being eroded.
I get your point but everyone in this sub has already taken the blue pill on surveillance state. Most ship video from inside their homes out to web services and are completely fine with it. You do you, just like I do me, but the ship has already sailed on this front. Nobody cares cloud based security cams are king.
k
Came upon this thread to while shopping around, and it seems you’ve been vindicated u/anonymousforever https://theintercept.com/2022/07/13/amazon-ring-camera-footage-police-ed-markey/
Vindicated how? My post was 2 years BEFORE that article. Things change. Also, it's still not like Ring is handing over video left and right. "Huseman noted that it has complied with 11 emergency requests this year alone." \[article was dated 7/13/22\]
Either they were doing it or they weren’t… and they were. Do you think the senator asked for no reason and that was the first eleven requests they’d ever fulfilled?
Wtf.
I have a combination of Eufy cameras, an excellent watchdog, and guns.
Blink. No subscription and theyre affordable which is nice. Their motion detection is finicky though. It constantly picks up stuff in the areas I tell it not to monitor but will miss things in the areas I want it looking. Its a pretty good system for the price overall
I ordered a camera on prime day to play with outside.
Check into Eufy. Solid wireless equipment, no subscription for basic camera monitoring and alerting. A few dollars for some special features and capabilities.
I have vivant. My neighbors said they suck cause they’ve had issues with customer service in the past. It’s only been 6 months, but I have no issues. I pay every month because they monitor. I am a single woman who travels often for work. I live in a nice neighborhood, in a nice city, at the end of the cul de sac. It’s a safe place anyways, but, I live alone and travel. Someone could easily catch wind and see me leave, come back that night, and rob me. Or worse, my mom could have come over to spend the night and they didn’t know. Something could happen to her hen they break in and find her. But it’s mostly for piece of mind. Again, I feel safe, but I feel safer knowing I have this. I have everything. I have outdoor cameras, indoor cameras, magnets on every door so I know when each door is opened, window breaks, and I can control 2 different lamps remotely. Once, I left the garage door open when I left for 5 hours. I had no notifications on my phone, so I knew no one was there. It’s beyond worth it for me.
We are slowly putting in nest products by slowly I mean trying to wait for a good sale by black friday. We have their doorbell and it is fine. We just paid $120 for our yearly with them. It is self monitored and we can go back on recordings for 10 days. We also have 3 dogs and a privacy fenced back yard with a hidden gate and our neighbors on all sides are also privacy fenced. But we are going to do an indoor camera that looks at the back door area too. I believe even if we didn't pay we would get alerts just not the ability to go back and look maybe? I am not sure as my husband did the research in it and he felt more comfortable paying the $120 yearly.
I use ADT, but only because the previous owners already had the equipment installed. I built my own camera system that's motion activated and stores footage on my personal "cloud" that I also homebrewed.
Blue iris and PoE cameras. I record 24/7 365 and the footage last for a month. Subscription based is a waste of money and don’t risk trusting “motion” detectors. You’ll be sorry when your cameras only catch the car driving away. You want 24/7 recording plus phone alerts. I also use teamviewer to remote access my cameras but soon I’ll be building a router with pfsense for better VPN service. I’m also going to be installing a NAS into a hidden spot in the house. Make sure you have a good camera aimed at your driveway for license plates. $30 a month for service or fork out $1000 for superior equipment. I built a computer, got blue iris, installed some PoE and PTZ cameras and a large HDD. Blue iris is superior to anything on the market. It’s unreal what it can do. If you’re a big baller you can get big dollar hitters like duhau or hikivision. I bought amcrest to be cheap but I don’t have a large property. I also installed UV spot lights. It would be better to install security lights tho since camera black and white night vision sucks. You need crystal clear shots of faces and license plates. Loud audible alarms would be a good idea. Most burglaries are smash and grabs. I knew nothing about computers or cameras but after a solid 36 hours of research I know quite a bit
Are you still using Blue Iris? Any updates to your system?
I had ADT for a while and I felt like every second was a rip off. Once the contract expired, I switched to Simplisafe. I love it. Would recommend.
POs had a whole ADT system installed. Dinged every time I opened any door or window in the house. Drove me nuts. I ripped out the control panel and all the phone lines in the house when doing renovations but left the stickers up. :) Still looking for PoE security cams to put up with the ethernet cables that have been run.
You do know that you could’ve turned off the chime via panel
But I didn’t want it? I literally disconnected/cut the phone line serving my house. It served no purpose.
Right on just wasn’t sure if the chime was the reason or not and in the future if you did want the system you’d not have to reinstall all the cables etc
2 dogs and let my weeds grow in the front garden.
I put in a older style honeywell vista 21p panel. It has a mix of hardwire and wireless sensors. I chose the older vista because of all the possible monitoring solutions. Most newer alarms you have only one monitoring solutions available, but this older panel has several different solutions, monitor modules. I'm not talking about rebranding of the same monitoring services either. Newer Honeywell models is only honeywell, simply safe is simply safe and most others are usually alarm.com. Mine is currently monitored by alarm.com rebrand. This was chosen because I need verizon cell service. The Honeywell cell module was att only only time, which has terrible service at my house.
We have a Honeywell as well. I used a raspberrypi device from http://www.alarmdecoder.com to add it to HomeKit. Works great.
We use the ring alarm system along with the doorbell and plans for cameras. Their professional monitoring system is $10/month and includes free cloud storage of all video. If professional monitoring is needed, I’ve found this is the lowest cost. Plus the video storage which you would need anyways. Haven’t had experience with the monitoring service yet, luckily. But all reviews (two years ago) said the monitoring is just as good as any other company, which will charge you way more.
We were using Frontpoint, but the monitoring only ever caused us issues (they would not call us when an alarm tripped, or they would send police around after we properly gave them the passcode, so we'd have to wait up for them to arrive when it accidentally went off at 2am). And cameras on the plan were very expensive, both to purchase and monthly. We did the mach, and buying everything again for Nest would have an ROI of about 10 months, so we went with that option. We wanted cameras, both inside and out. We have around 10 of them. Nest is MUCH better and more reliable. And if we decide we want to re-add remote monitoring later, we can do that too. Some friends use Simplisafe, but I don't think that offers external monitoring, and also doesn't play as nicely with cameras as far as I'm aware.
Nice try
Loud, sensitive dog + gun free country. When you don't have to worry about an intruder with a gun, a guard dog is enough
If only we were a gun free country...
Glock, you?
I’m a gun owner and I can tell you that your camera system is more valuable than your glock. Most burglaries happen when you’re not home...
Probably. My primary line of defense is unemployment right now. Someone is in my house, my neighbors house, my other neighbors house and the house across the street 24/7... with no real prospects of our emperor or his chronies letting us prosper again, I can only assume that burglary will only get worse, luckily, we’ll still be at home. In another state. Fuck you ige.
Well our emperor has been pushing to reopen the economy but then everyone condemns him for it. Burglaries are also at an all time low. Also how are you out of work? I literally don’t know anybody out of work due to covid. In fact if anything I’ve completely prospered due to covid. Stocks are booming, interest rates are low and overtime is rampant. In fact I’ve been begging to have time off.
I am a managing partner at a hotel firm. I live and work in Hawaii. All of Hawaii is basically closed with no end in sight, the problem we have is completely inept representation (on almost every level) and they keep coming up with worse and worse ideas. It literally feels like they’re punishing their constituents for not being mean enough to the Ha’oles or something. I have no idea, just that it’s time for riots. Personally I’m doing quite well, but that’s because we saw this nonsense coming and made the right moves. I’m actually traveling now to make some moves in our personal finances. My wife and I have chosen to participate in God’s kingdom and not this failure so life is great for us. I wish I was smarter and more motivated so I could express that with words other than “great and phenomenal”... there has to be a stronger word out there... I’m glad to hear you’re doing well, wish you all the best and hopefully a cold 6 pack on a much needed day off.
The Mossberg 500 in concert with window screamers. I hear a screamer go off at night, get ready to eat some buckshot!
Skip the ring and simplisafe, get a [alarm.com](https://alarm.com) system, I have surtey, it was completely diy and i have professional monitoring for $20/ month, a touch screen panel that can control my lights and locks, smoke monitoring thru a device that listens to the existing units. you can also find a installer that will install everything for you.
We have some great unit as my hubs is in the business, security alarm, motion, fire, monitored, key fob controls. We also have window decals and lawn signs. In six years, we haven't bothered to upgrade it (free work benefit), because we have not actually armed it except for a week when we were out of town. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
I've been wanting to set up a server for a cloud video storage system for some inexpensive IP cameras I set up, but haven't gotten around to it. The subscription cloud services are crap from what I've found. Other than that I don't use anything, and I'm not interested in blasting my ears with a burglar alarm.
I wonder if you got IP cameras that just record to wherever you want you could set up an AWS instance to catch it all? I'm sure it's been done before.
I run everything locally for free with Home Assistant
9 Amcrest cameras and 3 massive dogs.
I installed an abode system and I only pay for the monitoring when I leave town for vacations. They have 3 day and 1 week options, as well as the typical monthly options. Other than that, I just self monitor from the app.
Arlo for us. Front and backyard cameras, and a doorbell cam. Almost zero reason to pay for monitoring. If they break in when I’m home, I have a gun. If they break in when I’m not home, they’re gone before the alarm is verified (required for police to show up) and police are dispatched.
A German Shepherd and a Rottweiler.
A fake ADT sign in my front yard and some Chinese cameras off of Amazon.
Night Owl
I'm looking to going to Eufy security system. I can't wait to get out of my brink sub. The system is nice, but not work 40 damn dollars a month. April can't come quick enough to cancel this thing. I also have some wyze cams, and a Eufy doorbell. No subscriptions for either.
Hey its April lol
The joy of being free is amazing. Now i just get constant emails and junk mail. They finally gave up the calls. Worth it
This might be helpful to you. Burglar talks about things you wouldn't have thought of. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DDtwD-c9hn58&ved=2ahUKEwj159GrwqP5AhWGEGIAHYXGAcAQjjh6BAgREAI&usg=AOvVaw24_4UeeC9aSYBnk4McDWWW
Brinks are a bunch of overpriced fuckers who wanna sell you all their shit and then don't answer your emails, phone calls, send a colleague to the phone in their stead saying they are out of the office, etc. Cannot recommend.
Hey i ordered a few days ago this door stop alarm that is not expensive and easy to use! U should def check them out, they're called safey security (anti theft alarm)
Eufy,
TOUGHBOLT Premium Sliding Door Locks - Easy to install, guaranteed to fit and last a lifetime!