DIY Home Security System Recommendations

[sfpcservice]

Adopt a German Shepherd from you local pound. Look for one that has a "bite record" or is labeled as agressive...

We have one and she is a teddy bear to our family and I know for a fact she will defend our home; just ask my neighbor who didn't heed my dogs warning bark/growl and decided to come into our house...

[Cnynrat]

We put a Simplisafe system in our home, and have had mixed results. We are in a somewhat unique situation in the following respects:

- We are in a rural area with marginal to nonexistent cell coverage
- We were hoping to cover both our home and a shop building that is about 125 feet from the house

Here are the problems we found:

1. The system looses much of it's functionality if it can't use the cellular link. It will work over a wired phone line, but you loose all the interactive features. Also, if there is an alarm and you are not running over the cellular network it only reports that there is an alarm, and sends nothing about which sensor has reported the alarm. This is a very serious deficiency, so to me it's a no-go if you happen to have marginal cell coverage.

2. Simplisafe's specs for how far away the sensors can be from the base station are hopelessly optimistic. We have never been able to get sensors in our shop to work reliably, and we are supposedly well within their specified distance.

The 3rd issue I'd list is that it's impossible to call customer service and get anyone on the phone without waiting for an interminable period. You do have an option of having them call you back when a customer rep is available, which in our experience will usually take about a half hour.

The system is very easy to install and set up, so I give them good marks for that. Overall I think their specs and system description are quite misleading though.

[Blade Gunner]

I like the old school shotgun pointed at the door with a string between the doornob and the trigger.

[BBR]

Not to thread jack here but is there a way to add a cellular device to a newer DSC panel? I want the panel to contact me on my cell and either send me a pre-recorded message or a series of tones indicating an alarm condition. Does this exist?

Bbr

[DNA]

Have you thought about hardening the target? Door lock reinforcement plates, strike plates, 3" screws, door reinforcement locks, better deadbolts and window sensors?

Dan

[BuddyBoy]

I have a Ademco unit that some of the others have referenced. Very nice unit. But the programming is really hard. It took me several days to figure it all out and I still have never been able to program the wireless remote control.

Look into the Honeywell Code Encryptor 3 (CE3) module if you just want some keyfobs without having to program the panel. I like this device a lot because of the included alarm arming indicator. It supports wired alarm panels from Honeywell, GE, DSC, and Napco.

[BuddyBoy]

Not to thread jack here but is there a way to add a cellular device to a newer DSC panel? I want the panel to contact me on my cell and either send me a pre-recorded message or a series of tones indicating an alarm condition. Does this exist?

Bbr

Try Googling "Leviton cellular communication center". It was a device made by HAI, which Leviton acquired. I'm not sure it's still in production.

I'd recommend going with something like the Envisalink EVL-4 over what you propose though. Different solution, but IMHO, a better one.

Edit: I'm assuming you're trying to avoid a monthly charge to the alarm company or mobile operator (i.e. your own prepaid SIM in the communicator). If you are ok with a small monthly charge ($10-$15/month), you can just get the DSC communicator and get self-monitoring through an alarm company that supports alarm.com (Alarmgrid, Geoarm, etc.).