Continue with alarm monitoring or Wifi Security Cameras

theGrinch

In the middle of purchasing a property.

Existing owners have an alarm system (about 15 years old) which for £260 pa is monitored and has an annual service. It is up for renewal very soon.

There is an additional £60 admin fee for change of owner. There is an additional charge of £120 for new codes and demonstration.

I assume if the alarm goes off someone at a company investigates and notifies the police.

I will be totally refurbishing the property and I am think if the £320 can be better spent on something more modern like wifi cameras (something I am researching now).

Any thoughts on either the annual fee or a wifi camera system?

EssexExile

My neighbour had an ADT monitored alarm, always going off, engineer there regularly. They moved & the new people put in a Chubb monitored alarm, always going off, engineer always there.

The police don't attend,the alarm company phones the numbers you give them & friends or relatives have to come & reset the alarm.

Working_Mum

I have a sensor alarm at home, which is zoned so I can set the alarm whilst we are in bed etc - a local electrical contractor installed it for me about 17 years ago - I pay £50 per year for a service/replacement batteries if required etc

I had CCTV installed at work by the same contractor which I can check out via an app on my mobile.

These two cost me no more than £600 over the years to install and have done the trick from my point of view.

d0nkeyk0ng

I have a Nest camera system. You can view the cameras live or go back through previous footage using the iphone app. It's great. Unless the router's down, or the internet's down. Or one of the cameras decides to lose its ability to hold a signal. In short, it's crap. It's better than nothing but I wouldn't buy it if I had the chance again.


I've seen wired camera systems in action - much better, all recorded and timestamped for legal purposes and can be viewed by smartphone app too.

Twopints

EssexExile wrote: »

My neighbour had an ADT monitored alarm, always going off, engineer there regularly. They moved & the new people put in a Chubb monitored alarm, always going off, engineer always there.

The police don't attend,the alarm company phones the numbers you give them & friends or relatives have to come & reset the alarm.

For a single activation i.e. one PIR / zone, then the monitoring company contact key holders, for two activations i.e. 2 different PIRs, the police will be called.

OP, you may still be able to use the alarm in "stand alone" mode i.e. no monitoring etc, but this may require them to visit to do this (for which they will almost certainly charge you).

:beer:

theGrinch

Seems a mixed response.

I was at first minded to cancel it, but three people have said do it for a year.

It seems even if you cancel it, these swines will still charge to visit and de-active.

Aylesbury_Duck

I've just installed a Yale WiFi-linked system. There are various sets available or you can buy the basic set and buy individual door sensors, PIRs, cameras, etc to customise to suit your house. I have sensors on my three external doors and two PIRs inside in places where any intruder would have to pass to move around the house. The whole thing cost me £355 and I fitted in in one afternoon. No monthly fees but it's not connected to an external company - the alarm is really a deterrent and sends notifications to your phone.

getmore4less

if you look around the Yale stuff is still available in some Homebase dirt cheap.

https://www.yale.co.uk/en/yale/couk/smart-living/


They have taken it off line so you have to go into stores.
High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Oxford stores had stock last week

if you can find any of the kits

the basic system SR-320 is £95
https://www.yalestore.co.uk/smart-home-alarm-kit.html

the better one is SR-330 £131
https://www.yalestore.co.uk/smart-home-alarm-view-kit.html

the top kit SR-340 £180
https://www.yalestore.co.uk/smart-home-alarm-view-control-kit.html

there are also some of the easy fit kits that are a bit older and need the CCTV system to connect to the internet

the wired CCTV systems are also still around,

all were featured on HUKD.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/search?q=yale+homebase