Alarm / security system for the home

longwalks1

I second a Visonic alarm. We had a Visonic Powermax Complete fitted about 6 years and it’s been great.  We’ve got additional door sensors on our 2 garden sheds and the summer room and pet friendly PIR sensors indoors for the dog. 

Jonboy_1984

Just make sure you are aware of the requirements of any insurance company if you declare it to reduce premium, normally the servicing provides the paper trail that it is in working order…

Also be aware that some sensors use odd battery’s and out of contract call outs for repair can be very high (heads they win, tails you lose…).

Rosco32

I have a Scantronic I-on system in my home. It's a hybrid system with wireless PIR's, door/window contacts, but the keypad, external siren and internal sounder are all hardwired. I also have an app on my phone where you can set/unset the system and you can get notifications if there's an alarm activation etc. It's not a DIY system, but I highly rate it. Scantronic (Eaton) have been around for years and are very reliable. I also have Ultion WXM anti-snap locks on all my doors, HIKvision CCTV system and a Eufy video door bell. Crime is pretty low in my area, but security is important to me nonetheless. The external siren at the front of the property lights up when it reaches dusk, and it has twin alternating LED's which are visible 24/7. I like to think that also acts as a visual deterrent.

Mutton_Geoff

I see the USA have banned the import of Hikvision for security reasons 

Rosco32

Mutton_Geoff said:

I see the USA have banned the import of Hikvision for security reasons 

Yes, they have. I haven't read into why exactly. Doesn't stop it performing in anyway mind.

cymruchris

I’ve installed a couple of hikvision ax pro systems that work off the same App as their cameras. It connects via Ethernet and/or wifi and/or cellular. I use a
multi network SIM card that latches to the strongest available network. Costs me £3.99 a month for a rolling sim contract (not related to hikvision) as you can’t get payg sims anymore
with unexpiring credit. It has a battery backup, and each sensor is battery operated with a common easily replaceable battery. 

I can see the status of each sensor and bell box at a glance - including battery status. After being fitted for a year all of my batteries are still at 100%. Very easy to fit. And when I move will take minutes to uninstall. The odd time I’ve forgotten to disarm it’s done what it’s supposed to do with my phone ringing in seconds. It hasn’t false alarmed once. I’ve set it to auto arm at a certain time and auto disarm at a certain time. Overall very happy with it. (Not the cheapest off the shelf option though) 

Mr.Generous

For those doubting the value of an alarm I've believed in them since a burglary at work happened. The scene of crimes guy was attending next day and while I chatted to him his phone went three times with jobs, each was a domestic burglary. I joked to him about being paranoid at home cause he sees all the burglary's and he said he wasn't concerned cause he had an alarm. I told him I had one too but I still worried, he said EVERY SINGLE domestic break in he attended had no alarm, and most of the victims said they'd been thinking about fitting one. He said most break ins are local, typically aged under 20 and just look for the least protected home.

When a Yale wireless with a three remote  control keyfobs costs about £150 why wouldn't you fit one?

When renovating property which I did for 10 years you are extreemely vulnerable to thieves, house empty, tools on site. We change locks and fit an alarm on day 1 of any renovation, we set it off a couple of times to show it works. Nil break ins to date.

maurice28

benson1980 said:

itwasntme001 said:

I've decided that I won't bother with a camera security system any more and instead just go for a basic home alarm (smart features not required).

I am trying to find a home alarm that requires no subscription/monitoring service and can still notify me whenever the alarm goes off via cellular network (don't want smart or wifi features for notification only - needs to have cellular based notifications).

Can anyone recommend something to me?  They seem hard to find.

The problem we would have with this is that if your alarm goes off you’ll want to know whats going on. Our ring alarm went off yesterday because the wife forgot to disarm it for our cleaner who needed to swap days at short notice. If you don’t have cameras the only other option is to call the feds or someone else to check, unless you are sure you won’t get any false triggers obviously- but even if not, and you are elsewhere you’d want to know what is happening/potentially have some evidence. I remotely checked the camera footage on this occasion and could see straight away it was the cleaner.

Over Christmas I purchased and installed a Ring alarm system and invested in a camera too for exactly this reason - if we were away and the alarm triggered, I wanted to be able to see if someone had actually broken in or if it was just a false alarm. We have a stick up cam covering the back garden gate and back door, and then a Ring doorbell so we'd be able to see if someone had been at the front door before an alarm had triggered there.

Hopefully we never have to experience it properly but so far happy with it. The system was really easy to set up and the app seems user friendly. We have paid the £80 annual subscription to benefit from cellular back up for the alarm base station in case the WiFi goes out, and cloud storage for recordings. Will see how it goes in a year as to whether we renew though, without the subscription I believe you still get notifications to your phone of any triggerings.

victor2

When our alarm system died and was replaced, I gave the old bell box to a friend who was considering an alarm system. It’s a deterrent, especially as it has a battery operated LED in it, and the battery lasted years even when it was operating the wireless receiver in it, which I disconnected.
Must work, he’s not been burgled! 

Ben1989

I have a Ring alarm because I also have a Ring doorbell and floodlight camera. My area isn't exactly rough but wrong'uns can turn up if they take a wrong turn. I like the notifications and the seamlessness of everything else with it. I also like that I can effectively take everything with me if I were to move. as it's all wireless. Also has the ability to just add devices as you go.

Ironically my alarm went off yesterday morning at 4:30am. Quick glance at my phone and it told me it was the conservatory. Thankfully it was a false alarm. I think a spider had walked across the sensor ha.