My old wired security system finally gave up. Now I am looking at adding some security camera etc. I do NOT want to hire a company and end up paying $40/month for life for monitoring. I have two Ring doorbells cameras but that is it. A friend has Simply Safe. Just wondering what you guys have installed or have experience with? Any advice appreciated.
Home security system
- Thread starter joec
- Start date
I had SimpliSafe, very easy to install, all wireless, can monitor or not.
I've got Ring cameras, pay an annual fee around $100 for recording, once again easy to setup. Ring does make a system that will connect to your old wired security system so you can use existing sensors.
I'm building a home that should finish in just a few more weeks here. I'm going full-in using Home Assistant as my smart home controller. It's got good documentation and a huge community of folks using it which makes them a great resource. It's also, in my opinion, the way to go if you don't want to be tied to any one smart-home app or device. Home assistant is really about making smart things work together even when they weren't made by the same company. Just google "Home Assistant" and you'll see there's tons of support out there.
Disclaimer: My wife thinks I'm a bit out in left field with my smart home plans. We'll find out if she's right in a couple of months...
Disclaimer: My wife thinks I'm a bit out in left field with my smart home plans. We'll find out if she's right in a couple of months...
I've got one room working with voice control, but one light/fan only works with Apple Home, even though it says supported by Google Home it never connects. Another light works in the room with Google, but not Apple! So I sound crazy in that room when I have to talk to multiple people (hey siri, ok google) to get anything done. Works about 98% of the time, I don't think the technology is really ready for prime time yet.
I have the same light/fan combo in another room, and it will never connect to anything, so that one has to come down
Not sure it’s for everyone. But for tech savvy, it can be useful. As you say, it opens up the ability to free from a particular system. I’ve used wyze cams due to low cost stand decent video and did a beta test of their db cam but got fed up with the constant glitches and changing to a subscription service. So being an iOS user, I started playing around with docker wyze bridge, scrypted and homebridge - some users go the homeassistant route. But most of these things are still in development and not for the tech challenged. But there is great potential for self monitoring.
A lot depends on whether you need real security with a service to call the police, fire, etc, or you just need video surveillance/person detection and maybe door/window/motion sensor alerts so you can review and then call authorities as desired. In any case I’d never suggest ADT. When renting in FL the owners had ADT and it was a constant price increase even with a contract in effect, they always retain the right to raise the cost. I those 6 yrs, even in So FL, we never had an incident nor had any neighbor - but then those we guard gated communities. After we bought a house, I put in a wifi cam to watch front entry and one for watching back patio. Never had any incidents. I can’t recommend the company though - decent cams but they constantly push out app and firmware updates and not always reliable - kind of like the software side is in a constant beta state. Plus they’ve outgrown their ability to support users responsibly. I don’t know about reolink or amcrest for customer support but have hear the hardware is decent. Eufy is popular since they have a lot of options that do not require subscriptions/ a tad pricy and I don’t know much about their support either.
Home security is, nowadays, essential (as is other methods of home and family defense such as responsible firearm ownership).
My wife is retired from working in the prison system and that makes security for us a bit higher in priority. Over the years we have tried many services/equipment ranging from hard-wired systems monitored by ADT, wireless systems monitored by ADT, Simply Safe, etc.
Since we live just outside what would be considered good cell service, Simply Safe would be hit and miss and we found that their service was a bit, well, to be nice, "crappy!"
We have settled on Alarm.com - they have a wide variety of experts that can help you plan or upgrade your existing system (no this is NOT a paid endorsement of Alarm.com - we just go with what works best for us!). The best part is that we have multiple panic alarms that can and HAVE summoned emergency medical services (EMS) for my heart attacks and stroke. Every SECOND counts when having a stroke - the rapid response from Alarm.com getting EMS on site and me to the hospital clearly saved my life, MULTIPLE TIMES.
My wife is retired from working in the prison system and that makes security for us a bit higher in priority. Over the years we have tried many services/equipment ranging from hard-wired systems monitored by ADT, wireless systems monitored by ADT, Simply Safe, etc.
Since we live just outside what would be considered good cell service, Simply Safe would be hit and miss and we found that their service was a bit, well, to be nice, "crappy!"
We have settled on Alarm.com - they have a wide variety of experts that can help you plan or upgrade your existing system (no this is NOT a paid endorsement of Alarm.com - we just go with what works best for us!). The best part is that we have multiple panic alarms that can and HAVE summoned emergency medical services (EMS) for my heart attacks and stroke. Every SECOND counts when having a stroke - the rapid response from Alarm.com getting EMS on site and me to the hospital clearly saved my life, MULTIPLE TIMES.
I had Wyze for a few years when they had the free online storage, but when they started charging for storage along with all the changes they were making that caused issues, I moved to Reolink. No online storage fees, 2 gig hard drive, easy access online, plus many camera styles. Great system.
Now, if he can dial 911, you need to be sure breed him
and trademark the name.
I got a wyze v2 cam specifically for the advertised free cloud video stg and person detection, plus it was a low cost way to test out a wifi cam with no subscription fees. For best view of approaching people, I put it in my sidelight next to front door, basically just wanted to just see when packages were delivered. The cam was decent, person detection was so so since I had to rotate it 90 deg for a full view of the entry. But it did well for motion detection, too good on a breezy day picking up palm or tree shadows moving. At the time db cams were more than I wanted to spend since security wasn’t an issue being guard gated 24/7 with only one road/gate and surrounded by water, even the sidewalk gate was locked. Plus the db was on side wall so looked at opposite wall and a wedge would either get a partial view of the approach or a partial view of the front door. I got picked for the wyze orig db cam beta test that actually started as an alpha test and lasted over a yr. My suspicion of the poor view was valid. It never proved very valuable other than getting notifications of the db ring - which is rare. This was ‘20 and covid apparently put the kabosh to touching a doorbell or coming anywhere close to a front door. So the v2 continued to prove helpful to see the deliveries. After the switch to subscriptions, there was a big user uproar so wyze implemented an option for free or pay what you want for the original free cloud video stg and person detection which did improve over time. But since then they have diluted their focus and are spread too thin. Their social media manager created a huge fan base by using the platforms to assist users who were not getting support for issues. That has also suffered and will suffer more as that manager recently quit. At the new house, we will see as time goes on adding cams will not be difficult. The db looks forward here so I installed the wyze and the view is decent, although we face south so for much of the day it’s partially washed out but any other db would have same issue. I was also picked by blink to beta test an outdoor battery cam and it had a free subscription during the test. Right before moving the subscription and beta test ended but I used the cam without subscription and it seemed decent. It got backup and then they sent me a retail package right before leaving FL. So I’ll probably just setup the blinks here. If we feel we need better video, Reolink gets a lot of praise from users.
I am not going to pay for the monthly monitoring that goes on forever. I just want the cameras and, for now, will not try the window and door sensors or motion detectors. May add those later. I want to be able to take a look around my house when I am gone and the hopefully the crooks can see them and will not know if it is monitored or not.
I agree - it's come to a point where subscription fatigue is a real thing. I went with the self monitoring and it worked out fine. If I lived outside the gated community in that area of So FL, I'd have looked into a service. so far things here seem pretty quiet - community is tiny at 100 or so houses, but the road is being finished now to connect with a neighboring community so there will be more access. I plan to add my cams outside and see how the community develops.
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