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Alarm system for home help/advice


codeorama

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Ok, my home was broken into back in December.  2 of my guitars as well as a few other items were taken.  I have to get an alarm system.

 

I know there are lots of "deals" for 29 to 39 per month monitoring etc... some with free "basic" installation.

 

What are the hidden costs?  What questions should I ask?

 

Any recommendations? 

 

Thank you in advance

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Ok, my home was broken into back in December.  2 of my guitars as well as a few other items were taken.  I have to get an alarm system.

 

I know there are lots of "deals" for 29 to 39 per month monitoring etc... some with free "basic" installation.

 

What are the hidden costs?  What questions should I ask?

 

Any recommendations? 

 

Thank you in advance

 

I don't know where you live, I use Petitbon Alarm, yes the son of our defensive coordinator from the glory years.

 

The free systems usually offer you a free key pad, and a door sensor in exchange for 4 or 5 years monitoring at a nominal monthly fee.  If you really want to secure your house you have to pay for each window/door opening. 

 

Depending on how concerned you are, you could stick with the basic free package and put the stickers on your windows and signs in your yard.  If you want real coverage, you need to pay extra to get sensors on all of your windows/doors on the first level.  Depending on the size of your house it can be anywhere from $250-$2000.

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They will give you a ton of options, I am glad I didn't listen to the Brinks guy or the ADT sales rep.  One option they sold me to save money was instead of putting window sensors on every window, I could use a motion detector to cover multiple windows in the house.  Had I done that, I could never set the alarm when I was home as I would walk through the motion sensor and set off the alarm.

 

It all depends how secure you want to be.

 

If you aren't really worried about someone breaking in when you are home an will never set the alarm when you are home, add a couple motion detectors to their free system and call it a day.  Odds are just installing the free system and putting out the stickers and signs will stop anyone from breaking in, so the free one was all you need.

I was in a new development, there were some home invasions where burglars thought the homes hadn't been sold yet, and burglars were stealing the appliances.  A neighbor of mine was home and fired a gun at someone who broke in.  I had young kids at the time, so I put a system in to cover all my doors and windows.  Probably overkill, but I slept better at night.

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Great info, thank you. I have to find out what my insurance company is requiring.  I had a break in about 4 years ago, but they caught the guy right away.  I think they are going to require me to get something, but I don't know what the minimum will be.

One person helping me said the insurance company would cover the costs of the equipment, but I had to pay the monthly fee. I don't have confirmation on that though (and am not counting on it).

What you suggested sounds perfect. I'm not concerned for when I'm home, just when i'm not.

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Great info, thank you. I have to find out what my insurance company is requiring.  I had a break in about 4 years ago, but they caught the guy right away.  I think they are going to require me to get something, but I don't know what the minimum will be.

One person helping me said the insurance company would cover the costs of the equipment, but I had to pay the monthly fee. I don't have confirmation on that though (and am not counting on it).

What you suggested sounds perfect. I'm not concerned for when I'm home, just when i'm not.

 

I have never heard of insurance company paying for the equipment, don't think that's true.  My insurance company does give me a discount on my homeowners insurance, I think it was a 10% discount every year, but don't hold me to that number.  They don't require any specific configuration, just evidence of an alarm system.

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I have never heard of insurance company paying for the equipment, don't think that's true.  My insurance company does give me a discount on my homeowners insurance, I think it was a 10% discount every year, but don't hold me to that number.  They don't require any specific configuration, just evidence of an alarm system.

 

 

 

Ok, that sounds right.  I knew I'd get a discount, so my mortgage will drop a little, but that will be offset by the monthly fee. It's all good though.

Thank you for the info, I sent an email to my agent for clarification. I was going to get an alarm system anyway.  One of the guitars stolen had a lot of sentimental value and I'm still upset over it.  I really think I know who did it, there is a troubled kid that lives a few doors down and they have issues, one of my neighbors said that he thought that was a possibility.

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Just bought a new house in mid '14.  I had previously used ADT at my old place, but the system was SOOOOO outdated.  Had a rep come over to my new house when I was looking for a security system, and he still had the same outdated system. 

 

Anyways, I ended up going with ASG and I love what I have.  Touch screen display, keyfob to turn the system on/off, and I can control the system from my phone or computer. 

 

Installation was a bit pricey, but you can probably look around for promotions.  I pay $34 a month, which is the same as I was paying with ADT.  I'm also on a 2 year agreement. 

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here a annual alarm permit and false alarm fees are nickle and dime add ons by the govt.

 

as mentioned motion sensors are fine if you are primarily concerned about when you are not home.

 

none of them stop a good thief,but they do cut down on the amateurs 

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Anyways, I ended up going with ASG and I love what I have.  Touch screen display, keyfob to turn the system on/off, and I can control the system from my phone or computer. 

 

Installation was a bit pricey, but you can probably look around for promotions.  I pay $34 a month, which is the same as I was paying with ADT.  I'm also on a 2 year agreement. 

 

I don't know if this is true or not as I haven't researched it.  I interviewed a guy that taught ethical hacking at a local college.  He told me he could download hacking software from the internet which would basically allow him to hack into a home alarm systems that allowed controls from your phone/computer.  He said he could disable the alarm, set it, turn on the cameras in the house (if you had the video surveillance package).  Said he could break any system in 30 minutes or less.

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Code sorry you got broken into.  There are "Home" and "Away" featues on most home alarm systems that allow you to have motion sensors as part of the system.  In the "Home" mode all of the doors and window sensors are active and the motion sensors are not so you can walk around, no problem.   

 

Also I don't know if you have a land line in your house or not but I have heard the hard wired phone option is more reliable than the cell one.  The # 1 thing with an alarm system is the signs and stickers deter the theives in the first place.  If they still break in that loud ass alarm doesn't encourage thieves to leisurely stroll around your house.  Good luck.  

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Where are you exactly?

 

If in the NOVA area, I'll PM you my best friends contact info, he owns his own

Alarm company, hes been in the business for over 25 years, wont bull**** you

like ADT, Vector and all of the big companies do and doesnt cut corners like they
do!!

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I don't know if this is true or not as I haven't researched it.  I interviewed a guy that taught ethical hacking at a local college.  He told me he could download hacking software from the internet which would basically allow him to hack into a home alarm systems that allowed controls from your phone/computer.  He said he could disable the alarm, set it, turn on the cameras in the house (if you had the video surveillance package).  Said he could break any system in 30 minutes or less.

 

You run that risk with usage of any electronic.  I'm not worried. 

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Keep in mind that you WILL want an audible alarm.

 

A simple method to disable the ones that 'monitor' your home system is to cut your outside cable/phone lines prior to entering the home.  A 'backdoor' cell-phone enabled security system with a data plan can be more easily hidden than your outside cable/phone lines.  One thing that I have (which will only help me if I survive) is have a camera that uploads photos to the cloud.  That camera is a fish-eye camera that covers both the front of my house and my exisiting phone/cable connects.

 

Dogs work amazingly well, also.

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You run that risk with usage of any electronic.  I'm not worried. 

 

I have no risk that someone will hack my alarm, turn on my cameras and watch me roam the house naked.  I also don't run the risk of someone sitting in my driveway on a laptop disabling my alarm.

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