Anybody have a home security system they have and/or recommend? I've been looking around, checking out Simplisafe, Ring or just have an ADT setup but wanted to get some opinions if others use something they like. I don't care as much about the inside, just a doorbell and a few others areas to monitor.
Home security system recommendation
- Thread starter BlueBallz_rivals30790
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We live in a subdivision with about 200+ houses, so about 10ft on either side.
I've been using just the Ring Doorbell. I find that a video doorbell is usually more than enough to warn off criminals. If you want to go deeper (motion lights, actual alarm), you can upgrade to other components on the Ring system (or similar brand).
Something I love about Ring is the "neighborhood" feature, which is literally just a giant community space for crimes and **** happening in your area. Good for: seeing issues as they arise. Bad for: having faith in society. If you live near any sort of city area, be prepared to see some ****.. this thing is like a damn police scanner.
Something I love about Ring is the "neighborhood" feature, which is literally just a giant community space for crimes and **** happening in your area. Good for: seeing issues as they arise. Bad for: having faith in society. If you live near any sort of city area, be prepared to see some ****.. this thing is like a damn police scanner.
I regularly host swinger orgies. There is zero chance I'm recording who comes to my house.
The ADT we have can be controlled with a smart phone ap. That makes it so much easier to use then punching in codes etc. I would definitely want that feature in any system I choose. Other than that I think all these systems are fairly similar.
By far the #1 thing you can do is to NOT be the low hanging fruit. Criminals, just anyone else, are intelligent enough to go after easy targets.
-If 2 houses are side by side and one is well lit.....lacks bushes around windows......and the other is dark and private......which one would a criminal likely choose?
-What kind of car do you drive? If you have a big a$$ off-road truck in the driveway, a criminal knows that he can likely find firearms in the house.....but he's also more likely to get shot. If someone has a BMW......it's likely that they have expensive things like electronics and jewelry. If someone has a minivan with car seats....it's likely they have a lot of toddler toys and dirty diapers.
-If your curtains are wide open where someone can drive by and see your 65" flat screen, huge sound system, and ipads resting on the couches....what does it say?
-If one house has a alarm sign in the front yd and a Ring doorbell.....and the other doesn't......
-Do you leave your cars parked down by the road or do you pull them up to the well lit garage door with a camera watching?
-Do you have lights that go off/on throughout the day whether or not you are there?
-Are you close enough to your neighbors that you watch out for one another?
Good notes thanks! We need to fix a few things, primarily our outdoor lights. The one in our back driveway is out from a hail storm I believe. We have an electronic gate, so the back is pretty closed in. Good idea on the bushes, we have two right at our front door that need another trimming.
Mostly, I want surveillance at the front door and around the outside of the house, for when we are here, but mainly for when we are not here and need them for a few spots I can remote monitor with recording. Occassionally we have car break ins in the neighborhood, those are usually cars parked in the front or in a driveway (ours is closed off), so that is part of it but not the primary reason.
I was thinking a Ring since it seems the most popular and easiest to install and figure if I get one at the front door and two in the back, I should be good.
We have a Ring on the the front door and a couple hot spots around the house. It's incredibly easy. My brother uses Simplysafe. It's a great produce too.
Excellent points here.
I have Vivint. Door bell with camera, motion detectors on the main floor, glass break alarm, and sensors on every door and window. I can also control my two AC units with the app.
I get notifications if a door or window has been opened too long. If someone walks by the front door, and of course if someone rings the door bell. At night we set the alarm for alarm stay, which basically turns on all sensors except the motion detectors. We can still walk around the house, but the alarm will go off if a door or window is opened. When we leave the house, the full alarm is on and all sensors are active. We have monitoring as well, but I have never had a reason for them to call.
I pay around $100 a month. Definitely worth it when you are gone for an extended period of time.
Have thought about adding outside cameras, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Practice CPTED principles around your property (Google it). Issue a gun to your Roomba, it can stand guard after it cleans your swimming pool. You’re welcome
All the guns in the world don't matter if you're not warned. And all those electronic things are nice but nothing's better than a Caucasian shepherd. But even a Chihuahua will bark.
I didn't want any system where I had to pay a company a monitoring fee. So I just got a Blink video doorbell. It can see almost to much of what's going on so I had to cutback on the detection area. Overall it has worked pretty well.
Only negatives are that I struggled to get it to store the captured clips on a USB drive. Some issue with their software I think or just a way to get you to pay for their cloud storage. It was only a couple of bucks a month so I went ahead and got it. Better safe than sorry.
The other issue is that when the doorbell detects motion and starts recording and someone rings it you can't talk to them since it's recording. I may just add another camera (they are fairly inexpensive) to use for motion activation recording and keep this just to answer when rang.
I also have motion activated lights in the front and back of my house, a camera in the back, and a privacy fence. If any of that fails, I have enough guns and ammo for the whole family.
Only negatives are that I struggled to get it to store the captured clips on a USB drive. Some issue with their software I think or just a way to get you to pay for their cloud storage. It was only a couple of bucks a month so I went ahead and got it. Better safe than sorry.
The other issue is that when the doorbell detects motion and starts recording and someone rings it you can't talk to them since it's recording. I may just add another camera (they are fairly inexpensive) to use for motion activation recording and keep this just to answer when rang.
I also have motion activated lights in the front and back of my house, a camera in the back, and a privacy fence. If any of that fails, I have enough guns and ammo for the whole family.
I don't have close neighbors, but have 4 big dogs, one a boxer. I used to have several guns, but there was this horrible accident when I was giving them a ride and the boat sank.
As far as doorbells go SimpliSafe, Ring and Lorex all had good reviews on CR.
I have Blink cameras and a Ring Security System. We used to do ADT but they had tripled in price over the 8-10 years since we had signed up with them. Now I pay $100 per year for Blink to store my camera recordings and nothing per month for my Ring system since it just notifies me if an alarm is triggered instead of the cops. To be honest if a burglar sets the alarm off it is loud enough they won't stick around.
We use Ring. I got it initially because it was cheaper and we didn't have to deal with scheduling anyone to come install it for us. We pay $100/year for Ring monitoring (meaning they'll see if the alarm goes off, call you, call the cops if necessary, etc.) so about $8/month. It's very easy to install if you have half a brain cell when it comes to technology.
Since then, we've gotten some cameras also. The good thing with this was that paying the $100 for monitoring will also give you storage for all Ring cameras. I can't say for sure what the storage length is, I think it keeps it for like 6 months or something. You'd have to research that - can't remember.
If smart devices are your thing, you can do a lot more with Ring. Smart lighting, smart motion sensors, smart plugs/bulbs, etc. Everything is very easily trackable in their app.
Since then, we've gotten some cameras also. The good thing with this was that paying the $100 for monitoring will also give you storage for all Ring cameras. I can't say for sure what the storage length is, I think it keeps it for like 6 months or something. You'd have to research that - can't remember.
If smart devices are your thing, you can do a lot more with Ring. Smart lighting, smart motion sensors, smart plugs/bulbs, etc. Everything is very easily trackable in their app.
Terrier mix, weighs 32 pounds and all the dogs and most of the people in my neighborhood go the other way when they see us coming, as well they should, she is aggressive as hell, and will bite. Never bitten a friend or family visiting though, once she gets used to you, she will eventually quit barking and just basically ignore you (and that is the best you can hope for).
I like my Simplisafe system. Easy to install, excellent tech support if needed. One problem: they updated their base station and it requires a 10 Mbps upload speed to access wi-fi, and therefore have the functionality to update software, etc. 10 Mbps upload is faster than most folks have.
Get Ring if you don't mind some weirdo loser spying on you.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/31/23744369/amazon-ring-doorbell-ftc-privacy-spying-settlement
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/31/23744369/amazon-ring-doorbell-ftc-privacy-spying-settlement
Yeah. I want no part of cameras in the interior of my home. I try my best to keep all listening devices (Alexa, etc) out, too, but that's a lot harder.
I use Vivint. I like it. Doorbell cam, we also have another camera. They can play deter tones. I also use them for our thermostat and smoke detector.
My wife was changing the batteries of the detector once and triggered the alarm that brought the fire department to our house.
My wife was changing the batteries of the detector once and triggered the alarm that brought the fire department to our house.
That was going to be my suggestion. A gun might miss, a good dog won’t!
And a gun or twelve.