12 replies to this topic

[satelliteoflovegm]

Anyone have any experience with them or similar? We are thinking about getting one for our house. We are somewhat rural but could use a little peace of mind certain times when my wife and son are home alone. Or come home to an empty house...I'd hope.

We had our car broken into at work and they took the garage remote which creeped me out, because with the address on the insurance card they could get in. I disabled it of course.

Safe quiet neighborhood but also not many folks around to hear things. Occasional break ins with-in driving distance not a big deal.

Anyway, does it work well? Any info would be helpful.

[Big John]

They are more expensive than other companies, but peace of mind may be worth it.

[Scooby's Hubby]

I like the chime feature that whenever a door (or window) is opened it chimes, and the service does not need to be active for that to be functional.  Good if you have little ones.

The service will give you peace of mind when you go out of town.  Unless they cut the phone line, then you all you get is the alarm.

[WashingtonD]

I used it when I lived in Cambridge, in a "turning" neighborhood. Installation was definitey professional and the company was very responsive, Thankfully the only alarms we had were false alarms generated by my wife.

Having the ADT signs up etc is probably a pretty decent deterrent.

I didn't find them too expensive, but we had a pretty simple set up since we had a townhouse with only the two doors and one window on the ground floor (we motion sensored the 2nd floor just because it was part of the package, but I wasn't expecting any spidermanesque burgulars)

D

[Ditkaless Wonders]

You can change the fequency on most garage doors so lost openers will not work.  Most of them haveseveral frequency options. It is a simple procedure.  Inside of your opener and inside the reciever on the drive unit there are usually four toggles which can be set up or down.  All you have to do is change the pattern on the recieverone the drive unit and the opener to the same pattern.  Your door is now set so that you can work it and they cannot, at least not without experimentation, and casual thiefs are ikely not aware of this, though pros are.

As for security a german shepard is all you need.  If yu can't be home with it as much as you would like a doggy door from the house into an enclosed outdoor run may do the trick.

[sundaynfl]

I have the Pulse system which e-mails me a picture of whoever is coming through a door anytime it is opened. I can also check my cameras and get a live feed or 30 second clips anytime I want on my phone. With two kids comiong home it's nice to see that they made it home etc... Great peace of mind.

[matt770]

We've had systems in our last two homes.  My wife says it gives her peace of mind and we get a discount on our homeowner's insurance.  They are always running specials on the installation fee.  If you want a cheap deterrent though, just buy the signs and stickers on eBay.  A professional burglar can just snip your phone line, break in and have his way with your family for days and no one would ever know.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

I just had an ADT system installed yesterday. Ended up having to go cellular as no land line upstairs where they needed it for the box. Costs more at 45 per month instead of 35, but this way I can always drop my landline someday if I want too.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

Oh, and I think ill get a 10% discount on homeowners insurance.

[LordOpie]

one year's service fees could get your wife a Springfield Armory XD9sc and she can bring it with her!

I just looked and see that you're in NY, so that sucks as I think they have really strict laws about carrying.

Edited by LordOpie, 07 June 2012 - 08:44 PM.

[MrTed46]

ADT is a total ripoff (sorry for those who have it). Find a reputable alarm/low voltage dealer in your area and talk to them. As far as monitoring goes, ask them to just install the alarm and go to places like alarm.com and have them monitor your alarm for a fraction of the monthly cost ADT charges.

ADT is good, but not worth the money IMO.

[MrTed46]

CaP, on 07 June 2012 - 08:15 PM, said:

Oh, and I think ill get a 10% discount on homeowners insurance.

That should be true for any monitored alarm system

[paulzale]

I have an older ADT system that is disabled because I don't have a land line any longer.  Of course the local dealer won't help me use the system without monitoring, i.e. it goes off every so often because it doesn't detect a phone line.  I would like to use it without the monitoring, any suggestions?