Moto-Brian Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 The house we just bought has a security system, but think it is a bit outdated. Was looking at ADT and like the idea as I am gone a lot with work and being out in the country, it would be nice to have - peace of mind I guess...Anyone have a connection with such things? Anyone suggest something over ADT? They have some seriously competitive pricing and have a lot more options than the other guys seem to do and a low monthly payment.Discuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Only go with ADT if you want a system that you can only use with ADT and if you want to be locked into a minimum 2 year contract. Their customer service is among the worst. They use half-wit subcontractors for most of their residential installs. Some of them know what they are doing, most dont.What do you see as competitive pricing? I suggest going with someone local who will sell you a system and monitoring separately. If you dont llike their service, you can go with whom ever you want and monitoring is WAY cheaper if you own the system. You pay dearly for the "Free" systems in the high monthly payment and the system that ADT sells you is locked and impossible for anyone else to monitor because you cant change the dialer numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Not sure how prices compare to ADT or anything, but PM max power ....he does this for a living and if i remember right he had real good priceshttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Detty-Installations-Security-and-Low-Voltage-Services/346884257658**edit...lol he posted same time as i did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buildit Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 My security system is totally interactive and protective. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWing'R Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 (edited) Anyone suggest something over ADT? They have some seriously competitive pricing and have a lot more options than the other guys seem to do and a low monthly payment.Discuss.You don't want ADT. Talk to Shawn.PS. I'll sell you a couple ADT signs for $50 , seriously, I have 2 in the garage. Edited August 21, 2011 by SWing'R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 (edited) I have been with ADT for 10 years and haven't had any problems. The installers I have dealt with have been fine and the system has been great.I pay something like $37/mo.You have to consider the realities of whay an alarm system can do. There's going to be a delay between the alarm being triggered and you being contacted - or the police being contacted. It can take minutes before the police are even called - and an alarm signal with no confirmed burglar on site is not going to be a priority call to the police so it can be hours before they respond. A CCTV system that you can see over the internet will allow you to check to see if an alarm event was real and will make the police step up their response. Some CCTV systems allow you to hook up external sensor contacts (like a wireless driveway monitor) and email you a warning even before the bad guy gets to your house. You'll also see how many people just show up at your door for weird reasons that you'd otherwise never know about - or other strange stuff that happens outside your house...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzOqQLA_cqAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLHiDXYUf3chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjX54ZfVm0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM5hR1dA8jAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aITo4iuhKFghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrhQI7Y4onQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgFfKiQz2Co Edited August 21, 2011 by Scruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollnhot Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Two mean ass dogs trained to bite intruders on the nads when I'm not home. And a pistol grip 12 ga. hanging on the back side of the head board when I am home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagr Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I had this system put in about 5 months back. All wireless sensors with a guaranteed 5 year battery life. The system is cell phone based with a 24 hour power backup. It was a 99 instal they said was actually for the cell based control panel and all the hardware was free. So. All doors, multiple motion sensors 2fire/smoke detectors multiple glass break alarms and a linked touch screen thermostat. Everything can be controlled from a smart phone. Yes they have an app for that. So you're on the way home from a hard day and it's 100 degrees out? Whip out the phone and turn your system down to 60. You get home and it's perfect. you can arm and disarm from your phone too. You can also add cameras that are viewable from said phoneage. I also have door and glass break sensors on my bike building that is not attached to the house. All for $57 a month. Not the cheapest but for what I get I'm satisfied. http://www.vivint.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I have been with ADT for 10 years and haven't had any problems. The installers I have dealt with have been fine and the system has been great.I pay something like $37/mo.You have to consider the realities of whay an alarm system can do. There's going to be a delay between the alarm being triggered and you being contacted - or the police being contacted. It can take minutes before the police are even called - and an alarm signal with no confirmed burglar on site is not going to be a priority call to the police so it can be hours before they respond. A CCTV system that you can see over the internet will allow you to check to see if an alarm event was real and will make the police step up their response. Some CCTV systems allow you to hook up external sensor contacts (like a wireless driveway monitor) and email you a warning even before the bad guy gets to your house. You'll also see how many people just show up at your door for weird reasons that you'd otherwise never know about - or other strange stuff that happens outside your house... Nice camera system. How much do you have wrapped up in that?I had this system put in about 5 months back. All wireless sensors with a guaranteed 5 year battery life. The system is cell phone based with a 24 hour power backup. It was a 99 instal they said was actually for the cell based control panel and all the hardware was free. So. All doors, multiple motion sensors 2fire/smoke detectors multiple glass break alarms and a linked touch screen thermostat. Everything can be controlled from a smart phone. Yes they have an app for that. So you're on the way home from a hard day and it's 100 degrees out? Whip out the phone and turn your system down to 60. You get home and it's perfect. you can arm and disarm from your phone too. You can also add cameras that are viewable from said phoneage. I also have door and glass break sensors on my bike building that is not attached to the house. All for $57 a month. Not the cheapest but for what I get I'm satisfied. $57/mo? You are dead to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I have been with ADT for 10 years and haven't had any problems. The installers I have dealt with have been fine and the system has been great.I pay something like $37/mo.You have to consider the realities of whay an alarm system can do. There's going to be a delay between the alarm being triggered and you being contacted - or the police being contacted. It can take minutes before the police are even called - and an alarm signal with no confirmed burglar on site is not going to be a priority call to the police so it can be hours before they respond. A CCTV system that you can see over the internet will allow you to check to see if an alarm event was real and will make the police step up their response. Some CCTV systems allow you to hook up external sensor contacts (like a wireless driveway monitor) and email you a warning even before the bad guy gets to your house. You'll also see how many people just show up at your door for weird reasons that you'd otherwise never know about - or other strange stuff that happens outside your house... I think the important question here is in the second video why did you zoom in on his ass when he was walking away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I think the important question here is in the second video why did you zoom in on his ass when he was walking awayI knew you were going to be watching the video and figured you'd like a bit of man ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Nice camera system. How much do you have wrapped up in that? If I was to duplicate my current system it'd be about $3k. Would hate to see how much it would cost to have someone else run the wires, though. Analog cameras running over cat5e with baluns. DVR is an Aver 5216+ hybrid so I just need to put rj45 ends on to make them run IP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I knew you were going to be watching the video and figured you'd like a bit of man ass.Thanks for looking out for me bro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 If I was to duplicate my current system it'd be about $3k. Would hate to see how much it would cost to have someone else run the wires, though. Analog cameras running over cat5e with baluns. DVR is an Aver 5216+ hybrid so I just need to put rj45 ends on to make them run IP.Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ive always wondered about all of this too but never actually asked. I have an ADT system now that was installed on the first 2 floors and basement when I bought the house. However I replaced the front door(sensor on it is gone now), and my rear door sensor looks like it's broke. The service has never been used since I bought the place, so does that mean I can still only go with ADT? A lot of the people in my neighborhood have it, but I have a big dog that is nuts about his house so I never looked into.Now that I am traveling more and leaving my GF home alone I wouldn't mind looking into this. I also have a motion detector on the ground level, but won't my dog trip that? I mean I almost feel like if I have my dog in the house he is more of a deterrent than the security stickers that are still on my windows.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOW Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 any company that tells you they cannot use the existing hardware (excluding the panel) should be immediately dismissed. I've had cellular installed in my last 3 homes at their costs, and always make a few "tweaks" to their packages to suit my needs.Make sure you wire your garage and garage doors when you have the system installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWing'R Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 ...You have to consider the realities of whay an alarm system can do. There's going to be a delay between the alarm being triggered and you being contacted - or the police being contacted. It can take minutes before the police are even called - and an alarm signal with no confirmed burglar on site is not going to be a priority call to the police so it can be hours before they respond. Not sure where you live or what kind of system you have but your phone should be ringing (call from monitoring) in 30sec or less after an alarm is triggered, and if you don't answer, the police should be notified immediately, so were talking about minute at the most. As for police response, again, not sure where you live but here in Columbus a home alarm call gets a fairly quick response and usually the helicopter arrives before the cars. Yes, they dispatch the helicopter on alarm drops, seen it several times in my neighborhood. All I can say is that if it took HOURS for the police to respond to an active alarm at my residence I'd be more than a bit pissed and someone would have some splaynin to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 My whole house is wired every window and door, motion, fire, temp, water backup, system cost me about $1800 installed if I remember right monitoring is like $206 a year and I own the system. Oh and yes definetly wire the garage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) Not sure where you live or what kind of system you have but your phone should be ringing (call from monitoring) in 30sec or less after an alarm is triggered' date=' and if you don't answer, the police should be notified immediately, so were talking about minute at the most.[/quote']ADT policy is that the alarm has to be ringing for 1 minute before the outbound call is placed. The homeowner accidentally triggering the alarm is common so the delay reduces false alarms. Then ADT starts calling all the numbers on your list. Home, cell, work, neighbor, etc. Only when all of those numbers have been exhausted will they call the police (if that is their standing instruction). Hint: I have a google voice number that calls home/work/cell all at the same time so it shortens the time required to reach me.As for police response' date=' again, not sure where you live but here in Columbus a home alarm call gets a fairly quick response and usually the helicopter arrives before the cars. Yes, they dispatch the helicopter on alarm drops, seen it several times in my neighborhood. All I can say is that if it took HOURS for the police to respond to an active alarm at my residence I'd be more than a bit pissed and someone would have some splaynin to do![/quote']Local police report numbers show that there is an average of one burglary report per day taken in Delaware County. The numbers also show that 99% of "Alarm Drops" are false. Ergo, there are approximately 100 alarm drops per day, and only one is an actual burglary. I've had two false alarms call out to police in 10 years - one was just last week. Best we can figure is a bug landed on the PIR motion detector. So, with 99% of these calls being false, they are understandibly placed at a much lower priority than mosty other calls. UNLESS there is a confirmed burglar on site. This is where the CCTV comes in. Problem is that when the call came iin to my phone from the false alarm I was not reachable so they called the police. The alarm was 13:30 and the CCTV shows the police arriving at 14:30. They found the workshop door unlocked and searched it with guns drawn. The plan is that I can view the cameras live from any computer so (if I'm smart enough to have my phone with me!!) I can log in and tell ADT if there is an actual burglary going on. THEN then response will be prioritized.I'm paranoid, so I take this stuff to the extreme. Anyone who approaches my house is monitored live via remote CCTV until they leave. OF course it's almost always UPS, USPS or Fedex, but sometimes it's someone who has no reason to be there. Living out in the country allows me more leeway with perimiter sensors. My front door glass is no longer glass, it's thick lexan (the stuff mythbusters use as a blast shield) so that nobody can smash the glass and reach through to open the locks. Edited August 22, 2011 by Scruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Does the red X scare away the burglars?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Does the red X scare away the burglars?? You mean the "no gun" signs? I think they work really well.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7pGt_O1uM8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWing'R Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 ADT policy is that the alarm has to be ringing for 1 minute before the outbound call is placed. The homeowner accidentally triggering the alarm is common so the delay reduces false alarms. FALSE. A delay in calling the premise only delays calling the premise, it doesn't prevent a false alarm.A phone call has nothing to do with a false alarm. If they call and you answer with the correct passcode, all is fine, there is no false alarm. This is the whole reason for calling in the first place, to determine thesituation, to delay the call is just stupid....Then ADT starts calling all the numbers on your list. Home, cell, work, neighbor, etc. Only when all of those numbers have been exhausted will they call the police (if that is their standing instruction). Hint: I have a google voice number that calls home/work/cell all at the same time so it shortens the time required to reach me.And you pay them for this service?? That is the reason right there you don't want to use them! No answer at the premise = call to police, from any other alarm company that is . What the hell is the point in calling me at work if my alarm is going off at home, send the police to check it out then call me. That is standard operatingprotocol for central station monitoring, its surprising ADT stays in business with SOP's like that.Just curious, what are the protocols for some of you other guys out herewith central station monitoring that don't have ADT, let's see how ADT compares... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 FALSE. A delay in calling the premise only delays calling the premise' date=' it doesn't prevent a false alarm.A phone call has nothing to do with a false alarm. If they call and you answer with the correct passcode, all is fine, there is no false alarm. This is the whole reason for calling in the first place, to determine thesituation, to delay the call is just stupid.And you pay them for this service?? That is the reason right there you don't want to use them! No answer at the premise = call to police, from any other alarm company that is . What the hell is the point in calling me at work if my alarm is going off at home, send the police to check it out then call me. That is standard operatingprotocol for central station monitoring, its surprising ADT stays in business with SOP's like that.Just curious, what are the protocols for some of you other guys out herewith central station monitoring that don't have ADT, let's see how ADT compares... [/quote']They call any number I provide. I provide work # because I can see the premises from there.Dunno about the one minute rule. Yell at ADT for that, not me. Considering I'm 20 minutes away from the nearest police station I don't think that extra minute matters. Especially because if there IS a burglary in progress then the police will be told that and will respond quicker anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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