4 replies to this topic

[techieboy]

Are they any good, these days?

We've now got a daag and the internal PIR's of our (wired) system are not pet friendly. I'm sure I can probably put new PIR's in their place but the alarm system is now about 15 years old, hasn't been serviced in our ownership of the house, sounder battery is possibly kaput and frankly doesn't give me the features/flexibility I want.

Had held off with any replacement as we were (still are) planning on having an extension built which, with the disruption, meant we could probably fit a new wired system without causing much more hassle. But given the extension process seems to be an ever moving target and the wife sometimes freaks herself out when she hears a noise, I might have to do something in the meantime.

 

Not bothered about paying through the nose for some pointless monitoring service and not bothered about a police response. A dialler/sms facility might be handy and an easy method of access (RFID tags? Remotes?) for the in-laws too but it's mostly for deterrent value and making things uncomfortable for any miscreant who finds his way into the house (or garage). Not convinced by any of the Alexa/Google integrated stuff like Nest at al. I'd would obviously prefer something decent and flexible which is not necessarily whatever is available from the nearest DIY store, e.g. Yale or whatever.

 

Last time I looked at them with any seriousness, there were questions over the security of their wireless connectivity and alarm brains being scrambled/overwhelmed by broadcasts on the same frequency. Is that type of thing still an issue.

 

Are there any pro/semi-pro/respected brands out there that are worth looking at?
 

[martinf]

Hi, I recently installed an alarm system from Ultrasecure (https://www.ultrasecuredirect.com) . You would probably need to do a DIY install (as I did), but it sounds as though you should be able to do this. I found the people at ultrasecure to be very helpful, and importantly, their tech support are reliable at calling you back if you need them to.

 

I installed a SMS alarm which allows you to arm/disarm the alarm remotely, which was important for me. Also, it will SMS you (and call you if you wish) in the event of an alarm. This allows me to monitor the alarm and react in the most appropriate way in the event of an alarm. Hence not annoying the neighbours, etc. Mine has a combination of wired and wireless PIR's (in the garage, shed, etc) plus a fire/smoke detector in the garage too.

 

I'm pretty happy with it, apart from the fact that I've just discovered that the wireless 'intellegent' PIR's will give a false alarm when the battery (PP3) goes very flat. Not very helpful! Howvere, they do have a visible warning when the batteries are exhausted, so I now just keep a careful eye on them.

[casino]

Dam cat.
We shelled out to swap our PIRs for cat sensitive versions. A year later we moved.
We now need to get a system installed here at new house, so I’m all ears for up to date wireless too.

I’ve no idea what to expect or to look for.

[The Knobs]

I would say any alarm is better than none and a dummy box with led in as good as any. I still think the camera systems are way way more of a real thief stopper to be honest nowadays. Easy to fit with access via phone anytime anywhere and easily visible to any potential scally. What i like about cameras is you can then check what is digging up your garden in the night and see where the bastard squirrel is getting into your loft.

[KelVXT]

I had wireless installed a couple of years ago at home.  Wireless PIR both animal and non animal sensitive ones and also wireless door and window sensors.  Whole house and garage are covered and we are really happy with it.  Works as well as any wired version I've had in other houses.  

 

Ours was installed by a local company.  We do have it checked every year and replace the batteries in all the units - thats the only difference I can see over our old wired versions.