Home Alarms: ADT or Brinks?

[Fester]

Stay away from ADT. I signed a 2 year contract and when the 2 years was up, ended my service. They sent a Collection Agency after me that I had a 3 year contract. Sent them my copy and still fighting after a year.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

 

[Cameramonkey]

Stay away from ADT. I signed a 2 year contract and when the 2 years was up, ended my service. They sent a Collection Agency after me that I had a 3 year contract. Sent them my copy and still fighting after a year.

Good point. If you dont mind paying for the equipment and installation up front, you can actually get a month to month monitoring agreement from the locally owned companies.

 

[Ryno300]

We use F.E Moran. It used to be Myers Protection Services. Bought the equipment upfront and have been very satisfied. The system has a cellular back up and thus is not depended on VoIP. We have an upgraded system where the call to confirm an alarm actually comes directly through the wall mounted pad. The idea is that if we were not home the voice often scares a would be robber in addition to the alarm sound. We can also monitor it via an app when away from home. The monitoring is a little more expensive at about $35/month due to the independent cellular system.

 

[Kev]

Other = 1911 Colt Commander.. or DPMS AR if things need a step up...

 

[Quad]

We currently have Monitronics. I would NOT recommend them as they are a shady company. Striaght up lied to us after they got us signed up.

After our contract is up we plan to go with SimpliSafe. Heard nothing but good reviews about them.

Home Security Systems from SimpliSafe

 

[DialTone301]

Safemart..install your own and they will monitor for a reasonable price. We have a GE Simon 3 and have been very happy with it. Lots of options available depending on what you need.

 

[daddymikey1975]

I absolutely do not recommend having an alarm hard wired to a phone line unless its a POTS line (not VoIP). If you loose dial tone (happens with VoIP) and if the alarm goes off the alarm company gets a communication fault that is pretty much ignored and not a break in alert. I can't tell you how many homes I have been in and heard of that had so many issues caused by a hard wired alarm. Of all the people that have a wireless alarm I have never heard or seen a single complaint.

P.s. the above has been confirmed by an ADT tech.

I was at a home today and the customer has had all sorts or issues since her hard wired alarm was put in.

I'm not going to publicly post details but for 99% of the homes out there it is very easy for a criminal to know if the alarm is hard wired and incredibly easy for them to disable it. Yes the alarm will go off inside but the mo iterig company will never know...... I have disconnected dial tone from armed alarms at customer homes and left it that way for ours and the customer never got a phone call... Cops never showed.... The last one was circle city.

I have been hearing good things about AT&T digital life but don't think it is available in Indy yet

AboutUs Mobile

Cellular backup FTW

My system is monitored via internet connection primarily. NOT VoIP

cellular as secondarily. I have upgraded battery backup as well.

I designated some redundancy into my wired setup.

 

[Tactical Dave]

Cellular backup FTW

My system is monitored via internet connection primarily. NOT VoIP

cellular as secondarily. I have upgraded battery backup as well.

I designated some redundancy into my wired setup.

I still don't like the Internet connection stuff because unless it is through your cellular provider it is still very easy to quickly and quietly disable it.... There are ways to make it a lot harder to the point that most would just walk to the next house but still.

I tell people that if they have a wireless alarm the only way to disable it is by getting to the box and by the time they get to it the alarm has been going off for a bit and the alarm company has been notified.

I just see way to many alarm "issues" when they are wired. Having cellular is a back up is a huge peice of mind if its not 100% cellular.

 

[CBR1000rr]

I have been hearing good things about AT&T digital life but don't think it is available in Indy yet

AboutUs Mobile

AT&T launches Digital Life in Indy this month. I'm actually very impressed with it and can't wait for it to launch. They are combining home security with Home automation. I could fill you n on details but I don't want to hi jack the thread.

 

[Tactical Dave]

AT&T launches Digital Life in Indy this month. I'm actually very impressed with it and can't wait for it to launch. They are combining home security with Home automation. I could fill you n on details but I don't want to hi jack the thread.

I know a great deal about it..... I just keep quiet because my employer is known to surf the interwebs.... And that's why I never post who I work for.... That and because quite a few people in the company also like guns.....

I like that to can unlock doors remotley.

Just because it is launching don't expect to get it then a lot of the time things get back logged a bit but I think once people hear more about it they will jump on it. To save you a headache if you get it the system needs a cat5 wire run to it. I don't know the fine details yet but do know that.

 

[CBR1000rr]

I know a great deal about it..... I just keep quiet because my employer is known to surf the interwebs.... And that's why I never post who I work for.... That and because quite a few people in the company also like guns.....

I like that to can unlock doors remotley.

Just because it is launching don't expect to get it then a lot of the time things get back logged a bit but I think once people hear more about it they will jump on it. To save you a headache if you get it the system needs a cat5 wire run to it. I don't know the fine details yet but do know that.

I'm with ya sir. I think we are in the same club.

I wasn't aware of the CAT 5 requirement. That's intriguing.

 

[rugertoter]

Brinks got took over by ADT in my area.

 

[Tactical Dave]

I'm with ya sir. I think we are in the same club.

I wasn't aware of the CAT 5 requirement. That's intriguing.

Since uverse really needs a cat5 home run there is no suprise..... I have been hearing bits and peices on it. From what I understand it is an add on service if you already have uverse so hopefully you can get a bundle discount. I'm sure you can still get it if you don't have uverse.

 

[churchmouse]

We had a friend that works for an alarm company install all of our equipment as we wanted it done. We wanted something that could be expanded. It is monitored by his company at a very fair price. We bought the equipment outright and have added to it over time.

 

[rockhopper46038]

AT&T launches Digital Life in Indy this month. I'm actually very impressed with it and can't wait for it to launch. They are combining home security with Home automation. I could fill you n on details but I don't want to hi jack the thread.

It looks kind of like what I'm running. I wonder if all of these "home automation/security" systems are just different front-ends to alarm.com.

 

[CathyInBlue]

We had a friend that works for an alarm company install all of our equipment as we wanted it done. We wanted something that could be expanded. It is monitored by his company at a very fair price. We bought the equipment outright and have added to it over time.

Got some brand names on that hardware and/or monitoring service?

 

[chizzle]

I met with Circle City Alarm on Friday afternoon. They took the time to go over my house and we laid out a plan. Only after I sat with the guy at my kitchen table for an hour did I notice his shoes (golf cleats or something) scratched the heck out of my brand new hardwood flooring!!!! I took a photo and emailed it to the guy, but now he's not returning my emails anymore...

Needless to say, I don't really feel like giving them my money anymore. I have done a little research on the Honeywell Lynx system with the same wireless sensors that Circle City Alarm was going to use. It looks like I can buy everything they were going to sell me for about 50% less from Amazon.com and then do the installation myself (pull 1 circuit for power, mount several wireless sensors). I'm thinking about going this route because I'm pretty familiar with this type of work (I deal with PLC's and remote cell communications for industrial water treatment systems) so I think I could pull it off. My only concern is programming the Honeywell unit and finding a monitoring company. Anybody got experience with either?

The Honeywell Lynx would be outfitted with the integral cell phone modem (gsmvlp) so I don't have to depend on a land line. Thoughts? Any suggestions on a monitoring company?

 

[chizzle]

I met with Circle City Alarm on Friday afternoon. They took the time to go over my house and we laid out a plan. Only after I sat with the guy at my kitchen table for an hour did I notice his shoes (golf cleats or something) scratched the heck out of my brand new hardwood flooring!!!! I took a photo and emailed it to the guy, but now he's not returning my emails anymore...

Needless to say, I don't really feel like giving them my money anymore. I have done a little research on the Honeywell Lynx system with the same wireless sensors that Circle City Alarm was going to use. It looks like I can buy everything they were going to sell me for about 50% less from Amazon.com and then do the installation myself (pull 1 circuit for power, mount several wireless sensors). I'm thinking about going this route because I'm pretty familiar with this type of work (I deal with PLC's and remote cell communications for industrial water treatment systems) so I think I could pull it off. My only concern is programming the Honeywell unit and finding a monitoring company. Anybody got experience with either?

The Honeywell Lynx would be outfitted with the integral cell phone modem (gsmvlp) so I don't have to depend on a land line. Thoughts? Any suggestions on a monitoring company?

 

[trgore]

We had NorthStar for a few years. Two weeks ago we switched to Vivent. So far so good. I like the features that can be used with a smart phone. Hopefully we will save $ with the programmable thermostat.