I'm looking to install an alarm in my mom's house.

what do you think of this?

link

Here are some models that I recommend:





And my personal favorite:

No pets allowed unfortunatly

Quoted: No pets allowed unfortunatly

But you can connect your X10 to turn-on a receptacle connected to a box that makes a barking sound.  Then when certain triggers happen, you make the sound.  At night you can also have it turn-on the lights.  If two sensors go-off you can have it turn-on all of the lights in the house with the X10 all lights on command.  My sister in law lives in a neighborhood that has really gone downhill the past 30 years, and that's the system I connected for her.  She hasn't had her house broken into since then.z

Quoted: Paul has this setup installed at his house and is very happy with it.  I'm probably going to be installing the same system in the next couple of months. -Troy

Troy,

are you refering to the setup in the link I provided or zoom's setup?

Thanks

Quoted: I was referring to the SmartHome system. -Troy

cool thanks... that's the one I was looking at

You get what you pay for.

Napco Gemini series have all those features. (That's all I install.)

Ademco (ADI, Honeywell) is also good. (I have a buddy who installs these.)

Where are you located?

ADT....... Great Service - billing once every three months.... Around $115.................. system will cost about $200 all said and done on most houses. After 2 years you own the equip. I've used them for 5 yesrs.....happy

What is the service life for the batteries in the sensors?  I am looking to install a security system as well and I am intrigued by the wireless systems for ease of installation, but hesitant because of all the battery issues.  

Quoted: ADT....... Great Service - billing once every three months.... Around $115.................. system will cost about $200 all said and done on most houses. After 2 years you own the equip. I've used them for 5 yesrs.....happy

ADT and Slomins are the worst - they use substandard equipment and charge between $25 & $35 a month with a 5 year contract. They wire the front and back doors, provide you with a $10 motion sensor, and cheapest panel and keypad they can get away with. They also subcontract work to anyone they can get to throw in the system.

I charge $17 a month ($55.40 with tax on Long Island for 3 months) and can customize a system to anyone's budget.

Figure your number of $115 for three months = $460 per year. In 5 years, you paid $2300 for central station plus $200 for a poorly installed system. You have now paid over $2500 for a system.

Now take my number of $17 per month = You paid $204 per year (tax not included) for a UL listed central station monitoring service recognized by the state. That's $1020 over 5 years.

That leaves you $1420 for a system installed. For $1420, I can do panel, 3 LCD keypads (ask ADT for 3 LCD keypads and see how much extra they want), transformer, wire all first floor doors and windows, wire basement windows, a motion sensor, a glassbreak sensor, and probably add a smoke detector on each floor, depending on the layout of the house.

At the end of the 5 year contract, you can continue month to month at the same rate, or try to find someone else to monitor the equipment that you own (try getting the lockout code to an ADT or Slomins panel - even if they don't try to take it back as being company equipment).

Quoted: What is the service life for the batteries in the sensors?  I am looking to install a security system as well and I am intrigued by the wireless systems for ease of installation, but hesitant because of all the battery issues.

Depends on the battery - the Ademco ones use AA that have to be replaced every 6 months or so. The Napco uses camera batteries that last 5 years.

Quoted: You get what you pay for. Napco Gemini series have all those features. (That's all I install.) Ademco (ADI, Honeywell) is also good. (I have a buddy who installs these.) Where are you located?

IM Sent

tag.

Quoted: Quoted: ADT....... Great Service - billing once every three months.... Around $115.................. system will cost about $200 all said and done on most houses. After 2 years you own the equip. I've used them for 5 yesrs.....happy ADT and Slomins are the worst - they use substandard equipment and charge between $25 & $35 a month with a 5 year contract. They wire the front and back doors, provide you with a $10 motion sensor, and cheapest panel and keypad they can get away with. They also subcontract work to anyone they can get to throw in the system. I charge $17 a month ($55.40 with tax on Long Island for 3 months) and can customize a system to anyone's budget. Figure your number of $115 for three months = $460 per year. In 5 years, you paid $2300 for central station plus $200 for a poorly installed system. You have now paid over $2500 for a system. Now take my number of $17 per month = You paid $204 per year (tax not included) for a UL listed central station monitoring service recognized by the state. That's $1020 over 5 years. That leaves you $1420 for a system installed. For $1420, I can do panel, 3 LCD keypads (ask ADT for 3 LCD keypads and see how much extra they want), transformer, wire all first floor doors and windows, wire basement windows, a motion sensor, a glassbreak sensor, and probably add a smoke detector on each floor, depending on the layout of the house. At the end of the 5 year contract, you can continue month to month at the same rate, or try to find someone else to monitor the equipment that you own (try getting the lockout code to an ADT or Slomins panel - even if they don't try to take it back as being company equipment).

couple of questions....

1 - Is that Gemini system hardwired or does it have wireless capabilities?
2 - Can it connect to the monitering center via cellular instead of a land line?
3 - Is it ideal for an apartment?
4 - Is it X10 compatible?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ADT....... Great Service - billing once every three months.... Around $115.................. system will cost about $200 all said and done on most houses. After 2 years you own the equip. I've used them for 5 yesrs.....happy ADT and Slomins are the worst - they use substandard equipment and charge between $25 & $35 a month with a 5 year contract. They wire the front and back doors, provide you with a $10 motion sensor, and cheapest panel and keypad they can get away with. They also subcontract work to anyone they can get to throw in the system. I charge $17 a month ($55.40 with tax on Long Island for 3 months) and can customize a system to anyone's budget. Figure your number of $115 for three months = $460 per year. In 5 years, you paid $2300 for central station plus $200 for a poorly installed system. You have now paid over $2500 for a system. Now take my number of $17 per month = You paid $204 per year (tax not included) for a UL listed central station monitoring service recognized by the state. That's $1020 over 5 years. That leaves you $1420 for a system installed. For $1420, I can do panel, 3 LCD keypads (ask ADT for 3 LCD keypads and see how much extra they want), transformer, wire all first floor doors and windows, wire basement windows, a motion sensor, a glassbreak sensor, and probably add a smoke detector on each floor, depending on the layout of the house. At the end of the 5 year contract, you can continue month to month at the same rate, or try to find someone else to monitor the equipment that you own (try getting the lockout code to an ADT or Slomins panel - even if they don't try to take it back as being company equipment). couple of questions.... 1 - Is that Gemini system hardwired or does it have wireless capabilities? 2 - Can it connect to the monitering center via cellular instead of a land line? 3 - Is it ideal for an apartment? 4 - Is it X10 compatible?

IM sent.

1. It has both wired and wireless capabilites (keypad, phone, siren, etc would still need wires, even in a wireless system).

2. It can connect through VOIP (internet phone). It can also be hooked up to a radio backup (however, the radio is about $250 and it would require a second central station fee - as the radio goes to another company first, then gets re-transmitted to the central station company via hard line.

3. It is universal - it is good for apartments, houses, and businesses. Panels can also be changed, depending on the application (instead of the basic 16 or 32 zone panel, you can get a 96 zone panel if you live in a mansion or something).

4. Not sure - never used X-10, I'd have to check.

wire all first floor doors and windows, wire basement windows, a motion sensor

Notice the word wire that shocktrp uses.  That's important.  I've seen four people that installed wireless alarm systems then later converted them to wired because of problems.  Of course going wired takes time and skill to run wires to the windows and doors in a home.  It's much more work than slapping a wireless sensor with double-stick tape somewhere, but it's worth it in the long run.  Of course since you are looking at a $250 one, then your budget probably precludes a better system so this is a moot point.

Radio Shack had a $99 Plug 'n Power system on sale that a friend bought a couple of months ago.  He hasn't had time to set it up, so I don't know anything about it yet.  They also sale a $300 system from Motorola that might be worth your time to look at.

The group Usenet group alt.security.alarms is a good place to find info.  That group contains more than 22,000 posts that mention the word wireless.  You can find a ton of info just by searching that one group.z