Home Security

[Jerry1]

Anyone have a good idea what a good security system would cost? I'm thinking like 4-6 cameras, indoor and outdoor, wired, alerts . . . My may goal is to have advance notice when I'm home that someone is coming up my driveway and nearing my house. The way my house is situated, it would be very unlikely for someone to approach other than by coming up my driveway but I'd also like some cameras/sensors near the front and back door - basically a perimeter around the house. I'm not to worried about a monitored system because my main concern is security when I'm home and especially when my DW is home alone. I see these door bells and lights (ling ring) but I don't have faith in 100% wireless technology. When I'm home, I'd want it to work off a wired base station or monitor that I could rely on.

Any ideas on cost and how to go about getting something like this would be appreciated.

 

[KenZ71]

More humor than useful or maybe not....

My Labradors let me know when anyone is approaching the house. Food is about $40 a month plus another $200 per year in vet costs.
Bonus is they think I am the best person in the world.

 

[folivier]

I just installed (myself) a 4 camera system. Tried the alert function but found out most camera systems alert on light changes and not infrared detection like the motions in the house. I was getting too frequent alerts especially at sunrise and sunset and on windy days when the sun was filtered by the moving branches. Just a FYI to check in to.

 

[Jerry1]

I just installed (myself) a 4 camera system. Tried the alert function but found out most camera systems alert on light changes and not infrared detection like the motions in the house. I was getting too frequent alerts especially at sunrise and sunset and on windy days when the sun was filtered by the moving branches. Just a FYI to check in to.

I saw some cameras at Costco that had infrared sensors that claimed to handle that problem. That's what has got me thinking about this. I could probably install myself, but would like it to actually get done and actually have it work correctly. I'm pretty handy, but have a hard time completing projects. Obviously, would want this to get done and work correctly.


Ken - yes, the dogs are a good idea, but we lost ours not too long ago and I'm not ready for a new buddy yet. Plus, we may start traveling a bit more and don't want that extra commitment yet.

 

[Senator]

I have a SimpliSafe wireless system (~$400), with 11 hard-wired Samsung cameras and a Amcrest 4TB DVR ($600).

It does what I want. It was easy to set up myself.

 

[Sunset]

I have a SimpliSafe wireless system .......
It does what I want. It was easy to set up myself.

+1
They are really good, works with cell tech for the alarm monitoring, so cutting the phone lines does not help the bad guys, has battery backup so cutting power does not help bad guys.

It helps me sleep at night, knowing if someone breaks in it will call the cops while I'm waiting for bad guys to run into the room. Limits the bad guys time to kill me.

There are driveway alert sensors, OP could set up.

 

[Jerry1]

I have a SimpliSafe wireless system (~$400), with 11 hard-wired Samsung cameras and a Amcrest 4TB DVR ($600).

It does what I want. It was easy to set up myself.

Does the Samsung cameras and DVR give you any alerts? Seeing what's outside is important, but I feel like I need an alert and I really want a monitor that alerts me when someone is in my driveway or near one of my doors.

I have Simply Safe too, but they're already in the house when those sensors go off.

 

[Katsmeow]

Be sure and check if you have an HOA as to what is allowed in terms of cameras. Some restrictions don't allow you to situate a camera where it has anything of the neighbor's property in view. It can sometimes be hard to avoid.

 

[CountryGal]

We got a driveway alert for about $40 from Amazon. The outside unit runs on batteries that easily last a year. We love it. I think we could add a second alert to the base that has a different sound.

 

[CoolRich59]

That's what has got me thinking about this.

Just a suggestion, but you may want to do some research to see if this even a need.

A couple of months back, I started thinking about getting a home security system. Then, I had the idea of checking with the local cop shop to see how big the risk was.

I submitted a request for the number of burglaries and/or home invasions in my town for the last 5 years. They called me up and asked if I would be OK with three years of data which they could produce immediately. I said that was fine.

The report: one attempted home burglary; one successful car burglary in the last 3 years.

Based on that, I dropped the idea of a home security system. Of course, ymmv.

 

[Jerry1]

I have hoodlums running through my yard every night. They trash my plants and crap on my lawn. Some people love deer but they do a lot of damage. So even though I live in a low crime area, I have another issue I need to deal with. I'm getting close to the Bill Murray character in Caddyshack.

Plus, I'm sure our numbers would be higher than yours CoolRich. The common one happening often is wheel theft. I can only get one of my cars in the garage. I live on a slab and only have a 2 car garage so the one car and my storage needs keep me from getting both cars in the garage.

Plus - What's this thing you call "need". I'm too new to retirement to have figured out the difference between my needs and my wants. Hopefully, I'll never need to.

 

[jazz4cash]

I have a SimpliSafe wireless system (~$400), with 11 hard-wired Samsung cameras and a Amcrest 4TB DVR ($600).

It does what I want. It was easy to set up myself.

So what part is hard-wired And what part is wireless?

I've been looking at the wholesale club systems also.

 

[Senator]

Does the Samsung cameras and DVR give you any alerts? Seeing what's outside is important, but I feel like I need an alert and I really want a monitor that alerts me when someone is in my driveway or near one of my doors.

I have Simply Safe too, but they're already in the house when those sensors go off.

You can set up a cameras to have an audible alert. Also, when a camera senses motion it pops up on the screen in a 1-up view. Normally I have all cameras showing and I can see them from my office desk.

So what part is hard-wired And what part is wireless?

I've been looking at the wholesale club systems also.

The cameras are 100% wired. I had a Samsung DVR and it failed so I purchased the AmCrest and used my same cameras. I can view them from my phone or laptop anywhere in the world that I have WiFi access.

The SimpliSafe is 100% wireless. Two different systems. I also have a SimpliSafe WiFi camera in my kitchen, but it is not monitored on a regular basis.

 

[6miths]

More humor than useful or maybe not....

My Labradors let me know when anyone is approaching the house. Food is about $40 a month plus another $200 per year in vet costs.
Bonus is they think I am the best person in the world.

Yes this works for us too. And less on food. She is very alert and very loud when someone comes to a door or into the driveway. But very well behaved otherwise. A case of bark being much worse than bite but we won't let anyone know that.

 

[Sunset]

.... The common one happening often is wheel theft. I can only get one of my cars in the garage. I live on a slab and only have a 2 car garage so the one car and my storage needs keep me from getting both cars in the garage.

.....

This was just on the news in Chicago, it takes them less than a minute to strip all 4 wheels off a car, there was a video of it. Really amazing what those fellows could accomplish in life if they went in a positive direction.

The show recommended putting a wheel lock to replace one nut on each wheel, I guess due to the extra time it would take, it would stop them.

My solution has always been to buy cheap wheels with steel rims , nobody wants to steal those.

 

[davismills]

Since my wife insists on a VOIP type of landline, we already had an Ooma home phone setup. I recently added on home security that uses the Ooma Telco device and so far I'm well pleased. The cost per month is about $15.00 for security and phone.

The cost to install the monitoring devices was about $400.00 and includes motion detectors, window/door detectors, and a water sensor for my water heater.

They've recently added a camera device as well, but I don't speak from experience on that device.

https://my.ooma.com/home_security

 

[JoeWras]

I just installed (myself) a 4 camera system. Tried the alert function but found out most camera systems alert on light changes and not infrared detection like the motions in the house. I was getting too frequent alerts especially at sunrise and sunset and on windy days when the sun was filtered by the moving branches. Just a FYI to check in to.

Me too!



I find the system is most fun watching snow pile up in fast forward mode.


I'm still adjusting it. There is a way to limit the field of view to kick off the motion alert. You basically paint out pixels. I'm trying that. Then it can email me stills and alerts. But I'm also afraid someone may try to skirt out of the range.



Ultimately, I'm not sure of the value of these things in a fairly low crime area. I do get clear looks of the delivery people rainbow-tossing stuff onto our front porch. That's fun.

 

[Dawg52]

More humor than useful or maybe not....

My Labradors let me know when anyone is approaching the house. Food is about $40 a month plus another $200 per year in vet costs.
Bonus is they think I am the best person in the world.

Same security here. He will even let you know when a cat walks by.

 

[Luck_Club]

This type of product might help in your quest. Not a proactive tool, but certainly useful for identifying patterns & evidence.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...7viwISe0hPLueLm6ycsaArosEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[CoolRich59]

I have hoodlums running through my yard every night. They trash my plants and crap on my lawn. Some people love deer but they do a lot of damage. So even though I live in a low crime area, I have another issue I need to deal with. I'm getting close to the Bill Murray character in Caddyshack.

Plus, I'm sure our numbers would be higher than yours CoolRich. The common one happening often is wheel theft. I can only get one of my cars in the garage. I live on a slab and only have a 2 car garage so the one car and my storage needs keep me from getting both cars in the garage.

Yep. Sounds like you have issues with varmints of both the two and four-legged variety.

Plus - What's this thing you call "need". I'm too new to retirement to have figured out the difference between my needs and my wants. Hopefully, I'll never need to.

I just noticed - Jan 17. Congratulations!!

 

[aja8888]

The show recommended putting a wheel lock to replace one nut on each wheel, I guess due to the extra time it would take, it would stop them.

A wheel lock (replaces lug nut) will last about 1 second after it is hit with a 5 pound hammer to snap the stud. Thieves know this. Better to leave the lugs on so you don't have to replace four broken studs.

 

[Sunset]

A wheel lock (replaces lug nut) will last about 1 second after it is hit with a 5 pound hammer to snap the stud. Thieves know this. Better to leave the lugs on so you don't have to replace four broken studs.

The noise factor might discourage them to move on to a set of wheels that don't have any locks, after all good security only has to make it harder than the neighbor's property.

 

[6miths]

A wheel lock (replaces lug nut) will last about 1 second after it is hit with a 5 pound hammer to snap the stud. Thieves know this. Better to leave the lugs on so you don't have to replace four broken studs.

We don't have many wheels getting stolen in these parts but that doesn't prevent dealers from trying to charge an extra $50 for locking wheel lug nuts. I refuse both the nuts and when then offer to throw them in for free (as they are already on the car) ask that they be taken off and replaced. Last thing I want is to be looking for the special socket to remove them at the side of a dark road. And every AAA and tow truck guy and dealership has a set. I suspect that most thieves have a set too. These things are a pet peeve but much down the list and well below 'chipped' keys that cost $300 to replace or fobs that cost $800 when it is likely that the production cost is less than 10% of this.

 

[JoeWras]

I always laugh when they portray wheel theft as some kind act by the thieves. You know, carefully back off the lugs, leave the car on blocks.

The reality is harsher. Snapped studs, and the car dropped on the hub.

Years ago, we had one of the cheap wheels stolen off of a Corolla. A Corolla! They just dropped the car right on the hub. I found 3 of the 4 lug nuts in the weeds. All I could figure was this was a popular item and easy to fence for a quick hit of crack.

 

[Music Lover]

Years ago, we had one of the cheap wheels stolen off of a Corolla. A Corolla! They just dropped the car right on the hub. I found 3 of the 4 lug nuts in the weeds. All I could figure was this was a popular item and easy to fence for a quick hit of crack.

Or, another Corolla owner with loose morals bounced off a curb and wanted a matching wheel and your car was the first one they saw...