Burglars jamming wireless systems

[Jerry1]

We’ve had some very disturbing highly organized home invasions in our area lately. From the newspaper:

The burglars wear all-black clothing and use face masks, backpacks and gloves. The "methodical" gangs use jammers or transmitters to jam signals and shut down wireless alarm systems to enter "high-end" homes, some netting up to $4 million in cash and jewelry, the sheriff said.

Wireless alarm systems being jammed. I guess I’ll have to get some POE cameras. Question to the group - are they able to jam a wired system, as in somehow blocking the internet so no signal can get out?

Interesting thing shown on the news is that the group of four had a very large safe on a dolly and were wheeling that thing away from the house. Scary.

 

[euro]

Well, usually a wired connections comes into the house somewhere above ground, so, in principle, those can be cut.

 

[Jerry1]

Well, usually a wired connections comes into the house somewhere above ground, so, in principle, those can be cut.

Good point. I guess the old adage that if a thief wants in, they're going to get it still holds. Still, they can jam from a distance but cutting the wire requires they get up close. Hopefully, one would at least get a notification and enough on camera to alert you to call the police.

 

[Cayman]

Dedicated cell service for a wired alarm system ..... might be the answer.

 

[Sunset]

Good point. I guess the old adage that if a thief wants in, they're going to get it still holds. Still, they can jam from a distance but cutting the wire requires they get up close. Hopefully, one would at least get a notification and enough on camera to alert you to call the police.

They can send 1 guy all in black to run up and cut the wire. Then run off.
Police come, find nobody, house ok, so police leave.
Homeowner arranges for cable company to fix the wire , but it will take a day or two to send someone out.
Crooks come back, turn on jammer and enter to clean house.

 

[audreyh1]

Exactly what is being jammed?

 

[Jerry1]

Exactly what is being jammed?

I think what is being jammed is the signal from the devices like cameras and motion sensors to the base unit that then connects to the internet. This would cause no alarm to go off and no notification to go through to a monitor agency or your phone.

 

[audreyh1]

Hmm, interesting. Our house sensors are wired, and the wires run inside the walls. There is no wireless base unit.

 

[Sunset]

Hmm, interesting. Our house sensors are wired, and the wires run inside the walls. There is no wireless base unit.

Some newer, low cost alarm systems , and lots of newer camera's use wifi, (think ring, wyze, etc).

So they can be interfered with by broadcasting a strong signal to over power the system (while the broadcasting is going on and is close enough).

 

[Cayman]

Hmm, interesting. Our house sensors are wired, and the wires run inside the walls. There is no wireless base unit.

A fully wired system may be best for avoiding the issues described with wireless systems and if someone is concerned that phone wires may be cut, then dedicated cell phone service for the alarm system may help get the alarm call to authorities.

 

[Sunset]

A fully wired system may be best for avoiding the issues described with wireless systems and if someone is concerned that phone wires may be cut, then dedicated cell phone service for the alarm system may help get the alarm call to authorities.

Unless of course they use a cell jammer too. Which would be good in any regular crime to stop people from calling 911

 

[ERD50]

some netting up to $4 million in cash and jewelry,

I don't have enough cash/jewelry for any sophisticated thieves to be interested.

-ERD50

 

[EastWest Gal]

We have ADT, and they switched to dedicated cell phone service for the wired alarm system years ago. Our Ring doorbell is wired in as well.

 

[jollystomper]

I don't have enough cash/jewelry for any sophisticated thieves to be interested.

-ERD50

I am counting on the fact that any sophisticated thieves will have invested so much in their technology that they will have a net loss if they want to break into our home and hope to get anything of value .

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

My dog is my security system.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Good point. I guess the old adage that if a thief wants in, they're going to get it still holds. Still, they can jam from a distance but cutting the wire requires they get up close. Hopefully, one would at least get a notification and enough on camera to alert you to call the police.

And you'll be very lucky if the police respond in your area!

 

[SecondAttempt]

Some newer, low cost alarm systems , and lots of newer camera's use wifi, (think ring, wyze, etc).

So they can be interfered with by broadcasting a strong signal to over power the system (while the broadcasting is going on and is close enough).

The same can be done with cell signals. If you pay a monthly fee for your home alarm I think you are probably wasting your money. Prove me wrong. Ask questions like what is the guaranteed response time. What is the documented police response time. yada yada. You'll get double talk!

 

[SecondAttempt]

A fully wired system may be best for avoiding the issues described with wireless systems and if someone is concerned that phone wires may be cut, then dedicated cell phone service for the alarm system may help get the alarm call to authorities.

Cell phones are easy to jam with cheap equipment anyone can buy off the internet. For backward compatibility most alarm systems work on old technology.

 

[HarveyS]

Some newer, low cost alarm systems , and lots of newer camera's use wifi, (think ring, wyze, etc).

So they can be interfered with by broadcasting a strong signal to over power the system (while the broadcasting is going on and is close enough).

I'd be surprised if "high end" homes have low cost alarm systems. I think lots of high cost alarm systems are wireless and use wi-fi as well.

 

[HarveyS]

We have ADT, and they switched to dedicated cell phone service for the wired alarm system years ago. Our Ring doorbell is wired in as well.

You might want to double check how your Ring doorbell works. Mine was wired for power and to connect to the in-house bell. But the camera was 100% wireless and worked over my home's wi-fi. No hard wire from bell to a computer.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

So easy to do, you can build a jammer or buy one on from you friend Ali. All these folks thinking they have decent security with their Wifi doorbells need to think again. No comparison to a POE hard-wired security system with a NVR.

 

[euro]

The same can be done with cell signals. If you pay a monthly fee for your home alarm I think you are probably wasting your money. Prove me wrong. Ask questions like what is the guaranteed response time. What is the documented police response time. yada yada. You'll get double talk!

Depending on the location, you may be right. However, I have had a monitoring service for 30 years and we have had a handful of false alarms that "accidentally" made it all the way through to the police. Each time, cops showed up within 10 minutes. Of course, I can't say whether they would in fact show up fast enough in a REAL burglary, but chances are that they would.
All that said, the burglar alarm isn't really why I pay for monitoring. Our house really isn't worth breaking in IMHO.... The REAL reason is that the carbon monoxide sensors are also tied into the system and that is more important to me. In fact, we have had a true CO alarm one time when my daughter was a teenager and home alone. The gas HVAC system had a crack and pumped CO into the house! The alarm went off, the fire dept showed up and evacuated my daughter until the faulty heater was turned off and the CO levels were back to safe levels. Needless to say that alone was worth a lifetime of monitoring fees to me.

 

[aja8888]

While I have a doorbell camera (these are novelties, at best), I don't have anything valuable worth stealing kept in the house. Well, maybe my new 55" TV @ $239.00.

On a personal protective viewpoint, I am armed. My SimpliSafe alarm system, offers no immediate protection, only notification.

 

[Aerides]

Well I guess the best way to avoid organized crime robbery is to live in a "normal" neighborhood that is somewhat near a high-end one.

The next community over from ours is a gated country club. They get far more theft than our un-gated un-clubbed one a mile down the road.

Police and EMT service in my area is pretty good so I'm not too worried there.

 

[aja8888]

Well I guess the best way to avoid organized crime robbery is to live in a "normal" neighborhood that is somewhat near a high-end one.

The next community over from ours is a gated country club. They get far more theft than our un-gated un-clubbed one a mile down the road.

Police and EMT service in my area is pretty good so I'm not too worried there.

Yes, thieves tend to target "well off" residences, at least the smart ones do. The less than smart thieves, when they are out of jail, just pick houses they think are easy to break in to.