Home security system

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qwerty said:
davenlei said:
Either way, make sure you put a lock on the phone line access cover that is on the outside of your house to make it harder for them to cut the phone line that your alarm calls out on.  Most homes only have a screw holding the cover closed.  If you can go with a cellular dialer, that is even better.

this is why i like cellular based alarms vs land line/cable based alarms.
Isn't the monthly fee for cellular based alarm higher?
 
eyephone said:
qwerty said:
davenlei said:
Either way, make sure you put a lock on the phone line access cover that is on the outside of your house to make it harder for them to cut the phone line that your alarm calls out on.  Most homes only have a screw holding the cover closed.  If you can go with a cellular dialer, that is even better.

this is why i like cellular based alarms vs land line/cable based alarms.
Isn't the monthly fee for cellular based alarm higher?

perhaps, didnt really price shop. the base price for monitoring was $35, the interactive was $42 and the one that included video and home automation (if you want it) was $50. since i have video i pay 50. also when it comes to family safety i want to make sure i have an alarm that will make it the hardest on the intruder to bypass and this seemed like the best way to go. although the .45 is a good backup system as well.
 
qwerty said:
eyephone said:
qwerty said:
davenlei said:
Either way, make sure you put a lock on the phone line access cover that is on the outside of your house to make it harder for them to cut the phone line that your alarm calls out on.  Most homes only have a screw holding the cover closed.  If you can go with a cellular dialer, that is even better.

this is why i like cellular based alarms vs land line/cable based alarms.
Isn't the monthly fee for cellular based alarm higher?

perhaps, didnt really price shop. the base price for monitoring was $35, the interactive was $42 and the one that included video and home automation (if you want it) was $50. since i have video i pay 50. also when it comes to family safety i want to make sure i have an alarm that will make it the hardest on the intruder to bypass and this seemed like the best way to go. although the .45 is a good backup system as well.

Yeah - I agree alarm is the way to go.

I already set up an appointment with an alarm company.
 
Hmm... maybe it's where you guys live.

Me, friends and family have lived in Irvine for years without the need for an alarm... and no incidents (wood knocked).
 
Your Yappy dog is the best alarm. I skipped your house because of that.

qwerty said:
davenlei said:
Either way, make sure you put a lock on the phone line access cover that is on the outside of your house to make it harder for them to cut the phone line that your alarm calls out on.  Most homes only have a screw holding the cover closed.  If you can go with a cellular dialer, that is even better.

this is why i like cellular based alarms vs land line/cable based alarms.
 
eyephone said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Hmm... maybe it's where you guys live.

Me, friends and family have lived in Irvine for years without the need for an alarm... and no incidents (wood knocked).

Showing Crimes in Irvinehttp://spotcrime.com/ca/irvine
I clicked on several of those theft/burglary links and most of them are from cars or businesses. There are a few residential but they are definitely the lower percentage.

The surprising thing is all those assault crimes. A few are spousal.

I bet if you do that on other cities, you'll see the Shooting icon pop up. :)
 
the dropcam sounds interesting. i like the idea of having everything recorded for the last 7 days. although i think i read in a review that you could not fast forward the recorded video, ill probably call them to see if you can fast forward, not a deal breaker but being able to fast forward would be nice.
 
Tyler Durden said:
go to dropcam.com and you can watch live video from a few public dropcams.  I am not sure if they have recordings you can view or not.


If you are looking for an application solely for security, i would get this:

http://www.canary.is

interesting product. doesnt ship til this summer. ill read other users reviews to see how it works. sound cool though
 
irvinehomeowner said:
eyephone said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Hmm... maybe it's where you guys live.

Me, friends and family have lived in Irvine for years without the need for an alarm... and no incidents (wood knocked).

Showing Crimes in Irvinehttp://spotcrime.com/ca/irvine
I clicked on several of those theft/burglary links and most of them are from cars or businesses. There are a few residential but they are definitely the lower percentage.

The surprising thing is all those assault crimes. A few are spousal.

I bet if you do that on other cities, you'll see the Shooting icon pop up. :)
Click the third one down from the top. It's a residential break in.

I like to be proactive not reactive. The first thought after a break in - we should got an alarm system.
 
I did say there were residential break-ins on that site, but it was much fewer than the other crimes.

One other thing, alarm stickers can deter just as much as alarms. It takes a more seasoned burglar to want to have to deal with breaking an alarm and the payout may not be worth the effort, so they may skip your home just because of that ADT stake in your yard.

Maybe that's why... my one home had the stickers and was wired for an alarm (the company was trying to get us to buy their hardware/service so they put the stickers on) and the other homes had alarms but they were not hooked to a service. Just like my face, it scares people away.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Hmm... maybe it's where you guys live.

Me, friends and family have lived in Irvine for years without the need for an alarm... and no incidents (wood knocked).

I had an alarm in Irvine at first only because the previous owner had an alarm and were still in contract and put it in the sale that the buyer had to take over the contract.  I got used to having it and then continued it (with a different company and equipment) once the contract expired.  I now have an alarm in my new home as well (it was already in there) but added extra goodies and switched the company to the company I like to use.
My co-worker (lives in Irvine) had her house ransacked while they were at work and all their small electronics, jewelery and hidden cash were taken.  After that, they got an alarm system.  Same goes for my brother in law (does not live in Irvine) who went extreme with his security after they (and their neighbor) were broken into at the same time.  Unfortunately they stole all his guns along with the electronics.  His neighbor had all his electronics stolen as well as his second car (set of keys were in the house) which was never recovered.
I like having an alarm system on when we are home also at night when sleeping so we can be woken if a night stalker or child kidnapper gets in.  Although it is rare, it happens and I don't want to get caught with my pants down (literally).  I would rather have my flashlight shining in their face as they are looking down the barrel of my weapon. 


 
davenlei said:
I would rather have my flashlight shining in their face as they are looking down the barrel of my weapon. 
[/quote]

hey what happened to big bang stick! i hit quote to make a joke and then it read "my weapon" :-(
 
qwerty said:
davenlei said:
I would rather have my flashlight shining in their face as they are looking down the barrel of my weapon. 

hey what happened to big bang stick! i hit quote to make a joke and then it read "my weapon" :-(
[/quote]

LOL, I decided that I should show a little more respect and call it a weapon since some people are really sensitive about guns in this day and age and may take it as being too 'jokey'.  I think my Mother in Law is getting to me because she is scared to death of guns regardless of who has them.  Unfortunately for her, her son and I have a collection of them.  Well, my brother in law has more than just a collection now that I think about it but he competes in long range (1000+ yard) shooting so he has an excuse.
 
 
davenlei said:
Unfortunately they stole all his guns along with the electronics. 

This is one reason responsible gun owners have gun safes.  the other is "the kids" that you are supposedly protecting.

with rights come responsibilities....
 
freedomcm said:
davenlei said:
Unfortunately they stole all his guns along with the electronics. 

This is one reason responsible gun owners have gun safes.  the other is "the kids" that you are supposedly protecting.

with rights come responsibilities....

What if u don't have kids? If I didn't have kids I would not keep the guns in safes. I don't think not having a safe is irresponsible.
 
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