DuckSouth.com

So, my kids are coming of age where we can trust them to stay home by themselves while we step out for an hour or two. however, recent break-ins in our community have my spousal unit on edge and she wants a security system installed before I go out of town in october leaving her home alone with the kids.

looks like my options are (a) hire professional security company to install and monitor the system (cost over 36 months = $1,750-2,000), or (2) install a DIY alarm system myself ($200-500 for equipment)

does anyone here have any experience with the diy installation? looks liek the wireless systems i see online are stick, plug and play with relatively simple setup procedures.

also, we do not have a LAN line, but we do have wifi in the home. do these DIY systems have wifi capabilities to notify me by phone or text that the alarm has been tripped?

i'd welcome any comments for or against the DIY route.

thanks in advance

We did the DIY route using Frontpoint to monitor. Inexpensive (under $200 for three doors and two motion sensors, just bare bones setup). Takes minutes to install. And it's modular so you can add things like window sensors, cameras (which you can check remotely), etc. You control via touchpad or a smartphone app. Easy peasy.

what is your monthly monitoring bill if you don mind my asking.

$43 for what I have.

We have Vivint and I like it.. The automation is nice!! We pay $73.00 a month. A good friend of mine and a former student work and own The Alarm Company.. I would probably go with them if I had to do it again..

http://thugproof.com/index.php

Waste of money if you live in a nice area IMO. Ours is just basically a $750 door chime now. When we paid monitoring I think ours was around $40/month which seems to be typically for just alarm monitoring. The newer systems run over a cellular connection so someone can't cut your phone lines and disable the monitoring.

Ours is cell based also. I don't consider it a waste considering the "mama peace of mind" factor. I waste more $ on stuff that counts for less....

Mama gots a gun and can shoot it, but I travel for work and overseas on mission trips often enough that the extra peace of mind for her is worth it. And, when we are all gone I turn on the motion sensors so I'll know if some goober is roaming through my house. It's no hassle to me.

I use Interface. We have 3 keypads, every window and door in the house has a sensor....CO2 monitors, glass break sensors, motion sensors, several fire alarms/sensors. I pay $33 per month. I can even activate/deactivate it from an app on my phone.

Where are you located? We use IES out of Brandon for my house. The also handle my parents house, grandparents houses in and the family business office/warehouse in Clinton, Raymond and Jackson.

Great family owned local business and easy to deal with. I think we paid about $500 or $600 for the installation at our house. Cellular service with IPhone app to arm/disarm and a keyfob to arm/disarm. Monthly monitoring is $28 a month and no contract. We have one panel, glass break sensors, 3 doors, 2 motion detectors and the smoke detector is monitored.

Holler at Eric Mason with Berkely Security. If you need his number holler at me.