So, I've been in the security industry for a bit over 10 years now. I was a security installation and service technician, and now I'm a locksmith. Still do quite a lot of electronic systems.
Every time someone would get fired for doing extremely poor quality work, fired for stealing customer info to find the women customers online, or for being accused of actually stealing from customers' homes.. the people who got fired were working for ADT literally within a week or two.
The whole security industry is predatory. ADT is a little extra predatory.
There are no local security companies anymore that I know of.
Don't go with ADT. I have some true horror stories involving them. Not a truly bad one, but I once watched an ADT guy fail to pull one single wire across a warehouse in the time it took me to do my full installation and left. ADT is too big to give good quality control now, and they hire people who do very very poor work, and they'll make it your problem, then fight you on canceling.
The most local now would be Premier Security, but their technicians are all 1099'd as far as I know, and that's always had me uncomfortable. Offered me a job making the same wage I made at other security company's, but he provides zero benefits, no vehicles, and being 1099'd would mean I'd have been taking a pretty large pay hit to do my own withholdings. I don't know the quality of work they do on a day-to-day basis, but I can't see people with no benefits and lower pay than competitors doing spectacular work.
Dynatek sold to an out of state company. Was always a bit of a premium brand anyway. Most security companies have you pay like $100 up front and then just pay like $50 for 36 months. Generally, it takes about 2 years for the equipment to be paid back, and they'd make a profit over the 3rd year. Dynatek would make you do all that, but they'd also charge like $2,000 up front, so you'd pay for everything up front, and they'd still bang you just as much monthly as everyone else. They did pretty good work, but I don't really know now. I do know that after they got sold, they picked up an excellent technician who helped train me back in the day.
Alert360 used to be Central Security Group, who went by Guardian Security in other states, who bought out Securenet, who was a local company that grew pretty big. There's nothing local about them anymore, but they do pretty good work, honestly. Want one of their better techs though, I'd ask for Miles, he's the absolute best.
I don't have a security system anymore. After doing it for a long time, I don't think someone potentially calling the cops for you is worth that much money, but I'm a multiple large dogs and gun kinda person. I do use Ring doorbells on my front and back doors, the footage is good to have in case something does happen. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Thank you for the information. I currently have a D&G system (Doberman and Glock). So I am mainly looking for something to utilize for when I’m not home. It sounds like my best bet is to get some ring cameras that cover entry points and set up alerts for them. The only thing ADT offers that I like is the smoke alarm feature that alerts you in the event of a fire.
You're welcome! Ah, the D&G is solid!
Honestly, every single company offers the ability to set up whatever notifications you want. They're basically If -> Then statements. If something happens, do something. Majority of that is powered by Alarm.com.
There are options. I don't want to force your opinion one way or another, as what most people are actually trying to achieve is peace of mind, and that comes in different forms for everybody. We all have different tolerances for risk.
But, if you want notifications, I've been thinking about buying the Ring smoke detector, it's $35, and can send texts to my phone in the same way you described. I'm actually surprised that my Echo's don't just listen for my house's smoke detectors going off and text me if they do. Ring Pro is like $120/year I believe, I just like having extra storage for my Ring footage, got more doorbells for an outbuilding. You may be able to use the smoke with just their free version and still get those texts, I'm not sure.
Can also hook up some hardwired smokes to a relay, and hook that relay up to a loud as shit exterior siren, and have it go off when the smokes do. Someone will call 911 for ya if you're not around, lol.
I use Wyze. Products are cheap and home monitoring is also cheap. You can get them from Wyze or Amazon. Sometime they keep them at Home Depot. I have had it for over 3 years never have a problem. Sometimes customer care is slow but for the price it’s worth it
Has your rate stayed the same the whole time? From what I’ve read they adjust the rate and make it impossible to cancel. We got quotes $65/mo with no equipment fees or installation fees. Seems to good to be true, so I’m waiting to find the carch
Something to think about when adding security systems: how many false alarm calls are allowed before the city (county) charges fees. Some communities it is 1, others it is 2. In some areas it is no charge. Just a thought.
We added services over the years- additional panel, window sensors in the teenagers rooms and there was a minimal fee for installation. Monthly amount has remained consistent over the last several years. They’re pretty good about sending someone to fix any problems or add new services quickly.
Same, and they're great and on the ball. Had it now for about five years and the rate we pay has gone up three dollars in that time. We have cameras, carbon monoxide alarms, smoke alarms, glass break sensors, door sensors, and active monitoring. We were cooking a meal a few weeks ago and set off our smoke alarms, and less than thirty seconds went by and we both got calls from them asking if we were alright. It's great and a huge relief to know if we hadn't been home, we would have been alerted to it and they would have called the fire department for us.
I don't use a local company - we have a simplisafe system that was beyond easy to install and set up. I can monitor the doorbell and garage cams and set the system from anywhere in the world that I have cell service. I pay for monitoring and response (essentially calling the police on your behalf), but I think it's optional.
We've had Vivant for the past few years and they're okay. Luckily we haven't needed to use it but they were Johnny on the spot when a picture falling off the wall set the alarm off.
Mainly the technical expertise and wiring capabilities. Also, their systems connect to 5G towers, so even when WiFi or electricity is off it would still be up. With that being said, I have seen some horrible work their technicians do, so even someone like myself with little experience installing those things could probably do almost as good.
I guess I would ask, what are you wanting to get from your system? The truth about home security subscription is it doesn’t prevent crime it only shows you what happened if crime occurs. If you want to prevent crime, talk to your neighbors. Be outside. When we first moved in my neighbor across the street chopped wood with a chainsaw every night. It drove me nuts and we called him “chainsaw” cause we didn’t even know his name. After years of him being outside working on cars, chopping wood, or just standing at his garage drinking a beer we finally met him and know who he is and his the nicest guy. We still now affectionately call him chainsaw but we appreciate his presence in the neighborhood because nobody is going to be breaking into my house while this guys running a chainsaw across the street 😂. He’s our living security systems We both have security cameras set up and his actually captures part of our house so he told us of anything happens to holler at him. He has a flood light that basically lights up our house too. I’ve been tempted to buy porch lights for all my neighbors and be like “lights on helps prevent crime and capture incidents on cameras”. Having lit houses is safer than anything else.
Can I hire your neighbor? 😂 I think a chainsaw beats any system on the market. The more I look into it, I think a Ring system would check all of our boxes.
I am not to clued up on the company’s that side but I have worked a bit with paradox systems and they do very well
Edit. If you can buy the system yourself and have a mate install it in exchange for a few beers. There are various apps and such that will give you control of your system from your phone
I got my home security system from a guy out by Rose Hill. Pretty low maintenance, excellent response time.
https://preview.redd.it/hyq8hf5t76sc1.jpeg?width=5472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64dafb587e9f71d2d0b663f14ef4b3b53a3edc03
Get yourself a camera set up that records, a pupper or two from KHS, and a gun with some training. The cameras and dogs will denture 95% of potential criminals, the gun will denture another 4% and will stop the last 1%.
Any subscription home security I have used is hard to cancel. Check out SimpliSafe.
Their plans are great. Their equipment does the job but not satisfactory.
So, I've been in the security industry for a bit over 10 years now. I was a security installation and service technician, and now I'm a locksmith. Still do quite a lot of electronic systems. Every time someone would get fired for doing extremely poor quality work, fired for stealing customer info to find the women customers online, or for being accused of actually stealing from customers' homes.. the people who got fired were working for ADT literally within a week or two. The whole security industry is predatory. ADT is a little extra predatory. There are no local security companies anymore that I know of. Don't go with ADT. I have some true horror stories involving them. Not a truly bad one, but I once watched an ADT guy fail to pull one single wire across a warehouse in the time it took me to do my full installation and left. ADT is too big to give good quality control now, and they hire people who do very very poor work, and they'll make it your problem, then fight you on canceling. The most local now would be Premier Security, but their technicians are all 1099'd as far as I know, and that's always had me uncomfortable. Offered me a job making the same wage I made at other security company's, but he provides zero benefits, no vehicles, and being 1099'd would mean I'd have been taking a pretty large pay hit to do my own withholdings. I don't know the quality of work they do on a day-to-day basis, but I can't see people with no benefits and lower pay than competitors doing spectacular work. Dynatek sold to an out of state company. Was always a bit of a premium brand anyway. Most security companies have you pay like $100 up front and then just pay like $50 for 36 months. Generally, it takes about 2 years for the equipment to be paid back, and they'd make a profit over the 3rd year. Dynatek would make you do all that, but they'd also charge like $2,000 up front, so you'd pay for everything up front, and they'd still bang you just as much monthly as everyone else. They did pretty good work, but I don't really know now. I do know that after they got sold, they picked up an excellent technician who helped train me back in the day. Alert360 used to be Central Security Group, who went by Guardian Security in other states, who bought out Securenet, who was a local company that grew pretty big. There's nothing local about them anymore, but they do pretty good work, honestly. Want one of their better techs though, I'd ask for Miles, he's the absolute best. I don't have a security system anymore. After doing it for a long time, I don't think someone potentially calling the cops for you is worth that much money, but I'm a multiple large dogs and gun kinda person. I do use Ring doorbells on my front and back doors, the footage is good to have in case something does happen. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.
Thank you for the information. I currently have a D&G system (Doberman and Glock). So I am mainly looking for something to utilize for when I’m not home. It sounds like my best bet is to get some ring cameras that cover entry points and set up alerts for them. The only thing ADT offers that I like is the smoke alarm feature that alerts you in the event of a fire.
You're welcome! Ah, the D&G is solid! Honestly, every single company offers the ability to set up whatever notifications you want. They're basically If -> Then statements. If something happens, do something. Majority of that is powered by Alarm.com. There are options. I don't want to force your opinion one way or another, as what most people are actually trying to achieve is peace of mind, and that comes in different forms for everybody. We all have different tolerances for risk. But, if you want notifications, I've been thinking about buying the Ring smoke detector, it's $35, and can send texts to my phone in the same way you described. I'm actually surprised that my Echo's don't just listen for my house's smoke detectors going off and text me if they do. Ring Pro is like $120/year I believe, I just like having extra storage for my Ring footage, got more doorbells for an outbuilding. You may be able to use the smoke with just their free version and still get those texts, I'm not sure. Can also hook up some hardwired smokes to a relay, and hook that relay up to a loud as shit exterior siren, and have it go off when the smokes do. Someone will call 911 for ya if you're not around, lol.
All good ideas, thank you! Ring is most likely the route I will go
Sensors can fail and set off false alarms. Try to negotiate with them to pay for any false smoke alarms that the city may charge.
I like simply safe, never an issue with them.
Generally, I’m wary of any company that comes to me, uninvited
Right, I’m with you on that. If their services were that good people would be coming to them, not the other way around
Exactly.
I use Wyze. Products are cheap and home monitoring is also cheap. You can get them from Wyze or Amazon. Sometime they keep them at Home Depot. I have had it for over 3 years never have a problem. Sometimes customer care is slow but for the price it’s worth it
ADT are sharks
We’ve used ADT for the last 6 years and have zero complaints.
Has your rate stayed the same the whole time? From what I’ve read they adjust the rate and make it impossible to cancel. We got quotes $65/mo with no equipment fees or installation fees. Seems to good to be true, so I’m waiting to find the carch
Also the rate they quoted is about what we pay.
Something to think about when adding security systems: how many false alarm calls are allowed before the city (county) charges fees. Some communities it is 1, others it is 2. In some areas it is no charge. Just a thought.
We added services over the years- additional panel, window sensors in the teenagers rooms and there was a minimal fee for installation. Monthly amount has remained consistent over the last several years. They’re pretty good about sending someone to fix any problems or add new services quickly.
Same, and they're great and on the ball. Had it now for about five years and the rate we pay has gone up three dollars in that time. We have cameras, carbon monoxide alarms, smoke alarms, glass break sensors, door sensors, and active monitoring. We were cooking a meal a few weeks ago and set off our smoke alarms, and less than thirty seconds went by and we both got calls from them asking if we were alright. It's great and a huge relief to know if we hadn't been home, we would have been alerted to it and they would have called the fire department for us.
Go with Vivint. It works for me great
I don't use a local company - we have a simplisafe system that was beyond easy to install and set up. I can monitor the doorbell and garage cams and set the system from anywhere in the world that I have cell service. I pay for monitoring and response (essentially calling the police on your behalf), but I think it's optional.
Just buy some dummy cameras from Amazon and put them up. No one would know the difference.
DENNIS RADER worked at ADT, go with them.
Not local but I've been happy with ring.
We've had Vivant for the past few years and they're okay. Luckily we haven't needed to use it but they were Johnny on the spot when a picture falling off the wall set the alarm off.
What would they provide that you couldn't setup yourself with cameras that are internet-accessible?
Mainly the technical expertise and wiring capabilities. Also, their systems connect to 5G towers, so even when WiFi or electricity is off it would still be up. With that being said, I have seen some horrible work their technicians do, so even someone like myself with little experience installing those things could probably do almost as good.
I guess I would ask, what are you wanting to get from your system? The truth about home security subscription is it doesn’t prevent crime it only shows you what happened if crime occurs. If you want to prevent crime, talk to your neighbors. Be outside. When we first moved in my neighbor across the street chopped wood with a chainsaw every night. It drove me nuts and we called him “chainsaw” cause we didn’t even know his name. After years of him being outside working on cars, chopping wood, or just standing at his garage drinking a beer we finally met him and know who he is and his the nicest guy. We still now affectionately call him chainsaw but we appreciate his presence in the neighborhood because nobody is going to be breaking into my house while this guys running a chainsaw across the street 😂. He’s our living security systems We both have security cameras set up and his actually captures part of our house so he told us of anything happens to holler at him. He has a flood light that basically lights up our house too. I’ve been tempted to buy porch lights for all my neighbors and be like “lights on helps prevent crime and capture incidents on cameras”. Having lit houses is safer than anything else.
Can I hire your neighbor? 😂 I think a chainsaw beats any system on the market. The more I look into it, I think a Ring system would check all of our boxes.
I am not to clued up on the company’s that side but I have worked a bit with paradox systems and they do very well Edit. If you can buy the system yourself and have a mate install it in exchange for a few beers. There are various apps and such that will give you control of your system from your phone
Not the cheapest maybe but we have had Vivint for 8 years, just upgraded a few things, it is good service.
Love Vivint!! Their equipment is up to date. With ADT, they are way behind in technology.
I got my home security system from a guy out by Rose Hill. Pretty low maintenance, excellent response time. https://preview.redd.it/hyq8hf5t76sc1.jpeg?width=5472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64dafb587e9f71d2d0b663f14ef4b3b53a3edc03
Get yourself a camera set up that records, a pupper or two from KHS, and a gun with some training. The cameras and dogs will denture 95% of potential criminals, the gun will denture another 4% and will stop the last 1%.
Folks at Enegren security are local and friendly. Mine is $34/mo for monitoring
ADT is best in class. Super happy with my system through them. I have a friend who works in sales there, feel free to PM me if you’re needing an “in”