Home Security

I am thinking about a home security system. I know for a system, I will want SimpliSafe. Does anyone have experience with them either monitored or not?

The other consideration is a video surveillance system. Any opinions here? I'm thinking an 8 channel DVR system with 4TB hard drive.

I had a weird arrival home tonight, and feel the need to have something. I also wouldn't mind the fire/CO protection.

Whatever video surveillance you go with, make sure it's wired! I bought a wireless system from Costco a few years back, installed it, and discovered it was junk. The receiver placed in the center of our 1200 sq ft house would barely pick up just one of the cameras.

Simplysafe has a very good reputation. No worries there. Cameras are my business, and we are very aware of the wireless camera problems. They flat do not work. Many reasons, but end result is, do not try them. We get calls all the time about them, even people wanting battery powered cameras. We call those unicorn cameras. We do have an excellent Wi-Fi link for high end cameras, with a 9 mile range, but these are heavy duty commercial units, not for homeowners. Go to our retail site- www.securitycameraking.com, and take a look. You will find good product at good prices.

I prefer an AK, but one huge plus can be access from your phone. Often times it can be well worth the cash you pay. Do you have a budget?

And after all of the rest, I recommend security film on the windows. A perp seeing a window still somewhat intact after hitting it with a hammer might think otherwise.

I bought a system from Chuck(cwh) and it's been great. More money than what you'll spend at big-box store, but much better quality(both the hardware and video) and well worth the investment!

Hey Pete! Thanks for the praise! I wondered if you ever got it all up, guess you did. Yay!

The following was emailed to me today. I think it is a horrible idea but everyone is different

One Way To Stay Safe In America Author Unknown

I was fed up with being burglarized every other day in my neighborhood.

So, I tore out my alarm system and de-registered from our local Neighborhood Watch.

I've planted a Pakistani flag in each corner of my front garden and a large Flag of ISIS in its center.

Now, the local police, the Highway Patrol, Homeland Security, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, MI-5, Mossad and every other intelligence service in the USA and Europe are all watching my house 24x7x365.

My children are followed to school every day, and my wife too, when she goes shopping. I'm followed to and from work every day. So no one bothers me at all.

I've never felt safer....

That's a great idea, Braden. And, Obama will airdrop you food, water and medicine and give you weapons.

Thanks for the responses guys.

As far as cameras go, I would only consider wired just from reading the reviews. I currently have a homebrew camera in my garage built from a raspberry pi that has its own strengths and weaknesses. My only question on those is on the image quality. Would I be able to see a license plate at 25ft? make out faces? Also, how much video could be stored per terabyte?

I already have a Russian security device, but it only works if I'm home ;-)

I had not thought of the window film. That would be a pretty easy solution to a couple of my windows/doors with ground access.

I had not really thought of a budget, but I'd say $5-$600 would be a good starting point. I would want web/phone access and 4 cameras with the ability to add more.

I have a simplisafe system and really like it. I like being able to control it from my phone. One thing though, both motion sensors have set off false alarms before I adjusted the sensitivity. It's apparently a common issue. The response time on the false alarms was very quick though.

Being able to see a plate at 25' should not be difficult. It will be VERY important to get a high resolution camera. Normally shown as Horizontal lines of resolution. Higher the better. We have inexpensive cameras at 800 lines, but there are a bunch out there with 420 lines. Stay away from those. Also, infrared illumination allows you to see in the dark, Very good idea. A 4 camera DVR will run you about 100.00, a 1TB HDD will be 120.00, an 800 line dome camera with 50' IR will be 35.00 each, a 4 point power supply is 20.00. Full internet viewing capability. So, a decent system will not be very expensive. PM me and I can send you a lot more info.

PMed you cwh, but I have no clue how to check PMs... If you didn't get it, I have the same name at gmail dot com

Tell me more about security film for windows. Is it self-adhesive? DIY-able? Effective?

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