Wireless Home Alarm System w/Cameras, Need Advice

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DwightFrye

Joined
Jul 14, 2020
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1,302
Location
California
I have gone through 8 or 10 pages of threads on this subject but haven't really found what I was looking for so I am reaching out to the brain trust here on BITOG. I want to install a home alarm system.
  • I need four outdoor cameras
  • about a dozen door/window sensors, the kind that trigger if a door is opened or a sliding window is opened
  • a wireless keypad to arm/disarm with what I assume is some kind of CPU or "brain" that controls everything
  • a siren that will be mounted in the attic near a gable vent. I will assume needs a driver and I do have a 120v outlet in the attic for power.
  • I need to be able to save what the cameras record for a short time, not necessarily on the cloud for a pay service.
  • I don't mind changing batteries on the cameras and door & window sensors.
  • I have Wi-Fi and cellular service and an Android phone plus a desktop computer to run any apps or control the system.
I want everything to be wireless if possible and I can install it myself. I'm not interested in a Ring type doorbell camera as I will have one of the outdoor cameras covering that area. Motion sensing and good night vision are important for the cameras which will cover the front and rear of the house plus the driveway. I do have deer, coyotes and bobcats in the neighborhood and it would be interesting to see them on camera.

Professional monitoring isn't important. I'm in a rural area and the response time of the local sheriff could be quite long. We do however have a good neighborhood watch program and a loud siren would get the attention of my neighbors who don't take kindly to criminals in our small community.

I looked at the Simplisafe product line and yes I'm aware that if you are dumb enough to set the base station on your kitchen counter it can be defeated by sticking the unit in the refrigerator. Plus I don't want to be locked into monitoring fees. A mix'n'match system where the components can be added ala carte and everything works together is I guess what I am looking for.

I'd like to keep the budget under $1000.
Thanks guys
 
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I highly recommend you look into Wyze products, the V3 is wired but it is indoor/outdoor but they also offer an outdoor wireless camera. They have a huge selection of home security options that might fit your needs as well.
 
I have SimpliSafe for the past at least 5 years. It's been a great system. The monitoring was optional when I bought the system.

Based on alarmguy's recommendation, I have 3 EZVIZ cameras. They work fine. I can't say they are any better than Wyze or Ring as I've never used them. My cameras are all plugged in to an outlet or hardwired. I pay for the EZVIZ subscription to archive footage. There are open source applications that you can use if you set up a server at home but they proved unreliable. You can also use Blue Iris software which worked fairly well but wasn't compatible with the PC I was using as my server. It would be perfect if you had a fairly newish laptop that you weren't using to be the server.
 
I honestly wouldnt know what to recommend to the OP and try to keep the price below $1000

I CAN without question recommend the EZVIZ Cameras, a division of HikVision. Well put together phone app and you do not have to pay a monthly fee. Just buy an inexpensive Micro SD card insert it in the camera and you are good to go.
Yes, you have the option as Leo99 has done to go with having them store the video at additional cost. My home and my sons home the SD card works perfect, once the card fills up it will automatically record over the oldest recording.
With that said, when using the SD card it is possible if someone knows to steal the camera, then the SD card is gone and no video where with the subscription plan that video is stored on EZviz servers. Our home use and my sons was not critical and we are good with the SD card and no subscription. Keep in mind unlike a hardwire system, these only record on motion (which works very well) if you want a system with 24/7 recording then you need to look to a NVR/DVR system.

The challenge is the alarm system you describe. It's hard to get a consumer grade system with a loud outdoor siren. But yeah, I guess somehow there might be a way IF the system has the contacts to install a relay for one.

In your case, the way you describe it, I would choose a Honeywell Vista 20 system with Programmable Keypad. This is a professional grade system and almost anything on earth can be hooked up to it BUT, BUT you need to be handy enough to take the time and learn to program all the devices in. It has enough built in power for a fairly loud (15 watt)siren, but you can add a relay for a really, (30 watt)really loud siren. Ive even seen the 30 watt hooked up without a relay but... well, I dont know.

There are add on modules for wifi and can even program to text your cell but some of this stuff gets really involved and without determination I dont know if the lay person can pull it off by doing just one system. Though, once done you realize it's not that hard.
Ive worked on hundreds of the Vistas and also upgraded crazy amount of them, even then sometimes it can trip you up but starting out new is just a matter of watching YouTube for specific functions. The key with the system is to get the one with the PROGRAMABLE KEYPAD>
Actually the more I think about it, you maybe able to pull installing the whole system with cameras off for somewhere around your budget. But using the Vista is not "plug and play" it's a real system, that barring a lightening strike will most likely last decades.
 
Ring Alarm will do all you ever need. The Dome sirens work well with Ring. According to the Ring website, " The alert noise from the Dome Sirens sounds at 95db at one foot. This is louder than the sound of a jackhammer." Although they must be placed inside but certainly near a gable vent would work.
Cameras with SD cards are great. There's plenty to pick from on Amazon. I've been using two wireless, solar powered cameras from Amazon for over a year. They work flawlessly and they are 100 miles apart in two different homes right there on the same app which provides instant notifications on your phone or tablet depending on the settings you choose...ie, motion detection, siren, voice, etc...
 
Does it have to be a single vendor? If you get a home automation platform like Hubitat you can program home security actions using multiple hardware platforms. Expect to do some work though to get it all configured the way you want it, it's definitely not plug and play.

x2 on the Hikvision recommedation - I use them to monitor datacenter door openings and closings at work.
 
Cropduster172 said:
Ring Alarm will do all you ever need. The Dome sirens work well with Ring. According to the Ring website, " The alert noise from the Dome Sirens sounds at 95db at one foot. This is louder than the sound of a jackhammer." Although they must be placed inside but certainly near a gable vent would work.
Cameras with SD cards are great. There's plenty to pick from on Amazon. I've been using two wireless, solar powered cameras from Amazon for over a year. They work flawlessly and they are 100 miles apart in two different homes right there on the same app which provides instant notifications on your phone or tablet depending on the settings you choose...ie, motion detection, siren, voice, etc...
Click to expand...

Can you post a link to the specific wireless solar powered cameras that you have been using successfully?
 
Cropduster172 said:
Ring Alarm will do all you ever need. The Dome sirens work well with Ring. According to the Ring website, " The alert noise from the Dome Sirens sounds at 95db at one foot. This is louder than the sound of a jackhammer." Although they must be placed inside but certainly near a gable vent would work.
Cameras with SD cards are great. There's plenty to pick from on Amazon. I've been using two wireless, solar powered cameras from Amazon for over a year. They work flawlessly and they are 100 miles apart in two different homes right there on the same app which provides instant notifications on your phone or tablet depending on the settings you choose...ie, motion detection, siren, voice, etc...
Click to expand...
95DB is nothing outdoors, one would also need to know the frequency.. Much of these claims for sirens on consumer goods are as bogus as amplifier power ratings on auto equipment.
Here is an example... but it also it important to know the frequency... I can tell you a consumer 95db frequency on an outdoor siren will be nothing more than a shrill that will travel nowhere outdoors unless there is a neighbor right next door to you.

If you're in a rural area, a strobe is also a good idea.
IN contrast this is ring ...
Battery operated meant for indoor most likely will sound as loud as a smoke alarm.
 
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Thanks I'll check out the Honeywell and Hubitat systems and recommended cameras. I'm pretty confident that I can do the install myself.

While not ideal, a separate camera system from an alarm system that provides notification of a breach of a door or window can be installed. My concern is that some crackhead could go around to the rear of the house and take a crowbar to a door or window or force open the side entrance to the garage and once inside have plenty of time to force open the door that leads into the house. Cameras might take some video of them but do nothing to trigger a siren alarm (and strobe ?) that is loud enough for the neighbors to hear and scare the miscreant away. The cameras will be mounted where a ladder is needed to get to them. I suppose if someone was prepared and wanted to steal the cameras they could, but the more things that can be done to slow them down the better the deterrence.

If I need to spend more than my estimate of $1000 I will do it. It wouldn't be the first time that what I wanted turned out to cost more than I thought it would.
 
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