Home Security - what we did
Now that we're retired we take longer trips - but we worry about leaving the house for long. We don't have family in the area and don't have any close neighbors that we'd like to put responsibility on...
Forum Discussion
Those snazzy IoT appliances are worthless. Burglars already know that they just toss most devices that makes noise into a bucket of water to shut it up. The SimpliSafe base station won't be phoning anyone when stuffed in the microwave before its alarm goes off, and cameras are not going to help much when you capture a bunch of guys with hoodies and Guy Fawkes masks.
My alarm system is the old fashioned type. No remotes, no phone apps. Punch the code on the keypad to disarm, mash a button to arm. If needed, punch the code to disarm and the alarm disarms while silently using the cellular connection. The alarm box is not accessible by even me unless I want to spent ten minutes with power tools, and it has battery backup. If I want to open my safes, I enter another alarm code, otherwise, that goes off (and the switch that sets that off is part of the safe's lock, with no external contacts.)
When I'm on vacation, I arm it from the outside keypad, so there is no delay, and the monitoring place knows I'm gone, so they get the police over without waiting around.
Not 100%, but combined with basic physical security (multipoint deadbolts on doors, security film on window panes), it has done me well.
My alarm system is the old fashioned type. No remotes, no phone apps. Punch the code on the keypad to disarm, mash a button to arm. If needed, punch the code to disarm and the alarm disarms while silently using the cellular connection. The alarm box is not accessible by even me unless I want to spent ten minutes with power tools, and it has battery backup. If I want to open my safes, I enter another alarm code, otherwise, that goes off (and the switch that sets that off is part of the safe's lock, with no external contacts.)
When I'm on vacation, I arm it from the outside keypad, so there is no delay, and the monitoring place knows I'm gone, so they get the police over without waiting around.
Not 100%, but combined with basic physical security (multipoint deadbolts on doors, security film on window panes), it has done me well.
