Any Of You Guys Using ADT or Any Type of Home Security?

[slow&rusty]

Just curious what you guys are using and also the annual cost, also did your home isurance go down?

Thanks- Yasin

[Joeaksa]

ADT here and it did reduce my insurance a bit.

To tell the truth I am over the contract limit time and looking around for other options. ADT charges something like $30 a month and would like to find someone who would be a bit cheaper.

[Nathans_Dad]

We use ADT, I think it's about $30 a month and yes it reduces your insurance.

One catch though, I think there is something about if you have a home security system and you get robbed, if your system was not on the insurance company may balk at paying.

[azasadny]

We had ADT several years ago and the alarm maintenance/monitoring was outsourced to a company in Mexico and the people on the phone couldn't understand or speak English. As soon as the contract was up, we cancelled the service and ripped out the alarm system.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by azasadny

We had ADT several years ago and the alarm maintenance/monitoring was outsourced to a company in Mexico and the people on the phone couldn't understand or speak English. As soon as the contract was up, we cancelled the service and ripped out the alarm system.

The thing is, even without monitoring, the alarm system is still worth having in the house and operational. If someone kicks in the door, or breaks in while you are gone, the siren will go off and would hope that it makes the perp flee, or the neighbours will look and do something (they would in my area) to the perp.

My big deal is that if I am out traveling and someone breaks in, or there is a short in the wiring somewhere and it catches fire, I want the monitoring company to call someone before it burns down. The day to day monitoring for someone breaking in, especially while I am at home, is not that big a deal for me.

[imcarthur]

ADT up here in the frozen North. Call centre is in Calgary for us. I travel a lot & the $30/mnth is well worth it for the piece of mind it gives my SO.

Just replaced the battery after 8 yrs or so.

Ian

[red-beard]

We switched from ADT to our local cable company (Time Warner, now Comcast) for the monitoring. It dropped from $30 to $11/month. The monitoring is local. We do get a discount on our home insurance, and at this monitoring price, it just about covers the monitoring.

[imcarthur]

I guess the other obvious question is:

What happened when you had an alarm & how fast?

We have had only one: The front door wasn't latched properly & the wind blew it open enough to trigger it as we drove away. Within 5-10 minutes the cops were there ready for a fight. We got a bill for $90 or something.

Ian

[red-beard]

We've only had one alarm, and that was caused by the CAT. We had the alarm set for "no occupants" and the cat set off the motion detector. The motion detector is supposed to not be set off by pets. Cat must have jumped on the table. Anyway, when we leave, we have it now set to disable the motion sensor, unless we are out of town and the cat is somewhere else.

Police showed up, according to neighbors and the alarm company phoned us. They remotely shutdown the internal sensor.

[dhoward]

ADT customer for 5 years. As Joe said, I rely on it more for fire than burglary. I recently called them up, because I think after 5 years I deserve a system upgrade. Guy came out two weeks ago. I told him right up front "this is a customer retention issue", Rates went up to 32 bucks a few months back. Told him I wanted touch-panel and a couple of more sensors. Haven't heard back. There are better deals for monitoring out there. I get a 20% insurance reduction...

[MBAtarga]

Protection One, $19.95/month

[oldE]

In-laws had a system by ADT, with a couple of sensor position and a telephone interference issue. It came to an end when the system went off while they were away and my wife got a call from the alarm company to go and check it out. She was NOT impressed.
When her folks got back and heard what had happened, the system came out.

Les

[pwd72s]

A local alarm company...call center up in Portland. Might cost a bit more than ADT...but I like the local connection, plus the install involved some non standard stuff...

[Scott R]

Brinks, police were here in 90 or so seconds last time I tripped it and could not remember the password.

[JavaBrewer]

ADT for the last 10 or so years. Like others the $30/mo is cheap for peace of mind for the wife when I'm on travel. It also helps keep track of our kids as the keypad will announce opening doors/windows by location name. We had one false alarm 3 years ago and the Police were here in ~ 3 minutes.

[lendaddy]

I would think a cellular based system that links live video to a smart phone would be killer.

No monitoring fees or any other crap, if a sensor goes off you get a call w/live video feeds. If it's legit YOU call the police, if not you reset the system or whatever remotely.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I would think a cellular based system that links live video to a smart phone would be killer.

No monitoring fees or any other crap, if a sensor goes off you get a call w/live video feeds. If it's legit YOU call the police, if not you reset the system or whatever remotely.

Interesting enough, I tested this theory, I called in and waited on hold, Brinks does not. The police that showed up looked like para-military troopers with very large guns.

[syncroid]

I have ADT here as well. I got it through my insurance company (USAA) because they offered a discount for the service. I don't remember what the discounted rate is though. No complaints so far. I have had only one false alarm and that was the second day we had it. The dog did a body slam against the back door and set it off. I had the sensor moved to the hinged side of the door and haven' t had a false alarm since. I think our dog is a bigger deterrent to "would be" burglars then the alarm itself. I like the fire alarm and flooded basement features the best.

[tabs]

I use a home security service called Smith & Wesson. It is their preimier 44 magnum service.

[berettafan]

What did you guys spend on install?