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Home security

·2 mins

I recently improved security at my home after a break-in. Here are key takeaways I can share for those who’d like to do something similar.

There are 2 main parts:

  1. Professional monitoring:
    1. Things to understand:
      1. Whether you use Ring, ADT or something else, they are just a “frontend” company. The “backend”, i.e. the actual professional monitoring, is powered by a small number of companies. Out of those, alarm.com is one of the better ones but you can’t buy from it directly - you need to go through a “frontend” service.
      2. You just need sensors and likely a hub - no cameras. (See note below.)
    2. I went with Surety as a alarm.com frontend.
      1. I didn’t go with Ring as they are a closed ecosystem, whereas Surety allows you to use products from multiple brands. See this.
      2. ADT also uses alarm.com but didn’t go with them as Surety is cheaper and doesn’t have long-term contracts like ADT.
    3. Things you can buy from Surety. (Note that you’ll need to install these yourselves, and that’s easy, or call a handyman.)
      1. Panel.
      2. Motion sensors - they have solid range, so you don’t need too many. However, the number you need will depend on your house’s layout.
      3. Door/window sensors.
      4. Smart locks.
      5. Carbon monoxide detector - highly recommend this, as I’ve heard cases where people died in their sleep because CO is odorless. If you connect a smart one with Surety, it’ll call the fire department on your behalf if needed.
  2. Cameras:
    1. Things to understand:
      1. PoE (== power over Ethernet) cameras are best because they protect against wi-fi jamming and keep traffic off of your wi-fi. However, they are hard to install yourself (because you need to run Ethernet wires from one place in your house to all the camera installation points, through your walls). In fact, I called a handyman who looked at my home and told me the work will be too difficult for him. However, if you can make it work, Reolink is a really good brand - just buy 1 NVR and as many PoE cameras as you need.
      2. If not PoE, Wyze is good and cheap. Get the ones that support SD cards for local recording.
      3. In my opinion, you shouldn’t rely on cameras for professional monitoring. A camera can only tell you that someone is there, it can’t tell you that no one is there. So, best to just rely on sensors. If that leads to a few false positives, so be it.
    2. Consider buying:
      1. A hardwired floodlight camera outside on your driveway, such as this one.