My wife has been on me for years to get a security system, even though we live in a very quiet, low crime area.

There was an ad for a bunch of free shit plus they threw in a $100 gas card and $100 VISA card (a suckers negotiation tactic)... All in all, we'll get monitors for all entry doors, two motion detectors, keypad, battery backup, keychain arm/disarm... All wrireless and we pay just $99 for the install.

Unfortunately, the catch is there's a 36 month contract with this. Not all that happy and it's $35.99 a month.

Any experiences with ADT. I really don't want to do it, but already told my wife (big mistake), so I can't back out without getting lynched.

 

it would be nice if you were out of town a lot, but pretty worthless if your home IMO. Most of the time they have to call like 3 times before someone actually gets dispatched.

 

We have Siemens...We lived in our condo for over years without ever activating our system (it was built in with all the units)...Then, with the shit economy we had 3 break-ins in our building in one day. The builder got the security company to waive all activations for a month, so we went ahead and use ours now. Our monthly fee is part of our HoA anyway.

 

$35.99 per month is highway robbery. Mine is $20.00 per month and for what they do I think that's ridiculous.

 

Im in the same situation....Wife wants it too...I hated the one we had in the old place...

 

I'm pretty sure the wife will require one when we move to a house. The monthly fees are rediculous, but it might be a small price to keep the wife appeased.

 

How do these systems work with DSL. Do you just install a filter on its phone line?

 

Scribby here's the company I was talking about that I think is $26 a month.

http://www.guardianprotection.com/

http://www.guardianprotection.com/about/markets.aspx

 

Same here, but a much better investment is:

http://www.bigskyguns.com/Mossberg-M...t_In_Case.html


I love the smell of gun cleaning oil in the morning...

 

^^ That doesn't work if you're not home.

 

How about this?

 

We have ADT too and signed a 36-month contract when we had our house built last year. But we got free install and a bunch of freebies/extras and pay $30/month.

 

You should be able to add fire monitoring as well.

 

who cares what happens when your not home?

That is what insurance is for, they will replace all the stuff you care so dearly about. The only time I would be concerned with someone breaking in is if someone is in the house. Then at that time the little ADT sign and automated call to the police isn't going to do crap. By the time the cops arrive the guy already has you or your loved ones.

Everyone should learn to protect themselves and not rely on someone else because the odds are they won't be there when you need them

 

When our Brinks contract ends in June, we're getting rid of it. A $5 alarm from Radioshack will do the same thing that the monitored Brinks alarm will.

 

This is who I have. I got it for piece of mind with a new casino being built basically in my back yard, plus my fiance likes to have it set when she is home by herself. I got monitors on four windows, three doors, two keypads, and a fire alarm. Equipment + install was around $400. Monthly monitoring fee is $26.95.

And Yes Scrib, you need to install a filter on the phone line that goes into the Security System's control box. I had to get a special one from Verizon as the standard filters they supply free did not work. The connection was to small.

 

How about you just steal someone's ADT sign and stick it in front of your house?

 

I recently spent $8 for a Brinks sign and 5 stickers - I figure it has just about the same stopping power without the monthly fees!

 

We had Brinks and got everything for free when we built the house. Agreement was 3 years and we paid $37.99 month. We canceled it immediately when the contract expired since we armed it maybe 10 times over the 3 years.

Now we just use it as a local alarm so everything still works, but it just sets off a very loud interior alarm. There is no monitoring since we canceled.

Oh and we used it with Vonage via Cable modem... no problems...

 

Whoa whoa whoa. We have Brinks too. You mean after the monitoring service ended, you canceled, and the alarm still works, but it's just not being monitored?! If so, that's awesome.

 

I think that's how all alarms work. You're basically buying the system and hope you continue the monitoring service after the contract is up. If not they hope the next resident will.

 

Sonofamonkey turd.

 

Yup. When I called to cancel they just had me open the panel and remove the phone cord which connects to their service.... but everything else still works as normal, I'm just not connected to a central monitoring service anymore, so no more monthly fees.

 

And what happens if you don't disconnect the phone line?

 

Exactly what I did. Haven't had any problems!

 

That's what homeowners insurance is for.

Besides who goes anywhere these days with the economy in the tank? Staycations baby. Anyone attempting to break in at night when I'm home gonna get a face full of lead.

Rally 'round the family with a pocket full of shells...

 

I use Chubb Security...the ease of mind when I'm away is worth it, IMO.

 

spdy and Fib - that the most important thing is to keep the family safe, but there is more than just monetary loss if someone breaks in when you aren't home. It's bad enough when a car gets broken into, but when your home does, it's even worse.

 

check around for other local places rather then adt, it'll be cheaper. Some even use the same call centers. Like I posted above also though get the fire protection too. Insurance is great and all but if your house burns down there's plenty it can't replace.

 

You may want to call your insurance agent when you get a chance, many times if you have an alarm, you will get a discount on your premium. That is the only reason my parents installed an alarm and they NEVER use the thing...

 

That is exactly what we do, the alarm still works perfectly, it just does not notify anyone if it goes off... We have/had ADT

 

Are you a USAA member? If so, you can get a discount on all the ADT stuff.

The biggest thing to remember is that it only works if you turn it on. Some folks are good about that-but a lot of folks never turn it on.

 

But a 75lb German Shepherd does.

 

But a security system doesn't chew your shoes or need to go for a walk to piss and crap.

 

its a peace of mind thing imo...

We've got adt, they have responded immediately the times the alarm has gone off, and the alarm is louder then shit!!! Personally, my firearm makes me feel more secure then an alarm would, especially considering the super slow police response time


if you're paying extra for "patrol" DONT , i havent seen an adt patrol car EVER in my neighborhood

 

Never chewed my shoes, cell phone once, but it was in a leather case. The piss and crapping is worth having people shit themselves when they knock on the door. He one guy selling firewood knock on the door, as soon as he heard the dog, he jumped off of the steps and moved about 10 ft away from the door. When I opened the door to ask him what he wanted, all he could do was look behind me at her trying to see who was outside.

 

Since the monitoring service is canceled from their end, you get a communications error on the keypad which generates a loud annoying beep from the keypad every 45 seconds or so.

 

I was being facetious.

 

They got her with all the break in commericials on TV, eh ?? Fuckers play on people's fear...

I've got a local alarm, but I never set it... I live in a nice suburban town with a low crime rate, so I don't even lock the doors when I run out for a quick errand sometime...

I'd feel differently if I was in the city.... then I'd want a monitored system...

 

No change... Just going to have it done, nod my head and continue to say "Yes, Dear".