When considering security for your home or office, it’s easy to get bogged down in decisions. Wireless or wired? 24/7 monitoring or self-monitoring? How many sensors? What brand of system? We’re here to help you sort through the noise and determine what matters and what we recommend.
The first decision you’ll have to make is if you want your security system to be produced, installed, and managed by a single company. This is the traditional way of doing security, through major providers like ADT, CPI, Brinks, Vivint, and many more. The benefit of these companies is an all-in-one solution at a single price. The downsides are a typically higher cost, limited product selection, and reliance on a single company. If you’re reading this, you probably aren’t considering a system like this; you want to have some more options.
The systems we prefer and recommend are modern and more user-friendly. You may have heard of some of them: Ring, Google Nest, SimpliSafe, Wyze, and more. These brands have stormed the security industry with simple, easy-to-use, cheap security systems that you can set up yourself in minutes. There are even providers that only provide security cameras, like Arlo, Eufy, and more.
As you can tell, there are many brands and products to choose from, and that is always the most difficult part of getting a new security system. If you want a Ring doorbell, Arlo spotlight camera, and SimpliSafe intrusion detection, you may not enjoy your security as much as you may think.
Here are our Steps to Success for choosing a DIY security system:
1. Determine if you want cameras
Most users want cameras, which takes us to Step 2. If you don’t want cameras, then you won’t run into many compatibility issues. We can quickly pick a security brand with the sensors you want, and the installation will be a breeze. An inexpensive security solution for both new and existing homes.
2. Determine if you’re OK with multiple apps or if you want a single app
Most homeowners want a single app, which is our bread-and-butter. We pick a provider that has ALL of the components you want: cameras, sensors, alarms, keypads, 24/7 monitoring, etc. Most providers specialize in only a few of those, but Ring, Wyze, and Blue by ADT provide complete systems. Ring is by far our favorite for a wide product range, low monitoring fees, and a world-class app. If two apps are OK with you, we’re on to Step 3.
3. Pick a camera provider and pick an intrusion provider, and hopefully they play nicely together
Cameras and intrusion security are usually the divide between security companies. For example, homeowners love Ring security systems (and we do too!), but Arlo has the best smart cameras out there, while allowing local microSD recording (aka free recording). Trying to piece together an Arlo or Google camera system to work with a Ring Doorbell will be a challenge (if not a waste of time) since Google and Amazon don’t like each other.
In the end, you may have an app for your intrusion security and another app for your cameras, which may be just fine for some homeowners. If you want those two systems to trigger each other, we may have to get into some special IFTTT commands or use brands that work well together.
With our database of compatibilities, features, and specifications, we can easily find the best security solution for your needs, so it works the first time.
Comments