DIY Home Security Systems?

[d-dave]

For a long time, we've had CPI, despite knowing they were more expensive than some of the newer systems.  We liked how it just worked and was pretty consistent.  Well, now we're running out of patience.  It took them two weeks to find an appointment to come and fix our panel's radio, which require a new one.  Then they didn't properly run power and the board is dead.  Now we have to wait another week before we can even be worked in.

So instead of sitting on my hands, I'm looking around at some of the DIY systems that offer live monitoring. Do y'all have any experience with things like Ring, Safelite, Abode or any of them?

I tried to call ADT, but I'm not going to sit on hold for a sales call to get a quote.  

[Happy Panther]

We have ring. My wife set everything up but it was pretty easy.

[Captroop]

Ring. Arlo. Blink. There's lots of DIY security systems on the market these days that are very affordable. We use one and it's great for peace of mind. I get an alert on my phone in real time anytime there's movement detected around my house and I can check it out with a live camera. All clips are recorded and automatically backed up to the cloud, so if I ever see something suspicious later when I'm viewing the recordings, I can download it and share it (hasn't happened yet, except to document the neighborhood strays). And best of all, the cameras have on-board speakers, so even when I was in Vegas, I was able to harass my wife while she was gardening 2,000 miles away.

I don't know why anyone would use a conventional security system anymore. Nothing like getting home from stressful travel and having to sprint to the keypad to enter my code so the cops don't show up.

[PanthersATL]

[LinvilleGorge]

I have a Rottweiler, a pitbull, a lot of guns, can't see my nearest neighbor's house, and have a quarter mile long driveway. Not recommended coming up here uninvited.

[d-dave]

Thanks for the input.  @LinvilleGorge, I have two dogs(pit and a boxer mix) who lose their bananas anytime someone comes to the door, a cat walks near the house, and anytime FedEx or UPS deliver.  Amazon drivers are ninjas to them.  I'm not super worried when we're at home thanks to those two!

I think I'm leaning towards SimpliSafe as it seems to have the best options for us regarding price, quality, and service.

[Zod]

I got a 5 pack of those Blink cameras from Amazon and love them. Two years batter life and you can easily put them anywhere

[therealmjl]

I use Abode and have been really pleased with it. 

That and a couple of Nest outdoor cameras have worked well.

[therealmjl]

I've also configured my Abode system to run through an IFTTT applet with noonlight that will result in a live person calling me at any point in the event the alarm was triggered. So essentially, it's being monitored for free.

[therealmjl]

and if the alarm goes off, all of my hue lights flash frantically in an attempt to cause said intruder to have a panic attack.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 hour ago, therealmjl said:

and if the alarm goes off, all of my hue lights flash frantically in an attempt to cause said intruder to have a panic attack.

Me coming home baked as fug on Halloween and triggering my own alarm system