Home security system

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mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Home security system

Post by mindehankins »

Does anyone have any advice to share about home security monitoring? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share publicly.

Sometime between Sunday night and Tuesday night, someone tried to break into our home. I don't know if the dogs scared them off, or I started moving around (incurable insomniac), or if they were testing to see if our security system worked.

We bought this home in April 2010. The security system (DFT) was already installed but we never activated it. It includes interior motion detectors and with our three young adults coming and going all day and night, we thought it too much trouble. We thought it could be turned on instantaneously, when we called them after the police were at the house on Wednesday, but apparently we have to wait for an appointment. I have two companies coming, thus far. Would love to hear your experience with various companies and systems.

Yes, we've already beefed up lighting and locks, and replaced the window broken (over a doorknob type lock) with plexiglass.
bdkane
Posts: 363
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:48 am
Location: Long Island, NY

Post by bdkane »

I had someone "visiting" my shed uninvited, what I found to work well is a simple Hi decibel door alarm, they get scared and run! cheap and effective. Put them at any entry points.

That being said... trying to get into my home is a whole different story, Id use a Mossberg 500 tactical cruiser :shock: ,

A nice comfy chair and the Mossberg would serve you better.

Good luck!
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waterguy
Posts: 4307
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Green Bay ,WI

Post by waterguy »

Working of the slide of a pump shot gun will make most crooks wet their pants. I like a hand gun with a large capacity mags as a back up.
mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Post by mindehankins »

Well...those ideas would be great if we had heard the breaking glass, but we didn't. I'm looking for something to make alot of noise and call the police.
There was a burglary in this house, a couple of years before we bought it, so I guess we should have realized this was a possibility! We were used to living waayyy out in the country, where nothing "interesting" happened.
Connie
Posts: 1940
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:20 pm
Location: Philly burbs

Post by Connie »

So sorry Minde. That must be really scary.

I don't have anything to offer at all, but good luck!
"Paradise...it's a state of mine"
LauraD
Posts: 204
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:41 pm
Location: Edegewater, Florida

Post by LauraD »

I also have the high decible door alarms, but my Rotties are the best deterant. When I first moved into my house years ago somebody tried to come in during the night twice. The first time my GSD damn near went thru the sliding glass door, the second time the guy ran in to my backyard when he heard my Rottie rumble, Tyson ended up tagging the guy pretty good, 106 stitches good. Have not had a problem in 20 years since. Laura 8)
You must be the change you want to see in the world
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Lulu76
Posts: 2310
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: Tennessee

Post by Lulu76 »

A dog is a pretty good security system.

Both my house I'm in now and the house I was in before had security monitoring. Here I have door alerts, motion detectors and glass breakage on the back of the house. My house came hardwired with the system, but I did have to pick a company. When I moved here we had Brinks, which got purchased by ADT. I had ADT at my old house, too. They are great, but they are a little pricy and their system is proprietary (meaning that if you want to go to a new service you need all new equipment.)

After a lot of research, I decided to go with a local company here in Nashville. However, their website says they do nationwide monitoring, so they might be worth looking into. I LOVE them. www.adssecurity.com

If you can find a good reputable local company, that's what I would do. It gives me more piece of mind knowing someone who knows my neighborhood is monitoring my house.
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