Simplisafe2 Wireless Home Security Starter Pack

Yes, please make your spreadsheet public. I’m trying to decided on this product or ADT or the multitude of others out there. Thanks.

Do you really want a sign in front of your house that says you have a DIY home alarm system?

I wouldn’t put a sign in my yard unless it was a generic sign, or one from another company. And you install it yourself, but it functions the same as any other system. A recent ADT system installed at a family member’s house had very similar wireless sensors installed.

Concerning the signs in front of the house…

eBay has ADT signs for sale. Throw one or some of them up on the windows/yard/etc and then use SimpliSafe.

After installing and using our SimpliSafe2 system purchased from Woot! last November, we’re quite satisfied.

Installation was a breeze, basic monitoring is only $15/month, it’s extremely expandable and configurable and, it even qualified for a discount on our homeowners insurance.

My only complaint is that their so-called “window decals” are in fact just stickers. Instead of mounting on the inside of the glass (facing out), theirs are made to stick on the outside. Maybe that’s to accommodate apartment dwellers who wish to put them on windowless doors.

At $280, this system is a great value if you need the siren ($60), smoke detector ($30), and yard sign ($4); adding them to my $200 system would bring my total cost to $294.

This seems like a pretty good deal. But I would look at other options that don’t have vendor lock-in and possible range issues.

Z-wave is an open standard, and it’s a mesh network, so your devices only have to be in range of another device, not the base. You can mix and match vendors, and the prices are completely reasonable.

The only reason you might want to pick something like this instead is if you’re less technically inclined and you want the customer support from a single vendor.

The statement about getting 10% off on the purchase of additional sensors is NOT true. I tried to do just that and was told the discount applies only to system packages!

Good to know!

Da-daaa!

Input areas are in green - you can put in how many of each sensor you want and it’ll tell you the best deal available, and how many extra you need to buy with it.

Today’s Woot deal is actually a Classic pack, not a starter, according to the SimpliSafe site… . but whatever.

If any of my line items are wrong please let me know and I’ll update the protected areas of the sheet.

Also - as it’s a shared sheet y’all will be competing to put in your own values - if someone else is editing the sheet at the same time then go get a coffee, or copy the sheet into your own Google Drive to work on it.

Edit to add: AngiesList also has two package deals - they’re on the sheet. I didn’t find them to be better value than the refurbs though. We got a refurb and there was no indication of any wear on it anywhere.

Paul, thank you muchly.

Do you know of any services providing monitoring and police callout with a ‘mix-n-match’ Z-Wave system? I had considered going this route but didn’t find anyone with a reasonable monitoring service. I also decided I didn’t really need the extra benefits of Z-Wave (e.g. connecting to home automation etc.) - but YMMV of course.

Will this system alert (with a chime) when a door/window/zone is opened while the home is occupied?

Perhaps I’m not wording my search correctly, but I can’t seem to find whether this system does what my antiquated, current alarm system does - let me know (while I’m in the home) if someone opened a door, or window WITHOUT setting off the full-blown alarm…

Is this called a “chime” in security-speak, and if so, is the chime through the main alarm horn where it’s loud enough to hear from a reasonable range?

Cool sheet. Spooky motion entanglements.

I turned it ‘off’ in the settings, but it can release a chime(chirp) when a door or window is opened/closed when NOT armed at all in either home or away mode. I am almost certain it will not chime if motion is detected via a motion detector when unarmed, and that cannot be turned on. It will while in test mode, but that’s only for testing to make sure you have the motion sensor in a good area, proper angle etc after installing.

If you set it to ‘HOME’ and not ‘AWAY’ it will set the alarm off if a door or window is opened. For HOME it activates the window/door sensors (with the magnet) but not the motion sensors. For AWAY it activates the door/window sensors and the motion ones as well.

Thanks :slight_smile: Sadly I’ve gone from being a ‘real’ programmer to being an Excel jockey at work, so this kinda stuff comes naturally now.

Can you control the system with an app?

Thanks

There is an upgraded monitoring package that enables remote control of your system via a cell phone. I didn’t opt for that. I think the monthly fee is $32 vs. the $14.99 for basic monitoring.

I purchased and installed this system with some additional sensors in our home back in September.

The positives:
This system is extremely affordable and easy to install.
Monthly monitoring costs are minimal
The android smartphone app allows you to arm and disarm the system easily and the keychain remotes work well too.

The Negatives:
The support as previously mentioned is strictly mon-fri from 9am till 6pm. If you have an issue with your system after 6pm on a friday its basically down all weekend.

On a side note this systems water sensor saved my home from a flood and electrical fire just over two months ago.
Our boiler blew and started gushing water all over my basement and very close to my electrical panel.
The water sensor that I installed at the base of the boiler set off my alarm system about 30 seconds after the leak started and the monitoring sensor was on the phone with me 30 seconds later.

Had the alarm not gone off I likely would have slept through it and woke up to a flooded basement and or fire.

This system works well and is extremely easy to setup. I highly recommend it and at this price its a steal.

I have one. I did the installation. I had no idea what I was doing and was able to do the job in 2 hours. If I did it now, it would take about 45 minutes. I’ve expanded it once for additional entry monitoring and to add remotes. Plus I’ve customized my monitoring so that going in/out of the garage while the system is in home mode doesn’t trigger an alert. For the money, I think it is a best value.

Anybody know the temperature (hot/cold) limitations for the Entry Sensors?
I have an unattached garage and shed and would like to put them on the entrance doors…

Anybody that considered this or bought, looked in this one? http://www.frontpointsecurity.com/

I think it’s very similar. Wanted to hear a comparison.