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>All the awesome functionality for $0/mo. Except the time it took you to research, install, validate it's running, and do general upkeep. Also doesn't help you

>All the awesome functionality for $0/mo. Except the time it took you to research, install, validate it's running, and do general upkeep. Also doesn't help you if you're on vacation with limited internet service.

pc86 6y ago
And most importantly, the fact that you have to respond even with your own monitoring. That's most of what you pay ADT for. If they get a ping, they call you. If they can't get in touch with you, they dispatch the relevant people. Yes you can set this up yourself (and spend a lot more on the hardware, which they generally give to you pretty cheaply or even "free" because you're signing a contract) but when you go hiking in the mountains and someone uses your Facebook posts as a cue that you're out of town, you're SOL. Don't get me wrong I love looking at all the home security stuff you can do, and it does indeed sound like a neat project. But you're really paying these companies for monitoring and automatic (human) response, not the security systems themselves.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  > And most importantly, the fact that you have to respond even with your own monitoring. So true, my dad has a monitoring system he built and he constantly looks at his phone as a deer or bear or something triggers it. I'd imagine the lost productivity for people who depend on the flow for work would be immense.
abstractbarista 6y ago
Of course, a very good point. For me it's a hobby which I enjoy. In an area without Internet service, for me, it is common to miss calls as well. Plus, from personal experience, the security company will not notify law enforcement until they have called you to confirm it is not a false-positive alarm. In my case, before the alarm goes off due to a forced entry, I will have automatically received notifications with snapshots of people around my property. Even if the security company had called immediately, a response would take >10 minutes. So I just self-monitor. Overall, with home security you basically just want to be a more annoying, harder target than your closest neighbors. It's sad but true.
bluedays 6y ago
Contrast that with all of the labor required to pay for the security system and it seems that you still come out ahead
- marcinzm 6y ago
  For the average computer programmer it comes out to around an hour of labor per month. Two if you get the fancy security package. Security equipment is generally free with the monthly subscription.
  - j88439h84 6y ago
    That's a surprisingly large amount of work, what is involved?

pc86 6y ago

And most importantly, the fact that you have to respond even with your own monitoring. That's most of what you pay ADT for. If they get a ping, they call you. If they can't get in touch with you, they dispatch the relevant people. Yes you can set this up yourself (and spend a lot more on the hardware, which they generally give to you pretty cheaply or even "free" because you're signing a contract) but when you go hiking in the mountains and someone uses your Facebook posts as a cue that you're out of town, you're SOL. Don't get me wrong I love looking at all the home security stuff you can do, and it does indeed sound like a neat project. But you're really paying these companies for monitoring and automatic (human) response, not the security systems themselves.

marcinzm 6y ago
> And most importantly, the fact that you have to respond even with your own monitoring. So true, my dad has a monitoring system he built and he constantly looks at his phone as a deer or bear or something triggers it. I'd imagine the lost productivity for people who depend on the flow for work would be immense.

abstractbarista 6y ago

Of course, a very good point. For me it's a hobby which I enjoy. In an area without Internet service, for me, it is common to miss calls as well. Plus, from personal experience, the security company will not notify law enforcement until they have called you to confirm it is not a false-positive alarm. In my case, before the alarm goes off due to a forced entry, I will have automatically received notifications with snapshots of people around my property. Even if the security company had called immediately, a response would take >10 minutes. So I just self-monitor. Overall, with home security you basically just want to be a more annoying, harder target than your closest neighbors. It's sad but true.

bluedays 6y ago

Contrast that with all of the labor required to pay for the security system and it seems that you still come out ahead

marcinzm 6y ago
For the average computer programmer it comes out to around an hour of labor per month. Two if you get the fancy security package. Security equipment is generally free with the monthly subscription.
- j88439h84 6y ago
  That's a surprisingly large amount of work, what is involved?