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I'm definitely among the unwilling. I'm using nest secure now, anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? At least they aren't killing my smoke alarms, th

I'm definitely among the unwilling. I'm using nest secure now, anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? At least they aren't killing my smoke alarms, though, they still can't automatically dispatch fire/police if there is smoke/fire, though they will dispatch if an alarm is triggered.

kotaKat 4y ago
Personally if I have to go into an 'alarm' ecosystem I'd go with Alarm.com if you're serious about paying for monitoring. My favorite vendor is https://suretyhome.com/ https://suretyhome.com/ - they have reasonable costs to get an alarm panel running with monitoring and all the normal integrations. (I personally use an older Honeywell Vista security system that's been integrated into ADC via a communicator. The sky's the limit!)
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  Is alarm.com just a vendor for other providers like Brinks?
  - kotaKat 4y ago
    They do, yes. Some equipment Brinks and ADT sells also is part of the ADC ecosystem, but is restricted to only those vendors. Any other alarm.com gear is generally fair game as long as it's been released from any account it's on from any monitoring company.
- throwaway19423 4y ago
  I am effectively a customer of alarm.com but not sure how. They seem to be a bundler or backend provider (sort of like a service OEM) for various branded alarm systems. Is there any technical material that explains what they do, and provides more visibility into the ecosystem?
azinman2 4y ago
I’m surprised this space isn’t better disrupted. They all aren’t that great, even the new comers. Either they don’t have wide product coverage, only work with certain assistants / apps, are ugly, terrible UX, etc. As much as I don’t think it’s that great, Ring seems to be the best of the bunch now.
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  It’s a good enough product with recurring subscription revenue. There’s zero reason to innovate. Everything is a cost, and it’s unclear that customers actually want “better”.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  Security and more importantly Fire Alarm has ALOT more regulations and liablity than just a simple Automation to turn on the lights... That is why you do not see as much activity in Security or Fire Alarms as you to other Home Automation, and most likely why Google went with ADT instead of rolling their own with Nest... Someone in legal look at that and said "Yea lets let ADT lawyers deal with that"
  - azinman2 4y ago
    Ring offers this, and my understanding was previously Nest did too? I don’t think it’s as big a legal minefield as you suggest. You just need the right integrations in place, and as you said, figure out the regulations (often at a county level). But it’d a solvable problem. My guess is that this business is very sticky so it’s hard to get new people started… plus you’re making a lot of SKUs in hardware that you need to keep in inventory, software up to date, once you buy the hardware you don’t upgrade it, it’s not very sexy, etc.
    - phpisthebest 4y ago
      >>I don’t think it’s as big a legal minefield as you suggest. That minefield is a 3 legged stool 1. Actual Legal Liability 2. Perceived Legal Liability 3. PR Liability around the law / legal system #1 is probably not very big, however if you put a smoke alarm in someones home that does not work correctly or perceived to not work correctly and your a name like Google that the media loves to report on... well #2 and #3 become HUGE. law suits will be filled, and even if you "win" in actual court, the court of public opinion will not be favorable
zacharyvoase 4y ago
Fortunately I never had to rely on it, but Simplisafe was super easy to set up, and had a nice app/interface/customer support.
WirelessGigabit 4y ago
I wonder how many false alarms the fire department would get if they get dispatched every time a smoke alarm goes off. And I'm one of the guilty ones. Well, the apartment I live at is. Its range hood is one of those things that even after putting in brand new filters and extensive cleaning barely performs better as one of those fake ones at Ikea. Same with the bathroom fan. When you turn it on it's loud, but it just circulates air. So I open the door. But that sets of the smoke alarm in the hallway...
- dylan604 4y ago
  What are you doing in the bathroom that sets off a smoke alarm?
  - WirelessGigabit 4y ago
    Hot shower = steam, which triggers a smoke detector! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAeaIcAXtg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAeaIcAXtg
phpisthebest 4y ago
Roll your own Self Hosted Solution, Either Buy DSC Wired Gear yourself[1] and install it (hard) or do a "less secure" wireless system using HomeAssistance and Zigbee or Zwave devices. [1]https://www.level1techs.com/video/better-iot-dsc-alarms-whome-assistant-home-automation https://www.level1techs.com/video/better-iot-dsc-alarms-whom...
- kotaKat 4y ago
  Don't forget you can add an AlarmDecoder to a DSC (or Honeywell Vista) system! https://www.alarmdecoder.com/ https://www.alarmdecoder.com/ It basically sits on the keypad bus of the system and emulates a normal keypad, so you can integrate it into whatever applications you want like HomeKit, or as my colleagues did, a fully homespun bespoke home automation suite in .NET.
  - thedougd 4y ago
    DSC has a serial port option that accepts all their commands and offers virtual keypad functions. There are also third party option networked options that speak the same protocol.
- thedougd 4y ago
  I highly recommend Alarm Relay for monitoring a traditional system. $120 a year or so.

kotaKat 4y ago

Personally if I have to go into an 'alarm' ecosystem I'd go with Alarm.com if you're serious about paying for monitoring. My favorite vendor is https://suretyhome.com/ https://suretyhome.com/ - they have reasonable costs to get an alarm panel running with monitoring and all the normal integrations. (I personally use an older Honeywell Vista security system that's been integrated into ADC via a communicator. The sky's the limit!)

jonathankoren 4y ago
Is alarm.com just a vendor for other providers like Brinks?
- kotaKat 4y ago
  They do, yes. Some equipment Brinks and ADT sells also is part of the ADC ecosystem, but is restricted to only those vendors. Any other alarm.com gear is generally fair game as long as it's been released from any account it's on from any monitoring company.
throwaway19423 4y ago
I am effectively a customer of alarm.com but not sure how. They seem to be a bundler or backend provider (sort of like a service OEM) for various branded alarm systems. Is there any technical material that explains what they do, and provides more visibility into the ecosystem?

azinman2 4y ago

I’m surprised this space isn’t better disrupted. They all aren’t that great, even the new comers. Either they don’t have wide product coverage, only work with certain assistants / apps, are ugly, terrible UX, etc. As much as I don’t think it’s that great, Ring seems to be the best of the bunch now.

jonathankoren 4y ago
It’s a good enough product with recurring subscription revenue. There’s zero reason to innovate. Everything is a cost, and it’s unclear that customers actually want “better”.
phpisthebest 4y ago
Security and more importantly Fire Alarm has ALOT more regulations and liablity than just a simple Automation to turn on the lights... That is why you do not see as much activity in Security or Fire Alarms as you to other Home Automation, and most likely why Google went with ADT instead of rolling their own with Nest... Someone in legal look at that and said "Yea lets let ADT lawyers deal with that"
- azinman2 4y ago
  Ring offers this, and my understanding was previously Nest did too? I don’t think it’s as big a legal minefield as you suggest. You just need the right integrations in place, and as you said, figure out the regulations (often at a county level). But it’d a solvable problem. My guess is that this business is very sticky so it’s hard to get new people started… plus you’re making a lot of SKUs in hardware that you need to keep in inventory, software up to date, once you buy the hardware you don’t upgrade it, it’s not very sexy, etc.
  - phpisthebest 4y ago
    >>I don’t think it’s as big a legal minefield as you suggest. That minefield is a 3 legged stool 1. Actual Legal Liability 2. Perceived Legal Liability 3. PR Liability around the law / legal system #1 is probably not very big, however if you put a smoke alarm in someones home that does not work correctly or perceived to not work correctly and your a name like Google that the media loves to report on... well #2 and #3 become HUGE. law suits will be filled, and even if you "win" in actual court, the court of public opinion will not be favorable

zacharyvoase 4y ago

Fortunately I never had to rely on it, but Simplisafe was super easy to set up, and had a nice app/interface/customer support.

WirelessGigabit 4y ago

I wonder how many false alarms the fire department would get if they get dispatched every time a smoke alarm goes off. And I'm one of the guilty ones. Well, the apartment I live at is. Its range hood is one of those things that even after putting in brand new filters and extensive cleaning barely performs better as one of those fake ones at Ikea. Same with the bathroom fan. When you turn it on it's loud, but it just circulates air. So I open the door. But that sets of the smoke alarm in the hallway...

dylan604 4y ago
What are you doing in the bathroom that sets off a smoke alarm?
- WirelessGigabit 4y ago
  Hot shower = steam, which triggers a smoke detector! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAeaIcAXtg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuAeaIcAXtg

phpisthebest 4y ago

Roll your own Self Hosted Solution, Either Buy DSC Wired Gear yourself[1] and install it (hard) or do a "less secure" wireless system using HomeAssistance and Zigbee or Zwave devices. [1]https://www.level1techs.com/video/better-iot-dsc-alarms-whome-assistant-home-automation https://www.level1techs.com/video/better-iot-dsc-alarms-whom...

kotaKat 4y ago
Don't forget you can add an AlarmDecoder to a DSC (or Honeywell Vista) system! https://www.alarmdecoder.com/ https://www.alarmdecoder.com/ It basically sits on the keypad bus of the system and emulates a normal keypad, so you can integrate it into whatever applications you want like HomeKit, or as my colleagues did, a fully homespun bespoke home automation suite in .NET.
- thedougd 4y ago
  DSC has a serial port option that accepts all their commands and offers virtual keypad functions. There are also third party option networked options that speak the same protocol.
thedougd 4y ago
I highly recommend Alarm Relay for monitoring a traditional system. $120 a year or so.