Home monitoring alternatives?

[WolfR1der]

Hi,

I found this great forum a while ago and based on reading here have started looking into Amcrest cameras for the home. However I would also like something that's monitored and capable of calling police if a monitor is tripped. We currently have Xfinity but I want to get away from them. I was considering Ring since they support ONVIF however it would appear that they only support 1080p camera resolution. Some of the Amcrest cameras I was considering were 4k with 3.6mm lenses for better video quality. This obviously won't work well or at all with Ring.

Does anyone know of alternative companies that support full security features (door/window sensors, cameras, motion sensors, etc) that will also support higher or full resolution for cameras that are capable of greater than 1080? Or perhaps alternative/hybrid setups that still support something like Ring that can notify authorities if necessary.

 

[wittaj]

The amcrest 4k would not be better quality as they shove 4k on a sensor designed for 2MP so a native 2MP camera will actually outperform it at night.

For monitoring purposes, 2MP along with an active security system is more than sufficient.

 

[WolfR1der]

Thanks for the info. That's good to know. Will help save money not buying an underused sensor.

 

[bigredfish]

Simply Safe

 

[samplenhold]

Check out Wyze cams. They can be monitored for a fee. While most of us here would say that security systems should not be WIFI, it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. I have three Wyze cams in my motorcoach for when it is at the storage yard. It works fine for that purpose.

At my home I do not use WIFI cams for mission critical uses. I only use hard wired cams for that.

 

[ronajohnson]

I’ve tried a few different ways to keep tabs on my home’s energy usage. Smart plugs are an easy start if you only want to track a single appliance. But if you need a full picture of everything at once, a whole-house monitor is the way to go.

I’ve been using the PowerPal Monitoring Device. It was super simple to install and gives me real-time info on my entire home’s consumption right on my phone.
It helped me figure out which appliances were driving up my bill so I could make small changes (like running the dishwasher at off-peak times) to save money.
If you want a no-fuss setup that covers all your energy use, I definitely recommend checking it out!

 

[wittaj]

I’ve tried a few different ways to keep tabs on my home’s energy usage. Smart plugs are an easy start if you only want to track a single appliance. But if you need a full picture of everything at once, a whole-house monitor is the way to go.

I’ve been using the PowerPal Monitoring Device. It was super simple to install and gives me real-time info on my entire home’s consumption right on my phone.
It helped me figure out which appliances were driving up my bill so I could make small changes (like running the dishwasher at off-peak times) to save money.
If you want a no-fuss setup that covers all your energy use, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Bot or seller?

 

[bigredfish]

Seller I think. Name and company

 

[Alaska Country]

A bit on the high side for pricing. There are other alternatives in the smart plug arena in the $8 to 10 range. For whole house mentoring one of the better devices is the IoTaWatt.

 

[The Automation Guy]

Does anyone know of alternative companies that support full security features (door/window sensors, cameras, motion sensors, etc) that will also support higher or full resolution for cameras that are capable of greater than 1080? Or perhaps alternative/hybrid setups that still support something like Ring that can notify authorities if necessary.

For security, you want a traditional alarm system. These systems (when they have a communicator module) can be monitored for a monthly fee. I would not enter into a contract with a company to install and then monitor my alarm. Those companies are extremely common, but install crap and then make you sign long term contracts on over priced monitoring services. I would absolutely either DIY install a system, or hire a local low voltage company to install my alarm system, and then have a third party company actually monitor that system. You will get better service at a better price by doing this and you won't be locked into any long term service contracts either.

Caddex, DCS, Honeywell Vista, ELK, etc are all traditional alarm systems that I would consider. Ring, Simply Safe, and other similar systems are NOT what I would recommend. (Pretty much anything that pops up on the first page of a Google search for "home alarm system" is going to be complete crap being sold to home owners that just don't know any better).

PS - I would consider the alarm system and the camera system as two different systems. You can tie them together with automation if you desire (but honestly there is little to be gained from doing this), but I wouldn't look at a company or manufacturer that tried to do both in the same system. The cameras you are going to get in that situation are going to be pure crap and the alarm system probably isn't any better either. I'm not sure what your end goal is, but you certainly don't want the authorities to be called based on motion or triggers from the camera system. You might pull the camera system up yourself if you are notified of an alarm trigger, but you are going to have a TON of false alarms if you alarm system is somehow tied into your camera system.

 

[weigle2]

For security, you want a traditional alarm system. These systems (when they have a communicator module) can be monitored for a monthly fee. I would not enter into a contract with a company to install and then monitor my alarm. Those companies are extremely common, but install crap and then make you sign long term contracts on over priced monitoring services. I would absolutely either DIY install a system, or hire a local low voltage company to install my alarm system, and then have a third party company actually monitor that system. You will get better service at a better price by doing this and you won't be locked into any long term service contracts either.

Caddex, DCS, Honeywell Vista, ELK, etc are all traditional alarm systems that I would consider. Ring, Simply Safe, and other similar systems are NOT what I would recommend. (Pretty much anything that pops up on the first page of a Google search for "home alarm system" is going to be complete crap being sold to home owners that just don't know any better).

PS - I would consider the alarm system and the camera system as two different systems. You can tie them together with automation if you desire (but honestly there is little to be gained from doing this), but I wouldn't look at a company or manufacturer that tried to do both in the same system. The cameras you are going to get in that situation are going to be pure crap and the alarm system probably isn't any better either. I'm not sure what your end goal is, but you certainly don't want the authorities to be called based on motion or triggers from the camera system. You might pull the camera system up yourself if you are notified of an alarm trigger, but you are going to have a TON of false alarms if you alarm system is somehow tied into your camera system.

Separate alarm and camera systems is the way to go. Either DSC or Honeywell Vista systems are not only reliable, but pretty easy to self install and monitor. The Eyez-On communication module in my system does both ethernet and cellular communication, and I have complete control with monitoring and setup. For a pretty reasonable fee via Eyez-On they will monitor it just like ADT or any other monitoring company.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I'll simply add that about the only way I've ever though it would be helpful to integrate my alarm system and camera system together is if I wanted to change the camera system based on my alarm status. For example, if I had certain interior cameras that I only wanted to record when the alarm was set in "away" or "vacation" mode, you could do that. Or if you wanted to change the recording resolution or record full time while away, but only on triggers while at home, etc. But personally I have no need for any of that. I don't want/have interior cameras all over that I don't want recording, and disk drives are cheap enough that you can easily have enough drive space to record full time 24/7. Therefore I have just nullified any possible advantage that I can think of that comes from integrating the two systems together.

I cannot think of a single good reason why I would ever want to change my alarm status based on some activity within the CCTV system. That would be a source of countless false alarms IMHO.

Even if you did have a good reason to integrate your alarm and cameras together, you don't need an "all in one" system that has both alarm and cameras to do this (because again the overall quality is going to be subpar vs buying a stand along alarm system and a stand alone CCTV system). Even now I could easily integrate my stand alone traditional alarm system with BlueIris should I actually want to by creating and loading specific BI profiles based on the alarm status.

 

[looney2ns]

I'll simply add that about the only way I've ever though it would be helpful to integrate my alarm system and camera system together is if I wanted to change the camera system based on my alarm status. For example, if I had certain interior cameras that I only wanted to record when the alarm was set in "away" or "vacation" mode, you could do that. Or if you wanted to change the recording resolution or record full time while away, but only on triggers while at home, etc. But personally I have no need for any of that. I don't want/have interior cameras all over that I don't want recording, and disk drives are cheap enough that you can easily have enough drive space to record full time 24/7. Therefore I have just nullified any possible advantage that I can think of that comes from integrating the two systems together.

I cannot think of a single good reason why I would ever want to change my alarm status based on some activity within the CCTV system. That would be a source of countless false alarms IMHO.

Even if you did have a good reason to integrate your alarm and cameras together, you don't need an "all in one" system that has both alarm and cameras to do this (because again the overall quality is going to be subpar vs buying a stand along alarm system and a stand alone CCTV system). Even now I could easily integrate my stand alone traditional alarm system with BlueIris should I actually want to by creating and loading specific BI profiles based on the alarm status.

^^^^Exactly this.

 

[bigredfish]

Agree with above and I’m not an alarm expert at all.

But I will say (expecting to be excommunicated) that I’m happy now at two years with my Simply Safe system. It’s monitored and there have been 3 occurrences to set off the alarm while we were away. Each time I got the alert in seconds and had a SS guy calling my phone between 30-45 seconds.

This is of course in addition to alerts via DMSS from cameras which typically have a 3-5 second delay

When home, additional perimeter sensors separate from both cameras and SS give me an extra heads up

SS works for me, it’s easy, it’s cheap. And I can handle the sensors myself. Of course I’m in a small house now, but it’s nice having every entry point alarmed

They have cameras now, I have one but keep it in a drawer unless we plan to be out of town. That’s my only inside camera.

 

[dudemaar]

for my alarms I use the EyezOn EnvisaLink 4 module EyezOn | Home

 

[Jessie.slimer]

for my alarms I use the EyezOn EnvisaLink 4 module EyezOn | Home

Me too. Works great with my Honeywell hardwired alarm. Alerts are instant and we can decide to call police/fire/etc after checking cameras if we are not home. No monthly fees is nice too.