Do-It-Yourself Home Security? 49
pussycat asks: "Having recently purchased a home in an urban area, I am investigating monitored home security options -- I'll feel better when I'm away, and I'll get a break on my insurance. I am rejecting the big security services like Brinks because of their very high monitoring fees: $25-45+/month. I've found a cheap monitoring service (911Alarm has one for $13/month), but I'm overwhelmed by the choices for hardware. SmartHome has some nifty devices, but the hardwired stuff looks like a real pain to install, and the X10 stuff seems kind of cheesy. Does anyone have experience with setting up a do-it-yourself home security system? I'm interested in reliability (minimizing false alarms) and low-cost." Has anyone wired up their own home security system? What things should one watch out for when tackling a job like this?
Re:Where do you live anyway ? (Score:2, Funny)
burgler #2: well, we could rob the house down the street from us, in the high-crime, high police patrol area, even though we know the people in the house probably have nothing worth carting away..
burgler #1: or we could go to the nice neighborhood where the husband/wife both work two jobs probably and aren't home during the day, and because they both work, they'll have all sorts of goodies.
burgler #2: maybe we'll get an X-Box...