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:A few suggestions... (Score:4, Insightful)
Does it make sense to do this? Well, while I can only count on one hand the number of these alarms that have turned out to be real - I can count more the number of people who have been killed or lost everything because they didn't have them.
And since I am ranting
And yes - you do get charged a fee for false alarms - $30 for each alarm after 3 false alarms within a given time period. Hey, mistakes happen.
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2, Insightful)
You'll be looking at something consoderably more powerful than a 486 for a couple of reasons.
1. Most webcams require USB ports
2. A 486 most likely won't be able to do motion detection very effectively.
but hey, no-name duron/celeron base systems only come in at a couple of hundred quid anyhow