Purchasing a home, what to do for a security system?
We're in the process of purchasing a new home in Berkeley and would like to purchase a home security system. We had someone break into our back yard last summer in the house we currently rent so we're still dealing with some trauma from that. I know there were a few older posts about the same topic but hoping people could offer some insight into what works or doesn't work. I know simplisafe and arlo are reasonably popular. Our home has a basement with windows so ideally we'd like to have a system that can provide some options for the windows in case someone tries to break in.
Mar 31, 2022
Parent Replies
We had someone break into our home as well and now we use SimpliSafe. It's a build-your-own kind of thing so you can get as little or as much as you want and you can add pieces on at any time. It's pretty inexpensive and works very well. It's super easy to install yourself or I believe they'll send someone out to install it for you. They have door sensors, window sensors, cameras, and more.
We have Simplisafe and are very happy with it. Easy to install yourself and the phone app is excellent. We have sensors on all windows and doors in our house, including basement/crawl space windows, a bunch of interior cameras, and we also have integrated smoke detectors, water sensors (for flood), and glassbreak sensors (detect the sound of breaking glass like a window being smashed) which are all great for peace of mind. We also got two outdoor alarms which emit a VERY loud noise if the system is triggered. One time, our system was triggered (we could never determine by what, so probably a false alarm but the only one we've had in 2 years) and two of our neighbors immediately started calling us because they could hear the outdoor alarms going off. We want to get some of their new outdoor cameras which might be good for your yard. Hope you find something you like!