How many of you have an alarm system in your house?
2Even though we live a in gated community (which kind of gives a false sense of security), we had one in every house we have lived in and had one installed by the builder when we built our house a little over 3 years ago. It was a bare bones system with sensors on only the doors, one motion detector and a video door bell camera. The one thing we hated was the fact that you could only access who was at the door by your phone and so it was just easier to go to the door rather than find your phone and log into the app to see who was at door.
We had always wanted to change but couldn’t until the 3 year contract the alarm co locked you into for monitoring. Fast forward three weeks ago when we saw a system including installation with ADT on sale at Costco. Ordered it that Sunday night and ADT called on Monday to sch an installation time. Got it installed about a week after we ordered it and of course in addition to what we paid Costco, we paid more than twice that to ADT to confirm it exactly the things we wanted. The extra cost were for such things as sensors on all the windows, an alarm horn to wake the neighbors, fire and CO2 sensors, inside camera and a google hub max that we can access all the cameras inside and out.
Now everything and anything that moves within camera range-it comes up on my watch-it differentiates between people, cars, animals, packages being delivered and left on our doorstep-you name it knows-even tells us if the person is someone that it has taken the picture of before. Technology run a muck. Something else to watch and laugh about as we get older.
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Just my dog. Already totally configured on arrival and installation was free.
And daily cost is less than ADT’s.
(My parents had an ADT system with monitoring. My father said they were bloodsuckers. They moved before I found out why and then it never came up again.)
@phendrick The dog doesn’t differentiate between a squirrel, mailman, ups, FedEx, door dash driver or just straight home invaders coming up to the door and won’t call 911 to come draw the chalk outlines for you. Plus I’m guessing the monitoring fees are likely less than food & vet bills and you don’t have to take the alarm out for walks everyday and scoop up any droppings.
I guess I’m good with skynet watching my back for now, so long as they don’t start bundling laser equipped AI perimeter defense drones by default.
KuoH
@phendrick No one ever said ADT is the cheapest-they aren’t. The disclosure that came with the system said that the costco price was over $ 1,000 less than the regular price. I asked the tech if that was true and he said they rarely give discounts and may give you 10% off the price if you ask for it but not more than that. The monthly monitoring was the same as I was paying before after the $ 10 discount for 2 years I got from buying the system from costco.
@phendrick I have a dog and Nest cameras. There is an ADT system installed in my house but I haven’t used it in 15 years. Nest cameras alert when there is motion out front, back and side. Dog alerts me to check those. Dog can hear a deer standing still.
I also have some things to repel, but that is not a discussion for this forum. 
@capnjb @phendrick if there is an ADT wired system and the sensors are good. I’d do something with that just cause it’s there and you could loop the sensors into like a raspberrypi when the prices are sane again. If it’s wireless I wonder what protocol. There’s probably still some sort of hack to get them in home assist or something.
@phendrick @unksol Yeah… I’ve thought about it. And I have 3 Raspberries that aren’t doing much of anything at the moment. Could be a fun project if I had the time. It’s all hardwired cleanly to a box in the basement. And it’s been a few years since I last tested it, but the wiring is solid. Just not sure if I need it.
I have three external Nest cameras with zones set up to alert me on my phone. I know if it’s a car out front, a person on the walkway, etc. It’s all cloud based so I can grab it from most anywhere. Latency is mediocre. It’s pretty good at saying ‘Motion detected on Patio’, which typically means squirrel or fox or ‘Person detected on patio’ which is usually my neighbor walking his dog. I’m kind of a computer dork and run two ultrawide 34" monitors stacked vertically with a 28" 4K monitor just to their right in portrait mode and have the cameras displayed there. I don’t really look at them but even though I have old man eyes now, my peripheral vision still picks up any movement on the cameras.
And my dog likes to bark at the wind. So there’s that
All said, I have more than I need, but I’m a gadget geek, so I do what I do 
@capnjb @phendrick lol I don’t care what’s going on to that level. But just the fact the sensors exist id probably drop a pi in to monitor then build off it. Just cause. Properly installed cameras + software can basically do it all.
And you know no one’s watching at night. Maybe you could get an alert if you were super paranoid. Or look at the phone if the wife pokes you and said I heard something. That I think was not a cat. Because somehow you married me and your brain has learned all the cat noises.
But you know. That’s what the 12 guage is for
@phendrick @unksol Heh… I’m not paranoid, just a dork. With a bit of ADHD.
And not to tip my hand, but I did want to name my chocolate lab, “Browning”. Heh. Wife didn’t let me win that discussion 
@capnjb @phendrick I think that’s a perfectly good dog name but I’m over here with candy bar and scifi cats so what do I know.
I still use a Simplisafe system from a fuku or IRK years ago and got a free upgrade to the current gen for being a long time customer. It may not be as tamperproof as a wired system, but it’s good enough for my needs and has followed me to several new homes without needing new sensors or installers.
KuoH
@kuoh The only thing that is wired are the camera and the control panel-the rest I assume is done by hocus pocus. My son made fun for spending so much money as he put in his simply safe system himself obviously for a lower cost and monitoring is half of what I pay.
I’m not telling you just so your can break in.
There’s some cameras floating around. I could easily set up some glass break alarms/cameras etc. I think if i were going to bother with windows id do it in the sill.
But realistically. Just why? I guess if you’re gone all day and have lots of expensive stuff and no neighbors.
I have these ears I came with and honestly what mostly going on is cats breaking into cabinets cause they smell bread.
I’m prepared
There are similar more lethal options around it someone is kicking in the front door.
@unksol Your cats like bread?
@Kyeh Dartanyan really likes bread. It started with the corn bread. Cause I would leave that out to cool down. Cause cats eat meat. It’s safe. Nope. Found him in it.
They I buy stuff off the we made to much bakery shelf. Gets in that.
I put bread on top of fridge. Gets in that.
I started putting it in a cupboard. Gets on top of the tall cupboard and tries to get to it. This cupboard the star trek crew is getting it out.
Idk what’s up butt they can smell baked things and they want them
@Kyeh @unksol I had a cat who ate bread. Would chew through the plastic bag and nibble here and there. I bought a bread holder that had a tight lid. Found the thing on the floor more than once, some claw scratch marks on it, but the bread was safe. The same cat loved pancake mix. Bit into that paper style bag it came in. Saw him with a thick layer of paste on his face and whiskers. He did not like flour. He could not tell the difference (initially) between flour and pancake mix. As a result I had to do something about both.
As an aside, I also have a camping pan and lid with bear tooth dents in it. The bear couldn’t break into that. I had accidentally left a yet to be opened package of koolaid inside. LOL
@unksol
SuperSoakers filled with noxious chemicals?
@blaineg closer to the .45/12 gauge side of things
@Kyeh @unksol I feel a kinship with your cats. When I smell baked things I want them too. My hips are starting to show that.
@Kyeh @steeltoesenator I’ve heard somewhere before that hips don’t lie.
@steeltoesenator @unksol Yeah, they tattle on us. Mine say I do too much of this:
And not enough this:
@Kyeh @steeltoesenator pretty sure there’s a healthy middle that’s preferable to most of us.
Lol healthy middle? Hips? It’s ok I’ll show myself out.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @unksol Some bear REALLY wanted to drink the Koolaid.
As far as random people on the internet are concerned, yes, I do.
(No, not you, I didn’t mean you are random.)
@blaineg
I have the dogs and also my house is clearly the murder house on the block. Plus it’s hard to reach and it has no front door. Also very effective for avoiding wandering proselytizers. Nuisance for deliveries though.
@brainmist And that’s how we got this highly entertaining saga!
https://meh.com/forum/topics/pasta-drop
@Kyeh LOL, I need to go back through and find the threads I did while goating, because I feel certain I started a contest one and then abandoned it like dropped pasta because life has been weird. Someone is owed a very, very late prize that will absolutely disappoint!
@brainmist You DID!
@Kyeh I’m not sure if there’s a way to access past threads. Profile shows within 30 days; Google search didn’t turn up what I’m remembering.
LOL, probably I should check and see if it’s recorded in my account, or notified via e-mail.
@brainmist Voilà:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/giving-up-the-goat-february-2021-scapegoat-blame-thread
@brainmist Drat. I just read through it and there’s no mention of the contest(s) in that thread. Which you probably already checked.
@Kyeh Yeah, I’ve been trying to find the search terms to deliver, but no luck.
@Kyeh OMG I think I found it. I hope this was my only contest: https://meh.com/forum/topics/i-am-a-goat-yeah
@brainmist I think there was another, but I can’t remember very well…
My parents had one. I set off an alarm if a window or door was opened without putting the code in first. It was monitored by some company. No idea how much they paid. No cameras.
I, personally, have attack cats. They will attach by purring and soliciting attention.
Why are you looking for people to rob? Lol