Home security is my main goal and I might start dabbling in some lighting and other HA controls later on. The Elk system is what I'm leaning towards going with and since I have a house with no pre-existing security wiring, I'd like to go with wireless sensors. I'm a little overwhelmed after all the reading I've been doing and I have a couple things I can't track down a good answer for. To give a little more info on what I'm working with, the house is single story, about 3700sqft and I will be redoing the drywall in a couple of rooms.
1) Should I install the main panel as centrally located as possible because of the wireless setup, or is the signal strong enough that can I install it in a more preferred location? Or, do they have "access points" like a wireless computer network would have that would allow me to increase signal strength to the whole house?
2) I plan to one day hook this up with some sort of software that would run an HA setup. If I plan on doing this, can I forgo the voice/telephone call out capabilities of the M1 Gold series and use the software to alert me by cell/txt/email when a fault occurs?
One of my main problems has been trying to find my security, HA and software packages all at once but from what I've learned it seems you need to get your hardware straightened out first and then find a software solution. Since the security is the most important aspect for me, and seems to be the most expensive, I figured I should nail this area down first. If I'm wrong or any of you have better suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.
TIA.
1) Should I install the main panel as centrally located as possible because of the wireless setup, or is the signal strong enough that can I install it in a more preferred location? Or, do they have "access points" like a wireless computer network would have that would allow me to increase signal strength to the whole house?
2) I plan to one day hook this up with some sort of software that would run an HA setup. If I plan on doing this, can I forgo the voice/telephone call out capabilities of the M1 Gold series and use the software to alert me by cell/txt/email when a fault occurs?
One of my main problems has been trying to find my security, HA and software packages all at once but from what I've learned it seems you need to get your hardware straightened out first and then find a software solution. Since the security is the most important aspect for me, and seems to be the most expensive, I figured I should nail this area down first. If I'm wrong or any of you have better suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.
TIA.