Hans in Philadelphia, PA

[Hans2]

Hi All.
We just bought a house from 1970 with mostly original systems. HVAC, electrical, pluming have not been touched since the house was build, but a phone monitored, wired alarm system was installed 10 years back or so. The alarm monitoring company wants $25 a month, but their service is land line dependent and we will have voip. I really like to get rid of the cables and also like to introduce some home automation. I found Frontpoint, and others, who sell a monthly service. They offer in principle what I might want: wireless hardware, phone control, etc. but at a price.
Besides, where is the fun in this! I think, I would like to learn more about other options and possibly build a more custom system, maybe without the monthly fee.
I hope you can get me started. Guess I have some reading to do...
Hans

 

[electron]

hi Hans, welcome to CocoonTech!

If you don't want to build the system yourself, I would recommend the 2GIG Control!Go panel, which completely wireless (supports the popular Z-Wave lighting automation protocol), and uses a GSM modem to communicate. You can also access most of its features via alarm.com.

If you really want to DIY this, then you probably will be spending a lot more money on your system (but it will do a lot more).

I recommend you start a new thread once you figured out what you want to do (including the budget). I would probably take a look at the ELK M1 or HAI Omni Pro II security/home automation controller (ELK M1 supported monitoring via the Ethernet interface, assuming you are buying it, while HAI offers a GSM modem gateway, allowing any panel to use a GSM cell modem to communicate).