Security for Apartment?

[aslamma]

Actually, they are OK with making holes in the drywall since that can be repaired and patched. I think they don't like us messing with the door because it is probably costly (very nice wood door about 10' tall). But maybe it is better to just not ask in the future.

I think I am on the right track so far...starting to lean towards the M1 and just have to learn about it. It is quite daunting to do this with the home automation. Just got done with a home theatre and it seems as if this is neverending...still in the process of programming my remote with all the tweaks. Anyway, just getting burnt out with the learning curve for every aspect of technology.

 

[electron]

Personally (meaning Martin didn't pay me to say this, it's based on my own experience), I would give Martin/Brandon @ AutomatedOutlet.com a call, they will help you get up to speed really fast, support is great, and you get good pricing too. Tell them you are a cocooner.

 

[aslamma]

Personally (meaning Martin didn't pay me to say this, it's based on my own experience), I would give Martin/Brandon @ AutomatedOutlet.com a call, they will help you get up to speed really fast, support is great, and you get good pricing too. Tell them you are a cocooner.

Thanks! Acutally, I was looking last night and I am pretty close to automatedoutlet it seems. I was planning on calling them, but just talked with elk support. A couple items:

- Elkguard unit requires a professional installer. Any idea why? This seems so counterintuitive to me. It is supposed to be simple! I don't want to have to fuss around with an installer.

- Leaning more towards M1 because I think ultimately it will be a better fit with more flexibility. One BIG problem though...no land line. Elk said to consider a "dock and talk" and I earlier in this post there was a mention of something using VoIP. I don't really understand these technologies and same may not be very mature. What are the best solutions for M1 without a land line?

For the time being I am thinking that if I feel confident that I can get SOMETHING to deal with the lack of land line (or I can always just cave in and get one), I can always get the M1 and set it up as a "dumb" alarm that just gives off a siren. That should be cake right? That would give me a little protection and I can then ehance it once I come up to speed with other technologies to deal with the phone line issue.

 

[WayneW]

- Leaning more towards M1 because I think ultimately it will be a better fit with more flexibility. One BIG problem though...no land line. Elk said to consider a "dock and talk" and I earlier in this post there was a mention of something using VoIP. I don't really understand these technologies and same may not be very mature. What are the best solutions for M1 without a land line?

My M1 works fine with my Vonage VoIP line using NextAlarm for monitoring. NextAlarm encourages you to use an ABN for better reliability, but lots of people dont. It all depends upon your VoIP service, YMMV.

Or you can get an UpLink or Telular unit to give your M1 its own dedicated cellular type access, assuming you don't live in an area with no service. This has a monthly fee (less than a landline), but is also immune to cable cutting thieves.

 

[Steve]

Personally (meaning Martin didn't pay me to say this, it's based on my own experience), I would give Martin/Brandon @ AutomatedOutlet.com a call, they will help you get up to speed really fast, support is great, and you get good pricing too. Tell them you are a cocooner.

Thanks! Acutally, I was looking last night and I am pretty close to automatedoutlet it seems.

Lord help you! Stay far, far away from them! You will be there every weekend feeding your habit and you will be going to training classes and changing all your light switches out with UPB before you even knew what hit you. You will wind up like many before you and have to attend therapy after AO turns you into their next crack addict.

Seriously, the crew at AO is great and you will be very satisfied with their pricing and service. But I am serious - if you live close it will be your new home away from home.

 

[aslamma]

Actually, I am heading there this weekend to discuss security AND lighting.

Currently have X-10, ordered some Insteon stuff, but after reading some more I am thinking about switching to UPB instead. So I can take care of all of that while I am there.

Back on topic, vonage is actually more expensive than a land line would be for me (especially with DSL combined rate discount). So that being said the ElkGuard may still have some merit since I can avoid those additional monthly costs...maybe. I don't know a lick about uplink or teluar, but from what I saw it could be costly. So if I go M1 I may just have to live without a service (not so bad) or get a land line.

The irony is that last month I discontinued the land line since I had not used it in years. I got rid of my DSL + land line and went to a cable modem. Now...I may have to go back. Haha...such a cluster#$(%.

 

[speacock]

Another option would be the GE Simon XT unit. You can hide the keypad/GSM module in a closet and use a remote to arm/disarm it. The downside is that only alarm.com supports the GSM module and they want $20/mo for self-monitoring and $25/mo for dispatch. The Elk uses GE sensors so if you grow you can eBay the keypad.

Sean