Alarm Systems

[venkman]

A salesman from Guardian Alarm or something swung by the house and my wife is ready to sign up, I guess he had a good pitch. I'm skeptical of all these guys and since it sounds too good to be true, I'm thinking it is. But I said I'd think about it and if not this company, look into getting some sort of service.

Anyone know anything about Guardian in particular? Any other company? Recommendations / warnings?

[Uncle Ted]

A salesman from Guardian Alarm or something swung by the house and my wife is ready to sign up, I guess he had a good pitch. I'm skeptical of all these guys and since it sounds too good to be true, I'm thinking it is. But I said I'd think about it and if not this company, look into getting some sort of service.

Anyone know anything about Guardian in particular? Any other company? Recommendations / warnings?

A lot of alarm companies get you on the over-priced monthly monitoring contract. It is like a cell phone. They practically give the alarm system away but make you commit on the monitoring service for a number of years. Read the fine print. You may, however, get a break on your home owners insurance that might make up some of that.

ADT, for example, charges something like $99 for the alarm system install but $36/month for the required monitoring service. I think their system only works with their monitoring service.

The way to shop for a home alarm system, IMO, is to shop for the monitoring service first. Then find out which alarm systems they work with. I pay about $9/month for the one I use but I have seen some that are closer to $5/month.

[WashingtonCoug]

A lot of alarm companies get you on the over-priced monthly monitoring contract. It is like a cell phone. They practically give the alarm system away but make you commit on the monitoring service for a number of years. Read the fine print. You may, however, get a break on your home owners insurance that might make up some of that.

ADT, for example, charges something like $99 for the alarm system install but $36/month for the required monitoring service. I think their system only works with their monitoring service.

The way to shop for a home alarm system, IMO, is to shop for the monitoring service first. Then find out which alarm systems they work with. I pay about $9/month for the one I use but I have seen some that are closer to $5/month.

Who do you use? We've been looking at getting one too.

[venkman]

Who do you use? We've been looking at getting one too.

Yeah, $9/month sounds pretty good. Everything I've seen so far is $30/mo minumum.

[Uncle Ted]

Who do you use? We've been looking at getting one too.

http://www.alarmrelay.com

They are also sold via smart home:

http://www.smarthome.com/alarm.html

[SuperGabers]

Hold on there. My little brother works for Peak Alarm. Do you wanna do some shopping around before you purchase? I would be happy to give you his contact info.

[il Padrino Ute]

A salesman from Guardian Alarm or something swung by the house and my wife is ready to sign up, I guess he had a good pitch. I'm skeptical of all these guys and since it sounds too good to be true, I'm thinking it is. But I said I'd think about it and if not this company, look into getting some sort of service.

Anyone know anything about Guardian in particular? Any other company? Recommendations / warnings?

I would have thought your home would be protected by S&W.

[Maximus]

Hmmm. I do know working at VIvint alarm systems can get annoying when they dont work properly. Vivint does have some shady contract practices be aware, not that you are even considering them. I had no idea you could get as cheap as 8.95.