Suggestions for monitored alarm

Suspicious Dave

Hi all, I've had a look through the forum but don't see any threads recommending company's to install and monitor alarms. I've never bought an alarm before and am a bit of a technophobe so installing the system myself is not an option.

It's a semi d, 10 years old, was wired for an alarm but one never installed. Had 1 company out and they have quoted me 1350 for a hybrid panel linking all the wired door/window sensors (9 windows 3 doors) and adding one wireless PIR and 20 a month monitoring. Front and back boxes, internal and ext bell included.

Seems quite expensive to me. Any suggestions?

KoolKid

A basic prewiried house like that with a dialler for monitoring should come in under €1000 . That's using a hybrid system Like Siemens or HKC Securewave.
Monitoring and maintenance prices vary a lot as some companies limit maintenance to one or 2 calls per year. Look for a full service contact that covers all calls. That means there are no surprise charges later . It also encourages the company to maintain the system correctly and not incur unnecessary call outs.

rccaulfield

Bump- Ive a quote from eircom of 895 for a standard semi d house but need a gsm unit- all the talk of jamming the signal is seriously putting me off! So else besides Eircom do the monitoring service? Is the gsm unit pointless or is there a better way without a landline? Ta!

KoolKid

Any licensed company can monitor your alarm so shop around. Also check whether the quote you got includes an external bell. A lot of the time Eircom don't include this. Again shop around re the installation also.
An alarm can also be monitored via UPC or other service provider. Something Eircom deny.
If you want the most secure monitoring its radio, its also the most expensive though. A well protected landline or broadband line is your best bet after that.

Thunderbird2

There's really no point of using UPC , WiMAX or the likes for monitoring alarms.
If the power is turned off there useless .
Better off using a landline(eircom Ect /radio or gsm .
The first quote could include the monitoring fee as well as the system

KoolKid

How often is your power off?
Imo GSM is the least secure. A protected land line or data connection is more secure than GSM which can be disabled without any physical tampering.

altor

Thunderbird2 wrote: »

There's really no point of using UPC , WiMAX or the likes for monitoring alarms.
If the power is turned off there useless .
Better off using a landline(eircom Ect /radio or gsm .
The first quote could include the monitoring fee as well as the system

Not in all cases. A back up power supply can be fitted to keep the service alive in an outage.