Anonymous wrote:Can someone give me an idea of costs (install and monthly)? I have a basic 1940s colonial. I'm starting to look at systems and assume I can negotiate some of this.

Thanks!

So much depends on the layout of your house and the level of security/bells and whistles you are looking for. We've got a basic but not totally bare-bones system and we paid about $1K for installation and $20 per month for monitoring. ADT quoted cheaper installation but their monitoring was TWICE as much. Make sure you run the numbers for a couple of years' use, not just the initial outlay. We loved using a "little guy" because they are always accessible, you deal with the same person every time, and they give you am actual time (not a "window") when they're going to show up and they stick to it. Over the life of the system you're going to have occasional times when they need to come our for one thing or another, and I HATED wasting half a day waiting when we had ADT.

Can someone give me an idea of costs (install and monthly)? I have a basic 1940s colonial. I'm starting to look at systems and assume I can negotiate some of this.

Thanks!

Which Guardian vendor did you use? Could you provide contact info? Thanks!

NP here. Has anyone switched over from an old ADT system to a system that doesn't require a phone line without having to have a whole new system installed? Can they just use the old system that's in the house but switch over the communications hub (or whatever it's called) to wireless? I don't want to spend money on replacing all of the motion detectors, door alarms, etc.

We were ADT customers for almost five years, and when we wanted to go wireless and add some more equipment for a new door we had added to the house, they wanted to charge is $500 for equipment and $15 extra a month for the wireless service. We ended up switching to Guardian, who gave us the new equipment for $150, and charged us less for monitoring than ADT was currently charging us. Guardian was able to use our existing equipment, and only needed to add the new sensors that we didn't have yet and switch out the keypads. Their customer service has been outstanding to date.

19:59 here - also wanted to add that they were flexible re billing. I called and renewed our contract and we were given a monthly discount - the pricing was very reasonable.

Our system is a Honeywell, 3 motions, 3 doors, 3 window alarms. I believe APEX handles the monitoring and we've never had any problems, been wireless going on 5+ yrs now. I think you even get a discount on your homeowners insurance for having a wireless system with a battery backup.

The only time I have had any sort of issue is when I forget to leave the system off for the cleaning people.

We have this and it is great! You can control it from your iphone.. i think they have apps for other platforms
http://www.alarm.com/

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Has anyone switched over from an old ADT system to a system that doesn't require a phone line without having to have a whole new system installed? Can they just use the old system that's in the house but switch over the communications hub (or whatever it's called) to wireless? I don't want to spend money on replacing all of the motion detectors, door alarms, etc.

I'm told that ADT uses proprietary programming for its systems so you can't use them with a non-ADT monitoring service. I don't know if it's true but I wouldn't be surprised.

NP here. Has anyone switched over from an old ADT system to a system that doesn't require a phone line without having to have a whole new system installed? Can they just use the old system that's in the house but switch over the communications hub (or whatever it's called) to wireless? I don't want to spend money on replacing all of the motion detectors, door alarms, etc.

We just went through this and researched all the options, including getting a wireless system and installing it ourselves. We got quotes from ADT and several smaller vendors. We ended up going with one of the little guys (N&D Security). ADT is cheaper upfront but they get you on the monitoring fees--they are literally twice as much as what we are paying. In two years we will have made up the difference in what we paid upfront, and going forward it will be much cheaper than ADT. I felt like ADT just wanted to give us a bare-bones system so we would be on the hook for monitoring. Plus, I LOVE using a small vendor who gives you an actual appointment time and shows up, and you deal with the same person every time, rather than calling some random ADT switchboard and getting a 4-hour window and hoping they show up. Who has time for that.

ADT and we like it.

I'm wondering if anyone has one and likes it. We keep a hard phone line for our old school ADT system now but are looking to rid of it and it seems our only option for security is then a wireless home security system. Anyone have experience or recommendations? TIA