Re: I was broken into ... last questions before purchase

["Crash Gordon" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Most thieves are smash & grab and hope they get away before the homeowner
shoots them or the police come.
Wireless is reliable as long as  you don't buy some cheap piece of Belgian
(inside joke) crap.



"Armadillo Soup" <louispoint@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns96F29DC1AF9E3louispointyourmommac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| "Crash Gordon" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
| news:o7R4f.18$71.902@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
|
| > You sound confused. On one hand you want protection against jamming on
| > the other hand you dont think the thieves where you live are
| > sophisiticated. You're concerned about false alarm fines, but you
| > intend to be a local system (not monitored).
|
| I'll certainly admit to being confused !
|
| My hunch is that these are not overly sophisticated thieves ... I just
| didn't have any idea how easy/hard it is to jam/screw up these wireless
| systems. From what you just said, it sounds like that is not as easy as
| just running to radio shack and buying a $5 piece of equipment ... so
| that gives me a little more confidence in them.
|
| Of course, I'm guessing about their skill level, but I don't think they
| are terribly sophisticated. One thing they are clearly good at, however,
| is jimming the locks open in the types of old buildings that exist around
| here ...
|
| > On wireless...I have hundreds of them out there an have never had one
| > be jammed or circumvented...in fact the only false alarms I get from
| > them are homeowners opening the transmitter cases, which are tampered,
| > without telling us.
|
| Cool ... I was a little worried about that.  You hear lots of horry
| stories about lots wireless equipment interferring with itself.
|
| > And you want CCTV over the net too.
|
| Well, I didn't necessarily mean CCTV. Just a simple webcam type set up,
| that takes a photo every 2 seconds and uses ftp to shoot it up to another
| computer. I don't intend to monitor this all the time. The reason for the
| camera was simply to check and see if I really had an intruder if the
| alarm went off.
|
| From what you just said, it sounds like if the alarm goes off, that
| pretty much means I have an intruder. The Landlord/maintenance people
| around here are required to put a notice on the door at least 48 hours
| before entering your apartment, so I'm not worried about them. If they go
| in without giving me notice, they are breaking the law themselves and I
| consider them an intruder.
|
| Anyway, I was just thinking of the camera because i was under the
| impression these systems had far more false alarms. So I feel better
| about that too.
|
| Thanks for the info.
|
| I've just never used any of these, so don't really know much about them.
| It's good to know I won't be having to head home every other week over a
| false alarm ... at least more than likely I won't.
|
| Of course, I certainly don't expect this system to guard against a
| sophisticated burgler ... but I would think such a burgler would be far
| better off spending his energies in a more well to do part of town !
|
| > I think you're gonna go overbudget.
| >
| > If you're on the second level of apt building it shouldn't be too
| > expensive to install a wireless alarm, one door a motion, maybe a
| > glassbreak. If you're on the ground level you'll need more.
| >
| >
| >
| >
| > "Armadillo Soup" <louispoint@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| > news:Xns96F27B995157Elouispointyourmommac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| >| Like a lot of people that pop up in all of a sudden, I was just
| >| broken into last Thursday. They stole my digital camera and my
| >| headphones. Apparently the guy broke into 6 places within a few block
| >| radius.
| >|
| >| Anyway ... I realize all security is a balance between cost and
| >| convenience. Just how much money, time, and effort are you willing to
| >| put into being secure ?
| >|
| >| I live in a crappy apartment and probably will continue to for a long
| >| time to come. Basically I have a TV, stereo, and computer. Anything
| >| that was small and valuable this thief took last Thursday. So in
| >| short, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to spend a fortune on securing
| >| my place ... it obviously makes no sense to spend more than your
| >| stuff is worth !
| >|
| >| As far as the threat model I would like to defend against ... I think
| >| the most realistic scenario is something like what happened last
| >| Thursday. A realitively unplanned, fairly random break in. I can't
| >| see burglars spending a lot of time and energy planning for an
| >| eleaborate breakin where I live.
| >|
| >| I am almost 100% confident that had ANY alarm sounded last Thursday,
| >| I would still have my digital camera. This guy didn't want
| >| confrontation, and he didn't want a lot of razzle dazzle, bright
| >| lights, or loud noises I can tell you. If he is breaking into 6
| >| places in a day, he doesn't have time for sirens.
| >|
| >| So ... considering all that, I was thinking of getting the Powermax+,
| >| partly because it comes all ready to go, and I don't want to mess
| >| with a monitoring service. The Paradox Magellan looks really cool but
| >| seems to be a bit out of my price range. Also, it looks harder to set
| >| up. As for the PowerMax+, I'd like to add one of the hardwired sirens
| >| to the unit if I could, simply to add confusion and throw off the
| >| crook, in case he has the nerve to try and disarm/yank it off the
| >| wall. I am confident (considering I live in a cramped apartment
| >| complex) that the siren will immediately scare off 80% of intruders
| >| in this area. Like I said, I do not live in an area where carefully
| >| planned burglaries really make much sense.
| >|
| >| My only reservation is relying on wireless completely. The Powermax+
| >| says it can connect to 2 hardwired devices. One will hopefully be a
| >| siren. It would be ideal if the other was a motion detector, but I
| >| don't see a hardwired motion detector as a module.
| >|
| >| Are these wireless units that easily jammed and disabled ? You think
| >| an amatuer "crackhead" style thief would have the means to do so ?
| >| Some of these crackheads are more talented than you might think !
| >| Breaking into 6 places in a day shows at least some talent.
| >|
| >| Anyway, if anyone has any last minute recommendations for me, I'll
| >| take them. Right now my only security is a radio I left on today when
| >| I went to work ! Far from Ideal.
| >|
| >| Things I consider important:
| >| 1) No monitoring service required.
| >| 2) Ability to disarm via telephone ? I think I'd like to do this. I'm
| >| considering setting up a camera that can post images/video to an
| >| external website via my Linksys wireless router.
| >| 3) Cost and ease of use ... proportionate to what I am trying to
| >| protect: $600 TV/DVD player
| >| $400 stereo
| >| $1500 computer
| >| These are the only things I own of value in the world. All my clothes
| >| are from the thrift store.  :)
| >|
| >| Lastly, just how common/frequently do you get false alarms ? Is this
| >| from flakey units ?  Wild exotic radio transmissions on your units
| >| frequency ? I will be using 3 door sensors and 1 motion detector. I
| >| am a little worried about the false alarms.
| >|
| >| Cheers, and thanks for any final advice.
| >
| >
| >
|
|