We currently have a legacy vista20p system – it works, no issues but its monitored with ADT (in Canada) and this has been a disappointing experience. All doors are wired and we have a handful of wired motion sensors, a wired Smoke/CO and a wireless smoke/CO. I don’t believe we have window sensors (but should) or glass break or flood.

Talking to two different dealers each with every different approaches:

Dealer 1: Keep Vista 20p add a LTE GSM takeover add on with smartphone interactive – they have it labelled as their company but say we would have 100% ownership of this and cost is $130 CAD

They also have their own app that we can use, I believe it’s not based on any of the major platforms, not Alarm.com TC2.0 etc. Monitoring is $22CAD/month – pretty cheap for Canada

Dealer came highly recommended in local community

Dealer 2: Upgrade to Qolsys IQ4 panel and Power G 8 zone wireless expansion module for approximately $700 CAD

This dealer is alarm.com and charges $40/month CAD for basic interactive with live monitoring

They also offer cameras and they are $350 CAD installed using Cat5 cable and then we’d need another $20 CAD/month for video through alarm.com

They also seem to have a good reputation, but no personal referrals.

Not sure if it’s relevant but we do have Lutron Caseta throughout the house, an Ecobee thermostat, zwave smoke and a ring floodlight cam as well as a HIKVision camera with NVR (but only one, not ideal).

What alarm option would you choose and why? Is it worth it to spend more upfront and higher monthly cost for Qolsys and alarm.com platform?

What cameras would you choose for surveillance? Add more Ring floodlights? Go with the Alarm.com cameras? Add more on NVR? Would like to be able to see what’s happening in real-time and use lights to deter potential burglars.

We live in the outskirts of Toronto, house with walk-out basement that backs on to greenspace that could be vulnerable to break ins (others in the community with similar properties have had it happen). Car was broken into last week (and realized after that our kitchen door was left unlocked same night!), lots of car thefts all the time here. We are mostly home but worried about nighttime burglary more than anything as it’s been happening around here.

Anything else to consider or plan for?

Thanks in advance!