Ok so before I start, please know I tried finding help for this in Home Defense, Home Security and a couple specialty subs first. So I’m not just coming here to spam for something somewhat unrelated. But I can’t find an alarm tech that’s located in the Phx area (I’m in northeast Mesa) that’s willing to do this, so I’m here trying to find help.

I moved into a home with a hardwired alarm system (and it appears to be pretty high end stuff) but I think the panel power supply might be dead and I don’t have the passcode even if it wasn’t dead. The previous owners never used it so they didn’t know the passcode. But since it’s already installed on every door and window in the house (and the house is 6000 sq feet so that’s a lot of doors and windows, I don’t really want to just get a new system). I don’t really have a desire to have it centrally monitored but we’d like to be able to set it at night to wake us up if any doors/windows are opened and also to get notifications if we are on vacation and have the ability to arm/disarm remotely. I’ve reached out to a few local companies here in the Phoenix area and none of them want to deal with it. They say I’d need a takeover system and that they dont do those. So I’m just trying to figure out how to even find someone that can do this. Is there a certain type of system or installer I should be looking for? I’ve heard of Konnected systems but the only installer they list on their site doesn’t return calls or emails in Phoenix (and I’m not even sure if those are that good). Looking for some professional advice on what I should do here cause I’m a little lost. Also, I don’t really want to do the install myself so definitely looking for someone local here that can help me with it. I’ve included some picture links of my current system. Thanks!

https://imgur.com/A4Y0iiv

https://imgur.com/K7eGzQi

https://imgur.com/FWlz92U

https://imgur.com/fZb3mMh

https://imgur.com/oZWvyyW

Let me know if you can help!

As part of our home renovation our electrician put in low voltage wires for front and back door camera/doorbells, as well as a floodlight/camera by the driveway. We don’t live in a high crime area (the biggest crime is stealing cars, and our car is not worth stealing, lol). So this is more for deterrence than anything else.

We had simplisafe pre-renovation, and could go back to that system. I do have an NVR although I don’t think there’s Cat6 do the doorbell or floodlight.

I have seen reviews of various systems but I have a preference for being in the same ‘ecosystem’ so I’m not using multiple different apps, etc. Google Home compatibility is a big plus.

I don’t love the idea of subscription fees but we did have an incident once, years ago , where monitoring was helpful and the cops came promptly when we were away on vacation. (best we can tell is that a door blew open because of wind – although it is MAAAAYBE possible someone came in through a door and then got spooked by the alarm – nothing was taken, damaged, or missing).

Honestly our various simplisafe hardware was moved and may have been lost by the contractor so it may have to be replaced regardless, so I’m not necessarily committed to it – BUT it does seem to check many/most of my boxes.

I do think their doorbell, like all camera doorbells, is rather ugly, and people have made mounts/covers for Nest/Ring that at least look nicer, but that may not be enough of a reason to go with someone else.

Should I look elsewhere or just go with Simplisafe again?

Thank you in advance!

I’ve got the usual array of cameras looking from my house out towards the street at the front and to the rear and alley.

Has anyone found it useful to record and monitor the house itself? By this, I mean from the street towards the house with the house as the main focus. Same for the rear.

I’m just thinking out loud. It’d be a tad more difficult as I’d have to run PoE to somewhere near the street and alley for the extra cameras.

I’m thinking it’s not useful but perhaps could be if I’m on vacation and want to see that my house is ok.

Is this valid usage? Or a waste of resources (cameras plus disk space for footage that isn’t useful)?

I have a Wyze pan V3 but the audio and video quality I feel are lacking. Is there something better out there that won’t break the bank?

I’m thinking of purchasing the self setup kit and senors. If I cancel my subscription after a month, what features other than the professional monitoring would I lose out on? Can I still use the app and all its features and get all sensor trigger notifications? Is there a cost to self-monitor?

Our house has a home security system that was installed a number of years ago (guessing around the time the house was built in 2007, but not sure). The main panel is a PowerSeries PC1832.

All of the sensors are wireless except for the front door, which is a wired contact sensor. The end cap reads GRI 20RS-T, so I’m guessing it’s this:

GRI 20RS-T – 3/8 Press to Fit Switch – Alarm Grid

Recently this sensor has stopped recognizing whether the door is open or closed – it just always indicates that door is closed. If the alarm system is armed, opening the door does not trip anything. We’re using Alarm.com for monitoring, and their app also doesn’t see the door as ever opening (expected given the local system not registering it either).

I know nothing about how this is installed – all I can see is a 3/8 inch hole in the door frame with a small piece of metal sticking out after I remove the end cap.

Images: https://imgur.com/a/wIh952c

Is there a way to repair this without having to do major work on the door frame? What would be my first troubleshooting steps?

I inherited a small house out in the country. No one is going to live in the house permanently and the property has been broken into before.

I’m ideally looking for a single system that works off of cell networks, can provide visual monitoring of the house on demand, will send alerts if it detects motion, and provides info like temperature (the AC unit has had issues). I would put this device indoors and have it plugged in.

I understand that adding wifi would make this easier, but I want to see if there is a good option that avoids adding two things to a house that I am not going to stay in long term.

I like my Arlo floodlight camera but don’t like being over monthly sub $ barrel. The Tapo is a decent replacement, but doesn’t operate via AC-rechargeable battery backup the way the Arlo does (with apparent success). Is there any wifi floodlight camera that has both SD card (no sub) AND has AC-rechargeable battery backup? The latter is important for my particular use case. Thanks-