Looking for an alarm system, where to start?

r3nu4l

I live in a rural location, detached house with detached garage, roughly 0.5 acres of land, backing onto farmland, with neighbours either side of me.

I'm looking to really beef up security and want a monitored alarm system. I also want high quality cameras (with good night vision capabilities) and an app that will let me know if they have activated or if someone rings my doorbell etc. I have electric gates and would like a camera mounted to record visitors to the gates.

I know this will be expensive and I've tried reading around the forum but find myself getting more and more confused, the more I read.

Can someone point me to a website that has a basic 'Home Security 101' section that will lay out the possible options in simple terms?

I don't want to end up overpaying or paying for something I don't need or tied into a system that is not really doing what I want but that I can't get out of or transfer to another monitoring provider.

Any help? I will be calling a few local companies and asking for advice and quotes but want to go in a little bit informed so that I don't have the wool pulled over my eyes. I'm sure this industry is like most other and has it's fair share of quick-quid cowboys.

How do I tell if a provider is reputable?

Edit: I'd also be looking for smoke alarms to be added.

Downstairs 19 window panel openings (11 windows) and 3 doors
Upstairs 14 window panel openings (10 windows)

I also have an Eircom phone line and broadband (I know some systems are 'wired' to these...

Any ideas on roughly how much it would cost to protect each perimeter entry point?
I'd like to be able to have the alarm system armed and walk around the house without triggering anything, I'd like to be able to open windows upstairs while the alarm is on and I'd like to have as clean an install as possible (not masses of ugly wiring visible everywhere...

kub

You are certainly not asking for the impossible OP.
You are correct indeed there are indeed merchants in the security business.
My advice to you would be to get at least 3 quotes, you should be getting quotes for your alarm system but it should be as per the requirements of EN50131-1, meaning that what you should be presented with is a document called a 'system design proposal'. On it in black and white is what that particular installation company are proposing to put where and for what purpose.
The same thing goes for your CCTV system, a full list of what model each camera is, where it is positioned and what it is viewing and what sort of an image it will provide. This should be as per PSA standards.

KoolKid

+1 to all of the above.
Also get in writing what is covered in service maintenance or monitoring contracts if you are going down that road. Many companies limit call outs and times here and charge for anything outside of that. Others cover all calls and labour etc.

r3nu4l

Thanks to both of you. I've seen the RISCO Agility 3 mentioned on some installers website and some HKC and Siemens systems.

I suppose one of these 'out of the box' setups is the way to go, rather than trying to piecemeal it?

Is one system in any way significantly better than the other? What are the most up-to-date systems?

KoolKid

Hi
Theres some good debate/information over here on the various apps & options etc.
The Agility is not a bad panel , but if your looking at Risco the LightSYS2 is the better option.

If you need anything on any of the other panels give me a shout.