HKC - Still Decent?

dash8q400

Quick question guys and girls. Just went sale agreed on a new property but it has no alarm system at all. My old house had a HKC fully wired system controlled by the old app which I never had any trouble using. With all the new alarm systems out both wired and wireless my gut is telling me to just go with what I'm used to and so was just wondering if the HKC alarms are still any good or would people recommend something else. Cost is not really an issue, I'm more interested in performance and reliability.

Looking for any advice on what peoples experience has been.

VDFUser22

I got one installed in a property to replace a Network Security alarm I inherited. In ~ 2 years I've not had much issues with it. One morning a few months ago the sensor in the ensuite gave a tamper fault. Removing and putting the battery back in the sensor sorted that. Today unfortunately there is a fault on the HKC side that's preventing remote login through the app. But other than that no problems and I'm happy with the system overall. A bigger investment up front compared to something like Phone Watch but I think I'm around the break even mark now. If you're in Dublin and looking for an installer then I would recommend Aengus at Gard alarms for reasonable pricing and professionalism. PhoneWatch were okay when I enquired but NetworkSecurity hung up on me when I questioned about the additional monthly charges for extra sensors.

Kurooi

I have to call an engineer whenever my wifi name or password changes.

I paid an annual subscription, and the app isn't working because their service is down.

The alarm has constant cloud errors, from hkc servers side, and that means it can't be armed at night.

The useless pos panel is beeping all night and can't be silenced. It was intended to be loud. It's not my fault and there is nothing I or an engineer could do. I didn't sleep last night. It refreshes and beeps every hour again after I dismiss the error.

Hkc isn't doing anything on the issue, no communication nothing. Blaming app not working on EU regulations or some ****.

And here you can read all the wonderful reviews.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328017/hkc-gsm-line-fault

5/5 if you're a masochist

VDFUser22

I only noticed it down once in the ~2 years I've had it.

You can silence the beeping by entering the engineering menu. The installer from Gard alarms will leave you with the engineers code. Some installers will not.

Kurooi what do you mean they're blaming EU regs? Where did you get that info from? I called this morning and I was told the issue would be fixed by the end of the day.

Sono

Have a HKC alarm fitted the past 8 years and cannot fault it, very reliable and app is very good, if there is better I would like to see it.

Alun

I have to call an engineer whenever my wifi name or password changes.

No you don't. If you change internet provider and get a new router, you just change the SSID and password to be the same as your old one, or any other name you want. Also means you don't need to change every phone, tablet, smart speaker and god knows what every time.

KaneToad

I have an old school one. Wired. No apps, no connectivity - I have unpaid neighbours doing all the monitoring!

No issues.

ElWhelp

Hi folks,

I've had one for two years, but last night I was kept awake until 3.30am by the beeping going off repeatedly. The code could be input to stop it (whereupon the excessively loud announcement would tell you what you already know for five seconds). But after about half an hour, it would start beeping again. This went on all night.

I was eventually forced to duct tape two pillows and three cushions over it to try and deaden the beeping. I contacted my installer first thing this morning, who told me HKC "have an issue and are working on it". Regardless of what caused the problem, the alarm is very, very badly-designed.

There is no local override or kill switch to stop this kind of thing happening. I was considering cutting through the power cord with a pliers, as dangerous as that is, simply to knock it off, but web research told me that would simply set the alarm off outside. Nor did turning off the power at the mains have any impact.

Did anyone else experience this last night? In any case, I would avoid HKC like the plague after last night. I have been in touch with the company this morning seeking further information. Unless they give me specific, concrete information which indicates this will never happen again, I am going to have the thing uninstalled and replaced, even if it leaves me out of pocket.

No amount of money is worth a repeat of last night.

dclifford

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122296648#Comment_122296648

This is exactly what I do. Change the wifi name and password to the original one that was in place when the alarm was installed.

yllw.ldbttr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122296837#Comment_122296837

Same here, awake all night, keypad is in the bedroom so it would loud enough to wake everyone.

Apparently entering the engineer code would stop the beeping, but I didn't know that until this morning.

Beeping every half hour from 2.30am until 9.30 am…. absolute headwreck.

Alun

Mine only went off twice, once around 1am and again at around 7.15am, and hasn't gone off since. Maybe I'm just lucky.

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122296622#Comment_122296622

You can get the engineer code or get the installer to setup the user management menu, which will allow you change the Wi-Fi code.

In engineer mode the panel has an option to turn off communication fault monitoring meaning you won't get the beeps.

Another option is to set the panel which will stop it beeping every hour.

Kurooi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122296631#Comment_122296631

They reasoned the move to V2 of the app with that.

idk what stops them from just updating the app, probably just seized the opportunity to wipe their app store reviews.

VDFUser22

To be fair, I find their app functional but it's a bit rough around the edges compared to something like the Ring Security app. Overall I maintain that HKC is still a good choice in 2024. Ring might be worth having a look at too.