I’m interested in a DIY system for security and cameras. I am very tech savvy and I can do any electrical work required to run power anywhere. I have been researching this issue to death for looking at Honeywell and Total connect, Simon XT, 2GIG, Alarm.com, my head is spinning. I found your website and I like what I see.
I have salespeople telling me that Simon is better than 2GIG, your thoughts?
I already have a very very basic 2GIG system in a rental property of mine that was installed by a security company so I’m already familiar with the very basics of Alarm.com. I did not install it and I don’t use it because I have renters there.
I’m not sure I really need “surveillance” cameras but I do want security cameras. I want to see who is on my property so I can let them in the front door. I want to take video in the event of a break in. I want to peek at the property on demand.
I saw on one of the you tube videos on your website where the owner of your company said I can add cameras with no additional monthly monitoring fee. If that is true would they be integrated into the Alarm.com front end.
The property is a vacation home, I only want outdoor cameras (3 or 4 of them) to look at the yard (front and back including my boat dock) and the front porch and the back porch. I included pictures of the house.
Also, can I store various video clips locally on my computer if I don’t want to pay extra to store them (extra $5.00 per month / every 250 MB).
I pick 2GIG over Simon hands down. My company has evaluated them both and 2GIG came out the clear winner. Did the sales people you’re talking to provide any concrete reasons why they would claim Simon is better? 2GIG has practical advantages over Simon XT and even Simon XTi but in my opinion the biggest advantage is that 2GIG is a completely software control panel that improves over time with firmware updates. The second biggest advantage is that 2GIG has been a more cutting edge, evolving company than Interlogix/GE, who makes the Simon. In addition to being a better technical choice (in my opinion) 2GIG hardware usually costs much less than Simon hardware when you factor in all the sensors, especially if you go Simon XTi.
I recommend 2GIG but if you decide to go Simon we can still be your Alarm.com & monitoring provider. We monitor lots of Simon’s as well.
There are 2 kinds of cameras that are integrated with Alarm.com. Video cameras and the Alarm.com image sensor.
Video Cameras: http://suretydiy.com/product-category/surveillance-cameras/
Image Sensor: http://suretydiy.com/product/2gig-image-sensor-pir-motion-detector/
Alarm.com video cameras do add $5/month to your monthly fee. The image sensor doesn’t add any additional cost, it’s included with the Gold Interactive service. The video you saw was probably on our full service suretyCAM site, we only offer Alarm.com cameras with our DIY service.
The only outdoor Alarm.com camera we currently carry is the ADC-V720W but any Alarm.com camera works with our service.
http://suretydiy.com/product/alarm-com-outdoor-night-vision-camera/
Most people get the ADC-V720W so they don’t have to runs wires. If you want to and are capable of running wires you can find the ADC-V720 which is a wired PoE version of the ADC-V720W that costs less. Another option for outdoor cameras is to use standard definition analog cameras with ADC-VS420 or ADC-VS120 video encoders.
Also worth keeping in mind is that a 2GIG panel, and all other currently released panels, can support up to 3 Image Sensors.