Home security: How this guy deals with kids playing on his driveway.

How this guy deals with kids playing on his driveway.
Can I retrofit the security system in the house I just bought?
Advice on security closed circuit security cameras (or better suggestions).
Stranger Appeared in My Driveway Wanting to Buy My Truck
Upgrade Wireless Camera System from Blink XT
Maglock with Code and Z-Wave?
Ideas for my safe room?

How this guy deals with kids playing on his driveway.

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 08:56 AM PDT

submitted by /u/guchdog
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Can I retrofit the security system in the house I just bought?

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 04:16 PM PDT

First time poster and home buyer here,

I just moved into a house that has Vivint in it. The previous owner left the all of the equipment and I'm not interested in signing a contract with them. My question is if I'm able to utilize the equipment (door sensors, glass break sensors, etc.) with another security system? Preferably something more like self-monitoring. I still have the panel from Vivint. I'm assuming I can't use it without a subscription. Do you think I could set something else up to utilize the current equipment?

Thanks for the help!

submitted by /u/Inalienable_Rights
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Advice on security closed circuit security cameras (or better suggestions).

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 03:56 PM PDT

Long story short, we had a home invasion and my SO came home in the middle of it and met the burglar face to face in our home. The burglar was arrested, but our sense of security is shattered. My SO wants to install cameras, but I am very weary of surveillance and data collection. What are the best CC camera ideas with remote monitoring? No Ring cameras or any other data collector's please. I want something that we own, we operate and that we store. Any help will be appreciated.

submitted by /u/Larusso92
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Stranger Appeared in My Driveway Wanting to Buy My Truck

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 09:21 AM PDT

First, some background and then the questions ...

During this pandemic, I'm lucky enough to work from home full-time. My house is on a busy two-lane road. This morning, my German Shepherd started barking like crazy. I looked out the window, and there was a man looking at my pick-up, a vehicle that I virtually never use. He had pulled into my driveway with his own pick-up, with a boy around 15 years old inside.

The man said he wanted to buy my truck, for his son that was in his truck. He said he noticed over time that I never seemed to drive it. I told him I'd have to ask my wife, because we got it from her father. I asked for his name and email address, and he said his name was Danny and he didn't have an email address. (A yellow flag went up at this moment.) I asked for his phone number. His phone number was the local area code. I told him I'd call him after talking to my wife. The last thing he did was ask if I were interested in fixing up my gravel driveway, perhaps paving it.

I googled the phone number he gave me, and it's a paving company. There's no evidence that this company exists except their website. The website is super generic, though. Doesn't even list the city the business is in, but it does have the phone number he gave me. I then ran his number through Spokeo, and the owner of the phone has a name other than Danny/Dan/Daniel.

So, my questions:

1) What is the likelihood this is legit? I'm not going to sell my pick-up, but I'm concerned he was casing my house for a burglary. There's no question they heard my German Shepherd; he's got a loud bark that usually scares strangers. I'm guessing that even if they were casing they likely took my house out of consideration. But ... he did have the kid in his car who looked around 15 years old.

2) Should I return the call? If I do, I'll obviously block my ID before calling.

3) Should I call the sheriff's office?

submitted by /u/ramblin_ap
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Upgrade Wireless Camera System from Blink XT

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 09:16 AM PDT

I have 2 Blink XT cameras that can be pretty unreliable. I live in a Townhouse-Styled Condo with my router on the top floor (3rd story) with my cameras at the front door and garage on the ground. I have FiOS internet with 1 GB speeds and their newest router so my WiFi is fairly good. I always get a good WiFi signal on my phone in the location of the cameras but my cameras always show 1 bar for WiFi. I find that my cameras almost never are able to look at a live-view and are sluggish with motion notifications. I also have had to remove the batteries multiple times in the last 8 months for each camera to basically reset the camera because they were not detecting motion at all.

I am looking to upgrade these cameras either to the XT2 or to another system entirely. I am a Google person and am planning on eventually getting the Google-Nest Smart Doorbell but having the Blink Cameras and not have Google integration, this is not a necessity but would be nice. However, I would say the Nest outdoor cameras would be out of my price range and am unsure if any other cameras have that feature; from what I have seen most of the cameras work with Alexa but not Google. I am looking from some insight and guidance for this along with the answers to the questions below:

My Questions:

-Would it be worth it to upgrade to the XT2 or do these issues still exist?

-If I were to move away from Blink, are these similar issues with other brands in the same price range?

-Nest is basically out of my price range, so how does Arlo, Ring and Eufy stack up to the Blink?

Thank you so much in advance for the help!

submitted by /u/FranklinSBP
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Maglock with Code and Z-Wave?

Posted: 27 Aug 2020 08:50 AM PDT

I have a front gate, and I want to be able to control entry via a code, and if possible Z-Wave as well. Is this possible?

There looks to be a million different systems out there, and none of them really have any reviews

has anyone done this?

submitted by /u/VviFMCgY
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