About 5 yeas ago we purchased a house that had Vivint installed. The seller wanted us to take over the contract or they were taking the system with them. Not having used the system before I didn't want to be locked into a contact, so I passed. But it inspired me to want to build out my own system (enter Wink).
5 years later I have moved off Wink to Hubitat and still don't really have a good security system. I did put in a few sensors and motion control, but not really effective. I don't have any hard wired connections and all my older sensors don't connect to Hubitat, so I'm starting over.
Basically I'm seeing two options, build my own DIY with HSM or purchase into Ring and integrate? I like the idea of keeping everything local and off cloud, but also like the possibility of subscribing to monitoring if I wish in the future and having an all in one system.
I already have a Schlage door lock and a few Wyze cameras. Everything else I would need to buy in to. I heard this community was good, so just looking for some advice as all I've read is for Konnected for wired setups which I don't have.
Happy with Ring too (although it is hardly used since someone is home almost all the time now). For now anyway, the unofficial integration still works with HE and that connection (unlike the cameras) is local. It’s a really nice bonus that the door/window sensors and, to a more limited extent, the motion sensor can be used for other things on the HE hub, even when the system is disarmed.
Doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to completely avoid the cloud with an alarm system, because obviously you want to be notified if there’s break in, and controlling it remotely is table steaks for an alarm system these days. Ring Alarm knocks it out of the park with battery backup on both the base and Z-Wave extender, plus free cellular backup so you can be notified and control the system, even if your Internet and power are down.
Probably will be discounted for prime day. The new drone that is anticipated to be sold for $249 is also a great step forward in monitoring your home when you’re away, without buying a bunch of cameras and compromising your privacy. Like Alexa, you can be certain that the drone will integrate with the Ring alarm system to automatically dispatch as shown in their promotional video for it.
Thank you! Seems like a no brainer. Do you happen to use other ring devices with it as well and how well do they work. You mentioned cameras as an example?
You are going to get a lot of opinions and I believe it comes down to what your are comfortable with. I am very happy with Hubitat controlling my home security, while understanding that it is not a top notch professional grade security system. But I believe it is better than what I had in my house.
My House before Hubitat Security: Security System professionally installed by one of the largest Canadian Home Security Companies. This included door and window sensors along with a control panel that had battery back-up. In case of a break-in the security company would be notified, they would call the house to check if there is a false alarm and send their own security patrol. If their security patrol found something wrong the police would then be called. Cost of monitoring $250.00 per year.
My House with Hubitat: System installed myself. This system includes door sensors, window sensors, motion sensors, and POE cameras running Blue Iris. Immediate notification on my phone when the alarm is triggered. This Includes a video link to my cameras and what is going on. I will also get an instant notification on my phone if my cameras detect motion while my alarm is on. Blue Iris camera software integrates with Hubitat and the customization options with all the sensors and cameras allow for me to decide my personal level of comfort. If the alarm is triggered, I know instantly if it is a break-in (camera feed) and I call the Police myself. I consider this superior to my previous professionally installed and monitored security system. Annual cost of monitoring $0
Are there other options better than what I mentioned above, absolutely. I may consider one of these one day. But for now I consider myself better off than I was before. I have everything local (other than Hubitat app notifications) and I pay no monthly fees.
I really appreciate the other perspective and honest opinion. I think you hit on exactly the thoughts I had as well for considering HSM.
As I'm researching Ring Integration, something I'm very new to only having Hubitat for a few days, it's a bit intimidating. And besides, is no longer developed. I still have more research, but trying to better understand what that integration provides and worth trying to figure out.
Where the HSM method and DIY devices already connect and it's a matter of setting up rules and notifications to work. Hmmm...
It's also depending on your family with tech. It's a requirement for me to have a security system that's easy to operate. It's a gongshow at my house when there's a false alarm with HSM.
I have all my smart bulbs turn blue when water leak.
Red when there's fire.
Siren and light on with no color when intrusion.
Trained and even doing drills with wife and kids.
Son is an expert at it. Wife is not so much.
I ended up having security with a third party and no integration with HE.
And... you need something that is 100% reliable, ideally. Many here say you need a dedicated alarm system, with wired sensors if you serious about security.
I think HSM can work, IF, your system is stable, without slowdowns/lockups, zigbee network dropping off regularly, otherwise you're just asking for a big headache and possibly looking like a fool when you get robbed and your HE went berserk. Or HSM alarms and the darn thing won't shut off, hit "cancel alerts" 87 times, hit "disarm" 32 times, all while my wife is looking at me like "are you serious???"
That said, I'm a glutton for punishment, and I use HSM for my security, and love it when it functions properly, not so much when it freaks out. Gotta go, time for my daily beating
I don't use Ring cameras. They integrate of course, but via the RIng app or via the unofficial integration (but cloud based). I know from asking the original dev of the Unofficial Ring Integration for HE, that the Ring Alarm base has a local connection, but the cameras do not.
I am in the camp that insists on a dedicated alarm system. Having it integrated to HE is a bonus, but not a requirement for me. I agree with @Navat604 that it must be easy to use. The Ring alarm is definitely easy for the family to use. I had iSmart Alarm before, and simple as the app was, I didn't have their keypad. That caused a lot of grumbling about the system when there was a false alarm and one of the remotes had a dead battery. The app was available to disarm of course, but if you can't find your phone at that particular moment...
Personally, I wouldn't put my home security system on the same hub with my home automation. So if I were to build an HSM based security system, it would be on a separate Hubitat Elevation hub.
@SmartHomePrimer Why keep them on separate hubs? Forgive my ignorance.
My wife feels like HSM may be the better way, simply because her feeling is we don't need a robust system based on where we live and such (safe neighborhood, not gone for extended periods of time, and could probably self monitor). Plus with kids and not wanting to have to worry about them having to arm disarm considering I can barely get them to remember their chores or get their homework done.
Might just start with some contact and motion sensors, setting text notifications when away, using our Wyze cams to check in, and then using Alexa announcements when home for any chimes while opening doors, etc. Anything else I should consider?
I really like rings package, simplicity, and options for future monitoring, but maybe more than what we need at this very moment. I mean, I've gone 5 years already.
On a separate hub for reliability but it's depending on how big you system is. I have 3 hubs because I have hundred of devices and many rules. One hub won't do it for me. I have to reboot daily due to frozen, delay on ... Etc. There are quite a few posts about them.
I think you will be ok in your case for starting out small and have no siren.
