Q: Can you recommend a home security system that doesn鈥檛 require a monitoring contract?
A: The DIY home security market has exploded with internet-connected devices that can monitor just about anything in or around your home.
If you鈥檙e willing to be your own 鈥渕onitoring company鈥� via your smartphone, you鈥檝e got numerous options ranging from complete systems to various individual devices that can be used to create your own custom system.
Self-monitoring means that if you sleep through an alert on your smartphone in the middle of the night, you won鈥檛 know about it until you wake up the next morning. It also means that you will have to decide when to call the police or 911 based on what you are seeing on your smartphone.
Wired vs. wireless
Your first step is to access the areas that you want to monitor to determine whether you have electrical power and wired or wireless internet access there.
As internet access goes, opting for wired devices can eliminate a common point of failure when Wi-Fi issues arise.
Devices that plug directly into an electrical outlet also eliminate the possibility of a battery failure, but it can limit where you are able to install devices.
Complete systems
If you have a smaller house or apartment, you may be able to use one of the all-in-one solutions such as 聽or the upcoming .
These single-device security systems are simple to set up and can monitor motion, sound, temperature and humidity while providing video streaming to show you what it鈥檚 seeing. The primary device can monitor your primary living space with various sensor options for extending the monitoring area if you need.
The popular 聽platform offers a much larger variety of monitoring sensors that are still simple to set up, because they鈥檙e all wireless.
While their $15 per month monitoring service is optional, you won鈥檛 get the full functionality, such as the ability to control everything from your smartphone unless you do. Their monitoring is month to month, so you have the flexibility to turn it on while you鈥檙e on vacation and discontinue it on your return.
尝辞飞别鈥檚 聽offers a similar package, including the ability to manage your devices remotely via your smartphone without having to pay for one of their monitoring packages.
One of the more complete systems with a lot of options for tinkerers comes from ;聽it works with Amazon鈥檚 Alexa and the platform.
Individual device options
There are a plethora of camera-based monitoring systems that range from the 听迟辞 ,聽which can work with their .
For those needing completely wireless security cameras, both 听补苍诲 聽offer wire-free devices so you can put them virtually anywhere you have a Wi-Fi signal.聽The batteries generally last one to two years, and both companies offer weatherproof options for outdoor use.
If your Wi-Fi signal range is an issue, don鈥檛 forget about my previous suggestion to upgrade to a 鈥�.鈥�
Ken Colburn is the founder and CEO of . Ask any tech question on or on .
