Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE: Below, I logged my reasons for purchasing, purchasing and installing the "premium" package (without camera), using the system, and finally, attempting to upgrade it. At this time I am lowering my rating to one star. After a month of happy experience with the basic system, I attempted to add additional sensors. That process was unsuccessful and the system suddenly did not recognize ANY sensors and now I have no system at all. I rebooted the system several times to no avail and now it does not even reboot any more -- a high-pitched whine (not the alarm siren) sounds until you unplug it. Customer support has been very polite but utterly useless in resolving the issue. I have no choice but to return the system and start again with another company and another system. The system I bought, "Premium," comes with one motion detector and three contact sensors. That system basically worked, despite some shortcomings of documentation. It could be used for a small apartment or dorm room, and is even portable enough to take to a hotel, if you had wifi access there. However, the system is not expandable as advertised and therefore not suitable for a home, in my experience. No home alarm system should be this squirrely. A burglar alarm system has to be rock solid, totally dependable, 100%, or it is not worth having. For all its clever design features, this iSmartAlarm system cannot be counted on to work reliably. One more note: It is not possible to buy the iCamera for this system as an expansion device. The company web site makes it look like you could add the camera later, and it is even listed separately as a "product," but in fact you cannot buy it. The only way to get the camera is to buy the high-dollar deluxe kit when you first purchase the system. I did not do that, thank goodness, in order to minimize my financial risk. That caution was justified, it turns out. ORIGINAL REVIEW I'll give my reasons for choosing this product, then after I get it set up, I'll update, and after I've used it for a while, I'll update again. After many hours of research and many visits to stores I settled on this system. The hardest part of the research was determining what I wanted. I finally developed these priorities: No recurring fees, Low Cost, Wireless, Affordable components that work, Motion detectors and other sensors that send alarm notices to multiple smartphone addresses, quickly; With an alarm or siren in the house that has reasonable response time; Small and portable indoor equipment -- good-looking is a plus; Wireless camera with night vision, real-time monitoring from remote, and decent resolution. The camera need not be alarmed -- it is only for determining if the sensor alarm is valid or false. I do not need to record and save video. The iSmartAlarm system seems to satisfy these criteria, we'll see. I'm buying the minimal starter kit to control my risk. If it works, I can grow the system. I'm not even buying the camera right now. I considered many other systems and found them wanting in one way or another. There are several promising systems on the horizon, such as Scout and Canary, but I'd rather have a system that's been out at least a year. Some systems are designed around video cameras and recording equipment, Such as Defender, Zmodo, Oplink, and Securityman, but that's not my main interest. I have to wonder what people expect to do with recorded video. Who's going to look at it? If you did happen to catch burglars on camera, how would that help? Unless the robber is somebody you personally recognize, having all that video is not much use. The police can't use it either unless you have outdoor cameras with resolution enough to get license numbers. There are some good video cameras with motion detectors that will signal your smartphone, so that's another way to go. Those, however, tend to be expensive to get quality, and you may need several of them for adequate coverage, and then you have to implement a management system and a regular testing regime, which is a hassle. I opted for a centralized system like iSmartAlarm, although I don't rule out monitoring cameras from another company. They're two separate functions. 1. Motion detectors tell me if there is an intrusion. 2. The camera monitor tells me if it's a false alarm or not. Equipment for those two functions can come from different companies. SimpliSafe is a competitor which I considered carefully. It has the considerable virtue of using cellular signals as a backup to WiFi. If you lose your internet on iSmartAlarm, you got nothin'. So being able to use cellular microwaves to alert me of an intruder is significant. Also the SimpliSafe includes battery backup, also important. However, they make you pay $20 a month to support the cellular backup and if you want to control the system by smartphone, that's $25 a month. One thing I'm trying to avoid is recurring charges, so ixnay on the SimpliSafe. Instead, I'm going to harden my target a little, by putting my cable company wires in conduit so my internet access can't be snipped off without some effort, and by putting a lock on my outdoor circuit breaker box so my power can't be switched off without taking some trouble. Not a perfect solution, but it might deter some thieves. Everything's insured, anything can be replaced, but I don't want to make it too easy for them. Viper is a good-looking security system I considered. Literally, good-looking equipment. A little more expensive on the front end ($280 to start up with no camera), but it sends alerts to only ONE smartphone address. If you want more, which I do (spouse, neighbors, relatives), it'll cost $20 a month -- a hidden recurring fee. This is the same dealbreaker for Oplink, which includes a generous 2 cameras and recording equipment but only alerts one smartphone address unless you shell out the $20/month. If you expect your security system to last a few years, at $20 a month you're going to buy it many times over before you're done. So again, I come back to iSmartAlarm as the best choice for me, if it works. I'll update after I have it in and running (if that actually happens). UPDATE, System Installation 1. Unpack the equipment. 2. Download the iSmartAlarm apps to phones from Apple Store and Android (Google Play). The manual says the system is for iOS only, but the Android app exists. 3. Install the Cube (dedicated 2.4 GHz wifi hub) The Cube must be powered. Unless you are in an apartment building where the power to your living space is secure, it is necessary to put both the Cube and your wifi router on an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to protect against thieves cutting the power outside the building. The APC BE550 UPS is about $70 and will keep both units running at least 15 minutes when power is lost. A UPS lasts about 3 years, then needs new batteries. I ordered a UPS to protect the alarm system. This adds to the up-front capital cost of the system. Layout consideration: To reach both ends of my long, narrow house, the wifi router, and hence the cube, must be located centrally, in the living room. When the alarm sounds upon intrusion, it's not going to be difficult to find the siren and disconnect it. The Cube powers up as expected within seconds. You will need a magnifying glass to read the cube's serial number, as it is printed in 3 point font. 4. Power up the motion detector, two contact sensors, and two remote tags (key fobs), by removing the insulation tabs from the battery compartments. The motion detector uses 3 AA batteries, all others use one CR2032 lithium. The remote tags (key fobs) do not look useful. Cryptic symbols are stamped white on white; barely discernible to the naked eye, even up close. It will be necessary to rub colored Sharpies over the four control surfaces to make the functions readable. The four function keys are not recessed like a car ignition key fob, so these "tags" could not really be carried in a pocket or purse. The chance of disarming the system or setting off the alarm by accident would be very high. Discard the window decals that advertise to bad guys that you have a DIY, unmonitored alarm system. 5. Register User(s) Launch the SmartAlarm app. Enter a username, primary voice alert phone number, and password. You get a text message verification code. Enter that to verify that the phone in use is the one that will get the alert messages. Then you have to choose between two buttons: Join or Create. There's no clue what they mean. What are we creating? What are we joining? Since "Join" does not do anything but generate error messages, I finally chose "Create." Three screens of pictures appear, about how to plug in the equipment, which is already set up, followed by a "firmware update." That takes about 3 minutes, but I was pleased to know that the company even does updates. That suggests it is an ongoing company and this will not be an orphan product in a year or two. Then you are notified that all 5 of your sensors are "recognized" by the hub-cube. The voice alert tests itself. You get a phone call with a prerecorded message from iSmartAlarm. You press "Yes I got it," and voila, your smartphone is registered with the company. 6. Testing, Using the smartphone app control panel. a. Double tap the panic button to hear the alarm The volume is just adequate, barely audible from outside the house, which I guess is okay, since the intrusion detectors are all inside. Inside the house, the alarm is loud, but from the farthest bedroom, with the doors closed, only as a distant buzz. The default setting is "high," but that's not very high. The alarm could be much louder. I'm pretty sure it would wake me up, but it's not going to panic any thieves. The main purpose of this system is to notify me of an intrusion when I'm not home, so I don't mind the weak alarm too much. I hope I never have to hear it. b. Turn the alarm off with the disarm button. c. Arm the system. The cube beeps, once per second for more than 3 full minutes, giving you plenty of time to get out the door. For the last 15 seconds the frequency doubles then the system goes silent, and it's armed. That arming latency can be reduced to 1 minute. d. Motion detection is triggered by waving my hand in front of the sensor: The cube beeps once per second for about 1 minute, then the frequency doubles for 15 seconds, a total of just over a minute, then the alarm sounds. Use Disarm to silence. Presumably the latency between trigger and alarm gives you time to disarm the system when you get home. However, that's a lot of stall time for a bad guy to find and unplug the cube before the alarm sounds. A better latency would be 15-20 seconds. If one key fob were stored just inside the entry door it would take you all of 10 seconds to disarm the system when you got home. I received recorded voice call from SmartAlarm, within a minute, telling me my alarm was triggered. I received an advisory text from SmartAlarm, within a minute, telling me the same. Over an hour later, I received an email from SmartAlarm telling me the same. That's not a very timely alert, but better than nothing if the smartphone happens to be in meeting mode, or otherwise unresponsive. e. I repeated above tests for the two contact sensors (door or window sensors): the alarm worked fine, though I did not receive individual phone calls from SmartAlarm for each trigger. Perhaps they assume that multiple alarms within a few minutes of each other are part of a cluster-intrusion and you don't need to be separately notified of each one, or perhaps there's a fixed refractory period after each alarm. That's a weakness in the system, but not a showstopper. UPDATE: I received those notifications three days later. That long delay renders this alert function essentially useless. f. I tested the remote tags ("key fobs"), which operate just like the smartphone app, and everything worked fine. "Home" mode arms the contact sensors but not the motion detector, useful when the alarm is on and you are in the house (such as, at night), or when you are out of the house, but you leave pets behind. 7. Preliminary conclusion: Three problems. The basic system works as it should, except for the lengthy delay in sounding the intruder alarm. This compromises the fundamental security that the system is supposed to provide. There must be a way to change it. I will reserve judgment until I learn more. A second problem is that the Smartphone app is unlike the whizz-bang software shown in the user manual and online. The apps for both iOS and Android perform only the most basic functions, the ones on the remote tags: Arm, Disarm, Home, and Panic. It is not obvious how to configure anything else. For example, users are listed as long computer codes, instead of people with names (and even pictures, according to the advertising), with no obvious way to edit those. Devices are likewise listed as long computer codes, so your message says something like, "AB123CDE56 detector has been triggered." It should say "Front Door has been triggered." There must be a way to change that but I don't know what it is and there are no instructions in the app, or in the user manual. Finally, it is not obvious how you add another family member to the system. If you try, by clicking "Join," you get a cryptic message that says "Scan QR code on administrator's phone." You must guess that "Administrator" is the first app you registered with the system, though it was identified as "SuperUser," not "Administrator." But then you are stuck. What is "QR code on administrator's phone?" I had not a clue, so I had to end the procedure. At the present time then, as a practical matter, the smartphone app does let me remotely control the most basic system functions, so it is an alarm system, and it does work. That's not insignificant. I'll reserve final judgment until I learn more. A small problem is that the system notifications from iSmartAlarm to email are time and date stamped for pacific time, where the company is located. So I received a notice during testing that said my alarm had been triggered an hour before it happened (since I am in a different time zone from PDT). The SmartAlarm time stamp is not labeled with any time zone, so if I were traveling, I could easily mistake when the event occurred. This could be a confusion when reporting to authorities. 8. Troubleshooting According to online information at iSmartAlarm.com, to add another family member to the system, I should follow these steps: Your family member must first download the iSmartAlarm app from their app store. They need to Sign up using their own phone number and follow the on screen instructions. Once asked if they would like to "Join" or "Create," click on "Join." The app will then tell them to scan QR code. Using the Superuser or Administrator's phone, go to More - Family Settings. At the bottom there is a button that says "Add New Members." Your system's QR code will show up. Use your family members' phone to scan your QR code. Once it successfully scans, it will automatically add that family member to your iSmartAlarm system. Each family member must scan this QR code using their own account to have access to the alarm system. If the new family member has already signed up, but hasn't been added to your system, they need to click on More - My Profile - Join new group, then scan the Superuser's QR code. I did all that and it worked. The second user (also designated Administrator, as a backup), shows up on SuperUser's phone. Neither phone shows a way to add any pictures to user names, which is just as well, but not what the advertising shows. I'm calling this problem solved. Alarm Settings: On the SuperUser's phone, I discovered in the app that it is possible to select the countdown period between when a sensor is triggered and the alarm is sounded. The default was 1 minute, though in fact I timed it at 1:15. Other choices are 10 sec., 30 sec., and 3 minutes. I changed it to 30 sec., and that may meet my needs. Problem solved. Under "Monitor" then "Safety Monitor" I found it is possible to "Edit," then name each sensor, such as "Front Door." I haven't done that yet, since devices are not installed, but the problem is solved in principle. On the Superuser's phone, it is possible under Device settings then Advanced Settings, to stamp "push notices" (email) to your time zone. That solves the time-stamp/time zone problem. 9. Sensor Installation: I installed the motion detector on a ceiling beam, aimed toward a wall of large windows. Online instructions say do not aim a motion detector at a window because the IR sensor is heat-sensitive and can produce false alarms from changing sunlight on the windows. But there's no other practical way to protect that wall of glass, so I'm giving it a try. The alternative, mounting the motion sensor above the windows, looking inward to the room, has two difficulties. One, the sensor is fairly ugly. It looks industrial, like something you'd notice in the corner of an office or retail shop. I don't want it to be prominent on my living room wall. Secondly, there's no information on the sensor's sensitivity or range, so I don't know how wide or deep the protected area extends in any direction, making placement especially difficult. And of course, there is no adjustment for sensitivity. I am totally on my own to use trial and error. The contact sensors present a different problem. Both of my entry doors are framed in wood molding that presents an angled, not-smooth surface adjacent to the door. The contact sensors are applied with double-sticky pads, and are designed for perfectly smooth, adjacent surfaces. They will not work on my doors. Also, because of the angle of the molding, the two parts of the sensors would never meet squarely anyway. There is no way to mount these sensors on my doors without cutting the molding, something I am not willing to do. I can hardly imagine any entry door that would not have this problem. Installation of the contact sensors is also a problem on sliding windows. The frame in which the window slides obviously cannot be flush with the window inside it, so again, the contact sensors cannot be aligned. I would have to invent some kind of shim to raise the window part of the sensor out to meet its mate on the frame, and then I would have to figure out a way to mount the shim to the window, and the sensor to the shim, in a precision way that would maintain the narrow gap necessary between the two. That's not impossible, but it's a project I did not sign up for. These contact sensors would work on a traditional window, single- or double-hung, or Anderson-type, where flush, adjacent surfaces are available. Even then though, the tape-on method of installation would be inadequate. The first time you wash your windows, you will probably bang them out of alignment. Also, the contact sensors trigger a text notification to the smartphones whenever the two parts are separated, even if the alarm system overall is disarmed. I can't think of why that would be a useful feature. In practice, it would seem to be an annoyance, as you would get text notifications all day, every time you opened a door or window, even when the alarm system is off. In my application, the contact sensors have no obvious uses. I will have to depend on (undocumented) motion detectors, of which I have exactly one at present. 10. Overall conclusion about setup and installation of the iSmartAlarm system: The electronic and networking components worked flawlessly. The smartphone apps (iOS and Android), work fine to control the system remotely. The sensors work, but are difficult to actually install in the house, because of the way they are designed and documented. When triggered, the sensors properly signal the system cube, which notifies the SmartAlarm company by internet, resulting in prompt voice and text notifications to all registered users. That's the core of the system, and it works. The in-house audible alarm is loud enough to wake up most people. In short then, it is an alarm system that does work and is relatively easy to install. I added one more star to my rating, up to 4 stars. I will now live with it for a few weeks to assess its reliability and ease of operation, then I'll update this report again. UPDATE #3, Operations Having lived with the system for about a week, I have learned a few of its subtleties. First, I should say that it has run flawlessly. It is completely reliable and very easy to use. It has not interfered in any way with my computer's use of wifi in the house. Once I got used to the system, I reduced the latency between sensor trigger and alarm to 10 seconds. I mounted one of the remote tags to the wall inside the entry door. As soon as I open the door, I push the "Disarm" button. Thieves who came in through that door could do the same if they identified the tag as the alarm controller, though it doesn't look like a typical alarm control unit. If they came in through another door or window, they'd have only 10 sec. to find and disable the cube. I keep the second remote tag at my bedside so I can use the panic button to sound the alarm if I detect an intrusion by other means. I also keep my phone near the bed, so if the iSmartAlarm sounds while I'm there, I can call 911. At that point I would not be worried about a false alarm. If I were calm enough, I could also use the iSmartAlarm App to determine where the alleged intrusion is, but chances are, I'd be out the window. I also keep my car keys by the bed so I can trigger the car alarm, raising an alert outside the house. I read online that the loudness of the iSmartAlarm siren can be increased by placing the cube on its side, as the speaker is in the bottom. That helps. I discovered it is possible to disable the sending of text messages to the smartphones when a contact sensor is tripped while the system is disarmed. In the app, you select "More" then "App Settings" then "Safety Monitor." Switch the safety monitor to OFF and you no longer get annoying messages every time you open a window. Apparently, some people put the contact sensors on things like liquor cabinets or gun safes, and they want to know, even when they're home, if those cabinets have been opened. I don't use the system in that way. Previously I reported that the contact sensors could not be fitted to sliding windows, still true. But I overlooked the fact that my windows are covered on the inside with adjustable louvers in wood frames. Where those hinged frames meet in the center is a perfect surface for a contact sensor. Any bad guy coming in through a window will find it necessary to push open the shutter frames, setting off the alarm. The shutters are so lightweight, I had not considered them as part of a security barrier, but that was faulty thinking. I now realize these contact sensors could be effectively mounted on any suitable window covering, even a screen, as long as an intruder would have to trigger the sensor to gain access. I am ordering three more contact sensors for my system. The motion detector works better than expected. It seems to have a sensitivity range of about 160 degrees side-to-side, and forward at least 15 feet (I read that they may go out to 30 feet but 15 is as far as I need). I haven't determined the up-down range or angle, something I will have to discover if I decide to protect skylights. I am ordering a second motion detector to cover my front door and front windows (which face the street and are less likely to be points of entry). I still need a video camera, but I'm not ready to order. There is nowhere to locate a single camera that would cover all the major entry points into the house, so I will need more than one camera. It seems I'd be better off with smaller, cheaper cameras. I've researched several brands and types, including Lorex, Samsung, Belkin, Dropcam, and Foscam. I am narrowing in on Foscam FI9821PW Plug and Play V2 1.3 Megapixel Wireless IP Camera, pannable and tiltable, $110 from Amazon or WalMart-online. A cheaper model is daylight only, no night vision. A more expensive model has a motion-sensing alarm that will signal a smartphone. The Foscam is not too bad-looking. My intention is not to capture a burglar "in the act," so I don't need built-in motion-sensing. Leave the intrusion-detection to iSmartAlarm. I want to remotely see the inside of the house, to determine if my iSmartAlarm notification was valid or false. If the camera is already stolen, I would be unsuccessful. But if I saw that the inside of the house was calm and normal, I would know I had received a false alarm. (According to police, over 99% of all residential intrusion alarms are false).