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Home alarm monitoring/systems discussions

6K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  mikec 
#1 ·
Currently looking for another home alarm monitoring company. Not happy with current provider/billing practices and won't respond to billing inquiries.

Current provider is in London, ON.

Any suggestions other than the big players?
 
#3 ·
Interesting. I see Think Protection was founded by Joel Matlin who founded Alarm Force. My concern is we would likely have to install an entire new alarm system if we migrated to one of these companies and that would be costly.

Does anyone know anything about "The Alarm Monitoring Centre"? They advertise great rates, but I wonder about quality of service.
 
#4 ·
#6 ·
A few weeks after I posted (post 4) I received notice from ADT that they would be increasing my rates for 2018. This gave me the impetus to check out The Monitoring Center (TMC) again, as I'd been thinking about switching for many years.

TMC came and did the conversion yesterday. They used my existing DSC PC1500 equipment and it took about an hour to re-programme, test, fill out forms, etc.

I had correspondence with TMC several times by e-mail and they have always responded promptly and answered all my questions. Here's hoping that sort of service continues

Due to the cost of conversion ($99), this year my savings will be marginal compared to ADT, but the savings will be substantial the following years. Also, as a senior my rates are guaranteed to remain fixed as long as I'm with TMC.

When I called ADT to cancel, they quickly offered a lower rate (I thought they'd do that), but they couldn't match the $9.99/mo that TMC charges (for their base package - they have various packages depending on what you want) ADT also wanted to charge me for 19 days in 2018 for "30 days notice". I advised them that they have been prepaid yearly for almost 20 years and that I would appreciate them not doing that. ADT "backdated" the cancellation and I won't be seeing a bill for the 19 days.

The Monitoring Center - Security Alarm Monitoring $9.99 Per Month
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looking into Security Systems

So far I've reached out to a local company and Alarm Force. Alarm Force seems to be similar cost for monitoring, and no upfront cost for equipment unless you want to add additional sensors not included in their different packages. My local company uses a Honeywell system and Alarm Force uses 2gig. My initial thoughts are I like the 2gig setup better.

Does anyone have any reviews or experience with Alarm Force and/or 2gig? I have done a forum search, but not too much on either.

Thanks
 
#8 ·
personal experience, all i can say is avoid the Honeywell.

My mom had a private one, which was aging, and was considering switching companies (to rogers, which I have).
They convinced her to stay with them, good deal, and upgrade the system, etc.

They installed the honeywell.

Its garbage, IMHO. INSANELY slow/unresponsive.
And very limited in what it can do otherwise.
 
#9 ·
Check out Alarmgrid.com or GeoArm.com. I just installed the QolSys Panel 2 with 23 sensors in our home. Monitoring is very nicely priced. Month to Month. Do it together tech support was great. We ended up using GeoArm as our monitoring service at $15 a month. That covers dual path through our WiFi and also the Cellular LTE Data card that is installed in the panel.
 
#10 ·
If you are undecided and do not want to go with Bell Alarmforce, you might also want to think about trying Think Protection, lol no pun intended. Think Protection was founded by the former president of Alarm Force Joel Matlin.
 
#11 ·
I decided to go with Alarm Force. There are definitely cheaper monthly monitoring companies, but there is no upfront cost for the panel, 2 motion sensors, 3 window/door contacts, and it also includes the remote app via alarm.com. The 2gig panel along with alarm.com also seems like a great starting point to test out some home automation stuff.
 
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