home security company (insurance, work, house)

[pianogal]

Does anyone have their home security system monitored by any of these companies - Brinks, Sentinel or ADT? If so, can you give your recommendations or experiences. We're trying to decide which company if any, we want to use. They all look, sound and cost about the same. ADT advertises a wireless system which sounds interesting. We already have a hard wired system that came standard when the house was built.

[DailyJournalist]

I use Protection One because their monitoring center is located in Central Florida and they have the best rates.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

Hi Pianogal, we are going through the same process. Our friends had ADT or Brinks out but decided to go with Rampart Security instead. ADT or Brinks provide the same service but they want you to lock into a long term contract. Our friends didn't want to do that so they went with Rampart which is month by month.

I called Rampart Security last week to set up an appt. They'll come out for $85.00 but will take the charge off if you decide to go with them. It's $20.00 a month to monitor with them but you have have to pay $60.00 up front for the first 3 months. After discussing needing a land line for the service (we have VoIP phone service), I discovered I would then need to go wireless. They said Vonage and Comcast were not reliable enough to use. And, to go wireless, you need to buy a radio receiver that costs $250.00 and then the monitoring would be $35.00 a month instead of $20.00.

Hope this helps. I'd also be interested what the other companies are quoting because we are still decide if we want to get a cheap land line or go wireless.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

Could you tell us Protection One rates?

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by BeenAroundTheBlock

Could you tell us Protection One rates?

$24.95 but it is cheaper if you have a pre-installed system like yours. BTW, here is the number to Protection One (407) 265-1868 and their website is www.protectionone.com

[pianogal]

I just spoke with the owner of Sentinel Security. He is coming to our home this afternoon. They advertise the fastest response time in Central Florida - 24.3 seconds. I like the fact that they are local.

We have Bright House digital phone and they do recommend a land line but it will work with Bright House. They do not recommend it to work with Vonage. We will probably get the cellular receiver just for the increased security. It is $199 with Sentinel. We will also get 2-3 perimeter sensors at $100 each. That's all the install. The monthly fee for the above which includes basic service, a full warranty on all equipment (even the original system), and an extra $8.00 per month for the cellular would be $32.95 - which sounds reasonable to me. If you didn't take the insurance, it would cut your cost to $27.95 per month for regular service (19.95) plus cellular (8.00).

I like the increased protection of the cellular receiver because it wouldn't matter if anyone cut phone or power lines - it still works. Also, we would get key fobs that we could arm or disarm from our car, with a panic button for emergencies. That would be especially good for my husband's mother who is living with us right now.