home security company (Orlando: power lines, insurance, houses)

[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.

[synthfan23]

Do people still like Rampart in 2019? If so, why specifically vs others? If not, why not, specifically vs others? I see Rampart is the predominant provider in my community. An acquaintance says he uses Rampart equipment but doesn't pay for monitoring. So are there ways to get Rampart for a while, then DIY afterwards?

Currently I have a Ring Video Pro doorbell and a Kevo touch-lock. Was hoping to build up an inexpensive system from there. Perhaps all I need are Ring PIR motion-sensing floodlights front and back. Doesn't take much to deter a thief and break into another house...

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by 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.

On the Nextdoor APP a lot of my neighbors recommend ADT through David Moore 407-655-6814. I personally wouldn't want to use a service that requires a contract, but if you are going that route, it'd be worth trying him out since a lot of people are recommending him.


Just realized this was a thread brought back from the dead lol.

[FireStation46]

Originally Posted by 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.

I had Brinks, ADT. Got rid of both. Went with Alarm.com. They hook up with a local firm that have employees in the area vs a call center in god knows where. Very helpful when we went to a smart home-automation set-up and we can control it remotely.


https://www.alarm.com/smart-home-solutions

[lovetotravel15]

I have had ADT in different houses for over 25 years. I have been happy with them; we did have a burglary in one of our homes and they responded very quickly, everything worked as it should. In that particular home, lovely suburban neighborhood, a two story, the ADT salesperson recommended that we DO NOT put protection on the windows upstairs since "there are seldom burglaries on the second floor". We instead had a motion detector in the hallway. Sure enough, one weekend when we were away, there was a burglary
on the SECOND FLOOR. We had a field in the back of our home and mid summer about 9pm in the evening, we think they parked on a street adjacent to the field and had some type of ladder. Anyway, the motion deterred any movement to any other bedrooms. They cut the screen, entered a bedroom, proceeded to the hallway, and the motion detector immediately went off, they ran out the bedroom very quickly. It scared me so much that any subsequent homes, we got window protectors on EVERY door and window, including second floor.
Next home in Orlando sometime in future, we will strongly consider ADT again. If there was an occasion to ask a question, we called in to ADT, they immediately answered.