I live in a not so great apartment complex. I have lots of nice toys that would be very easy to hock at a pawn shop. I got worried everytime I left my apt that I'd come back to find the flimsy door kicked in and my goodies gone. I was able to install this in minutes. Two screws for the main unit and one screen for the motion sensor (mounted right above my door but out of reach to the average person. Now I can leave my place without worry.
Pro: Very easy to install, keychain remote means no running to the keypad.
Con: I found the working range of the remote to be about 30ft (through several walls though). Its loud but without an external siren I'm counting on my immediate next door neighbors to respond to the alarm before they disable it. Some of the setup menus are a little clumsy, but you only have to do it once.
I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. Wireless Home Security System
What I liked:
- Price of the kit;
- Easy to install and operate;
- Integrated phone call unit;
- Range of the sensors;
- No false alarms;
- WIndow/door sensor can easily be modified to control two or more wired magnetic sensors. All you need to do is connect the new dispositives in serie with the existing one;
- I can call the control unity with my mobile phone and disarm the alarm before get home when I'm not with the remote control;
- My phone rings within 9 seconds after the alarm is triggered;
- The control unity saves a history with the data and zone of the 5 last times it was triggered;
- Works with 9V batteries;
What I dislike:
- Only one remote control;
- Not very loud. I can barely hear it outside my apartment if the front door and the room door (where it is installed) are closed; Things get better if I install it close the door, but this way someone can easily smash it or unplug the phone cable in a few seconds. I'd rather to have an external siren;
- Manual have two different procedures for remote operation of the alarm. The correct is the second one in the end of the manual where you should press a number + # to operate the control unity;
- Extra accessories (especially the remote control) can be expensive and difficult to find;
- Window/door sensor could be smaller;
- There is a smal screw in the back of the control unity that entered inside it through a smal hole the first time I opened it to insert the battery. It was a pain to remove it later;
- I'd like to have a keyboard outside home so that I can disarm the alarm without the remote control.
- I didn't discover how to disarm zones without deleting the sensor from the control unity database;
What was a plus (features not informed in the manual or in the product description):
- Window/door sensor have a glass break detector. It triggers the control unity with impact;
- WIndow/door sensor have a switch to locally play an alarm sound even if the control unity is not armed.
- Control unity have 4 wire connections in the back: 1 for external siren and 3 triggers (1 normally closed and 2 normally open for extra sensors);
*Updated on 02/26/2011*
After 6 months, the 9V battery of the motion sensors are over. The battery of the window/door sensors are still OK.
This review includes the Mace Home Security unit PLUS the optional external speaker.
I bought this system about a month ago. It came with both an instructional DVD plus written instructions. Both were fairly easy to follow. It may take a couple of tries on some of the items to be programed because it will revert back to the main menu if you take too long but this is not a problem. Making sure the detectors are properly set up is a must otherwise it won't arm properly. Make sure the door/window sensor is no more than 1/4 inch apart. If either is set up incorrectly it will tell you on the lcd to please close and gives the sensor number that's not correct (included motion detector is #1 and door/window sensor is #2). It's wise to double check phone number entries,delay times, etc upon completion. I have the door/window sensor located in my outdoor shop about 125 feet away past three walls from the main control and it works fine. I've used motion detectors before and they can be a problem since they will detect pets or even rodents. It's best to locate them in narrow areas (such as a narrow hallway) to minimize the risk of a non human triggering it. The alarm is very loud and can be heard throughout my house but since I live in a rural area and also wanted to protect my detached shop, I chose the external alarm. I would say that when set up it may have an effective range of about 200-250 feet, depending on neighborhood noises. This hopefully would scare away intruders but not sure my neighbors (about 900 feet away) would notice it.
My only complaint concerns the instructions. During my initial set up I had problems arming the system and had to call customer support. The instructions indicated that troubleshooting information was available on their website but there was none. I was able to get a troubleshooting guide from tech support and he indicated that hopefully this would be put on their website in the future.
Also, the instructions for the external siren indicated there are three different versions of software developed over the years that required different programing methods and the serial number of the main control unit indicated which version I had. This proved to be incorrect and again I had to call tech support to get the correct programing procedure. The good news is that Mick at tech support was excellent. He responded quickly to my calls and walked me through the couple of minor problems I had. For me, it's not just about a great price (I paid about $72 including shipping for the Home Security package and about $42 for the optional siren) but customer support and I rate both at A+. Again, my only problem was with the instructions and hopefully these will be corrected by Mace. I decided it still earned 5 stars based on the great support they provided.
I researched a number of alarm systems and found this unit to truly be an excellent buy based on it's quality and features and I'm very satisfied with it. - Home Security - Mace - Security Systems - Security System'
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