After my house was broken into I wanted to get an alarm but didn't want to pay any companies or commit to any monitoring contracts. This fit the bill perfectly. It works great once you plan around some caveats.
Pros: very simple operation. I've only had it two weeks but seems reliable so far. Easy to set up. The remote works well, but it's too bulky for me to carry around. So I just use a PIN code when I come and ago. I love the flexibility of this system. It's easy to add sensors or accessories. Compared to a pro alarm, the stuff is very cheap but built decently. It doesn't quite have the build quality "feel" of a pro system but it's simple and for the money works well. I love how it's all wireless. I"m a renter and don't want to drill holes or pull wire in walls and this is perfect.
Cons: The control panel (SC-001), PIN pad and siren are all one unit. If a crook breaks in and smashes it to bits during the 30 seconds on a delayed entry alarm it will be worthless. Or even if the siren is going off, cover it tightly with your hand, rip it off the wall and take it to the bathroom sink and submerge it in water or otherwise disable it. In other words, there's a single failure point that's not well protected. Especially if you mount it by your door for easy ripping off the wall as the crooks come in. In professional systems, the control unit is usually in a metal box in a closet so if someone smashes the keypad it will still go off. In pro systems the siren is separate as well.
Now here's how you can plan your system to mitigate the cons. Here's what to buy: Buy an extra key pad and at least one extra siren unit. They're only $30 each. Next, get creative where you hide the control panel. Put it in a closet or behind your washer and dryer or some place hard to get to. Some palace where it will take more than 30 seconds to destroy the control panel. Better yet, I am going to buy an inexpensive metal key box. It's a locking metal box that you can hang keys in. I found one on a big auction site for $15. I plan to drill a hole to poke the antenna out and another hole to run the power cord in. And some holes in the door so if the siren does go off, it can be heard. This will make it a little more like a pro system, in a locked metal box, preferably in a closet. Once the control box is secure, then set up one or more external sirens. I bought two. I put them on opposite sides of the house. Now if a bad guy breaks in, he has to find three sirens and smash them (control panel siren + 2 external ones). The sirens are very loud but I live on a noisy road and it's hard to hear the interior one from outside when traffic is going by. That's why I discreetly mounted one siren on the outside of a window on the front of the house. The other one is mounted on the outside of a window on the side of the house. I even wrapped one in black trash bad plastic to make it less obvious it's an alarm. You might even want to put electrical tape over the LED on the siren unit. Now you will have a system that's very difficult to defeat. Most crooks aren't going to want to hang around a house with 3 sirens going, not knowing it's it's monitored as well.
Some other thoughts: I didn't get a dialer because I don't have a land line and odds are burglars may cut the house phone lines anyway. But if you already have a landline, it couldn't hurt. The magnet contact sensors work well on the doors. The PIR (motion detector) works very well. The only problem is I have a cat and it might trip it. So I put a couple of the PIRs in closets. When I was burglarized, the first place they hit were the closets. Keep the closet doors closed and the cat won't set it off. I'm very careful to avoid false alarms because I don't want the neighbors hear it cry wolf from a false alarm. If you don't have pets, the PIRs will work great in the hallways or any rooms.
Wish list: separate key pad, controller box and siren units. I wish it would tell you if a sensor was "ready" like a pro system, but this would no doubt make the cost of the sensors much higher.
Plan around its shortcomings and this can be a 5 star system. I gave it 5 stars because it works well for what it is and is a great value for the money. Skylink SC-100 Security System Deluxe Kit
At the time of writing this review I have only had the system up and running for about a month. So far, I have not yet had any problems, and don't anticipate any to come up. I would rate this product with 5/5 stars, but a few minor things kept me at a 4/5, even though I am very satisfied with this product.
First, be aware that the system comes with only a few pieces, and you will most likely need to buy extra motion sensors and/or door sensors if you own a house. I personally - after inquiring of the company - bought two SC-100 systems so that I would have extra sensors and because I was informed that they are compatible and work together. This is mostly correct. The two systems can be programmed so that all of the sensors activate both alarms at the same time (and therefore you have two separate alarms sounding, making it all that much more difficult for any crooks to disable), but both can only be activated or deactivated SIMULTANEOUSLY if you are using the remote clicker within range of both control panels. If you manually activate/deactivate on the keypad itself, it will only affect the control panel you are typing into (and you will therefore have to run through the house to activate/deactivate the second control panel and get in/out during the allotted 45 seconds). Also, any other function than the two pre-programmed "arm" settings of the clicker (1 - arm with no one home, 2 - arm with leaving someone inside, 3 - disarm, RED - sound alarm) will have to be entered manually. For example: coding in for 'Night Mode' before you go to bed will require you to manually arm both control panels. (However, if you have the extra keypad-only accessory (KP-434), you could program it to work for both control panels, and skip this step, but will have to pay for the keypad which does not light up).
I did end up buying two extra motion sensors (PS-434a) for a total of 4, as well as an extra alarm (AA-433) for a total of 3 blaring sirens, which I put out in my detached garage to sound off in case someone were to break into that building.
An individual components critique:
1. Control Panel - Easy to understand and set up. Look through 'Advanced programming' in the instructions to get a good idea of how it all works, and figure out what sensors you want in which zones. The first CP I received nearly deafened me when I set it off. The second one was only about 75% as loud, and I have not been able to locate any change in its volume.
2. Motion Sensor (PS-434a) - Settings can be adjusted to high or low, and an extra sensitivity adjustment comes with aiming the sensor down a little bit more. They pick up most movement in smaller rooms, but are sometimes limited by where you locate them. By this I mean, if you try to position them into a ceiling corner to keep them from being too noticeable, they WILL be limited in the direction that you aim them and the STILL WILL be somewhat noticeable. Despite this, they have served the purpose. I have yet to replace any batteries, and it has been one month.
3. Door/Window Sensor (WT-433) - The directions say to have both magnets no more than 5/8 inches away from each other. The kit comes with 3 extra spacers and long enough screws that you should not have any problems. However, if you use all the spacers, the magnets become more noticeable than they already are. These sensors work wonderfully and I have had not trouble with the magnets. But I did not like that the sensor 'house' that attaches to the door frame magnet is on a relatively short wire, so that you can only position it about 6 inches away from the door frame magnet. This made it a little tricky on one or two of my windows/doors because there were not very good places to screw a little box. Also the 'house' is clearly visible by your door unless you can creatively hide it somewhere.
4. Audio Alarm (AA-433) - I received this piece last. It's an alarm. It's very loud. It's very basic: sounds off only when the system goes into full alert. It does not give warning beeps during the 45-second entry delay (like the Control Panel does), but will rather just blare at you once activated. A nice feature is that you can program it to work with either the Control Panel (and system) or just individual sensors (ie, just the back garage door or basement door) or both at the same time.
5. Clicker (4B-434) - No problems yet. Seems to work within the described 100 feet, although I have not measure this out :) The only disadvantages are, first - as many others have already said in other reviews - the buttons are hard to see. I took someone else's advice and colored around button 3 (disarm) so I could see it better. Second, the clicker-on-keychain is handy, but rather bulky. With a car clicker already attached to my keyring, this adds another, almost twice as large...'chunk' (for lack of a better word) into my pocket. But I would rather deal with the 'chunk' than have to run back and forth through the house all the time.
Overall, I am very pleased with this system. The instructions for setup and programming were clear, it did not take long to set up, it is sensitive and loud enough to wake up anything in a 50-foot radius, and provides me and my family with a little more sense of security without the contract. At this point I do not plan to add any other accessories (such as the telephone dialer) to the current pieces I already have. I would recommend this product (and in fact, already have to family members).
I hope this helps! - Security Systems - Security - Wireless Security Systems - Skylink'
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