I know my previous post was a bit silly, but it got across the essentials of my search. Now down to the nitty gritty because I want you to be sure to have all the details here.

The package from SimpliSafe arrived in a couple of days, pretty darn fast. It was in a plain cardboard shipping box and was padded with brown paper (for all you eco-conscious people out there). The Master Security System ($497.98) I chose came with:

1 Base Station
1 Wireless Keypad
2 Keychain Remotes (the second is a free bonus)
2 Motion Sensors
6 Entry Sensors
1 Auxiliary Siren
1 Yard Sign
2 Window Decals
1 Panic Button (free bonus)
1 Smoke Detector

You can check the available packages, but I wanted to best approximate a replacement to my current ADT system. When choosing a package, try to select the least expensive package and add any additional sensors you may need. If the cost becomes high enough to jump to the next more expensive package, start there and repeat until you feel you have everything you need. You don’t need to have sensors on every window and door if you choose your sensors wisely and place them strategically.

The sensors were very close in size and shape to those provided by ADT and it was a simple matter to swap out the existing ones for the new ones. They were backed by heavy duty adhesive strips that also have pull tabs in the event you wish to remove them and holes for provided screws if you needed to further secure them. If you’ve never encountered these before, you simply add the sensor to the moving part of the door or widow and then add a magnet to the fixed portion, say the top portion of window or on the door frame, aligned with the middle of the sensor (guides provided on the sensor). They even indicate how the sensor slides open for battery replacement so you can place it for easy access later. Nice touches.

ADT had mounted their control panel right to our wall because we had to provide a hard line for phone access as well as power. The SimpliSafe base station was a modern looking, free-standing mini-tower with an AC adapter. No phone line required since it’s cellular, but I noticed it does have jacks for Line In and Telephone in the back. The wireless touch pad was a welcome difference. Since it’s separate from the base station, you can place it closer to the door for quicker access when leaving or entering the house. We always had to run up the stairs and cross the living room to get to the ADT control panel.

The package includes a manual and installation wizard contained in one of the remotes with a USB connector. You can follow the printed manual and it pretty much tells you what to do and if you could follow what I wrote above, you could probably do the installation without looking at the manual until it came down to the final setup instructions, where the USB installation wizard became more useful.

You insert this thumb drive like keychain into your computer and launch the app. It walks you through placement and setup of all the potential parts of your package and suggests optimum placement. You can skip over the ones you may not have, like the glass break sensor, water sensor or carbon monoxide sensor. It’s nice to see they have additional sensor types and you can purchase them right off their website and add them to your system. Then you add your master code and duress code if desired into the system. The duress code would be used when forced to disable the alarm. This deactivates the alarm, but still notifies the police. You can also add additional PIN numbers to enable and disable the alarm, like children or houseguests. It also triggers Test Mode to send a signal to the monitoring station as well as allowing you to test all the sensors you placed. The wizard will also pop you into your web-based Dashboard where you can make changes like naming the sensors, add additional PINs and read the system logs. You can have these sent to you via email and/or text with the plan I chose, the Standard Monitoring and Alerts for $19.99/mo. You can go lower without alerts for $14.99 or higher with additional phone/web functions for $24.99, and switch between plans at will. Compared the the $47.31/mo. I was currently paying ADT, any of those plans is a steal.

When done, you can exit the website and complete the install. Then you remove the remote from your computer and stick it in the top of the base station, where it syncs the settings you just created and puts the system into Practice Mode for 72 hours, giving you time to test the features of the system. It would be nice to have a way to make the system live prior to that time if you were comfortable with the system, but that’s a small quibble.

Then came the fun of removing the ADT equipment. The window and door sensors were pretty easy. They, too, had the adhesive strips and were pretty easy to pull off. I then just rubbed off any remaining tape from the location. The motion sensors were also easy, since they were screwed into wall anchors. We tried using the same locations for the new ones, but like the previous ones, the cat kept tripping the motion sensor when she moved around the house (which is why we never used them). This time with the aid of my wife, we repositioned them in locations where the cat couldn’t get near enough to trigger them (we hope). The control panel was a different story. It had been so long, I wasn’t sure how it was originally installed, but we remembered having trouble getting it to call out, especially when we switched between service providers like Comcast and Verizon. So I figured I would remove it, disconnect it and presto! we would be done. Uh-uh. I did indeed remove it and found a gaping hole in my wall behind it where the installer had connected the phone wire. I unplugged that from the back of the unit. There was power also wired for the built-in siren. I disconnected that too. Then I was left with a gaping hole and two wires running down to the baseboard. Great. I might be able to cover the hole with the new siren. Back to that in a minute.

The other chore was to cancel the monitoring service from ADT. I dreaded this, because I was afraid I was going to be bombarded with sale pitches to upgrade the hardware or discount the service, but I was pleasantly (and gratefully) surprised. I called the main number, they transferred me to another person who took my info asked me why I was canceling, put me on hold for about 2 minutes, and told me I was all set. He did ask if I would be interested in upgrading the hardware (of course requiring a commitment), but when I told him I already had purchased another system and service, he just moved on. I took that moment to thank him and told him that’s the way I expect all companies to be. Courteous and helpful.

That being done, I thought I was golden. Not so. I went to use the telephone and found that it was dead. All my house phones were dead. What!? As a test, I just connected the phone line back to the old control panel and voila! the phone was back in business. A major blunder by the ADT installer. Somehow, they had wired it so the control panel was inline with the main telephone line. Break the line there by disconnecting it, disrupt the service on all phones. Great… Back up goes the control panel until I get this figured out.

Overall, I am pleased with the ease of installation and setup. New alarm users will find it even more so, since they won’t have to deal with removing the old hardware and canceling the previous service. At about $30/mo. savings, it will pay for the hardware in about a year and a half. Not bad.

A few final notes, I wanted to mention that I was able to make this purchase using PayPal, which not all (maybe any) of the other companies offered, if that makes a difference. Also, SimpliSafe seemed to stress the need for acquiring permits, if necessary, for the self-installation and use of burglar and smoke alarms in your town, and to notify them what the laws were for your town if they didn’t have it on record (which they don’t if they mention it to you in the first place, lol). Lastly, the system is portable, so you can easily move it to another home, town or state with minimal effort and reconnect it to a local monitoring center.

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