Its one thing looking at wireless alarm system reviews on the internet it’s a completely different thing understanding the basic concepts of what these alarms actually are, their advantages, their disadvantages and what it is they can actually do.

This guide from Cool Home Security will hopefully discuss some of the points that are relative to managing your own wireless home alarm systems and will briefly chat about fitting them too.

Let’s begin our wireless alarm guide with the obvious fact that with the progression of technology especially in the security field we are seeing more and more fantastic alarms being released to the baying public.  This is a great thing however with all products; there are some good and some bad.

With ever more alarm systems being realised the more sophisticated they become.  The disadvantage of this is that not everyone knows or understands how to work these security devices to get the most out of them.

The Advantages Of Wireless Home Security Alarm Systems

To get to the bottom of this lets first take a look at the advantages which wireless security alarms can bring the consumer (that’s me and you).

One advantage straight away that is of course rather obvious is the fact that these devices don’t have any wires to worry about.  This is great for the consumer as they no longer need to be concerned with where they are going to set up the device, no longer shall they need to be concerned with where they will tuck the wires in when they initially set the alarm up.

Back in the day you would need to hide away ugly looking cables.  You can imagine how fun that would be yes?  But nowadays thankfully wireless alarm manufacturers are becoming aware of the general requirement from consumers that their products need to become more unobtrusive and the less of an eyesore the better.

Other issues that came with having a wired system were that if you didn’t actually know what you were doing (and many didn’t) you would need to hire out some professional help to install the alarm.  Needless to say, this came at an extra unwanted expense to everyone who simply wanted to improve the safety of their homes.

Can you really imagine having to secure your garage or out house by using a wired system?  It was very difficult, especially considering the fact that you had to also protect these wires from the elements.

Thankfully with the advent of wireless home security alarm systems you no longer need to worry about such things as set up for these devices are so much easier than they used to be!

Another advantage found from wireless devices is that now you can secure more than your domestic premise or property.  In fact a majority of these alarms are able to act as a central control panel in your home and the user can now control many aspects such as different consumer appliances (think entertainment & electrical goods).

Look out for the home security devices that support the new X10 protocol (ask the retailer if you are unsure).  This new protocol ensures that you can control and observe all manner of home devices from one singular location.  This greatly improves the ease of use for these alarms over any old hard wired cousin.

An example of the advantage that the X10 protocol can bring is that of your house lighting.  You can have total control over the timing of the lights as well as having the ability to group sets of lights together giving the impression to any thief that there is someone already in the house.

Lastly it must be stated that the sheer versatility of these alarm systems are a huge advantage too.  They come with wireless key fobs as standard that allow the user to arm and disarm the device at the click of a remote portable button.  This removes the need to remember any code and also removes the need to have to input that code at least twice into the alarm each and every day for the rest of your lives!  It then becomes obvious how valuable the wireless key fob is to the user.

Actually there is one other advantage that we have just remembered.  You can actually fit more alarms to the system too.  Smoke alarms, panic alarms, flood alarms etc you name it you can add it to the wireless device making it a complete home security control hub.

To round up the advantages of wireless security systems are that they are really easy to install and set up.  They have some really versatile functionality to them.  They can be customised with many different useful accessories and extra alarm applications and hardware.  They also can be moved and relocated after an initial setup.

The Disadvantages Of Wireless Home Security Alarms

So, it’s rather easy to see the advantages to wireless security are but what exactly are the disadvantages of wireless security?

Well, the majority of these devices are unfortunately a lot more expensive than their fully wired counterparts.  This is because the technology is still relatively new and as is the case with every new tech, the prices will usually be higher than their traditional spec.

Some could say that this extra expense is offset by the fact you don’t need to pay anyone to set up the alarm or the fact you spend less time in the actual set up but we will still put price down as a disadvantage never the less.

Most wireless security systems are powered through disposable batteries.  This brings a few negative aspects to them as they will need to be monitored on constant bases.  Well when we say constant we say check them once ever fortnight or week if you feel you need to be extra safe.

Yes, the devices themselves usually come with a warning light when the battery gets low but ether way this frequent checking on the battery power is a nuisance and is obviously going to go down as a disadvantage of wireless security.

Another potentially huge negative to wireless security technology is that advanced hackers have been known to be able to hack into the security key fobs and obtain the code required for access to any protected premise.  This is of course extremely rare and chances are it will never happen to you or anyone you know.

But it is however an aspect that needs to be pointed out if we are going to fairly assess the pros and cons of wireless alarms.

We hope you have enjoyed our mini guide to wireless home security alarm systems and hope you have found some useful information that will give you a better judgement over these products.

It is now becoming clear that the majority of alarm manufacturers are indeed focusing on wireless technology for the future production of their devices.  This is of course rather obvious due to the attractive advantages this technology can bring.

If you still require more information on wireless home security alarm systems then please make sure you put your nearest electrical retailer through their paces and ask them as many questions that may be concerning you.  Until next time, stay safe Cool Home Security readers we hope you enjoyed this wireless alarm guide, goodbye!

Related posts:

1. Skylink SC-1000 Alarm Review
2. Protector Plus Alarm Review
3. Intermatic SP440B Alarm Review

Lets be honest here, if this alarm was a vegetable it would be a potato.  Nothing overly amazing about it but what it does it does well.  It certainly able to provide safety for those who purchase it and that at the end of the day is what it is all about yes?

This security alarm system is also rather convenient in that it can be placed pretty much anywhere in your house.  We actually set the alarm up in four different locations in our warehouse and it was a breeze to set up.

The first location we tried was next to the main entrance door.  Before we did so we had to tackle the good old user manual as we need to rate these alarms in ease of setup as well as how functional they are.

You will be glad to hear (if you are non techy) that the set up is really straightforward, Intermatic have really done a great job in terms of creating a user friendly manual that can be read and more importantly understood by all walks of life.

We imagine there would be nothing worse than buying a brand spanking new wireless home security alarm system, taking it home, unpacking it and then finding out that the set up instructions may as well have been written in Chinese.

As we stated earlier, this is not the case.  Not only are the alarms instructions straightforward but the illustrations found in the manual are actually top notch, really clear and precise.  Basically if you by the Intermatic SP440B and have trouble setting it up then you really don’t have much chance with life in general, you may as well just shoot your self in the head and be done with it (please don’t do that its not worth it!).

The siren on the Intermatic weighs in at a decent 90 decibels.  Yes it’s not the most powerful siren we have heard at our Cool Home Security warehouse but this audio level is more than enough for any small home owner and should give enough noise to alert the next door neighbour too.

Once set up, it is a case of your usual enter a code to set the alarm and enter a code to deactivate the alarm (see what we mean with potato?).  The alarm suns on batteries, you will need 3 1.5 volt batteries and as always we recommend just paying a little extra for rechargeable batteries to save you some money in the long run.

I guess this is as good a time as any to remind people who have battery powered home security alarms.  Always test and make sure your alarm is working every fortnight (you could even make that every week to be safe) because the last thing you want to happen is to wake up one morning only to find that a burglar or thief has ransacked your home taking everything with them and you realising that you slept through it all because your wireless alarm system ran out of batteries!

That would be enough to drive any self respecting person over the edge so the moral of the story is check your batteries children and check them often.

Anyway let’s get back to the Intermatic SP440B Alarm Review.  The manufacturer states that it’s best to put the Intermatic onto your window for maximum effect.  Once the connection breaks (whether the window opens or closes) the 90 decibel alarm siren shall sound.

It really is as simple and as straightforward as that.  There really is no getting round the fact that the simplicity of this model is actually on of the alarms more endearing aspects.

Though we suspect that this will be completely down to the individual.  If you are the sort of person who wants to buy an alarm, set it up and then forget about it, the Intermatic SP440B Wireless Window Alarm will be perfect for you.

If however you are the sort of sadistic human being like us who enjoys spending literally hours of time setting up an alarm and tinkering with hundreds of different parameters before actually setting the alarm to live, then we would advise spending your money elsewhere.

Yes you will probably have to buy something more expensive but you will be happy at the end of the day.

To summarise the Intermatic SP440B Wireless Window Alarm is a good little alarm.  It does exactly what it sets out to do.  The manufacturer knows who they are targeting with this device and they have done so with laser targeted execution.

There are other better Intermatics out on the market, that is a no brainer but none come at this price point.  If money is an issue then certainly take a look at this alarm.

More good points, attention must be brought to the user manual.  We hope other alarm manufacturers take note of the steps Intermatic made in the creation of this as it was absolutely perfect.  No one at the office had any issues understanding the instructions, a first here at Cool Home Security.

The negatives of this model are that it is an extremely basic alarm.  If you want more bang for you buck you should probably go elsewhere.  Also if you live in a large house or are in need of an alarm at a shop or warehouse we would advise you to take a look at the other bigger names out there.

Overall we enjoyed testing the Intermatic.  Sure, it won’t win any awards for being the best wireless home security alarm system in the world anytime soon but for what it does it does with an air of efficiency and elegance.  The Intermatic SP440B Alarm Review gets a nice 6 out of 10.

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1. GE 51107 Alarm Review
2. Visonic Powermax Alarm Review
3. InGrid SK803IG Alarm Review

If you have never heard of the Visonic Powermax then why not?  In our last post we were complaining about how dull and dry the names these alarm companies are calling their products and along comes Visonic with “The Powermax!”.  We were genuinely considering giving it 10 out of 10 simply because it had a cool name.  Alas our professionalism conquered that thought so if you are considering purchasing this home security device, read on.

In our short time reviewing alarms we have unfortunately come across one or two rather unsavoury points of view regarding wireless alarm systems and their ability to actually … erm … work.  Well we have to just say that this is not true.  Well it’s not true when considering the Visonic Powermax as this is one of the most assuring home alarm systems in quite some time.

With its “code secure” technology ensuring that external scanners don’t pick up any of the signals, this is no ordinary “do it yourself” alarm.  In actual fact it genuinely isn’t.  As apparently it comes under the BS6799 Class 5 standards, but that’s enough tech talk for one day!

Where were we?  Oh that’s right; we were doing our eagerly anticipated Visonic Powermax alarm review!  The alarm itself will set you back around £199 but if you shop around you may get a better price but don’t count on it.

What Do You Get With This Wireless Home Security Alarm System?

What do you get for your hard earned money?  Well you get the control panel obviously, a key or fob if you will which you can remotely access the alarm system and you will also get 2 door sensors.  It has to be said however, there has been reports that this system only comes with 1 sensor, either we were lucky or this was simply an error on Visonics part we don’t know.

So once we opened up the box and got rid of the packaging we did what we always do and tried to set up the system using solely the manufacturer’s user manual for the alarm kit.  One thing that Visonic has got correct is the fact that they know their target audience, they got their branding spot on and the set up is tailored to those with no home security experience what so ever.

That gives Visonic mega brownie points in the eye of Cool Home Security as we always feel that there are far too many companies these days creating their manuals as if the only people that will use their alarms are individuals with a brain the size of a small planet.

We will never understand why they do this; it’s as if wireless security setup is an exclusive club with only tech geeks and brain boxes with an invite.  Don’t get us wrong, you won’t find bigger tech geeks than us at Cool Home Security but when you consider that these devices will be used by people from all different aspects of life, young and old you begin to realise the importance of a user manual “for dummies” when setting up alarms.

Aesthetically the alarm ticks all the right boxes.  It has a very nice design that can be said is quite original when comparing it to other wireless security systems out there.  It’s not a futuristic design by any means but it certainly looks quite stylish and would find a home in any fashion conscious alarm lovers (Do they even exist?).

How Durable Is The Visonic Powermax Wireless Home Security Device?

We found that the installation went pretty straight forward; we managed to hang it up on the wall without any issues to said alarm or wall.  Once we installed the anti tamper features it comes with we then proceeded with giving it a good thumping.

We like to call it our “Durability test”.  If you are a regular reader of our alarm reviews you will already know what the test involves.  For those new to the site we simply take a hammer and try and smash the alarm off the wall.

Why do we do this?  Simple, it’s because we are clinically insane.

Not really, we do it because if you are in the unfortunate situation where a burglar has entered your house and your alarm goes off; the thief will 99 times out of 100 take one of two different choices.  He/she (equal rights and all) with either run out of your house as fast as they can or they will try to bash the alarm in the desperate hopes that the siren will fall silent.

The sad fact is that sometimes the burglar is successful when they try this, and that is why it is important to test the durability of the alarm once it is secure in your houses.  What use would our wireless alarm reviews be if we praised an alarm system only to find that our mailbox was overflowing with angry folk complaining about the fact their alarms got smashed off the wall and they were on the receiving end of a nasty break and entering episode.

No one wants that to happen hence we will continue to smash alarms with a hammer.  In addition to this it’s a rather fun thing to do too.  It can be a bit of a pain to tidy the remains of the alarm up but every silver lining has a cloud.

Long story short, the Visonic Powermax passed the durability test and although the alarm did come off the wall eventually, it took a while to get the alarm to stop.  This ensures us that whoever tries to break in to a house with this system set up they will be in for a hard time.

We would like to end this review by saying that the Visonic is a great piece of hardware, it does have some minor issue with regards to the manual but the diagrams are probably enough to allow even the most non-technological individual set the device up.

We can confidently say that this wireless home security system will keep you and your family safe.  It looks good, it’s secure, it’s a bit pricey but it’s still a very robust piece of home security.  The Visonic Powermax alarm review gets a score of 7 out of 10.

Related posts:

1. GE 45142 Choice Alert Alarm Review
2. InGrid SK803IG Alarm Review
3. GE 51107 Alarm Review

Terrible product naming aside, it wasn’t actually that long ago we did our last review.  If you missed that it was the GE 45142 Choice Alert and we were rather impressed by it.  So the InGrid has a lot to live up to if it is to keep the good alarm reviews light burning, how will it fair?  Read on young ones and you shall find out.

If you are a regular reader of Cool Home Security then please call the doctor, there is something very, very wrong with you.  You will also know that we are the harshest alarm critics in the solar system and we test and test again pretty much every aspect of the alarms we test.

This is good for a few reasons namely that it allows you guys to make a more educated decision instead of allowing the terrible alarm manufacturers product description lie to you.  So well done you regular reader, pat yourself on the back before you call the authorities.

No let’s get stuck into what the InGrid SK803IG alarm review and find out what it can do and figure out if this nifty device is indeed that … nifty!

We have to hold our hands up; this alarm system kit is quite cool.  In actual fact, it’s more than that, its borderline next generation tech we are witnessing with this home security product.  Don’t believe us?  Well tough!  No not really, we shall explain all.

We Were Impressed With The Ingrid SK803IG

To begin with we were more impressed with this security device than the majority of most professionally installed home security, impressive stuff no doubt.  It is also one of the most durable alarm systems we have seen this year.

With all our alarms we test it for breakages and try some impact trauma on it too (That’s right, we hit it with a hammer and see if it breaks).  For anyone considering the InGrid you will be glad to hear that it was like trying to break into a walnut with candy floss.  Try as we may, we simply could not destroy this thing.

This is a good thing when you consider that the thief usually has two options when a home alarm goes off.  They either run away with their tail between their legs or they try and physically break the system.  If any thief tried the latter they would find themselves on the receiving end of a losing battle.

The usability of the InGrid SK803IG was quite impressive too.  We were able to seamlessly connect the device during our InGrid SK803IG alarm review to more than one of the usual suspects.  Once connected to a cordless telephone, mobile phone or even a remote web browser such as Internet Explorer or the popular (and simply better) Firefox.  Once connected we never had any issues with basic operation.

That’s the thing with this wireless home security alarm system, it simply works.  We had an idea it would after the initial “durability test”.  All round it’s a pretty solid performance from InGrid, and we will hold our hands up we honestly thought we wouldn’t see eye to eye with this alarm when we first read its technical specification.

Well to be honest it wasn’t its tech specs that bothered us too much, yes they aren’t the greatest of reading when you consider the other so called “power house” alarms on the market today.  No, our biggest gripe with this alarm was yes you guessed it, monthly fee!

In their defence it does come with a 30 day money back guarantee but gee whiz do we hate the monthly fee alarm systems.  We have mentioned it before, these payment plans will soon be a thing of the past as no home owner in their right mind will opt for a monthly contract when they can find devices these days that are more than capable of taking full control of their home security at an absolute fraction of the price.

Anyway, enough about that.  What was the alarm like to set up?  We hear you scream from the rooftops.  Well it was … OK, we at Cool Home Security are a bunch of professionals who have been in the security industry quite some time.  In fact many of us read user manuals for breakfast.

We do however have to consider the way a normal more wholesome human being would read these manuals and when we were reading the user manual for the InGrid alarm.  We have a slight idea that some would struggle.

Some serious tech jargon to be found in the instructions.  A breeze to super professional folk like us but for 70 year old Miss Flanagan may be problematic.

Thankfully, if they were to get over the slight alarm system geek speak found in the set up, the average person shouldn’t have too much of a problem in getting this sweet piece of anti theft protection up and running and catching those criminals in no time.

To wrap up, we were really surprised with this security device.  Pleasantly so.  Yes there were a few minor issues with the set up for novices but we are slightly nitpicking with that gripe.

If you are in need of an affordable home security system then the InGrid SK803IG might be right up your street.  Of course when we say affordable, we mean affordable in the respect of all other monthly fee alarms.

We of course always recommend going for a wireless home security system that requires only a one off payment.  Hopefully with our recommendations companies who charge monthly fees will think twice about their business model.  This can only be a good thing for consumers of security products in the future.  Now, our rating?  The InGrid SK803IG alarm review gets a safe 8 out of 10!

Related posts:

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2. GE 45142 Choice Alert Alarm Review
3. Skylink SC-1000 Alarm Review

We began testing this alarm early September then completely forgot to complete our tests, unprofessional we know but we were busy planning and designing this website so we can be excused.

GE 45142 Choice Alert Alarm Review

Anyway, down to business as usual, what does this alarm do?  What can it do?  Well lets take little sneak peak at the unbiased (yeah right) manufacturers description shall we?  Yes, I think we shall.

Apparently the GE 45142 offers absolutely all you need in a wireless alarm control centre.  God knows what that means.  Bashing on, it does have a good amount of zones, four separate ones to be precise and that adds value to the sensors it has too.  16 to be preciser (is that even a word?!).

It all adds up to being a wireless alarm system that allows you the lucky user the ability to customise the alarm to quite a few specific situations.  This is rather pleasing as throughout or testing when we review alarms, one thing always becomes apparent when we do these, everyone’s requirements for an alarm system is different so we welcome the fact it lets users have some flexibility.

During the GE 45142 Choice Alert alarm review we found that the keypad that comes with this alarm is pretty cool in our humble opinion; it’s a 5 button device and fits in the hand rather nicely.  It has quite a quick pairing setup meaning that if you want to connect this with a wireless system or another alarm based accessory you can and with ease.  Thankfully there is no need to get the tools out to pair this up to other devices, always a good thing as we are rather lazy here at Cool Home Security.

Okay that’s the basics out the way, now on to the meat of the device, the alarm itself.  And the meat of the device is a good term to use as this alarm certainly belts out quite a noise.  In fact I was a little scared that it may break a window due to how high pitched it was.  In our opinion we can always replace a window no problem, just as long as the burglar or thief gets a heart attack from the siren we will be happy!

But is this Wireless Home Security Alarm System Loud?

It’s actually hitting around the 130 decibel level even though the manufacturers states that it’s a lowly 120.  We tested this a few times under a few different recording devices and it was consistently over or around 130 decibels.  Definitely enough to wake you and the neighbours in case of any home based emergency or break in’s.

The Choice Alert wireless home security alarm system is of course one part of the alert endless line of products.  We are a little sceptical on the business model of this, we have always been a fan of getting more than what we pay for and to find out that this was only a section of a complete package certainly left a bad taste in our mouths.

Sadly though this is just a small facet of business and we can see this bite size business model everywhere we look not just the wireless alarm industry.

To the manufacturers credit, the alarm is pretty easy to get up and running.  No sweat was visible in the set up to this alarm device and no stress was felt.  Nothing worst than getting a nice brand new alarm only to find you require a degree in electronics to read the user manual.  We always take a point or two off for lazy user manuals, gladly though this alarms manual was easy to understand and thankfully was in plain English thank god!

Other advantages to this alarm kit are that it’s a one off purchase, no need for monthly or bi monthly fees.  This can be a sign of a bad alarm but in these times we know how important money can be to consumers with regards to home security and no one in their sane mind wants to pay a monthly fee for an alarm.  In fact we at Cool Home Security predict that more and more companies will be getting rid of the monthly fee model as they will soon realise that there are many perfectly capable alarms available to home owners at the fraction of the cost and with no subscription payment to boot!

At the end of the day (wait we are an alarm review site, not footballers!) we think this alarm is pretty good.  It’s nothing amazing by any means but it certainly can do a lot of things other alarms can not.

It wont win any awards at the annual alarm Oscars (we made that up) but it can keep your house safe and that at the end of the day (not again!) is all that matters.

We spent more than 3 hours debating what score to give this alarm as we were weighing up its pros and its cons against some of the alarm reviews on our site already as well as comparing it to the other wireless alarm systems out there for this price point.

And with the wild debate now over we are pleased to say that the GE 45142 Choice Alert alarm review gets a very respectable 7 out of 10.  Not bad at all we think.  You can do a lot better than it, but you certainly can do a hell of a lot worse.  The GE Choice is a safe choice for those wishing to keep their belongings safe and secure this winter.

Related posts:

1. InGrid SK803IG Alarm Review
2. Visonic Powermax Alarm Review
3. Skylink SC-1000 Alarm Review