home security camera systems
The very affordable $199 starter kit includes a wireless base station, a keypad for arming and disarming the system, one door/window sensor, one passive infrared motion sensor, and a Z Wave range extender. You can monitor the system yourself, but at the price Ring is charging for professional monitoring—just $10 per month $100 per year if paid annually with no long term contract—it
would be foolish not to sign up for it. That goes double for people who already have other Ring devices, because it includes video storage in the cloud for an unlimited number of Ring cameras. Ring’s sensors operate on battery power, the keypad and base station come with AC adapters, and the Z Wave range extender plugs directly into an AC outlet. All three of those components have battery backup, so the system will continue to operate in the
event of a power outage. The base station connects to your home network via hardwired ethernet or Wi Fi. A Ring Protect subscription activates an LTE module in the base station that will keep the system connected to the internet if your broadband connection goes down. You can even run the keypad on battery power full time if you choose, since most homes don’t have AC outlets right next to doors. An LED will tell you when the battery needs to be charged. There is currently no support for controlling the system with voice commands, but it should come as no surprise that Ring is developing an Alexa skill. Once you can arm your security system using a voice command, you won’t want to do it any other way disarming it that way is whole other question.
Iris has three no contract service plans: basic, premium and professional monitoring. The basic plan is free, gives you control over your system and sends alerts to your smartphone when the alarm goes off. The premium plan $9. 99/month expands the basic plan controls and adds video storage. The professional monitoring plan $14. 95/month adds cellular backup and links your home to a certified monitoring station that can send emergency responders to your home. This professional monitoring plan is the cheapest among the systems we tested, tied with SimpliSafe. For cellular backup, you need to buy a modem that plugs into the Smart Hub. The keypad in the Security Pack has a built in siren, but it's one of the quietest we tested. This system is compatible with more smart home devices than the others we tested. You can connect Z Wave, ZigBee, Alexa, Nest and Google Home and over 70 other devices.