The best home security systems in 2020: From cameras to alarms
Home security systems and modern smart home capabilities and compatibilities allow you to tap into their sensors and cameras directly from your phone.
Once upon a time, installing a security system could be a very costly affair: A professional monitoring company would provide the gear, locking you into an expensive, multi-year contract. In today’s DIY smart home world, though, new competitors have entered the fray that make home security much more enticing. Essentially, they let you buy the components you need, set them up yourself and subscribe to a monitoring plan — or don’t — and monitor everything completely from your phone. But with multiple home security systems and various packages in each, choosing the right one can get overwhelming.
How to find the best home security system
There’s no one-size-fits-all security system. Instead, these systems are designed to be piecemeal, allowing you to pick and choose among:
- Door/window sensors, which alert you when a door or window has been opened
- Motion sensors, which can detect someone walking through your living room
- Glass break sensors, which use either sound or vibration to detect if a window has been broken
- And other specialized modules
The best home security systems to shop in 2020
But don’t feel like you have to rush out and buy everything at once. “When putting together your system, think about your long-term plans for home monitoring and identify the main uses you have for a smart home system,” Kostecki says. “Start small with the most important uses, and build on to the system incrementally by adding different devices that accomplish different objectives.” Before you start building your home security package, contact your insurance company to see what kind of discounts they might offer — that information could inform your choices.
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