4d ago

Recommendations on a home alarm system

I am in the process of purchasing a home, and the house that it’s looking like I am likely to buy has a Ring alarm system and camera installed. I like the idea of having burglar alarms on the windows and doors, but I do not want to use Ring. Between their ownership from Amazon and sharing data with the cops, I don’t trust them.

Are there privacy-friendly home security systems out there that don’t require an ongoing subscription? Bonus points if the devices are HomeAssistant compatible.

18 comments

Check out the Konnected boards, you can connect wired sensors and sirens to HomeAssistant. Combine with other wireless sensors for full coverage.
https://konnected.io/
Alarm systems are often unnecessary. However, if you need one, I'd go with an old-school hard-wired system from a company like DSC. I'd avoid any "smart" devices unless you really want the convenience. For cameras, you can get a real CCTV system with beefy cameras that record to a local hard drive.
Wireless systems, like Simplisafe, are hilariously easy to bypass with even a weak radio transmitter. The devices run on very low power so put out weak signals that are easy to drown out.
Security companies will try to charge you insane monthly fees for crap you don't need. There are companies out there that will tie into your wired system and do things like call you and the police when things go wrong for less than $20/mo. If you want the police to actually respond, I've heard you'll need a camera system, otherwise they're going to assume it's a false alarm and get to it when they get to it, if ever. Any additional upgrades, like connecting additional smart devices to a security app managed by your provider, are generally scams imo.
Once you add networked connectivity to any of this, they tend to lock things down so they can charge you unnecessary fees to access your devices. The nice part of a dumb wired system, besides being unhackable, is that you can wire an esp32 up to it yourself and connect it to home assistant. I'd check for device compatibility with esphome before buying anything.
That's all for actual security, though. It's going to be overkill for 99.999% of people. The convenience of smart and/or wireless devices should not be overlooked. For something like windows, a few zigbee contact sensors from Aqara would have you covered for very cheap and the install is just sticking them on. I wouldn't consider it a true security system, but it's easier and more realistic. Throw in a smart camera and doorbell and you're golden. Eufy lets you store video locally without a subscription, which is nice, but that doesn't actually mean that it's private.
- Can you elaborate further on Eufy? I was looking at this as it's one of the few local options. What makes it not private?
Dog /s
It might be worth looking at the devices, but some of the ring stuff is ZigBee/wave (not sure which) and will play reasonably well with home assistant. This might offer some reuse of the equipment.
Edit: ~~wait, no. I'm thinking of something else. Not ring.~~
No, I was right the first time. Older stuff usually, and of course not wifi.
https://github.com/ImSorryButWho/HomeAssistantNotes/blob/main/RingKeypadV2.md
- I can confirm that my Ring contact sensors and water leak sensors (both Z-Wave) work well with HomeAssistant using the Nortek QuickStick combo Z-Wave/Zigbee dongle. Sadly I still have my Ring system, but eventually I'll move away from it.
For cameras look for NVRs that let you hook up wired cameras to. I have yet to try it but have heards that installing Frigate lets you have complete control over the recordings. Riolink and Lorex both offer systems that dont require subscriptions and supposedly let you keep your data local. I am still trying to determine what to do myself, its not a simple thing, it always seems to boil down to a matter of trust or I need to study and develop technical knowledge that I really dont have a ton of spare time for
- For cameras look for NVRs that let you hook up wired cameras to. I have yet to try it but have heards that installing Frigate lets you have complete control over the recordings. Riolink and Lorex both offer systems that dont require subscriptions and supposedly let you keep your data local.
  So you mean to tell me these camera companies usually do not allow you to keep you data local? And you put them in or around your house?
  
  Many home camera companies use subscriptions as an excuse to store your recordings in the cloud and allow you to view or access them remotely on a phone app. I havent put up any that do that, but a shitload of other people have.
  Frigate is a custom OS for NVRs. The NVR stores the recordings, and the OS ideally puts you in complete control of the cameras and associated data. I am working on getting hardware that will let me install it, so I am only saying its worth taking a look at but am not endorsing it since I have not successfully uses it yet.
  The reason I say to use wired cameras is because they are more secure and can get continuous power instead of worrying about rechargung batteries. You can run them with no internet connection and control your local recordings that way. The drawback is that its only accessible by direct physical means. If someone breaks in and steals that hard drive then the whole system is worthless.
- Buy some PoE cameras that support RTSP, wire them up and attach them to Frigate/ZoneMinder.
  It'll require a little technical knowledge but it doesn't require you to trust random strangers with your family's security.
  
  Or BlueIris
You could put up your own home assistant compatible window and door sensors and stuff like that, but I'm not sure how it would go about calling the cops. Maybe have an integration with your phone so that if the alarm went off after like 60 seconds, it could automatically make a call to the cops or something? That's a good question.
HomeAssistant is the only one I'm aware of.
Eufy, by Anker, is a great choice imo. They keep data local by default, no subscription required. Very minor record of controversies.
- They keep data local by default
  https://gizmodo.com/eufy-local-security-camera-cloud-unencrypted-scandal-1850059207
  The original security issue was first noticed by security researcher Paul Moore, who noticed Eufy cameras were streaming recorded video to a cloud server on the site’s web portal, even though cloud storage wasn’t enabled. That data sent to the cloud remained unencrypted.
  https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera-answers-encryption
  Anker has finally admitted its Eufy security cameras are not natively end-to-end encrypted — they can and did produce unencrypted video streams for Eufy’s web portal.
  The article also includes a response from Anker.
  
  Yep, this is exactly the controversy I was referring to from two years ago. It only applies if you choose to upload video to their cloud, not your local storage hub.
  If you read more about this, you'll find that the vulnerability has been sensationalized by Gizmodo. A malicious actor would have to go to great lengths to obtain a very long hash string and then append that to a URL to get access to the unencrypted content. That hash string itself is not accessible, so it is highly unlikely.
  With that being said, I wouldn't recommend putting a security camera of any brand inside your home and pointing it somewhere you can't risk being seen on the off chance of a breach, but how many people are really looking to do that anyway?
- Awesome, thanks! Sounds like just what I’m looking for

18 comments