Are Wired or Wireless Home Alarm Systems Better?
As with any type of home alarm system, there are differences that you may need in order to better suit your lifestyle. Therefore it is difficult to say exactly what home alarm system is better. The more suitable question is what home alarm system is better for you. In the following article, we are going to explain some of the differences between the two systems. Through this, you will be able to make a more informed decision to what home security system specifically meets your needs.
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Installation:
You could say that wireless home alarm systems are simpler to install. With a wireless alarm system, it is very possible for the equipment to be sent to your home and you install it yourself. The process may take in total a couple hours of your time. Also, an additional thought to consider is with a wireless home alarm system it may be easier to add additional features. For example, simple sensors or motion detectors, you could sync these up to your system as long as the technologies can coordinate with each other.
With a wired system, the whole system is integrated more with the general infrastructure of your house. If you are building a home it is a good idea to let your contractor know your plans for the security system to see if you can prewire anything you may need.
A professional, in most cases, will have to come to your house in order to install some of the wirings in your walls, floorboards, etc. Essentially a wired home alarm system is more permanent.
Portability:
The portability of a wireless versus a wired home alarm system can be understood a lot from the installation process. With a wireless alarm system, the fact that you may have set up the system means you have a good general understanding of how you would take it down. Therefore the system is relatively portable. It is also simpler to add additions to the system such as sensors.
With a wired system, you would have to be entering into the walls of your house in order to remove it. Also if you want any modifications to your system along the way you will have to be adding more wires or ports into your house.
The main question to ask yourself is how long will you be staying in your home. If the answer is for years and years to come, a wired alarm system is an option. However, a wireless system gives you more flexibility if moving is a possibility in the near future.
General Maintenance:
With maintenance on either system, the wired home alarm system has little to no maintenance required. The system may take some time to set up, but once it is in place it is good for life.
For the wireless system, the main maintenance is to replace batteries on the odd occasion. Still, there is nothing major that you generally will have to change.
Reliability:
When you think about the difference in structure between the two systems, the wired system is more permanent. It is also more reliable. There are fewer variables that come into play with a wired system that can cause a false alarm or for a signal to not send at all. The wired system is more reliable.
The main flaws with a wireless system are they have sensors that can be triggered incorrectly, batteries that can die, and other small variables that do not come into play with a wired system.
These problems with reliability were much more of a factor when wireless systems were new to the market. These days the technology in wireless systems are much more advanced and they have progressed a lot. Nowadays there are essentially no major differences. Many of the flaws in the old wireless systems have been fixed.
Coverage:
Wired systems have a larger range of coverage than wireless systems. The average wired system can cover up to 1000 feet. The average wireless system covers up to 500.
Although wireless systems do not have as high a range as a permanent system you can add modifications and extenders that increase the range.
Initial Cost:
Wireless systems have reduced in cost significantly over the past couple of years. The general cost of a wired system and wireless is very similar. The difference that you have to take in mind is the cost of installation.
With a wireless system, you can normally install it yourself. It takes a couple of hours and therefore the cost for the whole system is just the equipment itself. With a wired system, you often need a professional to come and install it. Therefore with the wired system you have the cost of all the equipment and on top of this, the cost of installation.
Upgrades:
As we said before, wireless systems have progressed dramatically over the past couple of years. Because of this, some upgrades to systems are no longer compatible with older systems. For these specific cases, people that have purchased equipment in the past have been finding difficulties purchasing new equipment for their older products.
With wired systems, everything within the industry is more compatible. This comes into play with the age of the system as well as brand names. A system from 2013 can still use components that you would buy this year in 2016. Also, you may be able to find parts from a different brand of security system that you can use with yours.
So The Final Question:
After all of this information, the question still may be, well what system is right for me. The answer is to highlight what you are going to actually need in your home. There are a couple of main questions that you will want to ask yourself. Remember to keep in mind how permanent do you want this security system to be in your home. With a wired system, you are for the most part looking at having the security system in that location for life.
With wireless systems the only drawback in the past was reliability. However, with technological advances, they are now pretty much the same. At the end of the day, these general facts and considerations will help you decide what system is right for you.