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Home Home security alarm system

whiteshadoww

whiteshadoww

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
372
129
Santa Monica, CA
Anyone put together a wireless home security system compatible with Homekit (or not)? I'm looking at a package that offers door/window monitors, indoormotion sensors and a way to integrate them together. Comparability with HomeKit would be extra nice.

Any recommendations? Thanks.
 
I've been looking for information on this as well. I can see the HomePod (paired with 3rd party sensors) going a long way toward making this happen.
 
After a of research I think the best is Abode. Looks like an Apple product and has good communication between the sensors and the hub and give you iPhone access. I spoke with a rep today and they hope to have Homekit compliance by the end of the year with and additional $40/$50 piece of equipment.
 
I use LiveWatch, which allows you to customize what sensors, etc you use, and is DIY install. There is a homebridge plugin for alarm.com (https://github.com/bryanbartow/homebridge-alarm.com), which livewatch uses on the iPhone. It works fantastically with no need for any extra equipment. I have been very impressed with the service and its integration through homebridge. Works really well as part of the "good night" scene to lock down the house at night.
 
95% of our home doors and windows are protected with a wireless home alarm powered by alarm.com and Monitronics for the live monitoring. I absolutely love it, it is not HomeKit compatible but they have a great app and you can add wireless cameras and all that if you would like. It does work with Amazon's Alexa and a few other services. Other than the lack of HomeKit compatibility I can not think of any downfalls.
 
pilotkid said:
95% of our home doors and windows are protected with a wireless home alarm powered by alarm.com and Monitronics for the live monitoring. I absolutely love it, it is not HomeKit compatible but they have a great app and you can add wireless cameras and all that if you would like. It does work with Amazon's Alexa and a few other services. Other than the lack of HomeKit compatibility I can not think of any downfalls.
Click to expand...

If you are comfortable with homebridge, I highly recommend the alarm.com plugin...adding the security system to homekit is frankly awesome.
 
Otto Pilot said:
If you are comfortable with homebridge, I highly recommend the alarm.com plugin...adding the security system to homekit is frankly awesome.
Click to expand...

I was actually going to make a new thread about this exact topic so I’m glad I found this first. My home security alarm system is powered by Alarm.com (we use Frontpoint) and I really like it, except for its lack of homekit support. This is really the only thing in my house that’s not automated, for the most part, and it’s the most important piece to me. I’ve been wanting a way to integrate it into my current homekit automations and didn’t realize there was a Homebridge plugin.

Thing is, I feel like I could be comfortable with Homebridge, but I just don’t know where to start, to be honest. I used to jailbreak my phones all the time and play around with other iOS and OS X tweaks, so I’m fairly confident I’d be good to figure it out, but every time I’ve taken a cursory peek at Homebridge I’ve been a bit lost. Do you guys know of any guide for people like me, who are good at figuring these things out but who are just new to Homebridge in general?

I do have an always on Mac mini being used as a server, so I feel like my setup would be good for using Homebridge...I just need to get myself started with it.

Any help would be very greatly appreciated!
 
So I found this article about installing Homebridge for the purpose of using it with Alarm.com systems, and I’m at a point where I’ve gotten a little lost. I’ve installed Homebridge on my mini (I think, at least) but I’m confused about creating the .json file. I’ve followed the instructions in signing up for wrap api and bookmarking each API, but when it comes to filling out the sections in the .json file, I’m not sure what to put under API key, or really what to do with it after that....

If anyone’s successfully done this before I’d love your thoughts...

Edit: I’ve figured out what the API key is - it was listed under my account info under the Wrap API website. So. It looks like I’m successfully running Homebridge with the Alarm.com plugin on my mini, but I’m at the point where I’m trying to add Homebridge to the Home app on my iPad and the iPad just isn’t seeing it. I’ve hit Add Accessory, typed in the code that Terminal gives me, and nothing. The Home app sees nothing. Ugh! What now?
 
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Since boston04and07 seems to be getting help in another thread, I'll make a comment about the original post. The solution can go both ways - either an existing, dedicated home security system getting HomeKit support (either officially or via HomeBridge), or HomeKit-based sensor packages that can be used in its place. The former has been discussed nicely already, so I should note that, in the scope of
whiteshadoww said:
(...)a wireless home security system compatible with Homekit (...) that offers door/window monitors, indoormotion sensors and a way to integrate them together
Click to expand...
There had already been several HomeKit based solutions out already, like those from Elgato Eve (Door & Window, Motion, Room, etc.) and Fibaro (Door/Window, Motion, Flood, CO, etc.). The recent developments even saw Philips Hue Motion Sensor getting HomeKit support. In my case, instead of attempting to retrofit the existing home security systems, I decided to buy those sensors that had HK support from the get-go.
 
I was actually going to make a new thread about this exact topic so I’m glad I found this first. My home security alarm system is powered by Alarm.com (we use Frontpoint) and I really like it, except for its lack of homekit support.
 
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robertjami said:
I was actually going to make a new thread about this exact topic so I’m glad I found this first. My home security alarm system is powered by Alarm.com (we use Frontpoint) and I really like it, except for its lack of homekit support.
Click to expand...

That’s exactly what I use too, and I’ve really liked Frontpoint since I’ve had this system. I’ve emailed them a few times requested HomeKit support and their response has been more positive than I expected, more of a “we’re looking into it” than a lukewarm canned answer. So hopefully someday they’ll add it.

Anyway I’ve been using my new Homebridge setup with the alarm.com plugin and it’s been working really well (so far, knock on wood) with my Frontpoint setup. I’ve posted about it more in another thread, but I’ve had it up and running for about a week and it’s really nice having my alarm integrated with all my other HomeKit stuff. It’s not the easiest thing to set up, but if you have the resources (I run it on an always on Mac mini), and patience to get it to work, it’s really handy to have. And definitely shows that HomeKit would work if they just added native support.

Here is a link to the thread I started about getting Homebridge to work with Frontpoint if you’re interested...
 
I cancelled my home security system when I installed 4 Nest cameras in my house. They notify my instantly of any movement at entry points and it is nice to be able to look and see everything is fine during the day.

The police no longer even come when you get an alarm these days in my city. I would not depend on them to protect my home. My office is close and it only taken me a few minutes to get there.

Saving a lot of money by not being under contract and paying for a security service.
 
Honeywell lyric system is homekit enabled. Purchasing the kit from AlarmGrid is the cheapest and you can self monitor or use their monitoring for as little as $10/month
 
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Herb4372 said:
Honeywell lyric system is homekit enabled. Purchasing the kit from AlarmGrid is the cheapest and you can self monitor or use their monitoring for as little as $10/month
Click to expand...

Have you installed this? I was considering it plus using the wired to wireless adaptor (I want to utilize my existing wired sensors). Everything said and done (with me doing the installation) its still relatively expensive. However I would have better peace of mind vs just relying on my cameras which require someone to already be in the house and I need to manually sound the siren (not auto due to pets).

I'm curious about the HomeKit experience it provides. Does it arm and disarm reliably? Etc etc...
 
cynics said:
Have you installed this? I was considering it plus using the wired to wireless adaptor (I want to utilize my existing wired sensors). Everything said and done (with me doing the installation) its still relatively expensive. However I would have better peace of mind vs just relying on my cameras which require someone to already be in the house and I need to manually sound the siren (not auto due to pets).

I'm curious about the HomeKit experience it provides. Does it arm and disarm reliably? Etc etc...
Click to expand...
not yet. I've ordered the parts and will install it when i get home in a week and update...
 
If I were in the market for a home security system, I’d probably go with Netatmo.
 
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