I'm looking for recommendations on a home security system with (ideally) cameras, a pinpad/control unit, and a siren.

I've been looking through the Cleverloop give-away thread (cough, share pictures of your pet and a description of how ferocious he/she is thread), and have parsed a few options:

• Cleverloop
• Y-Cam
• Arlo
• Vivint (not obviously available in NZ)
• MySensors
• Morepork

Plus some software-only options:

• BlueIris (which I think D-Link uses)
• SightHound Sentry
• iSpy
• SalientEye

Plus a whole lot of traditional PIRs plus pinpads (Micron, Paradox and Bosch seemed to feature highly).

All the newer smart systems seem to have some really cool features. However most (possibly other than Morepork and maybe Vivint) seem to be largely a camera plus smartphone system. There might be a box with the brains somewhere, but largely the system seems to be IF detect_motion THEN notify_smartphone.

Ideally I was after something that had a siren/some kind of obvious "alarm" too. We had a spate of burglaries in our old street a while back, though never us. The local constables basically said it was entirely because our hold house had a visible alarm box with siren (and blue strobe) on the outside. The little hoodlums always go for the low hanging fruit and are deterred by even vague hints of security. So looking to repeat these benefits.

If the unit had a siren, then it follows there should be a way of turning off that siren too, and ideally not entirely smartphone dependent. Flat phone battery + screaming siren = unhappy Mrs MDF = very unhappy MDF. This might be a traditional pinpad or (potentially) a dedicated repurposed phone/tablet at the door.

Other features I'd find super helpful:

• Smoke alarm sensor/integration
• Power over ethernet (not really a fan of WiFi only for the cameras)
• Anti-pet detection
• Not monitored / not subject to ongoing monthly payments for questionable value

Once upon a time, it would have been a bonus project to cobble something together and I would have the added benefit of a "learning experience". But age and wisdom (and Mrs MDF) have given me a new appreciation of things that "just work" without having to sacrifice a chicken while reciting Keats backwards in the third quarter of each lunar cycle to ensure continued smooth operation.