Alarm.com - looking for options / opinions of replacing with Homekit / HomeBridge

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Alarm.com - looking for options / opinions of replacing with Homekit / HomeBridge

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#279721 3-Nov-2020 14:38

So, I have an existing alarm.com system, works well, I have a few cameras, a smoke alarm, door / window sensors etc. and I have it integrated into Homekit via Homebridge. I have a separate system for external cameras, also integrated into Homekit via Homebridge.

However its $30 / month, which seems a lot to pay when it's not even monitored I get all the alerts on my phone anyway. So I have been thinking about changing to a Homekit alarm system, with Homebridge components as necessary. However since this is an important piece of security hardware, I am not sure if I should change. Has anyone used Homekit just for security?

There seems to be enough devices (Eve, Nest, DLink, etc.) that integrate and can replace what I have, but:

Is it reliable?
Has anyone actually done this?
Do I need to rely on addins like https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-securitysystem to get this working?
Are HomeKit native cameras up to the quality of Dahua etc.?

I am also conscious of having to have multiple pieces of hardware (Home Hub + HomeBridge) just to get this going.

Or is there a better way or other options I have missed?

davidcole

6034 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2597128 3-Nov-2020 15:30

No homekit is only 720p for cameras, its fine for a quick look and if remote. Also notifications are a bit of a pain inthe butt, as it doesn't (with camera-ffmpeg) have an easy way of setting a triggered event.

For your alarm, I'd look at something that makes your alarm into one that can publish messages via mqtt. Then you can use mqtthing plugin for home bridge, and/or node-red/home assistant/openhab down the track.

There is a konnected module you might be able to hook in (hardware), or someone might have written a bridge service to read from the alarm via ip and translate that to mqtt (like the ParadoxAlarmInterface - pai project which does this for various paradox alarms), or some people roll their own serial interface.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

ashtonaut

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2597210 3-Nov-2020 18:31

I’m using a Paradox alarm hooked up to Homekit via Homebridge and PAI and it works perfectly - I get remote monitoring and alerts through iOS natively with no monthly fee:

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=222597

If you are starting from scratch with the system I’m not sure if you’re better DIYing with individual components and linking them through Homebridge, or buying a retail security system and then adding a Homekit interface using PAI or similar. I’ve seen a few YouTube tutorials for the roll your own systems and they look OK, though not as tamper resistant, no backup battery, and no external siren from what I’ve seen.

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#2598767 6-Nov-2020 10:20

yeah, it seem I only really have three options:

* Retail alarm (like Morepork) that has some level of Homekit integration
* Roll my own like the konnected
* Kits around, such as Netatmo, who do smoke alarms, sensors, cameras, and video doorbell systems, all of which are native HomeKit. Anyone tried them?

I am not that keen on the second option, seems like there is a lot to do youreself, as I need to deal with battery backups, etc. One good thing about the Morepork is it has 4g as well.

reven

3743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2598908 6-Nov-2020 11:56

I was also looking into this, the $30 for morepork seems crazy, but... the cost of a replacement system is just too great. About 3 years' worth of morepork. And more pork does work well and something you don't have to worry about.

I tried my own z-wave/vera lite alarm before but was too unreliable and if the power went down it became useless.

I'm hoping another player comes onto the market like SimpliSafe or something, but until then I guess I'll keep paying morepork each month.

I did wonder what would happen if I canceled the subscription but kept using it... would I just lose the app support.... would the alarm still function fine...

SouthernKiwi

19 posts

Geek

#2610338 25-Nov-2020 11:58

I use Arlo cameras intergrated with Homekit, that along with some window and door sensors gives me everything I want, all without any subscription fees.

Cheers

Skiwi