newbie help on wired or wireless pirs

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i'm a complete newbie to security systems. so, i need your help. this is for my home which is a semi with side garage and flat roof.

i want to install a "basic" system - door sensors, pirs, glass sensors and alarm. not too bothered about cctv nor monitoring.

tell me, which is better, wired or wireless pirs?
please give me reasons why one is better than the other.

my friend says wireless pirs tend to give false alarms, say if mini-cabs or police pass by (whilst using their radios).

is this true?
but then, why wouldn't wired pirs also be set off by mini-cabs/police radios?

is it the pirs at fault? or "the brain"? ie the radio signal is intercepted by "the brain" and is then triggered?

also, please tell me which system to get. which make & model?

is it hard to wire everything up?
is it overly complicated? or are there easy, 1-2-3, step by step guides?
i'm fairly tech savvy, but really don't want to do anything more than "hooking things up".

i know i've asked a lot. thanks for any help you can give.
 
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Wired are generally more reliable and do not have batteries that need changing every few years.

Wireless are easier and quicker as a DIY install, and you can take them with you when you move, for example if you are in rented accomodation. You can buy quite a good wireless DIY system for about £150 and fit it in a couple of hours. Look at Ironmongery Direct. It is not true about minicabs and police radios setting them off. Each sensor sebnds a signal which includes its unique serial number and the panel ignores any signal that does not include a serial number which it has been taught

I think it is very worthwhile having a system that will phone you and other keyholders in the event of an alarm. The Yale Premium HSA 6400 includes this

Professional alarmists do not like DIY systems as you will find out shortly.
 
The vast majority of wireless connected alarms use a licence exempt radio channel. This means there is no garantee that the channel will be clear when your alarm PIR needs to send a message that it has detected motion. Many types of equipment from car key fobs to baby monitors use the same radio channel.

For cost and battery saving reasons many wireless alarms use one way communication, this means the sensor sends the message once or twice and hopes the panel has received it.

In a two way system the panel can tell the sensor that it has received the alarm message, if the sensor does not receive that confirmation it will continue to send alarms until it does receive confirmation the panel has received it. If the radio channel is occupied by another transmitter then in a system with one way communication there is a small but not insignificant risk that alarm messages will not reach the panel. Intentional blocking of the channel will prevent alarm messages reaching the panel.

Another failure in one way systems is the in-ability of the panel to check door sensors are showing closed when the alarm is set. They can be set with a protected door open.

A sensor can be removed from site and the panel will not be aware one of its sensors is missing. ( A patio door was replaced, the sensor on the old door frame was not removed and frame taken to the local tip, the panel could be set with no indication that the door sensor was no longer in the system ).

P.S. These problems with systems using one way wireless communications apply to both DIY installed equipment and professionally installed equipment.
 
There is a theoretical possibility that a car keyfob or some other transmitter might be close enough to interfere with the signal from a sensor at the exact fraction of a second that someone breaks into your home.

The chances of this happening are so tiny that even the people who try. to frighten you with it refuse to estimate the probability.

The chances of it happening again at the same fraction of a second that the intruder walks past the second sensor are infinitesimal.

If you live in an ordinary domestic house in an ordinary residential street it is most unlikely there will be anything to block the signals. You will know they are working if your hear the chime and the countdown start from your entry door. For example in my old mum's house there has been no interference in over three thousand entries.

If you happen to live in a flat over an arc-welding workshop, or under a BBC radio transmitter mast, then wireless would probably not be suitable
 
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ahhh, ok, i'm starting to see the light. all very helpful info so far.

i'm not being funny, but even a wired system can be taken away when i move on - ie i take the pirs, keypad, brain etc but leave the wiring in place. yes?
 
sure, if you want, but it will be more effort to fit

you would have to make it clear that you were removing "fixtures and fittings" and there might be an objection to wires hanging out of walls or tacked to the plaster.
 
yup, you are correct. i'll have to think about the cost/hassle factor a bit before i decide.
 
The chances of this [car key fob blocking an alarm signal ] happening are so tiny that even the people who try. to frighten you with it refuse to estimate the probability.
I never denied that, but you fail to accept that there is equipment that occupies the channel for much longer than the pulsed signals from a car key fob. For example wireless baby monitor which can legally occupy the channel for 10% of the time. If the baby monitor transmitter it is closer ( wireless wise * ) to the panel / siren the risk is that 1 in 10 alarm messages can be lost.

If jamming was not a problem then manufacturers would not fit jamming detection and go as far as recommending it be turned off if there are too many false alarms due to signals from other sources being received by the siren. Is that not an admission from the manufacturers that jamming has to be considered and tolerated. ?

* a baby alarm in a front bedroom next door to the siren is much closer in terms of wireless propagation than a PIR in the kitchen of the house with the alarm. The number of walls the signal has to pass through is critical, more walls means less signal at the panel / siren making it easier for a signal from elsewhere to block the signal from the sensor.

Some baby alarms that are non compliant with license exempt regulations transmit continuously and some transmit with more power than is permitted.
 
yes, it is an admission that some people might live over an arc-welding workshop, or under a BBC transmitter aerial.

I have not yet seen credible evidence of a jamming problem in an ordinary domestic house in an ordinary residential street, but I am prepared to agree that one day such evidence might be forthcoming.
 
I have not yet seen credible evidence of a jamming problem in an ordinary domestic house in an ordinary residential street
Why would you see that evidence, you are just an ordinary 'Joe' who happens to like a system that is/can be susceptible to the above.
 
If somebody is going to make extravagant claims, unsupported by evidence, and he is unwilling to provide any estimate for the probability of the event he postulates occurring, then of course there is no reason for anyone to believe his scare stories.

To put it in brief:
He provides no evidence for his scare stories, so they can be dismissed.

If and when evidence is produced, it can be examined.

You chose to shorten your quote, avoiding my words "I am prepared to agree that one day such evidence might be forthcoming"
 
listen guys, chillax a bit. i hope everyone is having a debate in good humour and not getting upset.

ok, let me ask you this, though i should start another thread, but i'm lazy!

you know those standalone door and window sensors... do they do as they say on the tin?

do they actually work or can they be disabled?

is there a make/model that you guys would recommend?
i don't mind spending money on good quality items rather than buying twice after wasting money on some rubbish.

again, thanks for your help.
 
just asking guys, are units from honeywell and risco group as good as others?

eg honeywell IR8M (pir) and SHK8M (shock sensor).
eg risco V40DT (pir) and RWT72MIQ (door sensor).
 
If and when evidence is produced, it can be examined.
Such evidence is frequently produced and it is examined by independent experts.

As it is evidence that frequently includes details of methods used to defeat alarms for criminal purposes it is evidence that cannot be placed into the public domain.
 

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