There is a starter kit consisting of one motion sensor and a key fob -- but it costs £150. There's no service fee, no battery backup and no GPRS, as it relies solely on your broadband connection. Each text alert costs 15p, and you'll have to keep a minimum of £10 on the system on a pay-as-you-go basis. Additional sensors cost between £20 and £35.
Unlike most ordinary alarm systems, Alertme does not include an external siren box. Its makers say the reason for excluding this is that it would "only annoy the neighbours". This is a tad ironic, since annoying the neighbours -- via text -- is exactly what the system is designed to do.
Conclusion
We'd only recommend the Alertme to people with more money than sense. Yes, it sends you texts to say whether someone's broken into your home, but for most of us, that doesn't seem particularly useful. We recommend you buy a £5 Web cam, set it up in motion detection mode, configure it to send email alerts about 'break-ins', and sit back as it sends you actual photos of whoever is threatening your inner sanctum.
Edited by Marian Smith
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User reviews4
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DobermannUK 19 December 2011
Good: The idea is great, free of wires!
Bad: Bulky key-fobs and weak wireless connection to hub let it down.
Comment: I purchased this system with a number of additional door sensors as it was protecting a 4 bedroom property. I had some minor issues on original installation with the door sensors. I realised reading the forum and technical support that there is a potential for these to be very sensitive. This problem never really went away.
Having the ability to set the system to different modes was a real plus point and using the away from home modes made setting the system easy in theory. However the key fobs can be problematic and in my opinion of poor design (one fob was replaced under warranty).
The biggest issue I had was with the door sensors especially in very cold weather. remember the snow and cold snap in the winter of 2010 / 2011. Well this found the systems weakness, complete door sensor failure.
The signal to the hub from some of the sensors was on the absolute limit in our 4 bed house, not the largest property in the world.
So if you want to protect as flat this product might be for you, otherwise get a professionally fitted piece of kit.
Shaznay_121 13 October 2008
Good: Design is cool, new features for free
Bad: Waiting for the hardware extras
Comment: When I first saw Alertme and the pictures I had to look into it further (I got the BT Hub at home for the white sexy look rather than an ugly router) as I hate ugly home electronics.
The idea of linking my house to the internet is a clever one and although I have to agree with the review that at first it was a little limited in extra features when I got it, I have since been offered 2 new feature upgrades for no extra cost. Also the new hardware is a little overdue but coming I'm assured and promised by the website. The heating controller is of particular interest to me but I think they said the release date is 2009.
Another deciding factor was that my house is pre-wired for a standard alarm but as I rent I want to take it with me and wasn't prepared to line the pocket of my landlord.
I think Alertme have been brave launching when they did, I sometimes think I may have been a beta customer but on the upside the support team answered the phones 7 days a week if I did have any issues.
lbj20 8 October 2008
Good: Emails when partner gets home / leaves home. Temperature monitoring throughout my home
Bad: still waiting for long-overdue tweaks to improve alarm functionality
Comment: The AlertMe system looks really great, with small sensors, and is easy to install. Once you've installed and configured it, you can just leave AlertMe to get on with the job, no need to worry about it. You just blip with the keyfob when you go out or return home (or to set the alarm for overnight mode) - very simple. If you forget to set the alarm you can set it online or via text message which is very handy.
AlertMe does exactly what it says - alerts you via text message when something happens at home such as a motion sensor going off. This works great; if you don't hear from AlertMe, you know your home is safe and secure. This is good for going on holidays - you know you've not been burgled and that your home hasn't burnt down, if you don't get a text. There are phone call alerts now too.
I find it helpful to get an email when a family member goes out or returns home, it's very reassuring. It is also terrific to be able to view graphs of temperature throughout my home over time! this has helped me reconsider my heating settings for better energy efficiency, as well as selecting the optimal spot for our homebrew...
I would very much like to be able to set it up so that at least 2 sensors are required to make an alarm alert, as this can reduce false alarms; this is a forthcoming feature but not out yet. This would improve the system a great deal and I look forward to this feature.
See all 4 user reviews