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need unbiased advice about lynx system

J

Jason_Schaitel

Jan 1, 1970
0
greetings all,

I just bought a house last month (that was a foreclosure) and has a
lynxr-en security system. I would like to use it but I am not sure that
I want to pay $33 a month for ADT or someone to do the monitoring. We
also don't use a home phone and use cell phones, so the only reason to
get a home phone hooked up would be to enable the security system. I
called ADT today and they said to call them back once I had home phone
service connected.
I am new to this all because I have never has a home security system
and anyone I talk to like ADT will have a vested interest in me
activating through them or something and not giving me the strait
unbiased story. It seems to me I should be able to use this system
without having to have it monitored. I can use the family message
feature, the feature that turns on appliances or A/C electrical on a
timer (very handy for christmas lights in a couple months) and local
alarm alerts if there is a breakin or someone leaves the door open,
etc. The rub is, from what I have read, that there is an installer code
and a master code, so it looks like I can't just reset it and start
from scratch like I was able to do with the garage door opener and its
access panel outside.
So am I kinda stuck? does the company that installed the system and
previously monitored it have the install code and master code and the
system is pretty much worthless unless I sign up with them and have
them unlock it all and give me a master code? I can live without it and
I an not sure I want to spend $33 a month for ADT and another $30 a
month for Sprint local phone just to have the system working. But it
would be cool if I could use some of the features.
Any advice or input is appreciated.

Jason
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sure just find a local company that's willing to set you up locally, have
them come out an re-program it and teach you how to use it...then pay for
the service call. ADT won't work on a local system but you might find
someone that will...call around.

Personally, I think local systems are almost worthless...jmo.
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jason_Schaitel said:
greetings all,

I just bought a house last month (that was a foreclosure) and has a
lynxr-en security system. I would like to use it but I am not sure that
I want to pay $33 a month for ADT or someone to do the monitoring. We
also don't use a home phone and use cell phones, so the only reason to
get a home phone hooked up would be to enable the security system. I
called ADT today and they said to call them back once I had home phone
service connected.
I am new to this all because I have never has a home security system
and anyone I talk to like ADT will have a vested interest in me
activating through them or something and not giving me the strait
unbiased story. It seems to me I should be able to use this system
without having to have it monitored. I can use the family message
feature, the feature that turns on appliances or A/C electrical on a
timer (very handy for christmas lights in a couple months) and local
alarm alerts if there is a breakin or someone leaves the door open,
etc. The rub is, from what I have read, that there is an installer code
and a master code, so it looks like I can't just reset it and start
from scratch like I was able to do with the garage door opener and its
access panel outside.
So am I kinda stuck? does the company that installed the system and
previously monitored it have the install code and master code and the
system is pretty much worthless unless I sign up with them and have
them unlock it all and give me a master code? I can live without it and
I an not sure I want to spend $33 a month for ADT and another $30 a
month for Sprint local phone just to have the system working. But it
would be cool if I could use some of the features.
Any advice or input is appreciated.

Jason


ADT should be able to come out and program the system as a "local" for you.
You'll have to pay the service charge though. As a local system, I would
suggest that you ask the ADT tech to change the installer code back to the
system's default. That way, you can pick and choose your monitoring
provider when (and if) you decide to hook up a hard line. Good luck!!!
 
S

Stanley Barthfarkle

Jan 1, 1970
0
Buy a control panel and keypad(s), and replace it yourself for about $100-
program it to call your cell phone as a pager number. Or pay someone else
$200 to $300 to replace it for you, or pay a local dealer $200-300 plus
$15-20 per month for monitoring, or pay a nat'l co $100 + $30/mo for 2-5
yrs.

BTW- since ADT almost certainly still owns the equipment, give them a
certified letter stating that they have 14 days to come remove their
equipment...if they don't, (they probably won't) it belongs to you.
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
You don't say who originally installed this system.

ADT generally does not lockout keypad programming, Protection One does...so
who knows if it's locked or not.

It may not be locked and you can reprogram it yourself.
 
B

Beachcomber

Jan 1, 1970
0
You don't say who originally installed this system.

ADT generally does not lockout keypad programming, Protection One does...so
who knows if it's locked or not.

It may not be locked and you can reprogram it yourself.
You may not have to pay that $33/month for a monitoring service if you
install a do-it-yourself new panel.

Many of these panels will dial pagers, cell phones, neighbors when the
alarm goes off, and do require a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
hard-wire line to connect. It may not be just as good, but in many
cases, it's almost as good as using a monitoring service.

I would avoid anything to do with ADT. Their interests (keeping you
dumb and uniformed, keeping their system a mystery, and signing you up
for a long-term, expensive monitoring contract), are not the same as
your interests.

Beachcomber
 
J

joe

Jan 1, 1970
0
Beachcomber said:
You may not have to pay that $33/month for a monitoring service if you
install a do-it-yourself new panel.

Many of these panels will dial pagers, cell phones, neighbors when the
alarm goes off, and do require a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
hard-wire line to connect. It may not be just as good, but in many
cases, it's almost as good as using a monitoring service.

how can they dial without a phone line?
 
B

Bob Worthy

Jan 1, 1970
0
joe said:
how can they dial without a phone line?

joe, rub the sleep out or your eyes and go back and read it
again....starting with, "and do require".......
 
J

J. Sloud

Jan 1, 1970
0
Buy a control panel and keypad(s), and replace it yourself for about $100-
program it to call your cell phone as a pager number. Or pay someone else
$200 to $300 to replace it for you, or pay a local dealer $200-300 plus
$15-20 per month for monitoring, or pay a nat'l co $100 + $30/mo for 2-5
yrs.

BTW- since ADT almost certainly still owns the equipment, give them a
certified letter stating that they have 14 days to come remove their
equipment...if they don't, (they probably won't) it belongs to you.

Try that with the car your leasing...

Care to tell us where 14 days comes from?

Depending on the laws in your state, leased equipment may or may not
become "abandoned" after a certain amount of time. Don't assume
anything.
 
if you are going to use it as a local alarm, make sure to get a loud
siren installed (at least 20watts), will need a seperate power supply
for that and use a relay. The sirens that it supports by default are
way too quite to be worth using it as a local system.

If it is all wireless and has a lot of devices, then for sure it is
worth keeping it, for now. Just upgrade the siren if it hasnt already
been done.
 
S

Stanley Barthfarkle

Jan 1, 1970
0
Gotta read the contract, if available, and check your local laws, but in
most places that I'm aware of, if you give appropraite notice to the owner
of the equipment to remove the equipment, and they fail to do so within a
certain time frame (which varies by locality), the equipment becomes yours
to do with as you see fit. In any case, you have the right to remove it, put
it in a box, and save it for the company that owns it. They probably won't
even bother coming to get it, especially if it's a basic 'cookie cutter'
system.

I'm not aware of anyplace that does not allow you to remove or otherwise
dispose of leased alarm equipment after giving appropriate advance notice to
the owner of said equipment. Care to point me to a stated law that says
otherwise? To compare a previously leased alarm between a former homeowner
and his alarm co. and an automobile lease is just a tad off the mark. You
might compare a leased car STEREO to it, but not the car itself. The new
owner of this home isn't beholden to the installing entity, other than to
give them an opportunity to come get their equipment. Period.
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Talk to a realtor and they'll tell you it conveys with the transfer of the
house to the new owner, talk to a lawyer and he'll say probably not...if the
equipment is clearly marked as being leased from xxxx the the equipment
technically would belong to the leasor. Now....I can tell ya if I bought a
house with a system attached to the wall and an alarm company came knocking
on the door to remove it...aint gonna happen even if I had no intention of
ever using it. Its kinda a moot point, the leasor will seldom bother to
remove a 10 year old alarm panel covered with dust that cost 80 bucks when
new and they *would* be responsible to repair any damage during
removal...patching holes, making the paint job look right etc.
 
yeah best they check with the previous owner ...

Course when you buy a house, dont you take inventory of everything that
it comes with, in other words, if you buy a house you should know
whether that thing on the wall belongs to the house or not. If its not
on the list then the seller should deal with it. We've taken down so
many alarms when i was doing alarms, it aint funny, where the owners
sold the house, or the owners of the alarm moved out (renters), can you
say caulking and moe caulking ... :)
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
The new owner of this home isn't beholden to the installing
entity, other than to give them an opportunity to come get
their equipment. Period.

Entirely right. The person who leased the system may or may not
have some obligation to the company that installed it. However,
that obligation does not pass on to the new occupant unless they
agree to it in writing.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
J

Joe

Jan 1, 1970
0
J. Sloud said:
Try that with the car your leasing...

But if I signed the lease on the car I wouldn't expect to get out of it
in that manner.

Wouldn't the difference be that he didn't sign any lease with ADT? He
bought a house that had the equipment in it and said equipment was
likely represented as part of the purchase.
Why couldn't he say come and get it or its mine?

Actually I am really asking 'cause I don't know what the legal
parameters might be.
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Before you sell a house you tell the realtor what will be sold along with
the house any exclusions and must be revealed to the potential
buyer...typically anything that is physically attached to the house will
convey with the sale of the house unless it's excluded....ceiling fans,
light fixtures, speakers, alarm systems...etc.
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Wouldn't the difference be that he didn't sign any lease with ADT?

Correct.
He bought a house that had the equipment in it and
said equipment was likely represented as part of the
purchase.

How it was represented to him by the previous owner isn't the
issue. It's a matter of property rights.
Why couldn't he say come and get it or its mine?

He can and should. He has no obligation to whoever installed the
system beyond that. If they fail to pick it up within a
reasonable period (what is "reasonable" varies from place to
place) the equipment becomes abandoned property and he now owns
it.
Actually I am really asking 'cause I don't know what
the legal parameters might be.

It depends on your state laws but you've got the right idea.

Actually, any chattel property -- leased or otherwise -- which
the owner fails to retrieve within a reasonable period after
having been notified becomes abandoned. BTW, I'm only speaking
of US property. Obviously, this doesn't apply to the customer
who leased the system in the first place.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
R

R.H.Campbell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Exactly right !! The best thing for the client might be to simply have a
local dealer replace the hardware with a newer and better panel for a few
bucks, or do it yourself if you are capable. Who knows, that local dealer
might do it at cost simply to get a long term contract. Then box up the ADT
stuff, tell them to come get it (if you can ever get hold of them), and
press on. They likely won't send anyone out to collect old hardware that has
little residual value.

Alarm equipment designed for residential applications is so inexpensive
today, it almost doesn't make much sense to try to keep old hardware.

R.H.Campbell
Home Security Metal Products
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.homemetal.com

 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
actually...we don't know who installed it....the op only says he called
ADT...doesn't necessarily mean it's theirs.

it's CERTAINLY worth a shot at doing it himself..nothing to lose...but like
Rory saids..if its gonna be a local I definitely add a real siren to it.
 
R

R.H.Campbell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Well, to be absolutely frank, if the gentleman decides to go with new
equipment, I would hope he would throw that "squawk in a box" stuff in the
garbage and go with a "real" proper hardwired system. But, hey, it's his
money and his security, and since it's not properly monitored anyway, I
don't suppose it really matters what he uses.

.....cynical mode "off".......

RHC
 
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