Macally Air-AlarmI D.I.Y. Wireless Home Alarm System Kit

The purchase of this product was a knee jerk reaction/purchase to being broken into last fall. The choice of having nothing vs having to subscribe to an alarm service was not pleasing. A relative has a similar DIY alarm system and said they were happy with it and this provided a middle ground.

As stated, the instructions are a little hard to digest at first, but once you understand it, it's fairly easy to program the unit and sensors. (The picture shows the alarm having an extendable antenna as well as the sensors, but the unit received did not have any.)

The supplied no name batteries didn't last very long. The one motion sensor that is in a high traffic area died with in 3 months and the replacement battery is not doing so well (brand name). So don't be surprised if you have to replace the 9V battery twice or three times a year in high traffic areas. The remote control battery is an odd ball size that I only found at Radio Shack (didn't look online, it was actually stocked). I purchased extra motion sensors and the door sensors I have not mounted yet. Keep extra batteries for the sensors around and check the sensors that they are working.

The unit is suppose to have a battery backup, but I have yet to see how that works. If you have to manually switch it over, then it's pointless (only skimmed the manual). I unplugged the unit expecting it to keep "alive" and it went off. If I want it to last/work during a power outage, I might as well get an uninterrupted power supply they use for computers. Also, when the unit is plugged into the phone line and you are using it, it makes a beeping or chirping noise that is heard. If the phone is plugged into the unit, it actually hangs up on you! Factory says this isn't right, but I don't want to sent it back and NOT have protection.

I purchased two units, giving one to a friend who has experienced multiple break-ins. Since then, he has been broken into once since it was installed. The unit did call him and his kids and he called me to check his home (less then 5 min way). He also did not use the door sensor, only relying on the supplied motion alarm. The alarm will scare people off, but be warned, there is still time between activating and actually getting someone thereat least 5-7 min or more. If you want a faster response time, then pay for a monitored alarm service. (Or purchase the external siren to alert neighbors quicker.) Once I walked into my house forgetting to disarm the unit with the remote control, it went off using the motion sensor and called me with in 5-7 seconds of going off. I test my sensors at least every 3-4 months to make sure they set the unit off and to make sure it calls me.

I have experienced one false alarm. The unit went off and called. Upon inspection of home, the unit reset it's self (I didn't memorize all the codes for remote operation)all doors and windows were secure. Unit was still armed when entering (used remote to disarm). It is unclear if it was a malfunction, or if the motion sensors detected a movement. We have never had any issues with drapes and heat vents in the past, but we suspected it. Unless someone was trying to jimmy a sliding glass door and brushed up against the blinds creating movement(?)but I have not tested that idea.

It was recommend by local law enforcement that an external audible siren be also used. The internal alarm and unit going off is enough for 'noise' inside the home, but for an alarm to work effectively, an external siren is suggested to alert neighbors of any problems. (I maybe ordering more internal plug in sirens or one or two external battery powered sirens.)

Would I recommend this alarm? Yes and no. Does it work... yes, but not perfectly. Are there better out there, I'm sure there are. Do your research, see what is available. I have it already, so I'm making do.

(Alarms are just one tool to help secure a location. It is not a substitute for not having good door locks/dead bolts. Next step in home defense is to install cameras to record the exterior and any visitors. That way, intruders 'risk' being identified if they try.... Multiple layers of protection will HOPEFULLY deter intruders from choosing your home. And yes, dogs are part of that layer also!)

PS-

IMPORTANT NOTE---IMPORTANT NOTE

IMPORTANT: When using an alarm system that does NOT call a security monitoring service, DO NOT tell people that. It's better to make people think it is a MONITORED service. If you tell "friends" and the word gets around, the wrong people could find out. And then the wrong people know that they have "time" before someone actually shows up. Right?

There are a lot of instructions on this product, although complicated at first, if you follow the instructions correctly and take your time to read them, it will work.

The package come with the included sensors already paired with the base, so, all I needed to do was to change the passwords and include my phone numbers.

When it calls me, I can hear what is going on ONLY if the alarm is in the silent mode, since it has a pretty loud noise coming from the base (where the mic is).

The door sensor works pretty good, every time I forgot to disarm, it goes off. The motion detector, it is not the most reliable, but it also works, I believe the reliability has to do with the fact that it seems to read the environment every 5 seconds or so.

I live in a small apartment, and I don't know what is the actual range of these devices and cannot say if they work well in large houses/apartments.

So far, it is working OK.

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The instructions for this product are terrible and make little or no sense. The "chapters" follow no logic and it was written by someone who does not speak fluent English as seen by the multiple spelling and grammar mistakes.

Though I was able to get the basic features to work with this alarm, I was not able to program the phone features. You cannot remotely access the alarm by phone if you have a home answering machine.

On two occations the alarm went off for no reason(not armed) most likely due to radio frequency interference.

The entire unite shuts off without an alarm sounding if you simply unplug it from the wall, so I am not sure why it has rechargable batteries.

Nobody answers the toll free customer service number and they have yet to respond to my voicemail.

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DO NOT BUY THIS THING!! Has got to be the worst piece of crap I've ever owned.

Agreed with most other reviewers the instructions (esp. syntax of commands not to mention the English grammar) are HORRIBLE! But the main problem overall is that it is simply God-awful UNRELIABLE! I've had it for about 6 months and have experienced at least 3 false alarms. Not armed, sitting there in my family room just watching TV and all of a sudden one of the sirens starts blaring for no reason. Another time my wife and I were awoken in the middle of the night with the thing ringing. We did NOT arm it at night. Not only that, but it won't always shut OFF reliably! 3AM and my wife and I are frantically pushing the disarm button on the remote, siren still blaring away. Sometimes the remote works, sometimes not (yes, it and everything has fresh batteries oh, but they discharge within a few months, even name-brand). Then, the range is terrible. We don't have a big house, single story, but some of the further away door sensors don't trigger the alarm. I also (regretfully) bought the outdoor siren. Works maybe half the time, and it's only about 30 feet away from console. Then there are the motion sensors, which only sense a motion every 5 seconds. I can walk past the range of one easily within 5 seconds and the light never flashes. Sometimes to get it to flash I have to stand in front of it and wave my hands wildly. (I suppose if a burglar did that it might ring...) I'd give this piece of junk 0 stars if I could.

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I don't write many reviews but this alarm system is such junk that I felt compelled to warn everyone way from it because, at least for me, it took a bit before it started acting up. And it's only after I've had mine for little over a month now that it has reached the point where I just hate the thing. The funny thing is that at first I was somewhat satisfied with it due to the ease of installation. I bought the system and additional motion sensors and door/window sensors to cover the entire house from a popular electronics warehouse. The sales guy at the store told me to buy fresh batteries because the ones supplied were most likely dead and shouldn't be used. So when all tallied up was a pretty hefty price tag. But installing was a breeze and even though the instructions were difficult to understand I managed to get it installed in only a few hours. Unfortunately the thing is totally unreliable because of numerous false alarms. At first only one false alarm per week but now three or four times a week and it's only a month or so old. At least their support is reachable and I've tried their suggestions to no avail. I guess the next step is to swap it out. Still, I wish I had read the negative reviews here before purchasing this home alarm system. To me, the system definitely isn't worth the pain of the constant false alarms. My take on it is to pass this one by and try another system.

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