Home Security
The Camera Is Cheap, the Storage Is Not
Cloud cameras record nothing without a plan. How subscriptions are structured, what local storage changes, and the questions to ask before buying the hardware.
Section · 24 guides
Home Security
Cameras, alarms and locks, and what the contracts and the burglary data actually say.
Choose security equipment around the task you need it to perform and the terms you can keep paying for. These guides compare cameras, recording, locks, monitoring and installation quotes. A live picture, saved evidence and professional monitoring are different services, so identify which is included.
Check compatibility, account ownership, renewal charges, export access and the handover after installation. Protect household and visitor privacy and obtain appropriate guidance about recording requirements. Equipment is not a guarantee against crime or an alternative to emergency assistance.
Cameras and Video
Doorbells, subscriptions, storage, privacy and what footage is actually worth.
Home Security
Where Cameras Belong, and Where They Waste Money
Four positions do most of the work. How to cover entry points rather than scenery, set a height that shows faces, and stop the alerts you learn to ignore.
Home Security
Who Else Can See Your Camera Feed
The FTC case against Ring showed both failure modes: staff access and hacked accounts. What to lock down, and why the new security label cannot help yet.
Home Security
When Police Ask for Your Doorbell Video
The rules changed twice in two years. What in-app requests are, what a warrant changes, and how to decide what to hand over and what to keep.
Home Security
The Audio on Your Doorbell Is the Legal Part
Video of your porch is one question. Recording conversations is another, and rules vary by state. What the statutes say and which settings keep you clear.
Home Security
What Your Footage Is Worth to an Investigation
Detection and identification are different jobs, and most home cameras only do the first. How to get usable footage, and what to do the same day.
Home Security
Is a Local Camera Recorder Worth It? Cost and Storage
Compare published recorder prices including surcharges, disk and camera extras, storage at different bitrates and a cloud-subscription break-even example.
Home Security
Security Camera Installation Cost and What's Included
Compare published indoor and outdoor camera installation fees, multi-camera discounts, wiring exclusions, equipment costs and account handover.
Alarms and Monitoring
Monitored or self-monitored, contracts, false alarm fees and insurance discounts.
Home Security
What Home Security Costs After the First Bill
Equipment is the small number. The recurring lines are monitoring, camera storage and, in many cities, permit and false alarm fees. Here is the whole bill.
Home Security
Monitored or Self-Monitored, Honestly Compared
What a central station actually does when your alarm goes off, what happens if nobody is watching, and how to decide which chain of events you want.
Home Security
The False Alarm Bill Nobody Warns You About
Between 94 and 98 percent of alarm calls are false, and cities charge for them. What permits cost, how fines escalate, and the five causes worth fixing.
Home Security
Alarm Contracts and the Knock at the Door
Long monitoring agreements and doorstep sales are where the money is lost. What the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule gives you and the six clauses to read first.
Home Security
Does an Alarm Really Lower Your Insurance?
The protective device credit is real, but nobody can quote you the number in advance. How the discount is set, what qualifies, and how to get it in writing.
Home Security
Alarm Monitoring Switching Costs: Fees and Break-Even
Compare published monitoring fees with cancellation, new equipment and activation costs, then calculate when changing an alarm provider saves money.
Home Security
What Your Alarm Does When the Power Goes Out
Battery runtime, the signal path and the network generation behind it decide whether your system still works in an outage. How to find out before you need to.
Home Security
Do Alarms Actually Deter Burglars?
What federal policing research says about deterrence, why occupancy beats every device, and where an alarm sits among the things that genuinely work.
Doors and Locks
Deadbolts, strike plates, sliding doors, garages and the parts that actually fail.
Home Security
Sliding Patio Door Lock Repair Cost: Parts and Labor
See manufacturer lock and strike prices, separate repair labor from parts, and decide whether a sliding patio door needs adjustment or new hardware.
Home Security
How Much Does It Cost to Rekey House Locks?
See published rekeying fees, calculate costs by cylinder rather than door, and compare extra keys, replacement labor and damaged hardware.
Home Security
Smart Lock Remote Access: Bridge or Replacement Cost?
Compare a $79.99 Wi-Fi bridge with lock replacement, count setup and door repair costs, and distinguish remote access from local Bluetooth control.
Home Security
The Lock Is Rarely the Part That Fails
Federal data shows most entries need no force at all, and when force is used it is the frame that gives way. What to fix first, and what the BHMA grades mean.
Home Security
What a Smart Lock Solves, and What It Adds
Keypads fix the spare key problem and add batteries, accounts and updates. How to judge one, and the failure modes to plan for before you fit it.
Home Security
Sliding Doors and Windows Are the Soft Spot
The back of the house is where nobody watches, and its hardware is often weak. Cheap fixes that work, and the ones that only look like security.
Home Security
The Garage Is a Door Most People Forget
An attached garage is an entry point, a tool store and a route into the house. The emergency release, the opener and the door between garage and hallway.
Home Security
Securing a Rental Without Losing the Deposit
What you can change without permission, what to ask the landlord for in writing, and the renter-friendly kit that comes off the wall when you leave.
Elsewhere on Home & Porch
The other sections, most recent first.