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Alan

Member since: Apr 29th, 2009

Alan's Latest Comments

Blog Activity
Blog# of Comments
TUAW.com1 Comment
Engadget1 Comment
Switched1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Home security on your iPhone (TUAW.com)

Jan 25th 2010 11:39AM I've been using Frontpoint for two years now, and in this price / feature / security / and customer service class they are simply the best value, no question.

To those who complain about $40/month for their Interactive level of monitoring, I challenge you to find another Alarm.com provider that charges significantly less FOR THE SAME LEVEL OF ALARM.COM monitoring. Keep in mind, this is cellular also... I find traditional alarm systems nearly useless since someone can cut the line with some $5 wire cutters. Try upgrading your ADT or Protection One, Brinks etc service to an Interactive LEVEL (I don't even think it's possible to the extent Alarm.com provides) AND also add cellular. Good luck with THAT bill! That will be a MINIMUM of $50/month, but more likely closer to $60. Also, you will pay A LOT more for equipment and won't even freakin' own the equipment in most cases after your initial contract.

The system even has pending alarm technology (no worries about smash and grab vulnerability typically associated with all-in-one systems) AND a 24-hour battery backup. The system alerts you to just about anything you could care about, in addition to alarms.... power out, power restored, battery low, battery fully charged, on and on and on... pretty much the skies the limit. If you don't believe me, check out the demo on the Alarm.com site (Frontpoint's partner).

But as impressive as all the technology is, which I think alone is the best in the industry, they also have THE ABSOLUTE BEST customer service also (that I've ever experienced or heard of!). You can see the difference in how this company operates even from their website. It's well designed, has loads of generally helpful information, and is SUPER TRANSPARENT when it comes to plan and device pricing. EVERY OTHER serious alarm company I've seen ALWAYS hides/mostly hides that stuff... for a reason.

If you speak to anyone at Frontpoint, the tradition continues. They are super nice, very helpful, not pushy, and more consultative than anything. They don't try to over or undersell you equipment. It really does make you feel like they care about you and want a win-win situation.

I am not in any way employed or compensated by this company, so this review, as over the top as it might seem, is from the heart. It just makes me angry to see some of the comments about them made by people who don't really understand what they offer for the price and how they do business (comparing Safemart, overall, to Frontpoint is a joke). Safemart does this business as a side business, and you can tell, and one of the commenters noted that once you ratchet up the Safemart Alarm.com services to the same level as Frontpoint, the costs are essentially the same, but crappier service, I can assure you). Frontpoint does one thing with a laser focus, and as a result do it super well.

As for the broadband monitoring options, also a joke in my opinion in the same way traditional phone line monitoring is... again, 2 words: wire cutters. True, cell signals can be jammed, but it is a MUCH higher bar, as the equipment is substanially more expensive. And keep in mind, most crooks of that sophistication will be focusing on higher value targets than the houses most of us live in. In the end, no alarm system is 100% foolproof, you just try to make it as difficult as possible within the bounds of asset target class and your comfort level. Crooks are basically lazy, and will usually move on to the easier target... which is usually a neighbor with NO alarm system.

And, they are only getting better... in their own right also, but also I heard Alarm.com is rolling out the ability to control Z-Wave devices integrated with the control panel. Z-Wave is a HECK of a lot better than ridiculous X-10, which is an old cheap protocol from the 80's that's not reliable. The Z-Wave will allow all kinds of neat things, and we can expect similar innovations in the future from Alarm.com and Frontpoint.

Hope this clears some things up.

Is Apple More Evil Than Microsoft? (Switched)

Aug 4th 2009 6:52PM I've never owned an Apple product, mainly because of price, but lately, it's becoming just as much of an issue with their attitude and behavior. Now I **definitely** won't be buying any Apple products, unless they change their ways. Apple is definitely way more evil than Microsoft at this point, in my opinion.

And btw, I've been hearing this trend from multiple sources for quite awhile now, getting worse with the passage of time. Heck, even at least two Lifehacker.com editors, previous iPhone fan-people have dropped their support of the products due to Apple's behavior.

Hopefully they right the ship before they ruin a good thing and all their customer good-will.

Surprise! The American Cable Association favors tiered broadband pricing (Engadget)

Apr 29th 2009 1:41PM These broadband providers are just pigs at the trough. Marginal broadband costs at their wholesale rates (especially the larger providers) is trivial... 5 cents / GB at most. Whey then do they insist on turning around and charging $1 - $2 overage charges on ridiculously low caps in the first place??? At most they should have reasonable (like 250 GB caps) then charge a MAXIMUM of 25 cents/GB overage. Anything much less is unacceptable and I refuse to support any company that implements such caps, especially if they implement them in an unreasonable way. If it comes down to it, I'll just gut internet to the bone and use it only for banking and such, and cut the TV and everything else I can off and just use Over The Air, Netflix, flash drives, etc.

We all need to dig our heels in about this nonsense. Call and write our legislators, and get some laws passed to regulate this oligopoly who has become a little too comfortable in their uncompetitive status. They are all making very nice profits, equipment upgrades are quite cheap... there's just no excuse. And I'll do my best to resist and not support any companies that try to go down this path.