Need home security system in Las Vegas. Can you tell me the best home security system and your experience with each one? Also, some additional recommendations to a home security system would be appreciated (specific guns, video surveillance, etc). Thanks.
This is a long answer, but hopefully will provide you with some good information. Home security consists of several types of security. Active and passive systems. An active system is one that actually does something when an emergency happens. Your typical alarm system goes off and notifies the police. Or you have a gun and you confront an intruder. A passive system does nothing but may help you later. A camera system can be passive. You can have evidence for later use in court, etc.
With those things in mind. Let's go over what aspects of your property you can secure. I don't want to give too many details about my security system because it is fairly complex but here are some of the particulars. I have ADT. There are other systems out there from other companies and they vary in price. ADT generally costs the lower of some of the systems. Here is their monthly cost:
ADT makes you sign a dreaded contract. Just like a cell phone company but their contract is longer. Mine was 3 years, but that was 9 years ago so I am out of it now. They do that to make more money off of you, but essentially I didn't mind because that kept the cost of the equipment install down.
It is a pretty good system but I wish I would have gotten the 8 camera system to have some more visibility. The camera system helps me to go back and see what happened but unlike some of the other systems out there, this one can alert me when something is happening. Then I can hop on my smart phone and check out what is going on at the house. That's great for me. And with this system, you can record for a month solid. Makes for some interesting stuff that you sometimes see on your property.
For a gun, I would lean towards a pump shotgun. The nice thing about that is that it won't so easily go through walls. If you shoot towards another room, you don't want to hit your kids or someone else and a shotgun makes a big hole. Shoot a couple of different ones at a gun store close to you. They kick a bit but you can get different sizes and find one that is comfortable.
I really recommend a dog. Get an indoor dog that doesn't shed. Small yappy dogs. They will let you know when something is going on and thieves don't like to go around a dog. Another option to consider is a driveway alarm system:
http://www.teepeetech.com/driveway-alarm-system
They let you know if someone is messing around in your driveway or when a car comes up your drive. That's your advance warning to get prepared before something happens. If you know that nobody should be coming to your house at 10 oclock and night and that thing goes off. You have time to get ready in case something does happen. You take away the element of surprise the other person has. A dog helps you do the same thing. They hear a lot better than we do and they can let you know when there is something wrong.
If you do some of those things above, you will have a much harder house to break into.