Learning how to install a wireless home security system can be very convenient and beneficial for a homeowner who likes challenges and enjoys learning by doing. Going a do it yourself route will also save you a quite a bit of money by not having to hire a professional to do the installation. It will be reasonably easy for you to tell if anything is wrong with the system after you have familiarized yourself with its parts and functions.

Step 1: Control Panel Installation

• The control panel should be installed near the door that you most frequently use. This is what you will use to control the wireless home security system when entering or leaving the house. You have to set it up near the door so that you can easily and quickly reach it before the alarm system triggers.

• The panel must not be easily visible from windows or doors. This will prevent would-be burglars from disabling the system ahead of time. It also has to be positioned at a height where it is easy to read the display and access the keypad.

• There has to be an electrical outlet near the door. Although it is called a wireless home security system, there will still be at least one wire involved, to connect the panel to an outlet. It is best to run the wire through the wall. You can simply drill holes behind the panel and below the electrical outlet, and then connect the two together.

• A monitored home security system will be a little difficult to install, especially since it involves a phone line. You may need to hire a technician to do this stage of the installation.

• Read in the manual the steps on how to install a wireless home security system to complete the control panel installation.

Step 2: Siren Installation

• Choose the most appropriate location for the alarm siren. Do not put it in an area where the sound could become muffled, such as in a closet or around upholstery. Read the instructions in the manual on how to program the dials on the siren. Usually, you can set the house code using a small screwdriver. The siren should be plugged into a non switch-controlled electrical outlet.

Step 3: Control Panel Programming

• You will need to use the keypad of the control panel to program the alarm system’s features. Follow the instructions carefully that are written in the manual to make things easier and smoother for yourself.

Step 4: Sensor Installation

• For sensor installation on windows, the sensor should be placed on the part of the window that opens and closes and the magnet should be placed on the window frame. You have to remember to put these two close to each other. Also, make sure that the sensor and magnet do not obstruct the window opening.

• For installation on doors, the sensor should be placed on the edge of the part of the door that opens and closes. The magnet should be on the edge of the door frame, close to the sensor. The sensor and the magnet should be near the top of the door.

• After installation, program the control panel so that it recognizes the sensors that you have just installed.

Step 5: Testing

• Now that you know how to install a wireless home security system, what is left for you to do is actually install the system and then test it. You have to test all of the sensors and functions of the system. You also need to do this regularly, about once a month or so to make sure that everything is working fine.

Interestingly, most of the people we work with are more concerned with creating a safe environment for their family rather than protect their personal possessions.  When looking for a home security system to install, you should keep that in mind and ask yourself what is it that you are trying to achieve? Or what is it that you are trying to protect? Think about it to see what really matters to you.  Home security installation for protecting your possessions is quite different that a system that is designed to alert you and your family of unwanted intruders in your home. And a system that is designed to alert you to an intruder is orders of magnitude less complicated than one with video surveillance and automated police or emergency notification.

So the first tip was to narrowly define what your goal is for your home security system. The second tip is to look at separate components to achieve your goal, not so-called “plug and play” systems. You may be able to get away with a series of motion detectors that cover either you main rooms or your main avenues of travel in your house. You’ll be much better off installing a series of motion detectors that terminate into an alarm or notification module than running sensors to every individual door and window. Plus, in a single story home, having access to the attic will make installing motion detectors and running the wires to a central termination center fairly simple.

The last tip is don’t make it too complicated. Bells and whistles are fun to play with, and may make you feel better about your system, but ultimately they won’t make you, your family, or your possessions any safer.

The most important thing you’ll want to make sure you have is a wire tape, or fish tape as some people call it.  This is a roll of flexible metal “tape” that can be pushed up through small openings in the wall and manipulated quite a long ways.  The idea is to use it to pull wire through the walls and floors by taping it to the end once it’s “fished” from one end to another.  This tool will be instrumental in getting the wires pulled where you want.

If you have a one story or a ranch home, you’re most likely going to pull the wires from your keypad, or base station up into the attic and traverse from there.  You can easily reach any point in your house from there.  You’ll run them over to the window or door where you want them, then drill a hole in the top of the wall.  In the living space, you’ll drill a small hole in the wall where you want to fish the wire out.  Back in the attic, you’ll run your fish tap down so you can grab it, tape a wire onto it, and pull it back up into the attic.

Please note, windows and doors are tricky!  The framing is never straight forward.  Unless the window falls exactly on a stud, it is framed in such a way that the sides may be 3 or 4 studs together.  The top, of course, must be strong enough to transfer the weight of the house above the window down and around it to the foundation.  That means there’s going to be a lot of trick drilling and maneuvering to get the wires where you want them.

I guarantee that you’ll have some exposed wires between the wall and the window sensor! If you can find some way to avoid this, please let me know.  I’ve been doing this for a long time, and that’s the way wired security systems go.  Unless you’re running the wires in a new house with no insulation, or drywall, you’re going to see some wires.

The forms are left in place, giving the walls an R value of about 80.  The downside, as I mentioned, is that thick, concrete walls are a barrier (or at least a hindrance) to RF signals.  That can make it difficult for remote sensors to reach the base station if they have to pass through a concrete wall or two looking from a straight line distance.

All this can be solved, however, with a strategically placed repeater module.  These modules are brand specific.  You can generally only use them with the same brand of sensor and base station that you already have installed, and it is usually cheaper and always less complicated than a second base station or a system that can support two base stations (and handle the integration).

Depending on the model and features, you’re looking at around $100.  You can find them on sale for less.  Features you should look for are a battery backup and also the number of sensors it can handle repeating.  You don’t want to buy a repeater that’s too small for the system you have.

So certainly think about this when you’re putting together a plan for your home security installation.  It’s no fun to spend an entire Saturday installing everything only to find out that you have several sensors that can’t reach your base.  This is one of the best components for home security system.

Ease of Home Security Installation

Wireless Home Security System

Bottom line up front, wireless systems win this argument hands down in all situations, but wired home security can come close in under one condition: a new house that is built with a pre-wired home alarm or wired security system.  That means that during construction wires are run to windows, doors, and any other place the homeowner would like to have a home security sensor in.  When the time comes to install a new wired security system, all that needs to be done is locating the wires and connecting the sensors.  A professional will know to terminate all of these runs in a central location where the main panel can be installed.  But remember, an alarm system installation costs home security companies money and they’ll be more than happy to pass this cost on to you.

However, don’t think that a prewired house makes a wired installation easier than the wireless one.  Wireless components and sensors still take the cake.  Realistically, a handy homeowner could have an average sized house hooked up with wireless sensors in an afternoon.  With inset sensors, maybe a solid day’s worth of work.

Cost

Wired Home Security System

With a great convenience comes the higher price tag.  I think that’s a universal law.  So it stands to reason that a wireless component will generally cost more than an equivalent wired sensor.  And, if you think about it from the standpoint that a wireless security sensor has to have more complex circuitry than a wired security sensor, it should cost the manufacturer more to produce it, as well.

If you keep your eyes open, though, you can find wireless home security door and window sensors on sale for about the same price as their hard-wired counterparts.  So if you’re not in a hurry, do some window shopping with the various online security stores and see what you can find.  I certainly recommend buying the same brand and model of sensor for similar applications, though.  That is, if you’re putting in 6 window sensors, buy 6 of the same kind.

Reliability

So up till now we have a 1 to 1 tie between a wireless and a wired home security system installations.  Wireless is easier to install, but costs more.  Wired is more difficult and time consuming to install, but is also less expensive.  And that brings us to reliability, the toughest of the three topics.

We can look at this argument from several angles.  The first is that wireless components need batteries and are inherently less reliably because of that.  You have to keep monitoring the batteries in your sensors because if they run out, you’re no longer protected.  The flip side to this is that wireless sensors draw less power from the panel’s backup battery system, so in a power outage situation they’re actually MORE reliable.

Wireless Signal Strength Considerations

The issue of signal strength also comes into question, that being a sensor in a remote part of your house may not have the power to reach the panel.  There are ways to mitigate this problem, though, such as signal repeaters and centrally locating your main panel.

All in all, I would say that there are pluses and minuses to the reliability of both wired and wireless installations, and you have to decide for yourself what you’re more comfortable with.  For my money, with today’s technology, I trust a wireless home security installation just as much as any wired system, out-there.

Same thing for a home security installation job.  You’ll figure it out, eventually, and you’ll make some mistakes along the way.  Hopefully they won’t be anything that you can’t easily fix, but who knows…  Your chances of having a “major” screw up are much, much greater if you decide to tackle a wired system.  Wired security systems have the distinction of needing a LOT of copper.  They need runs for every window, door, smoke alarm, motion sensor, and so on.  That’s a lot of chances to break, cut, smash or ruin something that doesn’t need ruining.

That’s why I sincerely recommend a wireless home security system installation.  There isn’t a whole lot that you can ruin.  Sure you might ding a wall or scratch some paint, but that’s small potatoes compared to cutting a 110V line or falling through the ceiling (don’t laugh, I’ve done it!).

So think hard about what exactly you’re going to benefit from by getting a wired system.  If you’re set on it and can’t be persuaded, make a few phone calls and find a professional installer for a quote.  As a matter of fact, find a couple of professional security systems installers and see what they say.  You might find a big price difference that you can leverage to get the best price for a new home security system installation.