Rob Clymo: Columnist - Tech & Gadgets
The Clymo Brief: Beating the burglars
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“We’ve been burgled!” It’s a line no-one wants to hear but that’s exactly what happened to my plumber the other day. He called me to say he was now going to buy a home security kit and wondered if I had any recommendations? I had a couple, as it happens.

All-in-one home security kits don't just deter criminals, they can constantly monitor your property. However, a niggling fear of nightmare installations has put me off trying one so far. And when two examples arrived on my doorstep containing an awful lot of kit, I began to get very nervous.

Of course, there are plenty of less sophisticated deterrents like standalone cameras and motion detectors on the market. Unfortunately, many of these products miss the point entirely and offer no way of letting you know about intruders if you’re not actually in the house.

So what have we got? Well, there’s the AlertMe (£399 plus a £11.75 monthly service charge) and the myhome247 Starter Kit (£249.95, with a free 5mb Remote Access account).

Remote control
AlertMe is predominantly wireless. It consists of a central hub which hooks up to your broadband connection and a series of sensors which are placed strategically around your home. The whole shebang can be controlled with a wireless keyfob or remotely via text messaging and the web (hence the monthly charge). It can also alert friends and neighbours if any doors or windows on your property have been forced or simply left open by mistake.

The myhome247 Starter Kit is perhaps a little more unwieldy. It works using a tangle of ethernet wiring but, on the upside, additional sensors can be used to monitor temperature and wet conditions such as flooding or burst pipes. It also enables you to switch lights, appliances and even your heating on and off with a compatible mobile phone.

Exciting stuff, but bear in mind you’ll need an ethernet router for both to successfully interact with their respective websites.

Smart design
Thankfully, on opening the two large boxes my fears of technological meltdown subsided. AlertMe wins the prize for idiot-proof set-up and installation. All the boxes are numbered, and the website has on-screen instructions to follow while opening each box in numerical order. The component parts have been fabulously designed and look like a family of iPod peripherals in their brilliant white plastic finish.

AlertMe has some undeniably great touches. There’s the Button, which is a magic, multi-purpose plastic knob that can be used as a doorbell, panic button or night-setting device. Just don’t put the battery in until you’ve figured out what to do with it because the incessant flashing will drive you barmy.

The keyfobs (with idiot-proof buttons: Home – it’s big, Away – it’s small) are ultra-funky in white and orange too. And then there’s the Lamp, which is a plastic lozenge thing that supposedly boosts the wireless signal but actually looks great just sitting on the mantelpiece acting plain old sexy.

After connecting the hub and registering, all the sensors and keyfobs communicate wirelessly with the hub and forward encrypted information to the AlertMe servers. Should there be any activity at your house then selected friends, family and neighbours will receive free text messages telling them as much.

The alarm detector sensor is a clever bonus as it allows you to also get notifications if smoke or carbon monoxide alarms are activated. All in all, using AlertMe was a pretty enjoyable experience.

Camera capture
It has to be said the myhome247 is a lot less stylish and appears more like a boxful of assorted component parts. This particular package only has one door sensor too. However, it does have the distinct advantage of the little Panasonic camera that captures video and still images. I even used this to find out which inconsiderate dog owner was letting their mutt poop all over the pavement outside our house!
Myhome247 has more elaborate systems in its range, but upgrading could cost you nearly twice as much again. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to be impressed at being able to remotely monitor options like pet and baby cams, although if you’re going out then aren’t you supposed to take the kiddies with you? Or get a babysitter?

Points of interest
Alongside being undeniably practical, the concept of this system also throws up the opportunity for some fun and games. If you’ve got family or friends round outstaying their welcome then you can scare them witless by using your mobile to switch random lights on and off while you pop down to the shops. Better still, crank the heating up and down remotely from hot to cold and back again before sending them packing in something like a scene from the Exorcist.

Both these systems work on different levels and the mobile notifications on either are spot on. But I’m inclined to say that AlertMe wins this particular battle against the burglars, mainly because it’s easier to set up and looks so cool. If they can add a camera to future packages they’ll have a truly unbeatable product that’ll have villains running for the hills. Or heading next door to your neighbours. In the meantime, I’ll call the plumber.


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Rob Clymo is a journalist employed on a freelance basis by Microsoft. The views in this article are those of the author and not of MSN or Microsoft.