Old school DSC panels vs the new IoT stuff

I was swapping out an old DSC PC1616 panel in a house near Akron last week and it hit me how much has changed. Back in 2010 we used those keypads with the little LCD screen and everything was hardwired. Now every new install wants a wireless system with an app and cloud monitoring. Does anyone else miss the simplicity of the old wired stuff, or am I just getting old?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_pat13d ago

Boy howdy, you hit the nail on the head there. I read a piece in a security trade magazine a few months back that said over 60 percent of new residential installs now use some form of wireless or hybrid system, and that number keeps climbing every year. I still prefer the old wired DSC stuff myself, mostly because you never have to worry about someone jamming a wireless signal or the batteries dying in a sensor at 2 AM. Nothing wrong with the new tech, but there is something to be said for a system that just works without needing a firmware update or a WiFi password.

samwalker13d ago

Yeah no kidding, my first alarm system was a wireless one and I swear the motion sensor battery died at 3:15 AM on a Tuesday, had to fumble around in the dark looking for a 9-volt. I think I'd rather deal with running cables through my attic than go through that again, honest to God. Your mileage may vary of course, but there is something real nice about a hardwired system that just sits there for twenty years without you having to think about it.