A question that is always popping up, ‘which is better? Wired or Wireless’. Some people say wireless, the pros always say wired.  So which is it. Well, in my humble opinion, this is the wrong question to ask as both have their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Broadly it goes like this:

Wireless:  Dead easy to install, expensive compared to wired devices

Wired:  Pain in the ass to install, much cheaper than wireless devices.

There are also people who would say wired are more secure, less false alarms, etc., but all these are debatable and miss the real point.

The real point being security...

Assume for a moment you are planning to install an alarm system in your own home, now generally, top of the list is cost. So you go a google ‘Wireless Alarm Kits’ and get yourself a DIY kit for 199.99…. or something like that. Siren, control panel, two PIRs, two contacts and a ‘howto DVD’, terrific, you’ll be up and running in no time and be able to enjoy a weekend away without worrying that your collection of star wars dolls will be robbed.

So you watch the DVD, stick one contact each on the front and back door, one PIR each in the hall and upstairs landing, plug them all in and hey presto!  Instant protection from the dark side. Off you go for a weekend away, not a worry in the world.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… a couple of likely lads breaking through the back door, without opening it, rummage through your living room and make off with, laptop, cash, goldfish, guitar, box set of The Sopranos, etc., without ever going in to the hall. Bummer…. You may as well have  taken your 199.99 and flushed it down the toilet.

OK, OK…. Let’s say they did enter the hall way and set the alarm off, too late by then. They have a load of stuff already in the swag bag and are gone faster than a batch of freshly cooked doughnuts.

So you say to yourself, ‘f’ this and go a buy a load more wireless PIR’s, one for every room in the house, a new control panel, so it can accommodate all this extra protection, and you’ve just burned a large hole in your pocket, and after 18 months you have house full of PIRs beeping at you, like a critical ward in a hospital,  to replace all the batteries.

Now that’s fine, if you can afford it. But you could have got a better system in the first place if you went for the wired variety. By better, I mean one that affords better security for the same money.

Most of the arguments about wired vs. wireless tend to orbit around the technicalities of the devices rather than the whole point of the system which is SECURITY!

So which is better? Well both….

Wired will give you more bang for your buck, but you will need to spend a day or two installing it. Wireless will do the same job but you need to spend a lot more on the devices.

Having said all that… you can have the best of both worlds. Say you have a garage, workshop, shed at the bottom of the garden and you really, really, really don’t want to go digging up the flower beds to run a cable. So don’t. Put in a wireless PIR.

So check out the manual here (shameless plug) . It will either save you on the cost of your alarm system or at least give you the confidence to have a crack at it....