BT Home Monitor VP1000

Most of us will have worried about home security at one time or another. The days of leaving your back door open so the cat can get out while you’re at work are long gone. But all the locks and chains in the world can’t stop a determined intruder from gaining entry to your property. With the BT Home Monitor VP1000 wireless security system you can keep an eye on your home from any internet connection, or be warned by phone if someone is trying to break in.

The package comes with a main control console, two motion sensors, another sensor to detect the opening of a door and a keyfob controller for activating or deactivating the alarm. You also get a page on the net specific to your house, from where you can track everything that goes on, whether it’s an intruder or your kids arriving home from school. The device will also call or email up to three people if the alarm is set off.

The website is what makes this service. By logging on you can configure the system, for example specifying who will be contacted in case of a problem and by what means – mobile, landline or email. You can also see information from all the sensors dotted around your house. If you have a pet or partner prone to sleepwalking, you can switch off some sensors to prevent false alarms.

This basic starter pack takes about half an hour to set up, but comes with all the fittings you’ll need to attach your sensors to the wall and door. However, the system is modular, allowing up to 28 sensors to be scattered around your home. This makes the control panel a little more complicated to use than it might have been, as some ease of use has been sacrificed for flexibility. The text-based menu system aggravates this problem further as it isn’t particularly intuitive.

At £300 the system is quite pricey, but you get a year’s free subscription to the service. After your first year, this will cost you an extra £5 per month. This is a bit steep but whether you’ll pay the price rests solidly on whether the thought of not knowing what’s going on in your house when you’re not there bothers you or not.