Protecting Your Wireless Home Security System

Home security systems have now become wireless, which makes installation, maintenance, and operation a lot easier. It comes with a price, however. Because of the system’s dependence on your home wi-fi to communicate any issues, a power outage can be trouble. No power equals no router and/or no modem.

I thought to myself, “What would stop a burglar from finding my breaker box and just shutting everything down?” Even if there’s a lock on the box, a pair of bolt cutters would solve that problem fairly quickly. If the alarm system has no wi-fi, it won’t work unless it either has cellular capability or, in the case of alarms using VoIP, the technology to maintain connectivity.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Plugging your router and modem into a battery backup system will eliminate this weakness. Depending on the system, it will keep them running for at least an hour; long enough where a potential crook isn’t going to wait around for the backup to drain out. If the crooks are less advanced, they might assume the alarm is nonfunctional and break into the house just to have the alarm blare away, to their surprise.

If you have a wireless alarm, check with your security company to see if cellular or other technology is utilized to maintain connectivity during power outages. If not, seriously consider purchasing a battery backup system to give you an additional layer of protection against potential thieves. It’s a small investment to make to protect your belongings and increase your peace of mind.