Alarm Systems
How to choose an alarm system
What a kit includes
A typical home alarm system kit has a control panel, contact sensors for doors and windows, one or more motion detectors, a siren and remote fobs or an app for arming. Expandable systems let you add sensors later, which matters more than the initial count, because most people underestimate how many openings a house has.
Alerts are what make it useful
A siren deters someone already inside; a phone notification tells you the moment a door opens while you are at work. Every hub here alerts your phone with nothing to subscribe to, and sends the alert over a mobile SIM as well as your home network, so it still leaves the house when the broadband does not. The kit with a camera adds footage of the same moment to the notification.
Compare the types
 4G alarm hub |  Hub with camera |  Add on sensors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alerts you by | Phone alerts over WiFi, with 4G backup | Phone alerts with 1080p footage attached | Through the hub they pair to |
| Keeps working if broadband drops | Yes, over the SIM | Yes, over the SIM | As the hub does |
| Expandable | Up to 96 devices | Up to 96 devices | Door, window, PIR and smoke |
| Suits | A home you want to hear from while you are out | Seeing what set it off before you drive home | Adding rooms later |
| See | 4G alarm hub kit | 4G hub with camera | Door and window sensor |
Buying guides
Alarm System Buying Guide NZSelf-monitored 4G and WiFi kits
Security Cameras NZ Buying GuideWiFi, 4G, solar, wireless systems or CCTV
Security Camera System Buying Guide NZWhat powers the hub decides everything
Related
Security Systems Wireless Security Systems WiFi Security Cameras 4G Security Cameras
Common questions
Will pets set it off?
Pet immune motion sensors ignore movement below a set weight; the 4G hub kits here use pet friendly PIR sensors, one rated to ignore pets under 25 kg. Check each product.
Does it need monitoring?
No. These alert you directly. Professional monitoring is a separate service.
Does it work in a power cut?
The sensors and remotes run on batteries throughout, so a power cut does not disarm them. Hubs with a backup battery keep alerting; check the listing for how long.
Cameras or an alarm first?
An alarm if the aim is to stop a burglary: the siren makes someone leave and the alert reaches you while they are still there. Cameras if the aim is to know who it was. The security cameras buying guide covers the camera side, and the hub kit with a camera gives you both at once.
Are there rules for a home alarm with a camera in New Zealand? NZ law
Self monitoring is legal: the kit alerts you and you decide what to do, and you do not need a security licence to fit a kit in your own home. If the kit includes a camera, the same rules as any security camera apply. At your own home the Privacy Act 2020 generally does not cover your own security footage, unless the recording would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; point cameras at your own property and never into a bathroom or bedroom. A business using an alarm camera needs a stated purpose, a sign and secure footage under the Privacy Act.