Somfy Home Alarm

My Home alarm starter pack arrived and installed in under 15mins. I opted for the starter pack in order to test the system as I was sceptical. However, I have had SOMFY products before and never had any issues.Very quick and easy to install and I performed a number of tests and all gave the desired results.The system detects when your phone is away and reminds you to set the alarm. Which is great as you can set it from anywhere as long as you have internet connection available.It also has very neat features for calendar setting the; "full" or "part alarm" as well as "turning it off". Again tested this and works well.With a neighbours recent break in I love the feature which senses if abnormal activity is going on with a door or window and can either perform a warning alarm or set the full alarm off. That should prevent damage to doors and windows.On the phone you get quick notification through push notifications and a great option to either Call Emergency Services, Silence the alarm or turn off the alarm.Only had it going for 24 hours now, but I strongly recommend if you are going to buy a smart home alarm, go with SOMFY. Experts in home automation.One final thing is I tested the Google Assistant and once again works perfectly, you can even set a routine to arm the alarm automatically when google senses you have left home.I have subsequently ordered additional IntelliTAG's to cover all my external doors.The system is expensive but the most cost effective way to buy and build it is to start with the starter kit and add extras. Had I gone with the Home Alarm - Smart system it would have cost me £329.99 - £349.99 I am only missing 2 x IntelliTAG's and 1 Key fob, these items would cost £105.00 so even if I bought the Key fob I would still save on buying the bundled set, saving of £43 - £63.We now have peace of mind and confidence that we are protected and once my additional TAG's arrive I'll retire my old alarm system that just wasn't up to the job.Topical for the Manufacturers but I give this kit A+++

I decided on this system after considering this, Tiwee (budget system with great reviews, but no app or push capabilities) and Veho Cave (mid price solution but no siren).It's more than I wanted to spend and I was slightly put off by the middling Amazon reviews, but felt it was worth the investment given the extra features and prominence of the brand in the smart home field.Setup was a breeze. The app guides you through, although the translations from French (Somfy is a French company) to English could be improved.I had the whole system up and running with the various sensors in the kit within 20 mins. The sensors seem to be good quality and intuitive with a calibration process that determines whether a door/window has been opened or someone has entered a detection area.Overall I am happy with the system and it has worked reliably in the week I have had it installed.It would be good if it would also support third party cameras, but I can understand the desire for brands to keep you within one ecosystem (although it does say it is compatible with Nest).The arming and disarming process is self explanatory, either through the app or the fobs. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the battery covers on the fobs are a bit flimsy so probably need a bit of tape.The siren is extremely loud and I would imagine would be enough to deter a would be intruder.Everything (except the hub) are battery powered, which I think is a good thing in case there is any interference with your electricity (although that would also take down your WiFi so you wouldn't get a notification?).Overall, impressive system and probably the best on the market for this price range, at least until Ring and Nest come into the UK market with their alarm offerings (which have been available in the US for some time).

Superb alarm system, fairly straight forward to set up and works very well. Internal and external sirens both very loud with bright lights, was pleasantly surprised how far from the link I could put the external box. The motion sensor works well with lots of adjustments for pets, haven’t had any false alarms with that or the intelli tag window sensors, which work well (my builder missed a text about letting me know when he artived to do some work, so my patio door sensor got an unplanned test and activated the alarm). When the alarm does go off, you get an app notification, email and text. Not sure how the text works, am not aware of GSM back up on the link, but I guess if you’re phone doesn’t have data signal, you’ll still get an alert, doubt it’ll work if the WiFi is lost that the link uses, but could be wrong.Overall I’m very happy, and plan to add the indoor camera and possibly more sensors.EDIT: new experience - the anti-tamper on the external siren works very well, but the battery cover has fell off my fob twice so minus a star :-(

Very easy to set up.The app works well and doesn't crash.Looks good.The fobs are great, and cheap to add more at £25 each.IntelliTAGs work really well on doors. Please note that on windows they work on vibration so need to be put on the frame of a sash window as the up down movement of the window won't set them off. Then again, the banking or shaking of the window will set them off.Mine came with a Euro plug and a British plug. You attach whichever is appropriate to the back of the Link.

I had a very disappointing experience with Somfy Protect. I had multiple false alarms (almost always when the postman delivered the post), even when I reduced the sensitivity of the motion sensor. When I tried to ring Somfy for customer support, it took me days to get through to an actual person. And once I did, the person had very little technical expertise about the product. I don't know why they would launch this product in the UK without adequate technical support. I'd steer well clear of this one.