I grew up long before the days of wireless security. Back when I was a kid, my parents had a very old-fashioned burglar alarm. It would sound alarms and call the cops if someone tried to force the door, or someone in the house hit the panic button – a bright red button, temptingly located in the middle of the hall where it was almost impossible for us kids to avoid pushing it. I know the alarm works because it went off by mistake a couple times, causing the cops to come. Nonetheless, I always suspected that it wouldn't do any good. I never told my parents this because it seemed to give them peace of mind, but the easiest way to break into my house was through one of the many large glass windows. A burglar alarm would do nothing to protect against this sort of break in, nor would it guard against entry through the screen door at the back of the house.
Security systems sure have come a long way since then. Wireless video surveillance, motion detectors, and other high-tech gadgets and gizmos have been around for a long time, but they have only recently entered the consumer market. Nowadays, you can set up a basic wireless security system for under a hundred dollars. If you are willing to spend more, you can set up something so high tech that it would have been beyond the wildest dreams of a paranoid just a generation ago.
One of my best friends has a great wireless security system. He is a UFO conspiracy nut, and he believes you never can be too careful. He has security video cameras, motion detectors, and an old-fashioned burglar alarm hooked up to the doors and windows, as well as an emergency panic button. The great thing about this kind of wireless security system is that you don't need any special system to run it all – it can work from your wireless network. He has it run from his personal computer. The only problem is that the computer has to be running all the time, and if something happens to it, the security system gets triggered. Nonetheless, he is pretty happy with the way everything works.
I have been thinking about getting a wireless security system myself. Although I always feel pretty safe in my house, it's always a good idea to make things just a bit safer. After all, you never know when the unlikely could happen and your luck could change. Why risk it?
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