Aqara’s hubs double as alarm systems: door and motion sensors, a siren, and automations that run locally over Zigbee rather than through a subscription server. Pair it with Home Assistant and the alarm logic never touches anyone’s cloud. Loud sirens and local logic are not the same as professional monitoring, and the official app prefers […]
Eufy’s security kits pair local-storage cameras with sensors and a hub, keeping alarm events and footage on your hardware instead of a subscription server. The core function works without any monthly fee. Professional monitoring is optional and third-party, and the brand’s late-2022 remote-access research controversy applies here too. Local by default, but verify firmware and […]
SimpliSafe popularized no-contract home security: self-installed sensors, optional professional monitoring at fair monthly pricing, and a system that keeps working without it. An established company with a long track record. It is a cloud service at heart, and in 2016 a security researcher showed that older SimpliSafe systems sent unencrypted wireless signals; later generations added […]
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