Moving into a new house next month and want to set up security from day one. Done some research but there are too many options and every review site seems sponsored.
Here's what I care about: reliable alerts on my phone, camera quality good enough to identify faces at night, door/window sensors, and ideally a monitored system so someone calls if the alarm goes off.
Don't care about: smart home integration, fancy UI, voice assistants.
Budget: willing to spend $300-500 upfront and up to $25/month for monitoring.
What do you have and would you buy it again?
Whatever you pick, the yard sign and window stickers matter almost as much as the actual system. Most burglars are opportunistic and will skip a house with visible security signs.