GE 45142 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center with Door or Window Sensor Kit

Comment: I just got done installing the Choice Alert system in our 1600 square foot split foyer. The components include the control center, one signal booster, one extra siren module, 3 door/ 3 window sensors, one garage door sensor, one signal repeater, and one motion sensor. Obviously, I don't yet have much experience with its performance, but I thought I'd share some installation thoughts.
Certainly the biggest problem is- what keeps an intruder from just unplugging/ taking the batteries out/ or just smashing the control center? The warning beeps in the "away" mode are obvious enough and give the intruder enough time to home in on the sound. My "Hack"? I just opened the Control Center and snipped the wires to the beeper/ siren. It works just fine like that, and it is totally silent until the siren module goes off. The upside of doing this is obvious, the downsides are- 1. You don't get the short beep when a door or window is opened when it is not armed (although I actually think that's a plus). 2. You don't get the warning beeps when you come home- if you forget, it will go off. 3. You have to buy a siren module. 4. I suspect GE would void the warranty. 5. You could mess up and snip the wrong wires.
If you decide to try it, here's what I did. I took the 3 screws on the back plus one in the battery compartment out. At that point I still could not completely open it up- the right side would not release. I pried the back open about an inch on the left side and examined it with a flashlight. After being pretty sure I had the right wires (2 brown ones that disappear into the beeper module) I snipped them with a pair of scissors. I then tested it and I got exactly what I wanted- total silence until the alarm sounds. I installed the siren module on top of our kitchen cabinet and ran the wire from the plug outlet used for our over-the-range microwave (my wife's idea). It is completely out of view.
All of the sensor modules seem to work as advertised. The most difficult part of the installation is getting the two sensor parts properly aligned on the doors. It would be nice if GE would include some shims to raise the small part off of the door, but the don't so I had to cut some pieces of wood.
All in all, I think the hacked system is a reasonable value for the money- the sensors seem to work well and the siren would certainly scare someone off. The non-hacked version has such a big problem with it giving the intruder 45 seconds to disarm it I would be hard pressed to recommend it.

Comment: We have had this product for a few months and it is very easy to install and set up sensors on different zones, so without the hassle of wiring it provides some cheap and easy peace of mind. The thing alerts us when the doors open. For that, I give it the three stars.

Now, we don't have a dog, and our primary hopes for this product was that it could act like one and wake us up if we're sleeping and there's an intruder downstairs, so we will have ample time to retrieve the .357 and load it. For that purpose, we bought the motion sensors since the other sensors aren't going to register a smashed window or other means of entry that do not involve opening a door or window. We were hoping that we could set it before going to sleep and get a simple chime of some sort if the motion sensor is tripping. Unfortunately, there is no way to set the motion sensors for this function. They only function in "away" mode setting off the siren.

Some of the zones started flashing a couple months in. Perhaps it's a range problem as the batteries weaken, as the flashing will stop for a while and then start up again. I haven't yet figured out how to change the batteries on the door sensors without destroying the casing ... in fact, that's why I came on here to read the reviews. I'll try the razor blade idea, but this is definitely a big design defect.

Comment: I should have expected it... this unit just does not function as it is described. First, the product literature says this can communication up to 150 feet. Not on your life. I bought accompanying motion sensors and door sensor kits and they can barely communicate 35 feet away (tested with multiple new batteries) through nothing more than two layers of drywall. I did testing over a period of several days and found that the sensors had to be no further than 35 feet in either direction. This means I had to position the base unit/control center in awkward locations (would not have been an issue if they could communication up to at least 50 feet but they don't). Second, the sensors are said to be weather-resistant? Not likely unless you're living in Florida. Some of the sensors quite working when the temperature dipped below 35-40 degrees. Third, the motion sensors are generally useless on channels 1-3 unless you set the unit to ALARM AWAY FROM HOME. I really did NOT expect that little nugget of uselessness. Meaning - you can only use one channel to monitor motion without arming the system in an AWAY FROM HOME MODE. And then.. here's the really bad part: So they only function as expected when you're gone. SO WHAT? No one is there to hear the alarm then. This is really a badly thought out "piece of junk" system and someone at GE needs taken out back and whipped for this abomination. Yes - it can function nicely in a small apartment, all indoors, in a perfect environment, with neighbors right next door willing to take action if they hear the shrill ALARM - but past that, this whole system is worthless junk and I will be calling GE to complain and ask for a refund.

Comment: As an Amazon Prime customer I buy many things from Amazon each year. Normally, I read our reviews for products before I buy - but in this case I can only plead "brain cramp." I didn't check the reviews for this item or it's add-ons. BIG MISTAKE! Do not buy this. The hype sounds good - but it has a next to nothing range, it constantly loses contact with sensors - which sounds an alert (not what you want to hear in the middle of the night.) It is all going back - Control Unit, Water Sensor, 2 Door Sendors, 3 Motion Detectors, and Garage Door Sensors. What a complete waste of time. And I say kudos to Amazon for their returns policy. It makes it easy to move on from big mistakes. I would go as far as recommending to Amazon that they drop this line.

Comment: I bought this GE Home Security starter kit and several of the add ons to put in a security system to help protect our home. I've been fairly pleased, but there are a couple of issues to be aware of. In order to give my review a bit of structure, I'll attempt to break it down by component...including a couple of components that ARE NOT included in this basic kit, but that you may need to purchase to get the system to work, or elect to purchase to expand the system.

1. The conroller. The controler is small, easy to program and makes heck of a racket when the alarm system is triggered. My only slight complaint with the conroller is it does not include any provision to be wall mounted and it has limited range (more on that under "door/window sensor below". Turning the system on or off from the control pad is very easy. Each of first 3 zones can handle up to 4 sensors, allowing you to say, put all 4-exterior doors on Zone 1, and windows on zones 2 and 3. To do this, obviously you have to get more hardware than comes with the basic kit reviewed here.

2. Door/Window sensor. The advantage of the wireless door/window sensor is the ease of installation. A wired system would require many hours of running wires from each sensor to the controller to function. This is not practical in many instances. The wireless sensors are easy to place using a couple of screws to mount the contact plate and some double sided tape to mount the sensors themselves. Programming the controller to recognize the sensor is also easily accomplished. However, be aware that the sensors have limited range...in some cases VERY limited range. In my installation, 2 sensors located near the front of the house would not communicate all the time with the control box. Another reviewer talked about how his control box will flash, reporting a low battery in a sensor, when in fact the battery isn't low. Well...the reason the controller is flashing is because it is not getting a good signal from the sensor. It cannot differentiate between a low battery and a poor signal. So, it will flash repeatedly and the documentation says that means "low battery" but it can also mean the sensor is too far from the controller. In my situation, my 2 sensors were only about 40-feet from the controller and I had this issue...so beware when GE sasy "up to 150 feet". If you have an issue, you will need one or more "range extenders" which are not included in the basic kit. However, I had to buy one so I reviewed it below.

My other issue with the sensor is how hard it is to take them apart to change the battery (at least once every 2-years per GE). The tabs on the side would seem to indicate a screwdriver can be used to take them apart, but they are too flimsy to do that. The only way I was able to get mine apart was to use a razor knife as a prying tool (kind of dangerous) to get the case apart and get to the battery. I see no way to replace the batteries without removing the sensors from the door frame...and they are secured with double sided tape, not screws...so that's going to be an issue in the future. GE needs to redesign the catches that hold the sensor body together. The ones I had apart, I shaved the tabs down to make them easier to get back apart later.

3. Range Extender - This deal plugs into an unused wall socket (tying it up forever) and will simply "repeat" any signals it recieves from sensors around it, hopefully communicating all the way back to the controller, so that sensors that can't otherwise function reliably will now begin working properly. It works, in a fashion, but be aware that the Range Extender itself still has a very short range. In my case, I was able to find a spot to plug it in half way between the front of the house and the controller that was close enough to the sensors to work and close enough to the controller to work.....it seemed to need to be within 15 feet of the sensors and 25 feet of the controller. I have NO IDEA if you can chain one range extender after another.

4. Window Decals and Yard Sign. I read up on this and most "experts" say that putting in decals and a yard sign are your biggest deterents to simple home break ins. None of what I'm talking about here is going to keep a determined thief from stealing your Monet, but maybe it will keep the doper kids down the block from targeting your house for meyhem if they need some money to buy more dope. I went with an extra pack of sticky stickers and put one on most of my windows and all of my doors. The yard sign? It is so flimsy it broke trying to take it out of the package. If I was GE, I'd be ashamed to have my name on it. It's a flimsy piece of plastic junk. I taped mine together with some clear tape and then couldn't get the plastic stake to drive into the yard, as it is so cheap and flimsy. Get the picture?

5. Other Sensors available. A motion detector and a water sensor are available. I didn't get them so I can't comment really.

6. What isn't available. To my knowledge, you can't get any sort of dialer with this alarm system. Also, no home monitoring is included. To that extent this system represents a definite comprimise in security. To get it working, you are going to have to lay out some money, but you don't have an ongoing monitoring charge from a home security company. The comprimise, your home won't be as secure as it would be with a really top notch, monitored system.

7. Remote Siren - The remote siren is really loud and hopefully, being remote from the controller, will increase the chances that a passing neighbor will hear the alarm and take notice of the strange white van sitting in the driveway. It needs a receptical of its own and is also (I'm sure) limited in range. Mine would take a bit to find and disable...but that may not be too much of an issue for a thief as I summarize below.

OK...So...if I'm a thief and I'm not detered by the flimsy hard sign and the decals, I'm going to go right up to your house and bust open a door or window. IF that door or window is equipped with a sensor, there's really good chance it's going to trip an alarm. If you have the system set to "HOME" that means the alarm is going to go off immediately emitting a very loud (if your close to it) noise...that would alert anyone in the house and MAYBE someone outside of an intrusion. But honestly, that's a big Maybe. The determined thief now can follow his ears to the control box and disable it with a hammer (or even under heel) to little bits. That WILL make the alarm quit sounding. If you have the system set to "AWAY" it will just start beeping when triggered allowing the thief 45 seconds to enter the code to disarm it. Obviously he doesn't know the code so he'll just crush it to bits, again disabling the system. I've figured out a way to set my system to "HOME" even when I'm away. If you can figure out a way to exit your house without setting off a sensor, you can do the same thing.

This system, again, does represent good value, but the best you can hope for is the thief isn't "determined" and hopefully will go on down the street to the next house that has no alarm. You might consider putting in a yard sign from one of the "major" security providers to go along with this system. That would probably be an improvement. Even better would be a high-dollar WIRED system with home monitoring, but it's going to cost you a lot more and be more of a hassle. I've been called in the middle of the night at least 10 times when my mother's monitored home security system has been accidently triggered...so I know there are hassles going that way too.