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Comcast Offering Home Security Bundle
vaporland writes "Bloomberg reports that media giant Comcast has begun offering home security bundles with cable or phone service in selected markets. From the article: 'The Philadelphia-based company is starting Xfinity Home Security in seven markets for $39.95 a month. It lets users remotely adjust lights and thermostats, watch cameras, and get e-mail or text alerts when doors and windows are opened and closed. Customers can watch live video of their homes on an Xfinity website or with an Apple Inc. iPad application.'"
Comcast offers new, unnecessary product at exorbitant rates.
Convergence: When your home automation, grid power, security, telephone, TV, internet and wireless companies are all owned by the same conglomerate
What could possibily go wrong!
Rogers, Canada's largest telecom, also started offering a similar service a few weeks ago.
Will we have to buy the bullets they shoot us with too?
Well maybe they'll finally start providing some decent upstream bandwidth then. Who woulda thunk it.
Failure formatting five FAQs of financial facts.
" Customers can watch live video of their homes on an Xfinity website "
And what makes anyone think Comcast won't be doing the same whenever they want?
Now they can watch you in your own home....genius.
So now, someone can break into Comcast and easily see which houses have good stuff and don't have anyone at home. That must be very handy for thieves.
As a customer, I already don't trust Comcast and think they cost too much. Why would I pay them $40 a month for this? Especially since it would take away from my internet bandwidth?
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
You guys still paying for incoming texts over there?
Incidentally, being notified of someone breaking into one's home or watching a live stream of the same hardly seems like security to me.
It'd be a shame if something happened to it...
You get relevant targeted advertisements from consumer electronics companies right after you stereo gets stolen.
http://www.comcast.com/homesecurity/iControlSMA/index.htm Only Window/Door Sensors (4) Motion Detector (1) Wireless Keypad (1) Keychain Remote (1) Touch Screen (1) Cellular and Battery Backup Included what will more Sensors cost $0.25 /m each? Motion Detectors at $2 /m?
added keypad $5-$10 /m?
added Keychain Remote $3 /m
see how much they bill you rent the cable box + they also bill you to rent the remote as well. That cost can go up fast.
Also is there a Cellular modem rent fee like how you have to rent the emta that is not part of listed price.
Well, people have no scruples about advertising their location by way of Facebook, Foursquare and twatting every time they leave their house. The masses simply don't care. Can't say I care too much, either. There are easier ways to figure out if someone is home or not, honestly.
But I wouldn't use this service, for your ultimate reason - it'd be taking away from my bandwidth. Sorry, Comcast - ditch your cap, or at least stop ejaculating about unlimited (they were still trying that line when I was reduced to using Comcast, at least) - and maybe we'll talk. ...Probably not though, because I'm pretty sure that with a trip to Fry's and a lazy Sunday, I could have a much better system in place for myself.
They can't even bill me correctly for their crummy internet and their web account services site is a joke. I can just imagine the lights flickering wildly or the thermostat perpetually resetting itself to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer. And then, "Sorry, the soonest the technician can be there is in two weeks."
Comcast Exec: [logs into service] hmm, why does my home thermostat read 666?
-- How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics.
In Soviet Russia, cable watches you.
"...Customers can watch live video of their homes on an Xfinity website or with an Apple Inc. iPad application.'"
You misspelled Criminals.
you have exceed your plans "time at home" you are now being locked out side. if you wish to upgrade to the next plan you can call comcast costumer service.
These guys really want to be the copz.
jr
I always thought home security systems should have one of these, if a code isn't entered X amount of times in Y amount of days, it is assumed that something is wrong, and information gets sent out by the home owner.
Philadelphia Police: Sir, we caught this man trying to break into your house at approximately 1:30 this afternoon after receiving an urgent notification from Comcast.
Homeowner: Who is he?
Philadelphia Police: He claims he is from "Verizon" and that he was here to "install FiOS", whatever that means.
Now they'll know when to throw more advertising at you by determining your schedule. Perhaps they can find a way to "cap" the amount of door openings and window usages...or at least the alerts you receive so now you'll have to avoid opening your door too often or pay overage charges.
Only thing missing seems to be razor wire fencing and automated gun turrets...
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
this better be SELinux compatible
I would NEVER put the security of the house in the hands of Microsoft
"I don't pitch OpenSUSE Linux to my friends, i let Microsoft do it for me
Why wouldn't we give one of the least ethical companies in the world access to everything we do at home? They already inspect and record everything we do online.
Automated Gun Turrets would make me consider subscribing, making sure they were connected only to my LAN, and then unsubscribing.
I was thinking of programming a system that links up to a modern computer and buying cheap webcams. Then you could monitor your house from a Flash Enabled Phone, and get alerts if motion sensors are triggered with the video feed. I was thinking with how cheap web cameras are now(practically free), all you're really paying for is cables and installation. You could probably wire a house for $500, and clear 300$ profit or more.
Has anyone else considered this as a business?
God spoke to me
Seriously Comcast security?
I had a ongoing problem with my Comcast service and the remedial degenerates they sent to repair the service were downright scary looking and would have otherwise NOT have been invited into my dwelling.
I answered the door one day and immediately though "WTF.. did I order drugs?
No to offend tattoo and body modification aficionados, but if you have neck tatoo...
I have the service. Allow me to enlighten you as to what it is ( and isn't ).
First, you MUST have a router feeding the house network. You need an available eth connection as well for the alarm head unit. The unit is NOT static IP configured, it's dhcp so it will be begging the router for an IP address. Force a static on it from the router and it will be thrilled. Head unit is listening on port 80 so you need to forward the port through the firewall to allow net access. Yeah every scan on Earth will see it so I suspect your router logs are gonna jump an order of magnitude or so. Hitting the unit asks for the install code ( 16 digit ) but I didn't test it past that.
The whole system is wireless so the main unit needs to be centralized if possible so the sensors can talk to it. The install tech has to add the sensors to the head unit and you don't get to play in the config once they're done. Preferred package is four door / window sensors and one motion sensor. Additional sensors are horrendously expensive ( $170 for a motion sensor ?! ) but the system is General Electric based so you may be able to buy your own ( Z-Wave compatible ) but they will have to configure them in the head unit. Head unit also has a battery backup with a cellular system in the event of a power failure or loss of cable signal. Head unit is broadcasting it's own SSID and appears to be running with at least WPA.
They fail to mention on their site that the customer is required to obtain an Alarm Operators Permit from your local municipality. Not expensive ($25 first year, $15 renewal) but necessary as the fine for the police showing up on an alarm call if you don't have one is expensive.
Email and text messages for damn near anything can be configured. System arm / disarm, tamper switches trigger, individual triggers for every sensor, etc. Make sure you have a decent messaging plan.
Remote monitoring, arm / disarm and system / sensor history are available once you log in using your info. Same for the IPhone app.
They need to add a swivel bracket to the motion sensors for better placement options IMO. Three year contract. $200 install and $39.95 month. Qualifies for insurance discount. IS a monitored service. Seems to perform fairly well. No real complaints to speak of so far.
Maybe now all the established security vendors will create a decent offering that works over IP, rather than plugging their old technology into a voip box. I wouldn't trust my home security to Comcast, but the established security vendors need to upgrade their products off of telephone modem technology badly.
If you were on IP, a simple "ping" could be run periodically to make sure you haven't had your connection cut. And you can get more advanced, like viewing the status on a web page (we already have banking online, so this can be done right) or getting a feed of the audio and video during a break-in to give police a heads up if it's a likely false alarm or send pictures of the criminal so police know who to look for. The alerts would also be sent faster, and can be encrypted over IP, rather than waiting for the modem to dial out.
... but the first I think of is the irony that Orwell had it wrong. The govt won't have to force people to install cameras into their homes, we will do it ourselves...
Evolution: love it or leave it
I asked the question: Will Comcast charge me extra when intruders hack their security and start monitoring my cameras 24/7, pushing me over my 2.5GB monthly data quota?
Ask Me About... The 80's!
Who else .. .. gets to see this feed .. gets to know my entry and leaving times .. gets to enable and disable my alarm?
I like the idea, but there is no chance in hell I'll ever allow anyone else to place a camera inside my home or be 100% in control over its defenses. Notifications, fine, outside cameras, maybe, but no internal feed is ever going to leave my place unless a member of the family permits it.
Oh, and no alarm system of mine is ever going to be solely dependent on a single Internet provider - I have seen that mistake too often..
Insert
...I am happy not to own anything valuable (well, maybe except my computer, but who's interested in stealing PC's anyway?).
We will be releasing a new product in two months time that will allow you to monitor your home before they break. You receive SMSes with links to video trigger from sensors outside of your house and then you can set off flood lights, alarms, send SMSes, E-mails, gateway to other systems of your own etc etc. It encodes the video to WebM (I expect it's the first security product to do that) so you can save the events and all this is under your own control, not an external company. It's highly configurable and you can take input from and control devices connected via X10 or via a generic digital I/O board (Phidgets).
http://www.hydracontrolfreak.com/
Note, the website is in pre-release state as we haven't released the product yet. We expect it to be released in about 2 2/12 months.
Cheers,
Kim
Buy Homeseer and do this all yourself and make your own password.
I'd be interested to see what the underlying technology is. If it is Zigbee I'd expect they will get load of interference problems. If it is Zwave I am loading up on Sigma Designs stock.
Note to self: cut landline AND cable TV coax before breaking and entering
Something tells me their cable boxes already spy on you so opting into the security package is just a way to inadvertently consent to everything else they are already doing by signing a confusing and lengthy EULA.
Comcast has offered a home security product in a number of markets for a number of years. This isn't something new.
don't like the idea of video feeds in my home that are centralized to any company. If I ever set up video feeds, I'd want to host them on my own server/router and login to view.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
This looks like transcribed verbiage right off the sales brochure. At least in the past the Slashdot folk have rewritten the ad to be a bit more oblique. What's next? \/1agr/\ by Comcast ads in Slashdot?
In any case, anyone who would trust their security with Comcast is a fool, just as is anyone who uses their internet service.
That is all.