Had to choose between a wired retrofit or a full wireless system for a 1980s house

The client in Oak Park had a place with old alarm wires still in the walls... I could have tried to use them for new sensors, but half the runs were dead. I picked a full wireless system instead and spent a day patching the old holes. It went smooth and the panel linked up fine, but now I'm wondering if I should have pushed harder to salvage the wired zones. Anyone ever regret going fully wireless on an old house like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kevin29d ago

Wasting a full day patching holes sounds like a bad trade to me. Those old wires are solid if they work, and you never have to worry about dead batteries at 2am. Wireless sensors can get finicky with old plaster walls and metal lath. Wouldn't you sleep better knowing the connection was a physical wire instead of a radio signal?

taylor63229d ago

That "solid if they work" thing is everywhere now. People replace their old cars that just need basic fixes with new ones full of computers that brick themselves. My dad's old TV remote just needed a smack, but my new one needs an app update to change the volume. We're trading simple, fixable stuff for complex things that just stop working for no good reason.

the_julia12d ago

Seriously, @the_kevin, a day's work for a lifetime of not crawling through your attic to fix a broken wire is a win.