Link Interactive

I talked to a couple of different providers and Link was the friendliest. Any time I called in, they were willing to help. If they couldn't, they'd get somebody who could help. I got all the door sensors and stuff. They are pretty simple. My daughter hooked everything up because we were on the road. The sensors, you can put anywhere. There's also the motion sensor which you can position anywhere in your home for any reason. But I haven’t gotten to my cameras yet. I probably could have done that this time around, but I’m not going to. We have two dummy cameras outside my house. But I know that just by the specs of the Link cameras, they are a better quality and not as expensive as my last security system. I would have paid for it all at once, but I did payment plans.

The Link app is also able to arm and unarm the system. I love that. That means I don’t have to remember any codes. It’s linked to my phone. The tablet thing is really easy to use. If I don’t understand it, I just call Link and they pretty much break it down for me where like a kindergartener could understand. In using the app, you flip over and the app pops up. You have home, away from home, sleep mode and even an alarm clock. The app also tells me the weather. Once I hook up my cameras, it’ll show me images on my app real time.

I like the fact too that my alarm system will deactivate when I get close enough to the house. But I noticed something which I don't like. A lot of the times that I leave, I activate the alarm system. The road we live on kinda circles back close to the house. It registers my phone, it knows the phone is close, and it deactivates my alarm system. I think my house is locked up but it’s not. Other than that, I don’t have a problem with the system because usually my daughter checks after she knows we have left the house and have gone back on the road. She reactivates the alarm system for me. She used to be on the system because she was here for a couple of months. I pretty much have two security systems. I have my daughter who's constantly making sure that I don’t mess up.

They walked me through the installation process and it felt like they were familiar with the system and they knew what should be in the box. One time, we were looking through the box and I couldn’t find something. There was a piece that goes on the back of the monitor like a little mainboard. They did a really good job. I found the installation really easy, although I ended up using Command Strips instead of drilling through the plastic parts to put in the motion detectors. They wanted me to put a screw hole through the plastic in the back.

I have four houses and I know each house really well. We did custom security plans for each house since some plans have more floors than the other. All of the houses there, they are very similar as they all have a garage that you drive into, but they all have different floor plan layouts. I kinda knew what I was looking for because I’ve always tried to have very secure homes. I’ve used lots of equipment, whether it was with the other security companies. And Link is the top, at least for now. Everything changes and you have to change with everything because usually, there’s something that can be improved. Some of the security features are really updated too. Link has the app and it’s a lot more proficient. The app is good and user-friendly which is really important because I’m trying to have renters who have a variety of computer skills to do it too, not just me.

The cost for Link was really wonderful too. This was the lowest cost in systems that I’ve had in my 15 years of putting them in my houses. That’s really good savings for somebody out there and for me, in particular. I was very impressed by that. It’s made up in the contract, but that is a really good thing. But I had to send one of my Link systems back because my renter was in love with the routine of what she is doing now. Sometimes people don’t wanna try something new, but if they do and they’re okay with a commitment of a two or three-year contract, they will like it. They’ll actually buy the system and they’ll want to have it in their house.

With Link, if customers have any questions or they need to send the system back in the first three days, that has been made really easy. In my case, Link sent me a form to sign and I sent all the things back. It was really nice. As for the other systems, I'm gonna keep them at my other rental houses. My renters are enjoying using them for locking doors. It makes them feel safe and makes me feel good. Link's system could really help people. The cost of having some break-in in your house and also just the feeling you have if you don’t have anything in place and then afterward, you’re like, “I should have done this,” Link is definitely a system that's well worth it. I’m happy to tell my family or friends about it.

Link Interactive's customer service was good and fast. As soon as I made a request, they immediately sent me a text message. On the very same day, we closed the deal. So as far as sales were concerned, they were good. On the customer support side, some of the instructions they sent for the do-it-yourself installation were not very clear. Still, when I called, they kinda walked me through the setup. Although I figured out the instructions after a couple of weeks, there’s a little room for improvement in terms of making the instruction guidelines clearer. We were getting false alarms but overall, the reps were very responsive. Once you get them on the call, they're very knowledgeable and helpful. Whoever is on the phone, they know exactly what kind of issues you’re running into, and they can guide you through settings.

I got the four sensors plus the motion from Link Interactive. Everything was pretty much installed and paired, so it was ready to go. Installation was easy as all I needed to do was to put some sticker and it was all set up. Then I just attached it to the door. One of the neat things about the system is that they've got this interactive feature where, in case of emergency, they actually talk through the panel with you, just so they can actually listen to what’s going on in the house. Also, it's nice that they can also determine if there is an emergency or it's only a false alarm.

The additional feature though is really the mobile app that you can arm. That’s really neat. The only drawback of the system compared to the old traditional ones is that when you’re trying to set the alarm to "away", you need to make sure all the doors are closed before you click the arm. If the door that you’re trying to get out from is open, the system is not smart enough to realize that. That door will be bypassed and that is pretty bad. Other than that, you can always arm the system from your phone, which is really nice.

The other disadvantage is that the system comes with a receiver and sender. Everything should be attached to the door and it has to be within a certain distance. Sometimes, the way your door is set up may not allow for a nice installation, so there are some limitations there. The systems get confused. All of a sudden, it sends some signal today that something is going on when there's actually none.

All the settings are very conservative, and the system can easily sense if somebody is tampering with it. At the same time, however, it can put the settings such that they will confirm with you through the phone or message before it will send the officers out. So, you can kinda filter some of those false alarms, but not too much because sometimes it could be some problems and you may wanna need assistance. Good thing Link Interactive also has a support system during the weekend, so in case there is a false alarm, they can fix it for you. It’s almost like 24/7 help for emergency situations. Overall, I am very satisfied with Link Interactive. I really like the installation. I could ask somebody to come and install the security system who will ask me for thousands of dollars, but Link Interactive’s system is something I could do myself. I strongly recommend Link Interactive.

The sales rep was standard. He was trying to sell a product and plead his case. He seemed to not understand certain aspects of the technology and he almost put himself on the line. He was rapping something that he didn't understand and not really giving the full truth. I was testing him to see what he would say and he was pushing some jargon or lingo, “Oh, well, we do encryption on the ply.” I asked what that meant and he just said something. I asked him to explain it, but he couldn’t fully explain it. During the installation of the system, I got all the stuff and put it together. I didn't look at the instructions too much. I just knew what to do with it and I knew that the panel needed to be linked. I needed certain information and it was very easy. There was a packet that came in that told the passcodes and gave the basic rundown. I just followed that and it was perfect.

The features are good and the system offers what you would expect. There are both cell and wireless communication. There is a backup battery in it and I really like the touch screen panel and the fact that there is a motion detector in there. It is cool. That provided me one last motion detector I had to purchase. There is also a glass break detector in the panel, so there was a lot of bang for the buck in the system. I use the Link Interactive smartphone features and I have it built into Alexa, Echo Spot, and Echo Show. From the phone, I can tell Siri or Alexa to arm the system. There's an added benefit that I can link it with Alexa and I can do everything with my voice.

The cost is good and I'm getting a quality product although there is nothing special about it. The panel is nice because it is a touchscreen and the sensors operate at the distances that are needed. They communicate well but when I link up my smartphone to the panel, it is supposed to auto-disarm when it knows that I'm near, but sometimes, that doesn’t work correctly which is one little quirk in the system.

Since having Link Interactive, I feel like I have more vision and idea of what's happening at the house. I travel a lot, so I'm always worried about my home and what's happening. It is good being able to have vision into your home and knowing that there are sensors 24/7 working to let you know if someone has triggered some sensor in your house. If a friend is interested in a security system, I would explain to him my current set-up, what I have and what my experience is, although there are other options. I like what I have but maybe he is looking for something different.

I did the installation of the system myself and a person from Link Interactive walked me through on the phone. They made it really easy. I’m more verbal and I knew that they would walk me through it so I went that route. The lady I spoke to had a manual in front of her so she was looking at it as I was talking about it and how could we troubleshoot things. Then she got help from someone about something. I was surprised because I was a little nervous about how the installation was gonna work while were doing it over the phone. But they were super helpful and resolved things they needed to resolve.

Because of the noise that my dogs make, I'd set the system to be on Armed Away. Then I'd leave it and the glass break sensors would go off. We disabled that but it seems that they still go off. So when I leave, I do Armed Stay. On the weekend, the people at the Link Interactive main office aren’t there. That was when the system was new and I was trying to find out why was the alarm going off and it keeps happening. The people from Link Interactive said I had to talk to someone in the office on Monday because they were not there. But they gave me a resolution and someone followed-up with me, so it was fine.

Then I was ordering some products and we determined what I was ordering. However, I changed my bank account so the card I had on file didn’t go through so the people at Link Interactive couldn’t process the order. It took a week to get back and get it done. But that was probably my fault. Then, the product I needed wasn’t available anymore. I was getting a B-stock and somebody sold them in the meantime since my card didn’t work out. So now, I have to wait until they get more B-stock to get the window sensors that I wanted because I couldn’t pay the full price and I need to call them back to check into that B-stock. I also ordered cameras and I gotta find someone to help me get those installed.

Also, the Link Interactive smartphone feature is good. But I'd like to be able to see when my doors are opened and closed and I can't see that on the app. I can log in to Alarm.com and see more information though. When the Link Interactive app says, “Front door open,” it gives the current status but if I wanna look at the history of when things happened, I have to go to the main website and it would be nice to have that on the app. Maybe it is on the app and it could be a user error, so I need to look at the app a little more. Other than that, I feel better since I got Link Interactive and I recommended them to my friend who bought a system as well.

I upgraded my panel and I had a couple of issues trying to get some of the sensors ‘cause it was different than my original panel. I got ahold of tech support on several questions, and they were pretty prompt and pretty knowledgeable. They were somebody I could understand which means a lot to me. The system is through alarm.com and I had alarm.com before, and that’s so far, the best. All my sensors and everything is working so the service has been pretty positive so far.

I also ordered a camera which didn't come with the alarm system. It’s wireless and the Wi-Fi is supposed to pick up everything. But I haven't really figured out how to put it up and I haven't gotten anyone to put that up yet. I don’t know a lot about it. I need to have some more sensor things - the little things you put on the wall if you open the door. I didn’t have enough. There’s one on my sliding glass door, and it keeps on beeping. I took it off there because it wouldn’t work. There’s a little piece of metal that comes between the two pieces and that’s holding it off. I put it on another door and I never got another one.

I'd recommend Link Interactive but I should have customized my package because I wasn’t here and my daughter used my key to get in the house. She said that thing beeped as long as she was in here. The system works good other than that one. It tells me every time I’m going out the door and when I'm coming in. When I open up any of the windows, it tells me exactly what number is opening up so I know exactly where it is. At night, if the door would open, it’d tell me there’s somebody coming in.

I had Vivint prior to what I have now and ADT before that. I liked Vivint as it was good but I hated ADT. The only difference with my Link system now is the fact that I have my garage doors linked to the system, whereas I couldn't do that with my other system. I can open and control my doors. For me to do it with the other system, I would have had to get an electrician to rewire something which was weird.

The previous owner had everything linked and tied into the system. The best benefits I'm getting from it is the fact that I can control the garage door lights from my cellphone. But he didn't have the cameras set up to the system. I know it could be done but he had them done separately. He might have done it himself. He had the lamps set up too but when I plugged in one of the plugs and attached something, it didn't work. I'm assuming it may have to be programmed.

Other than that, I like the quality of the equipment. I like the idea too that I could lock and unlock the doors and turn off things from my cellphone. I love Link. When I called them and asked something, they handled it. I called and spoke with them in order to have my system programmed and to have them teach me how to use the system. That was fairly easy to do. The people over the phone kinda walked me through it. Everything went well. But I will have to call again and set up some things. If I do that, I'm gonna be in technology heaven.

Now, the thing is, we haven't set up the the outdoor camera because we can't figure that part out. The instructions were short. We may need to reach out to them about it or get somebody to come install it for us. Other than that, the system has been working great. I haven't had any issues with it, like being able to arm it or disarm it. For its quality, it's at a good cost. And we love its smartphone features. Since having Link in our home, we have felt more at ease leaving.

A lot of Link's sensors and cameras are based on alarm.com. And the cameras are horrible because you have to buy. I bought seven cameras because if your home wouldn't pair, they just don't pair. And then, I got two panels from Link. I looked at their homepage, what kind of accessories the panel supports, what sensors, what cameras, what model, and I ordered stuff on eBay for that system. And when the system came, it wouldn't pair. They told me they had sent me a panel with an older or different system linked to it. It was not according to their homepage. They took the panel back, and sent me a new one. So, the initial set-up was a little bit bumpy. But when it comes to setting up sensors, pairing sensors, that works quickly.

In the older system I had before, they had the key fob. The system would detect when you arrive at the house. By itself, it would turn it off and on. The current one here has manual ones, which is to press the button. The old system had the functionality to turn the system on and off at a certain time you programmed it. But for Link, I have to pay extra for that, which I refused to do.

And one thing that's misleading is the geofencing. I understood that you have cellphones linked to your account and when the system sees when the cellphone is not in the house, it will then do something. It can turn the light off and it can turn the temperature oven down, but it cannot arm the alarm system. That is something so simple to add there. For me, it's not a big thing, but my wife forgets a lot to arm or disarm. We were used in the past that when the vehicle arrives with the key fobs in it, the system would disarm automatically. We didn't have to worry, "Oh, we forgot it." Here at Link, it's not possible. They send you a text message saying, "Oh, by the way, you forgot to arm your system." That's what the geofencing does. But that's not state-of-the-art.

Also, Link's system is too expensive. The Iris Lowe's system had a monthly charge of $15. I had 18 cameras on the system. The geofencing was not available, but they had the key fobs which were detected by the system. There is a lot of functionality to program in with different rules and scenes to say, "Well, if the key fob arrives, not by 4:00 then please send a text message to the parent." Let's say if your daughter doesn't show up at 4:00 after school, you get a notification. Link is below that level. They don't have that, and I'm paying $35. So, I'm paying more than double for less functionality.

Each four cameras is another $5. So, if I add 20 cameras to it, I'm having a 56-dollar system. That is outrageous. So, I only have four cameras with Link and 15 other ones with different companies. I had to split up because I didn't wanna pay extra. Plus, the exterior cameras do not have interactions. In the Iris system, if the camera detects movement, it turns on the light. The Link does not. Link can do an alarm or not, but they do not turn the light on with the camera sensor. So, you have to buy another extra motion sensor next to it that would do that. Moreover, Link has no support on Sundays, which is unacceptable too. I'm paying more than double than what I had before, so I expect a better service. But that's not the case. Still, I'm satisfied with Link.

Another thing is that I can't have the system working how I need it to from the internet and the application. The security system is not able to be automated on turning on and off. My sister-in-law lives with us and she leaves at different hours than we do. So, if she was to leave earlier than I was to get up to disarm the system, the alarm would go off and it would wake my 15-month old daughter up. At this point, I haven't been able to arm the system at night because she leaves a half hour before I wake up. The system is a great idea if that wasn’t happening but for right now, it's kind of $36 a month for nothing.

But other than that, the installation was good, as well as the doorbell and inside cameras and the thermostat. And I liked the app. It was all-in-one and I liked that it integrated with Google. It’s the extra step of saying, “Hey, Google, talk to Alarm.com.” Then I go from there and try to work it in as much as I could. The quality of the equipment is solid. I give it a thumbs up on that. It didn’t feel cheap and when I installed it, it definitely held up.

Also, it was a really good price. But I don’t like paying for monitoring and when I canceled that, the monthly price went down just a little bit. I wasn’t really happy about that because I'm paying for the app access and video streaming. To me, compared to other companies, that was a bit much. Then, when I tried to purchase the same sensors for the same equipment, the same frequency, and it was through Qualisys, it didn’t work. I didn’t connect at all. So, I just left it alone. I canceled Link Interactive and I turned in all the equipment. For it to be that low on price, it was a good experience. It’s just certain things didn’t work right. I tried to further solve problems and eventually they would have been solved. But I didn’t wanna go through all that and I didn’t wanna pay that much.

I did the installation by myself, and everything went well. I always press the wrong button on the backside of the quickset lock. But other than that, it went easy. The overall quality of my system is good. I’m having some range issues sometimes. And I do have a repeater, but I'm having some range issues from the brains to one of my exterior locks. I have two motion detector batteries. I chose one of my motion detectors, and when they sent me a new motion detector, the issue has gone away. Being able to do things I wanted to remotely is great. It’s definitely one of the few pluses.

Our new system seems to be working perfectly. The cameras have been working really well. And we can adjust our thermostat and do all kinds of stuff with the smartphone features. I’m completely impressed, and I would tell anybody to use Link. Also, I’m saving over $20 a month over that. I like that. Link needs to be very nice to their employees because their employees are very pleasant to deal with. I’ve talked to more than one of them, and they’ve been outstanding.

Also, when I was trying to get into my account to change the card on file, I couldn't get in. I called Link and the guy helped me get back into my account. However, he hesitated to help me change the card on file when I asked if he could help me. He said I could do it online. But I'd rather do it with him then to save time and in case I still have issues logging in. Other than that, everything was fine. The sales guy that helped me was awesome and I really liked him. I call him most of the time. I asked for his direct line, and once my dad is ready to sign up, I would probably go to him because he was really good at it. I would also recommend people to try Link Interactive.

They called the cops, then the reps called me back in, although they should have just known that. Link didn’t follow up with me, which I thought was part of their process. The cops didn’t follow up with me either. Nonetheless, we've only had the system active for about a week and my experience with Link has been good so far. The cost was better than the competition even though there is a three-year commitment. The initial upfront cost was a lot less and the monthly cost was just the same, so it is a better deal.

It's just that we're having a little issue with the alarm system. We’re setting the alarm where it's saying, “alarm away”, and then, for some reason, when I get back into the house to disarm it, it has already disarmed the motion detector, and it’s saying “alarm stay.” I don't know why it’s bypassing the motion detector, but I’m gonna call them and figure it out. Everybody has been helpful so, whenever we’ve had issues, it’s not a big deal.

I wanted something I can control on an app and it worked out really well. We open in the morning and my trainers have log-in information. I like that I can disarm the system and when it is being disarmed. I know when the class is over, so if it was ever disarmed when I know there is not a class, it is easy for me to know what is going on. If the trainers forget to turn it off, I do, too. I have it connected through the Bluetooth, so when I am supposed to see it, it disarms, which is another great feature. I wish more people knew about Link Interactive and I wish there was a way I could dually have it at home as well without being double the price. Knowing how easy it is and how comfortable I am knowing that the studio is armed, it is something that interests me as a home user because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to know. Our dog doesn't tell me if someone comes through my house.

In addition to that, the customer service was impressive. I know that if I have a problem with the system, there’ll be somebody to talk to that’s engaging and who understands. They stayed on the phone with me for two hours getting all that stuff hooked up and didn't give up. Since it was an existing system, I just had to plug the panel into the wall and then go through the identification process. I did a lot of climbing around ladders though and getting serial numbers, but in the end, we got all the points up and running. The only part that I don't wanna do again is hooking up all my stuff. Somebody with no technical skills might struggle with that.