Home security systems have come a long way in the past few years with the advances in technology. A lot of the time, commercial systems were the only choice for home owners who wanted to protect their home from potential burglaries. And then wireless security systems came along. But still, a lot of people were buying wired systems because of the fear that earlier wireless security systems were unreliable and caused a lot of false alarms. This is minimal to non-existent now-a-days. The information sent to and from the security system panel is encrypted and the sensors send periodic information back to the panel to let you know that they working as they should be. Now with today’s new technological advances, wireless systems have become rock solid in their reliability.  

Take the Honeywell Lynx Plus for example. For those of you who want the power of a commercial security system for your home without the high end cost of one, the Lynx Plus is the security system for you. Honeywell, the leader in commercial security systems since 1957, has taken all of the power and features of a commercial system and packed them into this tiny, easy-to-use, all-in-one dynamo. It is very cost effective and comes in a variety of kits so that you may get more to work with on start-up for not a lot of cash.

The Lynx Plus is capable of doing up to 40 wireless zones and the capacity to accept one hard-wire zone input. The main unit contains the “brains” of the system, the keypad, siren, dialer, a two-way voice system, and speakerphone. The Lynx also has full voice response and remote phone control. Not only does it have all of this, but it can also activate lights, appliances, garage doors and numerous other applications with the touch of a button or at specified times (with optional X-10® devices and transformer). It can accommodate up to 8 of these X-10 devices.

I have been working with this system for a month and a half and it is impressive. I set it up to dial out to my cell phone number when an alarm event was triggered and when my phone rang and I answered it, I heard the Lynx’s voice announce telling me what zone had been tripped. I could also, through the on-board microphone, hear the background sounds of the room that the Lynx was in. Very neat!! The Lynx can be set up for central station monitoring or can be set up for self-monitoring by entering information into the system under the programming mode. The only drawback to this is that if you want to self-monitor; the system has the ability to call out to only one number that you specify. You can get the ability to have up to four numbers to dial out to by adding a voice dialer and relay to the system.

The Lynx Plus security system has a plethora of peripherals to choose from. These include door/window transmitters, motion sensors, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, external wireless talking keypads, and glass break detectors. The great thing about the wireless talking keypads is that, unlike a lot of all-in-one units, you can stow away the main “brain” of the system in an area that is not easily accessible and then you can use the wireless keypad for all of the main usage in the household.

The Lynx programming and installation guides walk you through an easy set up for a basic home installation. There are a few advanced programming features in the guide that may confuse people. One of these would be the process for setting up the number for calling out for self-monitoring. This involves a little knowledge but if you buy from a reputable dealer that provides technical support or quick start programming guides; you should have no trouble working this process out. There are also various DIY forums to supply this information.

I went through programming wireless devices into the system and it took me a matter of 10 minutes to have them all learned in and the entry/exit delays set. I also recorded a few specialty zone descriptors through the units microphone. The programming of zones is pretty straight forward. First I went into programming mode by entering in the installer code. I then went to the area to program the zone information. After that you just enter in the zone number you want to program, the zone type, the report type, what kind of input type the peripheral is, and you then transmit from the wireless device to auto learn it into the system. After that the last choice is to set a voice descriptor for that zone that the system will say when the zone has any activity. I programmed in several door/window contacts, a motion sensor, and a wireless key-chain fob which you can use to arm, disarm, or use panic mode with just a one button push. Each wireless device takes up one zone except for the fobs which use a zone for each button on the remote.

All-in-all this system is top-notch in my opinion. Honeywell continues to put out quality products as they have done for nearly 53 years now. This system is great for a home owner with a family or those who live by themselves because of all the features that it includes.