JC Wireless GSM & WIFI Security Alarm System, Home and Business RFID Burglar Security, Support Auto Dial, Multi-language GUI and English APP Control, with Pet-friendly PIR Detector

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  This is a brilliantly affordable alarm system and the company (JCHENG Security) are one of the BEST I’ve ever dealt with. A quick overview summary of my Pro's and Con's follows, plus I've also written quite a detailed review and set up guide below to help others get the best out of this fantastic product.PRO's:- INCREDIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE: I've never come across such attentive, extraordinarily helpful customer service from any company before! Aggie and her technical team were absolutely outstanding in their support. The only issue I had was linking the alarm to the app. They spent so much time and effort helping me, going far above beyond what would ordinarily be expected. Nothing was too much trouble for them, they were extremely patient and genuinely cared about giving me the best possible customer experience. They shared details in email, real-time over WhatsApp, and shared YouTube video tutorials. After some weeks of trying various things, we found out the issue was actually on my end and to do with a setting on my router, which was identified because the JCHENG team themselves went so far as to procure the exact same model router that I had, ran tests and shared the settings they’d used. They also reached out to other users with the same model router to confirm the settings. I generally expect high levels of customer service from any supplier/manufacturer, but JCHENG went well beyond this, they are truly EXCEPTIONAL to deal with!- SMART HOME FEATURES: Control the alarm from anywhere with your smartphone. Receive alerts when the alarm is armed, disarmed, alarming etc.- SMS and PHONE OPTIONS: The alarm can also be controlled via SMS messages (if you put a sim card in from a 2G network operator), and can alert via SMS and via phone call to your phone (you can add up to 5 phone numbers I think).- PET FRIENDLY: The alarm comes with a pet friendly PIR (motion sensor). It works perfectly if you place it correctly. It always triggers for people, and never my cats. Even if I try to trick it by walking on all 4's!- ADDITIONAL SENSORS & CONTROLLERS: The alarm comes with 2 x remote controls (for handbags, drawers, pocket etc) and 2 x RFID tags (to put on your keyring) as well as 2 x door/window sensors. If you need more there are lots of very reasonably priced additional extras available via Amazon depending on your needs, including vibration sensors (will trigger at the point someone starts trying to break in before they’ve even gained entry), water sensors (to detect leaks), outdoor sensors, wireless strobes & sirens etc. I've purchased additional indoor and outdoor sirens as well as more sensors and they are a piece of cake to set up and work perfectly!- STYLISH, EASY TO OPERATE & RELIABLE: The alarm itself looks great (not the most important feature of an alarm but it does look very stylish), it's easy to operate (once you know how, more details below) and it's very reliable (I've not had a single problem with reliability, it works exactly as expected, something I couldn't even say for Verisure)CON’s:- INSTRUCTION MANUAL: If I had to be really really picky, the only thing I can think of is the instruction manual could be a bit clearer in the section related to setting up detectors (other sections are fine), but if you take your time, then actually set up is very easy once you’ve linked the 1st detector/sensor. I’ve added a quick set up guide below to help others with the couple of bits that took me a few mins to get my head around. Also, JCHENG have lots of YouTube videos available to help with all aspects of setup, so whilst the instruction manual could be a bit better, it’s not really an issue overall.OVERALL:This is an excellent and highly affordable alarm system with tons of great features, highly customisable, smartphone control and backed by the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. If you’re looking for a Do It Yourself alarm system at this price point, with all the same features (and in some cases more) than some of the big boys (like ADT / Verisure etc) but without the extortionate monthly fees, then I’d highly recommend you give this JCHENG Security alarm a try.MORE DETAILED REVIEW AND QUICK SET UP GUIDE TIPS:Having been an ADT customer for over 10 years, paying high monthly fees (simply to change the batteries once a year?!), I spent several months reading and researching new, cheaper but hopefully comparably reliable and high-quality alarm systems. I compared everything from Honeywell, Yale, Hive, Ring and many lesser known brands.I hadn't heard of JCHENG Security before, so I was a little hesitant at first, but the solid reviews, smart features, wealth of sensor / configuration / add on options, excellent price and no quibbles 30-day refund made it an easy decision to give it a go.Having used the alarm for 3 months now, I can honestly, it's not just comparable to my previous ADT alarm, it's much BETTER! Plus, significantly cheaper and with no monthly fees.The sensor signals also reach outside to my garden office (about 20 metres from where my alarm is), something which even an incredibly expensive (one month of recurring fees were almost equivalent to the cost of this whole package!!) Verisure alarm was unable to do reliably.Setup is a breeze once you get your head around the instructions. You can link the sensors to the alarm either through the alarm panel itself or via the app (once you’ve linked the app to your alarm). My recommendation would be to use the alarm panel itself. As a quick guide, the Set-Up process is as follows:SETTING UP REMOTES:On Alarm Panel – Scroll to PARTS -> Select ADD REMOTE -> Select the TICK. A 20 second countdown will begin. Within the 20 seconds press any button on one of your remotes (preferably not the SOS button or it might trigger the alarm). You will see Success message. Repeat for all remotes.SETTING UP RFID TAGS:Scroll to PARTS -> Select ADD RFID -> Select the TICK. The 20 second countdown begins. Within 20 seconds move your RFID tag to the bottom right of the alarm (where it says RFID) and this will act as the link trigger. Repeat for all RFID tags.SETTING UP SENSORS:This is the only slightly tricky bit as the instruction manual is a bit unclear. Essentially there are 2 different ARMED modes.One is named “ARMED” and this is to be used whenever you are leaving the house – i.e. the house is vacant. ARMED mode will activate EVERY single sensor.The Second is named “STAY ARMED” and this is for use when you are actually inside your home but would like to activate only some of the sensors, but not others. An example of this is you might want all of your door and window sensors activated to give you protection in the evening when you return from work, but do not want motion sensors activated as you will be moving around the house. Or you could use it as a ‘night’ mode, whereby all door and window sensors are activated, and all downstairs motion sensors are activated, but any motion sensors upstairs, say on a landing, will be deactivated, allowing you to move around upstairs to go to the toilet in the night etc.To help me understand these 2 modes more easily, I think of them as follows:ARMED = EVERYTHING / FULL SYSTEM MODESTAY ARMED = HOME / NIGHT PARTIAL MODEIf you don’t care about using 2 modes and just want all sensors to be active whenever you ARM the alarm, then please skip down to ‘SETTING UP SENSORS FOR “ARMED” Mode’.If you do want to take advantage of the 2 modes for different purposes, you need to work out which sensors you DO NOT want to be activated when using the “STAY ARMED” mode. E.g. Hallway or Landing motion sensors most likely (i.e. sensors detecting movement inside the house).Once you’ve decided, set up is very easy.SETTING UP SENSORS FOR “STAY ARMED / HOME / NIGHT PARTIAL MODEI.e. for sensors that will NOT be active when you use STAY ARMED mode, but will be active when you use normal ARMED mode. Scroll to PARTS -> Select ADD DETECTOR -> (up arrow cycles the list, down arrow scrolls through a list within each item) -> Press the down arrow to choose what type of detector you are adding (e.g. window, door, balcony, water leak etc) -> then press the up arrow to the MODE -> press the down arrow to cycle the list and choose “OUT ARM ACTIVE”. This will mean this detector will only ARM when you use the FULL “ARMED” mode, and will not be active when using “STAY HOME” mode. Press the TICK, and the 20 second countdown will start. Within 20 seconds move your body across the motion sensor to trigger it. The motion sensor will light up red and the alarm will show a success message. Repeat for all sensors you want to set up in STAY ARMED / HOME / NIGHT PARTIAL mode.SETTING UP SENSORS FOR “ARMED” Mode.In this mode sensors will be active whether in “ARMED” or “STAY ARMED” mode. Scroll to PARTS -> Select ADD DETECTOR -> (up arrow cycles the list, down arrow scrolls through a list within each item) -> Press the down arrow to choose what type of detector you are adding (e.g. window, door, balcony, water leak etc). Leave the Mode = “Stay Arm Active”, press the TICK, and the 20 second countdown will start. Within 20 seconds move your body across the motion sensor to trigger it. The motion sensor will light up red and the alarm will show a success message. Repeat for all sensors you want to set up in normal fully “ARMED” mode.And that’s it! All your sensors are now set up.DIFFERENT WAYS TO ARM THE ALARM:- Pressing the ARM button on the alarm itself will activate “ARMED” mode. This will begin a countdown, the duration of which can be changed from the settings menu on the alarm. If you press “ARM” again quickly it will switch to “STAY ARMED” mode.- Use the REMOTE to press the ‘padlock button – this will instantly activate “ARMED” (Full system) mode.- Use the Remote to press the ‘house’ button – this will instantly activate the “STAY ARMED” (at home / night partial mode).- Use an RFID tag to swipe the bottom right of the alarm. This will activate “ARMED” mode. If you swipe it again quickly it will then switch to “STAY ARMED” mode.- Use the App to select either “ARMED” or “STAY ARMED” mode. You can also select whether you want it to activate instantly, or to activate after 30, 60, 120 seconds.DISARMING THE ALARM:- All of the above methods can also be used to disarm the alarm using the “DISARM” or “open padlock” button on the alarm / remote control / app, using the RFID tag to swipe on the alarm when you re-enter your house.SETTINGS I RECOMMEND CONFIGURING:- Enable the ALARM KEYPAD LOCK. This will ‘lock’ the keypad on your alarm after a short period of time (about 10-15 seconds on inactivity). This means that an intruder would not be able to disable the alarm using the keypad unless they know the PIN number that you set up. To configure this, you first need to set up your PIN. Go to SETTINGS -> PASSWORD -> USER (you might want to do the same for system as well) -> use the down arrow to delete the default PIN, enter your own and press enter. Then go back to SETTINGS -> SWITCH -> KEYPAD LOCK -> change the toggle to “ON” using the down arrow.- TIMER - You can set an arm or disarm timer if you wish. I have it set to arm at 1am. This means if I forget to arm it manually before I go to bed, it will still arm itself. Awesome feature!- Change the EXIT / ENTRY DELAY TIME. This allows you to change the duration of the countdown when you ARM the alarm (how many seconds you have to leave the house) or for when you want to disarm the arm (how many seconds you have to disarm the alarm after you’ve triggered it when returning to your house). Personally, I set the “EXIT” duration fairly high (about 45 to 60 seconds), as I need a bit of time to get myself and the kids out the door. And I set the “ENTRY” duration fairly low (20 seconds) so that an intruder would not get much time before the alarm goes off, but enough time for my wife and I to disarm when we re-enter the home. You can change these to whatever works best for your situation as follows: go to SETTINGS -> DELAY - > EXIT or ENTRY DELAY -> use the down arrow to delete the default value, put your new value in and press enter.- Turn SIREN = On. If using an additional siren, make sure this is configured to turn on whenever the alarm goes off via SETTINGS -> SWITCH -> SIREN -> toggle to “on” and press enter.- Toggle Backlight On/Off - By Default the backlight on the alarm remains on all the time. If you prefer the backlight to turn off after a period of inactivity you can set this by going to SETTINGS -> SWITCH -> BACKLIGHT and toggle to “off” and press enter.- DELAY TICK – if you want to hear a “tick” for each second of the countdown when you’ve armed the alarm and are leaving the house you can turn Delay Tick on via SETTINGS -> SWITCH -> keep scrolling down to get to a 2nd page of options -> DELAY TICK -> toggle to “on” -> press enter.- ROUTER SETTINGS FOR BT HOMEHUB 4 or 5 – If you have a BT HOMEHUB 4 or 5 and are having trouble getting the alarm to “airlink” with the smartphone app, I’ve shared details with JCHENG of the settings that worked for me so feel free to contact them for the quickest response, or if you leave a comment here or submit a question on the Amazon product page I’ll try to help if I see it.

An excellent product for the price...but with a couple of issues that could easily be resolved hence the 5 stars.The sales pitch for this says it is easy to set up....and indeed it is (mostly) , once you do further internet searches to get past the installation manual....to be fair to the seller they did send a follow up email with directions to see more detailed installation instructions online.What about the quality:Main unit - very good, looks and feels the partFobs - look and feel pretty good tooDoor contacts - I don't use them so aren't really able to commentPIR sensor - could be improved - I have never seen a PIR sensor before that has an external on/off switch - perhaps not the most secure. I would suggest ditch the on/off switch to make the product even better.How easy is it to set the system up:Very easy to set up but with a couple of suggested improvements:The system unit is not very intuitive - as you scroll through the on screen options press the arrow keys a couple of more times and further instructions come up - could be addressed by improving the manual which could definitely benefit from a rewrite.The unit tells you when you have changed a setting by emitting a beep - a very loud beep. Would be better if there was an option in the menu to change the volume of this as the noise it makes is both annoying and unnecessaryPairing the accessories is VERY straight forward. The remotes, PIR sensors and external alarm paired with no problems - to pair the RFID fobs just past them over the RFID label on the front of the main unit - again the manual could explain this better.Using the system:Very easy and very effective (mostly). I found the 'pet friendly' PIR not that sensitive but it could have been down to where I installed it. The additional PIRs (despite the annoying on/off switch work fine)..The fobs and the RFIDs work fine.I also bought an external siren and this also works fine but the wall bracket is quite flimsy so make you install it well out reach - I have mounted the bracket on a small piece of plywood and attached that to the wall - this gives a far better surface on which to mount the alarm.The APP:Fantastic once you get it to pair with the main unit under Airlink - I did eventually manage it but to be honest I don't know how!!!In summary - it's a bit like a curates egg - excellent in parts but with a couple of shortcomings. And if the developer wants someone to rewrite the manual so that it is at least half understandable then please get in touch because as it stands it is next to useless.Update:Hurrah....got the app to link to the system....don’t ask me how. But it works - and it works very well.Would I recommend you buy it....most definitely yes, especially given the price ...but be prepared to come across some frustrations as you set it up....but once it's up and running it's a fantastic little unit so well worth five stars

I have to give this alarm system 5 Stars as it full of features and the aftersales support is fantastic! I was unsure whether to buy this system at first but I am so glad that I did. The photo is of the panel installed in my hallway and I have buried the cables into the wall. It is a very descrete unit unlike some others on the market. I also purchased an external siren, additional PIRs, additional door sensors and extra key fobs. All work as they should.The operation and setup of the system takes some getting used to as the English instructions are imperfect, but totally understandable. With practice the operation becomes second nature and is very very easy. The key fobs are so easy that I bought extra ones!Unlike me, I advise that you watch the JCheng Security videos a few times on YouTube as they show how simple setup and operation are. I have also used WhatsApp for help too and each time had a positive response. Be prepared for the delay in response as they are in China.So, in summary, I am really pleased with this alarm system (which I have also put a PAYG SIM into now) as it does everything you need it to. I don’t normally write reviews so I hope I have expressed my pleasure at making this purchase.