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Disabling my alarm -help.


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Hi, hope this is the correct forum for this.

 

I recently cancelled my ADT monitored alarm as I no longer required it. I expected ADT would collect the alarm stuff but they want me to pay an undisclosed amount for an engineer. I turned that one down and decommission  it myself. I thought I'd check here to see if what I intended would work OK :-

1. cut the power.

2. cut the phone lead.

3. be ready to enter my code if it goes off.

4. snip the lead to the speaker before

5. whipping the cover off and snipping the battery leads.

 

Anything I've missed? I'm hoping this will be a relatively silent process. I am assuming the alarm speaker does not have a backup battery?

Thanks

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, meditek said:

Hi, hope this is the correct forum for this.

 

I recently cancelled my ADT monitored alarm as I no longer required it. I expected ADT would collect the alarm stuff but they want me to pay an undisclosed amount for an engineer. I turned that one down and decommission  it myself. I thought I'd check here to see if what I intended would work OK :-

1. cut the power.

2. cut the phone lead.

3. be ready to enter my code if it goes off.

4. snip the lead to the speaker before

5. whipping the cover off and snipping the battery leads.

 

Anything I've missed? I'm hoping this will be a relatively silent process. I am assuming the alarm speaker does not have a backup battery?

Thanks

 

 

 

Internal battery needs disconnecting aswell

The internal bell maybe Sab type so may need battery disconnecting in that to

 

Most external ADT boxes are dummy but few are live bells but it should due after 20mins anyway otherwise have ladders ready

 

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1. Rethe sab type. Am I correct in assuming this means that cutting the wire will allow the internal alarm bell to sound despite being cut off from the main box's 12v supply? Box outside is fake btw.

2. Do I need a lump hammer too?

 

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19 minutes ago, sixwheeledbeast said:

Systems in working order are not designed to be disabled by just snipping this and that, they are tampered and will usually result in lots of noise if you try. It would be completely pointless to fit them if they where easily disabled.

 

Which is exactly why I am asking for advice. I do have the advantage of knowing my systems user code so please could you advise on the points that I will probably have to enter it to shut the damn thing up, Some constructive advice would be a bonus.

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If you didn't think my previous post was constructive enough then just give it a go with some ear plugs and whack anything that makes a noise with a lump hammer...

You don't mention what system you have and even so they are all different depending on the system design.

May need ladders to reach the outside box, you may not if SAB is inside. Either way you will not do it silently if the system works properly.

 

 

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"f you didn't think my previous post was constructive enough then just give it a go with some ear plugs and whack anything that makes a noise with a lump hammer...

You don't mention what system you have and even so they are all different depending on the system design.

May need ladders to reach the outside box, you may not if SAB is inside. Either way you will not do it silently if the system works properly."

 

System is Honeywell Galaxy 2-12 Co12 and I was informed by the fitter that the outside box is a dummy.

I expected ADT would permanently disarm it remotely when I cancelled the contract but they didn't.

Thanks

Edited by meditek
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3 hours ago, al-yeti said:

Haven't u done it yet?

 

Doooooooooo itttttttttt man

Decided that as an 80+ year old with a clumsy left hand due to a stroke that it would be simpler to get our friendly electrician to do it while I held a pillow over the noise box. He's coming next week and says it will only take about 15 mins and will be vastly cheapear than the £198+vat that ADT threatened to charge.

ADT  claim the alarm sold to me is now mine but refuse to give me the required info to remove it unless I pay out to get an engineer out to fix it so it's not mine at all! No doubt there is a crafty clause in the paperwork to cover this little scam but I threw it out when I cancelled the contract so can't check. I've asked trading standards their opinion. Very much like buying a car and the seller refusing to give you the info on how to stop it.

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There is an argument that the programming remains intellectual property of the installing company.

 

You own the equipment only, and most companies will charge for attendance, this will be more expensive outside of contract as you have now found. 

 

Nothing like your car analogy BTW. 

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Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.


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53 minutes ago, meditek said:

Decided that as an 80+ year old with a clumsy left hand due to a stroke that it would be simpler to get our friendly electrician to do it while I held a pillow over the noise box. He's coming next week and says it will only take about 15 mins and will be vastly cheapear than the £198+vat that ADT threatened to charge.

 

who'd have thought a jobbing electrician charge less than multi national company with 24hr call centre ?

 

53 minutes ago, meditek said:

Very much like buying a car and the seller refusing to give you the info on how to stop it.

 

 

ADT, grand + over 3 yrs ?

 

Fiat 500 from 20k, Fiat or the Fiat dealer is unlikely to help a private person do anything with their own car ??

Mr? Veritas God

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43 minutes ago, norman said:

There is an argument that the programming remains intellectual property of the installing company.

 

You own the equipment only, and most companies will charge for attendance, this will be more expensive outside of contract as you have now found. 

 

Nothing like your car analogy BTW. 

Agreed, you own the equipment. You can do with it as you wish. Using your car theory you have paid all the payments and now own it. If you want anyone to work on your car its not going to be for free. 

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Not a scam at all. I am surprised how  you come to see it this way. You wouldn't expect any other service to be any different.

I wouldn't expect to call a plumbing company and ask for information how to decommission the boiler as I no longer require the central heating, for example.

ADT will be pricy out of contract but they are a national company, I am sure other local companies would have come and decommissioned it.

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27 minutes ago, sixwheeledbeast said:

Not a scam at all. I am surprised how  you come to see it this way. You wouldn't expect any other service to be any different.

I wouldn't expect to call a plumbing company and ask for information how to decommission the boiler as I no longer require the central heating, for example.

ADT will be pricy out of contract but they are a national company, I am sure other local companies would have come and decommissioned it.

Qfa

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Trade Members please contact us for your TSI vetted trade discount.

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10 hours ago, sixwheeledbeast said:

Not a scam at all.

 

A scam would be asking £198.00+vat, doing the work then charging £398.00+vat

 

I often say to people when they moan about costs.....if you don't want it, can't afford, or just don't like the price. Don't have it.

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Mr? Veritas God

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Thank you all for your opinions. Maybe all customers should be given a use once 'engineering' code that they can use when they terminate;  which disables the system after informing ADT of it's  use. Meanwhile, the service engineers code protects the system from being taken over by another outfit but this wouldn't ensure the £198 +vat to extract you from the situation they put you in I suppose.

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We are talking about a security system here, having back door use once code in them all would be a serious exploit. Just like a back door in encryption seems logical to governments until this back door is then exploited worldwide or used against them.

Engineering code is no customer lock in (for these panels) you can change to a different maintainer without it. It protects the company from users changing parts of the programming which may cause the system to fail, it's in the regulations that the engineer code is to be kept secure by the company for this reason.

Also as your jobbing electrician knows you can decommission the system without any codes, so I fail to see the issue.

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No more crackable than the present used a lot user and engineer codes (which are probably all the same for all this model).  Nobody's managed to crack Apple's Iphone access codes yet despite putting the FBI onto it.

My issue is entirely about being left with a system still controlled by ADT after I cancelled my contract and being asked to pay for release. If they were concerned about software rights they would have a system in place to wipe it as one does with a hard disk if you're selling it.  I was under the impression that Honeywell designed the software and ADT simply used it so it's odd that they can claim intellectual property rights.

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Honeywell design the architecture, the programming is ADT. 

 

There is an argument that if you'd planned better you could have had the work done or even down powered on your last inspection visit. 

 

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.


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It's not controlled by ADT at all it's yours. The payment is for an engineer visit to remove it for you, not release from contract. Anyone concerned about security is unlikely to sell there used hard drive even "wiped".

Remote panel wiping would be another backdoor that you would not want as a customer in a system, if the customer wished to use the system while they found another maintainer they would have no system if the outgoing maintainer wiped everything on cancellation.

Honeywell maybe the manufacturer but they don't program them, each system is bespoke. You can purchase a computer with it's software (OS/BIOS/EFI) and then make your own programmes or languages and have there own licenses for example.

Yes we are talking about tiny embedded systems but its still similar. The panel is the barebones and useless in default state without an engineer knowledgable to programme it for that systems design, you purchase a "security system" from the alarm company not a DIY kit or individual components.

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1 hour ago, meditek said:

No more crackable than the present used a lot user and engineer codes (which are probably all the same for all this model).  Nobody's managed to crack Apple's Iphone access codes yet despite putting the FBI onto it.

My issue is entirely about being left with a system still controlled by ADT after I cancelled my contract and being asked to pay for release. If they were concerned about software rights they would have a system in place to wipe it as one does with a hard disk if you're selling it.  I was under the impression that Honeywell designed the software and ADT simply used it so it's odd that they can claim intellectual property rights.

The problem is in order to wipe it, or do anything to it they have to send someone to site, and they dont have engineers that work for nothing, nor vehicles that do not require any fuel or maintenance to get the engineer to your property, or any admin staff that work for free to organise it, and so on. To have engineer codes per customer would be a real ball ache, we have all thought about this over the years a code based on postcode or customer number. The thing here is, if this was the case and ADT gave out engineer codes to customers when they canceled their contracts it would not be long before the method of how the codes are generated is worked out, leaving all ADT customer vulnerable. ADT have a responsibility for all their customer, and less so for the ones that leave (they are no longer a customer) 

Later panels can be programmed remotely and panels can be defaulted remotely, but this is a fairly new development, and probably not available when your panel was installed.

 

ADT are not try to scam you, they are protecting their customers, and you are welcome to pay someone else to disable it, or try to disable it yourself, or just leave it where it is and not use it

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