Drove by a new housing development and spotted something weird about their alarm panels

Passed through a new subdivision in Raleigh yesterday, maybe 40 houses finished, and I noticed every single one had the keypad right next to the front door. Isn't that just asking for someone to see the code from outside? On one hand, it's convenient for the homeowner to arm on the way out, but on the other hand, a nosy neighbor or a delivery driver could easily peek. What's your take on keypad placement for new builds?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.betty17d ago

Oh boy, tell me about it - I once had a neighbor who could see my keypad from her kitchen window and I'm PRETTY sure she guessed my code was just 1-2-3-4 after seeing my sausage fingers tap it. It's definitely a design tradeoff, but new builders seem to pick the cheapest option instead of the safest one these days. Personally I'd rather walk an extra 10 feet to a tucked-away keypad than have every pizza delivery guy memorize my alarm code by accident.

blair_davis5017d ago

Aw man, I actually gotta disagree with you there @taylor.betty. I think putting the keypad somewhere hidden just makes it harder for you to get to it in a hurry, like if you're carrying groceries or something. Plus, most of those cheap keypads are so bad that a curious kid could guess the code anyway, so I'd rather have it right there where I can see it and punch it in quick.