Review: Cove Easy DIY Home Security System

I care about my mom, she’s 70s years old and to be 100% honest with you not in the best of health. She suffers from vertigo, she’s often dizzy, she has even fallen at home. Thankfully she was ok and just had a minor bruise. 

So when I decided to check out Cove, I wasn’t as excited for all the cool features it offered, as much as I was for the medical alert system it has. A device my mom can wear around her neck and in the case of a medical emergency, she can press a button and emergency medical services are called. Thankfully at the time of this review, she hasn’t had to use it! 

First a little about the Cove Security system. It’s a DIY security system with no contracts, and it’s also one of the most beautifully designed systems with an amazing touch panel. I love the panel, it’s easy to read, alarms are color-coded (green, yellow and red). The definitely put a lot of thought into it. 

Obviously, Green/Teal system is Ok. Yellow a door or sensor is not closed properly, and red is dial 911 emergency.  See examples below.

The system doesn’t need a home internet connection to work, it connects via 4G to the cove network. It also has a battery built in, so the system will work even when the electricity is out. 

When the system arrived it came in a box and they were labeled 1 2 3 etc. Each box represented each step you had to take and in the order, you were to take them. Which was similar to how other DIY systems are but I found to be a lot easier then others I have tried.

All you have to do is Just place your sensors where you want them and the system is ready to go. You can even let Cove know during the ordering process where each sensor will go and they will pre-lable them in the system for you.

Just don’t forget your verbal password. Your system will initiate a welcome call after all sensors are installed, and if you don’t recall your verbal password which you create during the ordering process, you’ll be on the phone a lot longer than you should.

Again setting up the sensors was a lot easier with cove than with other systems I have tried. All I had to do was trigger each sensor when the touch panel alerted me to do so and bam they were linked to the system. Changing sensor names and locations in the system was also done easily via the touch panel. 

Other systems required removing battery tags and holding buttons. With Cove, it was a lot simpler. For example, the door and window sensors, all I had to do was separate the two pieces and they were linked to the system. If I had to guess, this saved me about 30 minutes compared to other similar DIY systems. 

The only sensors that required actual work to install, were the smoke/co detector and the glass break detector. I drilled holes and screwed them onto the wall. Took about 5 minutes each. But depending on your expertise and setup it may be faster or longer for you.

Once the system was set up and I was done with the Cove Welcome call, I sat back and relaxed. The World Series was on and I wanted to catch the Dodgers beat the Redsox (as we know that didn’t happen.). About 15 minutes into the first inning the alarm starts to go off, my phone starts to ring, I run over to the Touchpanel and see it’s the leak detector. I run to the bathroom where it was installed and sure enough my mom left her bathroom water running. Answered the call was told a bio-hazard alarm was going off, I said yup and gave them my voice password which by now I had remembered and began to mop up the bathroom. 

I think had it not been for the sensor and being able to stop the floor before it even started there may have been significant flood damage as we have wood floors. 

Something I was concerned about, was would it be easy for my mom to use? So I showed her how to use the remote, the touch panel, had her memorize the security word and pin, and had her arm and disarm the system. She was able to do it all with no problem. The screens fonts are big enough for her to read, she found it easy to enter her pin code and with the remote control she can easily turn on and off the alarm. She prefers the remote to the touch panel for arming and disarming.

She really loves the medical alert button as well. She even went for a walk with it on. When I explained to her it just works in the house she was a bit disappointed but understood, but then said. “F#*@ it I will wear it all the time”. Her words not mine. 

My only complaint with Cove is the App, it by far lacks a lot especially compared to LifeShield and the ADT app. I constantly get an error on it that Real-Time Device Status is unavailable in the app. I haven’t contacted support about it, but it’s a bit annoying not to know the status of you’re devices. But I can live with it. 

Overall the system is fantastic, it’s one of the easiest to set up if not the easiest and 100% guarantee you that it’s the fastest to set up. 

Cove by far for me is one of the most complete and for sure the easiest systems to set up. We award it 4 Stars! 

For more info visit http://covesmart.com