All round protection from a name that is new to our reviewer
While Smanos might not be a company with which you are too familiar, its product range could be of interest. Forming part of its Smart Home System line up, Smanos has developed its wi-fi alarm system, which can be paired with the company's IP6 HD wi-fi camera.
Consisting of a W020 control panel, two DS2300 door/ window detector contact units and a RE2300 remote control unit, the wi-fi alarm system can be set up to protect entry points to your home from unauthorised access with an ear-splitting siren and an electronic message.
Acting as the central hub of the system, the plinth-shaped control panel is powered via the mains with back-up being provided by four AA batteries, which slot into a compartment on the base of the unit. For some reason, Smanos has gone with a diamond-shaped power plug (the same as with the IP6 camera) requiring more mounting space - which may cause a problem by blocking an adjacent power plug socket.
The control panel needs to be integrated into the home network using a downloaded app available for Android and iOS platforms. Detailed instructions regarding the set up are provided in the manual, but it's a two-stage operation where the smartphone links to the control panel, which then creates a bridging link.
Contact units, which are white in colour like the rest of the kit, are made up of elements that act as a transmitter and magnet. These elements need to be placed either side of a closed opening, such as a door or windows, using supplied double-sided tape. It is advisable to position the two elements before they are activated otherwise your ears could be assaulted by a siren if they are separated by more than 2cm. The siren is capable of emitting audio at a level of 105dB.
The supplied detector units are already paired to the Control Panel, as is the remote control unit, while further units can be added as required. The Control Panel can handle up to 30 contacts and 10 remote control units requiring a pairing process.
Various settings can be adjusted using the app. Each of the detector contacts can be given an appropriate name indicating their location and assigned to one of these supported zones of Home, Normal or 24-H. You can also adjust the volume level of the siren and set timing delays allowing you to disarm an accidental activated alarm. The remote control unit allows you to arm or disarm features and send an SOS message to a linked smartphone. Unfortunately my smartphone failed to receive the SOS message.
The IP6 HD wi-fi camera, white in colour, can either be free-standing or wall-mounted with screws and rawl plugs supplied for the latter mode. A similar process, using a downloaded app, is required when adding the camera to a home network to provide 720 HD live video over wi-fi. Featuring a Sony CMOS sensor and 2.4mm F2.0 lens, the camera has a built-in microphone for communicating with those on camera.
While there is no cloud storage facility with this package, the camera does have a micro SD card slot for inserting a memory card with a capacity of up to 32GB. Content, whether still images or video clips, activated manually or automatically captured every 20 minutes., is stored on the SD card Later recordings will replace those made earlier when the card reaches its capacity. Michael Fereday
An all-round protection system for the security conscious.