Savvy Guide to Home Security (Paperback)

~ John Paul Mueller (Author) "Feeling safe in your home-having peace of mind about the environment that you come home to at night-is incredibly important in a world that seems..." (more)
Key Phrases: Officer Peters, Circuit Cellar, Officer Tom Peters (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

It’s your home, your castle. You need to protect it. John Mueller, author of over 60 books, takes you through the steps needed to design, install, or purchase a home security system. Mueller covers all the bases, providing information on assessment, planning, purchasing, and maintenance. Whether you are planning to design and install a system yourself, or work with professionals, this book is a valuable tool in securing your home. Includes coverage of home offices, provides interviews with security experts, and offers many recommendations on security systems. Mueller puts his experience to work in helping you secure your home, your valuables, and your loved ones.

Topics addressed include: Building a System • Assessing Needs • Choosing Providers Metro vs. Rural Considerations • Selecting Equipment • Comprehensive Glossary

About the Author

John Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 60 books and over 200 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to programming. Some of his current books include several C# developer guides, an accessible programming guide, a book on .NET security, and several Windows XP user guides. His technical editing skills have helped over 33 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. John has provided technical editing services to both Data Based Advisor and Coast Compute magazines. He's also contributed articles to magazines like InformIT, SQL Server Professional, Visual C++ Developer, Hard Core Visual Basic, and Visual Basic Developer. He's currently the editor of the .NET electronic newsletter for Pinnacle Publishing Free Newsletter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 287 pages
• Publisher: Indy-Tech Publishing (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0790613158
• ISBN-13: 978-0790613154
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #484,616 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #16 in

  Books > Home & Garden > How-to & Home Improvements > Security

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction to Buying or Building a System, September 27, 2005

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a book that covers several areas.

First, it discusses home security in a general nature covering all of its forms from intrusion detection to fire and smoke. It helps you to analyze and define what are your security needs. Determining your needs before you start to look at solutions can be a real cost saver.

Second, it looks at the various types of systems that are availabe. This includes prepackaged systems that are basically turn key operations. It compared the offerings from several vendors to make vendor selection your choice rather than restricing yourself to one offering.

Third, it looks at the solutions you could build yourself, either independently or in cooperation with one of the established vendors.

Finally, it covers what you might call 'living with the system.' This includes testing, day to day use, maintenance.

This is a general introductory book that covers virtually every aspect of building and using a security system for your house. If this is something you are planning to do, it will provide enough information for you to make intelligent decisions.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it seems, September 19, 2006

By	Daniel C. West (Conway, AR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book would be fine if you just arrived in the US from a third world country and wanted to learn what a home security system was. It would be a useful guide to someone wanting to hire a contractor to install a system. It was of little use, however, to someone wanting to actually install a system. I kept thinking I was going to get to the chapter that discussed wiring in series or in parallel. Or a discussion on daisy chain, or home run. I never did. In fact, there is no mention of these (or other little items like resistors) even in the glossary. It's not a bad book, it's just not a "how to" book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Beef?, October 16, 2006

By	J. Allen (San Diego) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are looking for general / superficial information about security systems then you have come to the right place. The book just didn't have enough real world experience with security systems. It did point you toward providers of basic home security systems like ADT but did not provide very much insight that a good reviewer of the product should have.