These are self-monitored alarm systems, and that is the most important thing to understand before you buy one. When a sensor triggers, a siren sounds and your phone gets an alert. Nobody is dispatched. There is no back-to-base control room, no guard, no monthly fee and no contract. You are the monitoring service, which for most homes is exactly right and for some is not enough.
This guide covers all eight items in the Alarm Systems range, $19 to $499: three 4G hub kits from the plain hub to a kit with a camera, four sensors you add to them for door and window contacts, motion, smoke and vision, and one standalone personal alarm that needs no hub at all.
Landlords and home owners, read this first. The smoke detector in this range is an alarm accessory, not a compliant smoke alarm. Every Australian home needs working smoke alarms that comply with AS 3786, with the details set by each state and territory, and this detector does not count towards them. Full detail below.
Contents:
- What a System Actually Is
- Self-Monitored: What You Are Actually Buying
- Quick Picks
- All Eight Compared
- Smoke Alarms and the Law in Australia
- How Many Sensors, and Where
- Using a Sensor as a Driveway Alarm
- Mistakes That Cause Returns
- Key Specs Explained
- Choose by Property
- FAQs
- Responsible Use in Australia
- Shop Alarm Systems
What a System Actually Is
Every system here is a hub plus sensors. Buy the hub once, then add sensors until the property is covered.
The hub
A central receiver that listens for its sensors on 433MHz radio, sounds a siren when one triggers, and pushes a notification to your phone over WiFi or 4G. It also holds the arming state: away, home, or disarmed, usually across several zones so you can arm the perimeter overnight while people move around inside.
The hub is the decision. Everything else pairs to it.
The kits are packages, not bare hubs
All three kits here arrive as complete packages: a base station plus a set of sensors and remotes ready to pair. They step up by what is bundled with them, adding the smoke detector on the VIM-ALARM4G-B and a bullet camera on the VIM-ALARM4G-C.
You then extend any of them with individual sensors at $19 to $69 each, in whatever mix the property needs. The system is designed to grow, so buying the smallest kit that fits and adding to it is a perfectly sensible way in.
The sensors
Door and window contacts are two magnets that break contact when the opening moves. Cheap, reliable, and the foundation of any system, because almost every intrusion involves opening something.
PIR motion sensors detect body heat crossing a room. They cover the spaces between the doors, and they are what catches somebody who came in a way you did not anticipate.
Smoke detectors trigger the hub on smoke rather than intrusion, so a fire alerts your phone as well as sounding locally. Read the smoke alarm section before relying on one.
Cameras add vision, so an alert comes with a picture instead of leaving you to guess whether it was a break-in or a cat.
Why 433MHz rather than WiFi
Sensors talk to the hub on 433MHz radio, not on your home network. That matters for three reasons: the range is far better through walls than WiFi, sensor batteries last years instead of weeks because the radio is so low power, and the sensors keep working if the internet goes down. Only the hub needs a network connection, and only to reach your phone.
Self-Monitored: What You Are Actually Buying
This section exists because it is the single most common misunderstanding in the category, and getting it wrong is expensive.
What happens when the alarm goes off
The siren sounds at the property. Your phone gets a notification. That is the whole sequence.
Nobody is watching a screen on your behalf. No security company is dispatched. Police are not called automatically. If you are asleep, in a meeting, on a plane or out of coverage, the siren does its job locally and the notification waits for you.
What that is genuinely good at
A siren going off is a powerful deterrent, and most opportunistic intruders leave immediately. You get told within seconds, wherever you are, so you can call a neighbour, look at the camera, or ring 000 yourself with real information rather than a hunch. There is no monthly fee, no contract, and no company to cancel with. For most homes that is a very good trade.
Where it is not enough
If nobody will be able to respond, self-monitoring gives you an excellent record of something you could not stop. A commercial premises holding valuable stock, a property where a response has to be guaranteed, or a situation where an insurer requires monitoring are all cases for a professionally monitored back-to-base system on a contract, which is a different product from anything on this page.
Check your insurance policy before assuming an alarm affects your premium. Where insurers offer a discount for an alarm they usually mean a professionally monitored one, and a DIY self-monitored system may not qualify. Ask your insurer specifically rather than assuming.
The honest summary. These systems deter, record and inform. They do not respond. If that is what you need, they are excellent value at $349 to $499 with nothing ongoing. If you need a response, you need a monitoring contract as well, and the hardware here can still form part of it.
Quick Picks
Five situations. All eight items are in the comparison table below.
Start here: the 4G hub kit
VIM-ALARM4G, $349. A full base station package: the hub plus two door and window contacts, two PIR motion sensors and two keyring remotes with an SOS button, with the hub carrying a SIM as well as WiFi so alerts go out over the mobile network when the broadband is down, the power is out at the exchange, or somebody has cut the line. It takes up to 96 devices as the property grows.
Dual path is the feature that matters most in practice. A burglar who unplugs the router defeats a WiFi-only alarm completely, and a rural property or acreage loses its connection often enough without anyone helping. The hub tries both and you get told either way.
Four sensors is a starting point, not a finished house. A typical three bedroom home needs six to eight door and window contacts. Budget roughly another $80 to $140 in sensors on top.
You supply the SIM with a data plan, from any Australian provider; our 4G hubs work with every Australian SIM provider and are tested before despatch. There is no subscription from us on top of that.
Best complete kit: alarm plus camera
VIM-ALARM4G-C, $499. The full 4G package with a bullet camera included alongside the door, window and PIR sensors, so an alert arrives with something to look at rather than just a notification.
The difference between 'a sensor triggered' and 'here is what triggered it' is the difference between driving home to check and going back to sleep. Most false alarms are resolved in five seconds by a picture, and most real ones are far more useful to the police with one.
Best for fire alerts on a property you are not at
VIM-ALARM4G-B, $389. The full 4G package with the wireless smoke detector added to the door, window and PIR sensors, so smoke sounds locally at 85dB and pushes an alert to every phone on the account.
A standalone smoke alarm protects the people in the building. This tells you about a fire in a building you are not in, which is a different job entirely: an empty rental, a holiday home, a shed, a shop overnight. Multi-user notifications mean a property manager and an owner both find out at once.
This is an addition to compliant smoke alarms, not a replacement for them. See Smoke Alarms and the Law.
The sensors worth adding first
VIM-WDSENSOR, $19 each. Magnetic door and window contacts on 433MHz with up to 150m range from the hub, and two-way audio so you can verify an event rather than guess.
At $19 these are the cheapest security you can buy. Every external door and every ground-floor window that opens should have one before you spend anything on cameras. Perimeter detection tells you somebody is coming in; everything else tells you they are already inside.
Best sensor if you have pets
VIM-PIRS, $24.95. A PIR motion sensor using thermal detection, designed to ignore animals under 25kg.
Pet immunity is the reason people keep their alarm armed. A motion sensor that fires every time the cat crosses the lounge gets switched off within a week, and an alarm that is switched off protects nothing. Twenty-five kilograms covers cats and most dogs, though a large dog will still trigger it.
All Eight Compared
Three hub kits, four sensors and one standalone alarm. Buy one hub, then add sensors to suit the property; the personal alarm is the exception that works on its own.
| Model | AUD | Type | Connection | Notes | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensors. Add as many as the property needs. | |||||
| VIM-WDSENSOR | $19 | Door and window contact | 433MHz to hub, up to 150m | Magnetic contact, triggers the moment the seal breaks. Two-way audio for verification. | View |
| VIM-PIRS | $24.95 | PIR motion sensor | 433MHz to hub | Thermal detection. Pet friendly, ignores animals under 25kg. | View |
| VIM-SMOKEIP | $49 | Smoke detector | 433MHz to hub | 85dB local siren plus phone alerts to every user. 3 year battery standby. Not an AS 3786 smoke alarm. | View |
| VIM-SECC | $69 | Camera | Integrates with the hub | Wire-free, low power. Triggers the hub on activity and sends alerts with vision. | View |
| Hub kits. Buy one. This is the decision. | |||||
| VIM-ALARM4G | $349 | 4G kit | 4G SIM plus WiFi | Dual path, so alerts still go out when the broadband is down or the router is unplugged. | View |
| VIM-ALARM4G-B | $389 | 4G kit with smoke detector | 4G SIM plus WiFi | Adds the smoke detector, so fire alerts reach you at a property you are not in. | View |
| VIM-ALARM4G-C | $499 | 4G kit with camera | 4G SIM plus WiFi, ethernet to router | The complete kit. Alerts arrive with vision, so you can tell a real event from a false one. | View |
| Standalone. Not part of a hub system. | |||||
| VIM-AL-PIR | $79 | Personal alarm | None. No hub, no app, no SIM | 130dB siren with strobe and torch. On the lanyard it is a panic alarm; put down, it sounds on motion, light or vibration, so it watches a bag, a hotel door or a room. 80 to 100 hours a charge over USB-C. | View |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Prices are the Securitylab Australia range in October 2026, including GST, and change; the product pages are current.
Smoke Alarms and the Law in Australia
This section matters more than anything else on this page, and it is the one thing we will not let a product description imply.
What the law requires
Every Australian home must have working smoke alarms that comply with AS 3786. Where they go, how many are needed and how they are powered are set by each state and territory, and the rules cover homes people own as well as rentals. In a rental, the landlord is responsible for fitting and maintaining them. Queensland goes furthest: by 1 January 2027 every home there needs interconnected photoelectric alarms in each bedroom, in hallways joining bedrooms and on every storey. Your state fire service sets out the rules where you live.
What VIM-SMOKEIP is, and is not
VIM-SMOKEIP at $49 is an alarm system accessory. It detects smoke, sounds an 85dB local alarm and tells the hub, which pushes notifications to every phone on the account. That is genuinely useful, and it is not an AS 3786 smoke alarm.
Its rechargeable battery is rated at three years of standby, and it is not specified as photoelectric. It does not count towards the smoke alarms your home must have, and must not be installed in place of a working alarm.
Fit compliant AS 3786 alarms to meet the law, then add this alongside them if you want smoke to reach your phone as well as the room. The two do different jobs and the second does not replace the first: a compliant alarm wakes the people inside, and this tells you when you are not there.
How Many Sensors, and Where
The hub is the purchase people agonise over and the sensor plan is what decides whether the system works. Here is how to build one.
Start with every door that opens to outside
Front, back, garage internal, laundry, sliding doors, French doors. A contact on each, at $19 apiece. This is the layer that tells you somebody is coming in rather than that they have arrived, and it is the cheapest part of the whole system.
Then ground floor windows that open
Not every pane, only the ones with a latch that a person could climb through. In most Australian houses that is the bedrooms and the lounge room. Windows that are painted shut or too small to pass through do not need one.
Then one PIR per main interior space
Hallway, lounge, and the room where anything valuable lives. A hallway PIR is the highest-value sensor in any house, because almost every route through a home passes through it. Two or three PIRs covers most properties.
Placement that avoids false alarms
- Do not point a PIR at a window, a split system air conditioner, a heater, a fireplace or a sunny wall. PIR reacts to heat change, and afternoon sun crossing a wall reads as movement.
- Mount PIRs about 2 to 2.2m up, in a corner, looking across the room rather than down its length. Someone crossing the beam triggers faster than someone walking at it.
- Keep contacts aligned. The two halves need to sit close together when the door is shut. Doors that drop on their hinges over time are a common cause of a sensor that suddenly starts reporting itself open.
- Do not put a smoke detector in the kitchen or directly outside a bathroom. Cooking and steam both set them off, and a detector that cries wolf gets taken down.
- Check range at the far corners. 433MHz travels well but concrete block, foil-backed insulation and brick veneer all cut it. Test the furthest sensor before you screw it to the wall.
Arm it in layers
Zones on the VIM-ALARM4G, and the Home button on its remote, exist so you can arm the perimeter at night while the interior PIRs stay off, which means you can get up for a glass of water without setting off the siren at 2am. A system that has to be fully off or fully on is a system people leave off.
Put the hub somewhere it will not be found first
The hub is the part an intruder would disable. Do not put it by the front door where it is the first thing reached. Somewhere central, out of sight, with power and signal, is the right compromise, and it is another argument for a 4G model that keeps working even if the router beside it is unplugged.
Using a Sensor as a Driveway Alarm
One of the most useful things you can do with a home security system here has nothing to do with break-ins. Put a PIR sensor at the top of the drive, on a gatepost or inside a shed, and it becomes a driveway alarm: something crosses the entrance, the phone gets an alert, and you know before anyone reaches the house.
On a farm, an acreage or a long block that is worth more than another camera, because it gives you warning rather than evidence. On a business it tells staff someone has arrived at the yard gate while they are inside.
Two practical points. Mount it at knee to waist height and angle it across the driveway rather than straight down it, because a PIR sensor detects movement across its field far better than movement towards it. And expect to adjust sensitivity in the first week, since a sensor covering an open approach sees more weather, stock and wildlife than one covering a hallway.
Mistakes That Cause Returns
- Expecting somebody to respond. These are self-monitored. The siren sounds and your phone rings. Nobody is dispatched, and police are not called automatically. If you need a guaranteed response you need a back-to-base monitoring contract, which is a separate service.
- Relying on the smoke detector as your smoke alarm. It is not an AS 3786 alarm. Fit the alarms your state requires and add this alongside them.
- Running the hub on WiFi alone where the internet is unreliable. An intruder who unplugs the router silences a WiFi-only alarm. So does a rural outage. Fit the SIM; the 4G path exists for this.
- Assuming the kit covers the whole house. The VIM-ALARM4G package contains four sensors. A typical three bedroom home needs four to six more door and window contacts and up to one more PIR. At $19 a contact and $24.95 a PIR that is about another $80 to $140, and it is the layer that gives you warning rather than confirmation. Budget for it up front.
- Pointing a PIR at a heat source. Sun on a wall, a split system, a heater, a fireplace or a window all trigger false alarms, and false alarms get systems switched off.
- Skipping pet immunity with a pet. A standard PIR fires on the cat. Use VIM-PIRS, which ignores animals under 25kg.
- Assuming an alarm reduces your insurance premium. Where insurers give a discount they usually mean a professionally monitored system. Ask yours before you count on it.
- Putting the hub by the front door. It is the component an intruder disables, so put it somewhere central and out of sight.
- Never testing it. Batteries die, doors drop, routers change password. Walk-test the system every few months and confirm the phone alert actually arrives.
Key Specs Explained
433MHz, and why sensor range beats WiFi range
Sensors reach the hub on 433MHz radio rather than your home network. Low frequency travels much better through walls and floors than 2.4GHz WiFi, which is why a door sensor quotes up to 150m to the hub while a WiFi camera struggles two rooms away. It also means sensor batteries last years, and the sensors keep talking to the hub even when the internet is down.
Zones
Groups of sensors you can arm independently. On the VIM-ALARM4G each sensor is assigned to a zone as you pair it. Zones are what make an alarm liveable, because they let you arm the doors and windows overnight while leaving interior motion sensors off.
Siren volume
80dB on the hub, 85dB on the smoke detector. For reference, 80dB is about a loud alarm clock from across the room: not deafening, but impossible to miss anywhere in the house, which is the point. Most opportunistic intruders leave the moment it starts, and your phone has already been told.
Dual path: 4G plus WiFi
The single most important upgrade in this range. A hub with both tries the mobile network when the broadband fails, which covers the deliberate case of somebody unplugging the router and the ordinary case of a rural outage. All three 4G models here have it.
Australia no longer has a 3G network, so a 4G hub needs 4G coverage at the property with no slower fallback. Check with a phone before you install.
Battery backup
The hub kits run on battery through a mains outage, which matters because cutting power is the simplest way to defeat a mains-only system, and because outages are common enough on rural lines and in storms without anyone's help.
Pet immunity
A PIR tuned to ignore mass and heat signatures below a threshold, 25kg on VIM-PIRS. Covers cats and small to medium dogs. A large dog will still set it off, and so will a cat that climbs to the height of the sensor, so mount it where the pet cannot get level with it.
PIR range and angle
The PIR sensors supplied with the VIM-ALARM4G sense to 12 metres across a 90 degree arc. That covers a typical lounge or hallway from one corner. Larger open-plan spaces need two, angled to cross each other rather than both pointing the same way.
Sensor battery life
The window and door contacts and the PIRs run on 3V lithium cells and sleep at a few microamps between events, so they go years between changes, and the smoke detector is rated at three years with a low battery buzzer every two hours when it needs recharging. Those figures are possible because 433MHz transmission uses almost no power. Change every sensor battery at the same time so you only do it once.
Remote and SOS
The handheld remote on the VIM-ALARM4G includes an SOS button that triggers the siren and alerts on demand, and it arms or disarms without opening the app. Useful beside a bed, and useful for anyone who wants a panic button rather than an intrusion alarm.
Choose by Property
A house, townhouse or unit you live in
VIM-ALARM4G at $349 plus a contact at $19 for every external door and opening ground-floor window beyond the two in the box. Add a PIR at $24.95 for the hallway. That is a properly covered house for around $450 to $490.
A farm or acreage property
Power cuts and patchy broadband are normal, so dual path is not optional. VIM-ALARM4G at $349. Check 4G coverage at the house with a phone first, and remember the sensors reach the hub on 433MHz regardless of what the internet is doing.
A rental you own
Make sure the property has the AS 3786 smoke alarms your state requires first, because that is the law and, in a rental, your responsibility. Then VIM-ALARM4G-B at $389 if you want smoke and intrusion alerts reaching you and your property manager at a house you are not in. Tell the tenant what is installed and what it does, in writing.
A holiday home or shack
Empty for months, often with no broadband at all. VIM-ALARM4G-C at $499 so an alert comes with a picture, because a two hour drive to check a false alarm is the thing you are trying to avoid. Add contacts on every door and a PIR in the main room.
A shop or small business
Overnight is the risk and nobody is there. VIM-ALARM4G-C at $499, contacts on every external door and the stockroom, and a PIR covering the till area. If the stock is genuinely valuable, treat this as the alerting layer and get a back-to-base monitoring contract for the response.
Just want to know if a door opens
A medicine cabinet, a gun safe room, a shed, a gate, a teenager's window. The VIM-ALARM4G with the two contacts in the box does exactly that and nothing more, and for a single door on its own the VIM-4GPSP4 at $169 is a standalone 4G door sensor with its own battery, no hub needed. For a hotel door, a bag or a single room while you are travelling, VIM-AL-PIR at $79 hangs on the handle and sounds its 130dB siren when the door is tried, with no hub, no app and no SIM.
You already have cameras
An alarm and a camera answer different questions. Cameras tell you what happened; an alarm tells you it is happening and makes a noise about it. If you have cameras already, the sensor layer plus a hub is the missing half. See Security Camera Systems for the other side.
FAQs
Does anyone respond when the alarm goes off?
No. These are self-monitored: the siren sounds and your phone gets an alert. There is no control room, no guard dispatched and no automatic call to police. If you need a guaranteed response, you need a back-to-base monitoring contract alongside the hardware.
How much does a home alarm system cost?
In this range, $349 to $499 for a 4G hub kit, plus $19 for each extra door or window contact and $24.95 for each extra motion sensor. A typical three bedroom house is properly covered for under $500, with no monthly fee from us; the only running cost is the SIM data plan.
Is there a monthly fee?
None from us. The only ongoing cost is a SIM data plan for the 4G hub, from Telstra, Optus, Vodafone or any provider on their networks. Our 4G hubs work with every Australian SIM provider.
Does the smoke detector count as my home's smoke alarm?
No. Australian homes need smoke alarms that comply with AS 3786, placed and powered as their state or territory requires. This one has a three year rechargeable battery and is an alarm system accessory. Fit compliant alarms and add this alongside them.
What happens if the power goes out?
The hub kits run on battery backup, and the sensors are battery powered anyway. A 4G hub also keeps its connection when the broadband dies with the power, which a WiFi-only hub does not.
What if someone unplugs my router?
A WiFi-only hub goes silent as far as your phone is concerned, though the siren still sounds. A 4G hub sends the alert over the mobile network instead. That is the main reason to choose one.
Will it work with my pets?
The VIM-PIRS motion sensor ignores animals under 25kg, which covers cats and most dogs. A large dog will still trigger it. Door and window contacts are unaffected by pets entirely.
What comes in the box?
The three 4G packages arrive as complete base station kits. VIM-ALARM4G contains the hub, 2 door and window sensors, 2 PIR sensors, 2 remote controls, a power adapter and an ethernet cable, with the smoke detector added on the -B and a bullet camera on the -C. Check the current product page for exact quantities before ordering, or ask us.
How many sensors do I need?
One contact on every external door, one on every opening ground-floor window a person could climb through, and a PIR in the hallway and main living area. For a typical three bedroom house that is roughly six to eight contacts and two or three PIRs.
How often do the sensor batteries need changing?
Rarely. The contacts and PIRs run on 3V lithium cells that last years, because 433MHz uses so little power, and the smoke detector is rated at three years between charges. Change all the sensor batteries on the same day so it is one job, then walk-test the system.
Will an alarm lower my insurance premium?
Possibly, but usually only a professionally monitored one. Ask your insurer specifically whether a self-monitored DIY system qualifies before you factor it into the cost.
Can I install it myself?
Yes. These are designed for DIY: sensors mount with the supplied hardware, pairing is done on screen, and nothing needs an electrician because nothing connects to fixed wiring.
Do I need to tell anyone I have an alarm?
Not legally. If you rent the property out, tell the tenant what is installed and what it monitors. If it includes a camera, that is a privacy matter as well, covered below.
Responsible Use in Australia
An alarm on your own home raises almost no legal issues. Adding a camera, or installing in a property somebody else lives in, changes that. The rules vary a little between states and territories, so these are the plain points.
Smoke alarms are a legal obligation, not a product choice. Every Australian home needs working smoke alarms that comply with AS 3786, set out by its state or territory, and landlords are responsible for them in rentals. The smoke detector in this range is an accessory to an alarm system and does not count towards them.
Cameras in a rental. A tenant is entitled to privacy in the home they rent. Do not install a camera inside a tenanted property, and tell the tenant in writing about any camera covering shared outdoor areas before the tenancy begins.
Cameras generally. Filming your own property is fine. Aim cameras at your own land, not into a neighbour's house or yard, and never film anyone in a bathroom, a bedroom or anywhere they would expect privacy.
Audio. The door sensor here offers two-way audio. Recording other people's private conversations is an offence in every state and territory, so use two-way audio to speak to someone, not to listen to them.
Businesses and staff. If staff or customers are on camera, put clear signs at the entrances. NSW and the ACT require written notice to staff before workplace cameras start.
Sirens and neighbours. A siren that false-alarms repeatedly at night becomes a noise problem, and councils can act on excessive noise. A properly placed sensor plan is the fix, not a quieter alarm.
In an emergency, call 000. An alert on your phone is information, not a response. If you believe someone is in your property, do not go in to check. Ring 000 and let police deal with it.
Using and sharing footage. Keep the original file unedited and note the date and time. Do not post recordings of identifiable people online; give them to the police instead.
This guide is general product information for Australian customers and is not legal advice, nor is it fire safety certification. For the smoke alarm rules where you live, check with your state fire service.
Related Guides
An alarm tells you something is happening. These tell you what.
- Security Camera Systems for multiple cameras recording to one hub, which is the other half of a properly covered property.
- 4G Security Cameras for cameras at a site with no WiFi, using the same mobile network logic as the 4G hubs here.
- WiFi Security Cameras for individual cameras on a property that already has a network.
- Solar 4G Security Cameras for outbuildings, gates and boundaries with no power at all.
- Trail Cameras for a driveway, a gate or a boundary you want watched without running anything to it.
Shop Alarm Systems
The shortest path is two questions. Do you want a fire alert from the same hub, and do you want to see what triggered it. The plain hub if you only need to be told, the -B if a smoke alert matters on a property you are not at, the -C if a picture would save you a trip.
Three hub kits, four sensors and a standalone personal alarm, $19 to $499 with no monthly fee from us and no contract.
Browse all Alarm Systems, or see the wider Security Systems range.
Last reviewed October 2026.