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Get a Skylink SK-200 home security system for $89.99

From the Cheapskate: This expandable, connected alarm system requires no monthly monitoring fees and regularly sells for $150. Plus: free password manager!

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read

CNET's Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page.


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iPhone not included. Dang! SkylinkNet

Home security is a necessary evil -- necessary because, duh, it's your home, and evil because you typically have to pay monthly for a monitored system or go for a camera-based setup that's a pain to install (and not always a good deterrent).

Somewhere in between those two options lies a new generation of smart, DIY home-security solutions. These can often set you back at least a few hundred dollars, but for a limited time, Atom Depot (via Amazon) has the Skylink SK-200 home security system for $89.99, shipped. That's after applying coupon code CNETS200 at checkout. Regular price: $150. Another sweet Cheapskate exclusive, cheeps!

Update: It appears the SK-200 is sold out, at least from the vendor offering the coupon code.

Though definitely a starter kit, the SK-200 includes everything you need to protect an apartment or small house: an Internet-connected hub, two door/window sensors, a motion sensor and a keychain remote.

As with most such systems, you can scale up with more and different sensors (including water-leak and garage-door) and indoor IP cameras. What's more, you can control everything via app -- though, and here's the rub -- it's iOS-only. Sorry, Android users. (Don't shoot the messenger.) Update: Although the company's own product page mentions only an iOS version, a rep notified me that it is indeed available for Android as well.

I haven't had any hands-on (home-on?) experience with Skylink system, but CNET's review will tell you everything you need to know. Spoiler alert: "There's nothing groundbreaking about this simple system, but for basic small home security, it gets the job done."

That conclusion was based on a $150 price tag, and it's a safe bet the 18 Amazon user reviews (average: 4.2 stars) were as well. For $89.99 out the door, this is an awfully affordable way to give your abode a modern home-security makeover.

Bonus deal: For my money, managing your passwords is even more important than backing up your data. Well, equally important, anyway -- and yet so few people bother to do it. Don't be one of them! Ending soon, SharewareOnSale has Sticky Password Premium one-year license for free. The service does it all: password generation and management, unsafe-password detection, syncing between desktop and mobile apps and so on. You can also get a lifetime license for $34.99 -- normally $69.99. (You also have the option of renewing for $19.99 annually at the end of your free year.)