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Skylink offers simple security for the smart home (pictures)

With sensors, sirens, and a smartphone app, SkylinkNet promises to help secure your home.

Ry Crist
Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.
Ry Crist
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1 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

SkylinkNet Alarm System Starter Kit

Skylink's been releasing home security gadgets for nearly 25 years, but the new SkylinkNet Alarm System is their first app-enabled DIY kit. Click through for a closer look at this low-cost system.

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2 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The Skylink Hub

To get started, you'll need to install the hub, which doubles as the system's siren. Just plug it in, connect it to your router, then pull up the app on your smartphone.

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3 of 10 Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

Setup

Setup is simple, and only took us a few minutes.

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4 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Motion detection

Once the hub is up and running, you can start activating your sensors and adding them to your system. The starter kit comes packaged with a few to get you going, including this motion detector.

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5 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Open/closed sensor

You'll also get two of these magnet-based open/closed sensors.

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6 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Easy installation

You'll stick these up along your door or window frame -- when the magnets get separated by more than a couple of centimeters, they'll ping the hub and tell it that the door is open.

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7 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Remote keychain

You also get a compact little keychain remote capable of arming and disarming your system.

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8 of 10 Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

App controls

You can also arm or disarm the system from within the app. You can program an exit delay, giving you a set amount of time to leave the house after arming the system, as well as an entrance delay, which gives you a set amount of time to disarm the system upon your return.

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9 of 10 Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

Custom alerts

You can also customize when the app will alert you.

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10 of 10 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Price point

Skylink's SkylinkNet Starter Pack sells online for $150 (it also ships international, and roughly converted is about £95 or AU$170). be sure to read my full review to decide if it's the right system for your home.

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