A Look at D-Link Home Automation’s New WiFi Siren

Interested in a DIY alarm system but don’t want to bother with a home automation hub?

Well, the new Bluetooth stuff coming out may get you there one day, but D-Link has a new WiFi siren that may just do the job for you.

Simply, it triggers an audio alarm if something is amiss.

For instance, let’s say your new WiFi water sensor stuck in the basement detects water one night when it’s raining really hard, you can configure the D-Link app to turn on the siren to wake you up and address the problem.

Of course, it could also be used in the traditional sense to scare away burglars that trip your other D-Link home automation sensors. It’s a small, but growing family that includes:

• WiFi cameras
• smart plugs
• a motion sensor
• a water sensor (new)
• this siren (new)

Here are the D-Link siren specifications:

• Indoor use only
• 2.56 x 2.56 x 2.07 inches
• 125V AC, 50/60 Hz input power
• 32 to 104 F operating temperature
• 802.11n/g from 2.4GHz to 2.4835GHz
• Smartphone or tablet (iOS 7 or above; Android 4.0 or above)
• 1 year limited warranty

Here’s a video for you visual learners:

In the case of D-Link’s WiFi siren, it integrates with the mydlink Home app and connects to your existing Wi-Fi network to let you trigger an audible alarm if something is amiss.

The siren sports 6 different sounds, from a traditional alarm system door beeps to ambulance and fire siren imitations. You can listen to them all here. And, you have 3 different settings for volume; 80, 90, and 100 dB.

You’ll need a smart phone running the D-Link home automation app to use the siren, which works on iOS 7+ and Android 4+. And, it will connect to WiFi networks running WPA and WPA2 with WPS (the push button setup method).

The siren is listed for $50 on the D-Link site, but you can pick it up from Amazon for $40 as I’m writing this. That compares pretty well to the competition of other Z-Wave and Zigbee devices.

[Awkwardly long pause] There really isn’t any.

I haven’t seen another standalone WiFi siren yet, so I believe D-Link is the first to market here. Unfortunately, the adoption will likely be muted because there are no integrations with other home automation platforms or dedicated interface solutions like IFTTT.  You need a completely D-Link system for this to help you, end of story, does not play well with others . . . at this time.

So, the closest competition would be something like a Staples Connect hub like we reviewed previously paired with an Everspring SE812 siren.  You could obviously do the same thing with whatever hub you may already have.