Alarm system in the motorhome

Reading time 3 minutes

Updated – April 24, 2024

The topic Alarm system in the motorhome is asked again and again. Therefore, here are some thoughts on this.

First of all: if you have a terrifyingly growling and barking dog with you, you don't need an alarm system. The burglar/thief will leave the vehicle alone as soon as the presence of a larger and aggressively barking dog is audible.

Alarm systems work in different ways, all of which have advantages and disadvantages associated with the respective technical processes. Be it high temperatures caused by sunlight or other factors that trigger false alarms.
In addition, an unauthorized person is hardly unaware of an alarm system and its function, including its weak points. Anyone who intends to rob a bank or a jeweler will find out about the security systems beforehand.

And another tip: DO NOT put up stickers that immediately indicate to unauthorized persons that an alarm system is installed. Then they will naturally first try to disable it before they start the actual work. This will only maximize the resulting damage...

Acoustic, visual alarm

Sirens, headlights, indicators - all of these may alert other citizens nearby to a potentially unpleasant event, but hardly anyone will take the initiative and stop the person (either willingly or able to). If they're lucky, they might call the police, but they certainly won't start a chase.

Minimize damage

A good idea is to place obviously valuable items in the vehicle (an old cell phone, tablet, camera or laptop, a wallet with a small amount of money) to offer the thief "easy prey". This way, he will first take hold of these things, perhaps rummage through a few things here and there, but then see that he is gaining ground.
There is content insurance against theft, so the damage remains manageable.

Surveys and research by magazines and institutions paint a similar picture: burglars cause the least damage when the vehicle is easy to break into and it appears as if it is easy to steal.
Anyone who intends to steal a vehicle usually short-circuits the ignition on older vehicles and then drives off as quickly as possible. Immobilizers on newer vehicle types are no longer an insurmountable obstacle for thieves.
From the thief's point of view, the aim is to ensure that the damage caused by the break-in is moderate and can be repaired with little effort, which is particularly important in cases of contract theft.

But how can you get a stolen vehicle back? That is probably the most important question in this context.

Silent alarm

A silent alarm is familiar from banks, jewelers, etc. The burglar believes he is safe and will try to use his stolen goods for his own purposes.

A router is usually part of the equipment for campers and motorhome owners anyway. Very few manufacturers integrate GPS into their router products. External GPS antennas, on the other hand, are more common, as are GPS trackers, such as those for pets. However, these are revealed by a glance at the roof of the motorhome, and must also be supplied with power via a cable running through the roof if you don't want to connect a USB cable every day to charge the built-in battery.

An antenna, on the other hand, is familiar from all vehicles of the last decades, the “shark fin” at the rear of the car roof.
Similar antennas are also available for WIFI reception from neighboring WLAN (e.g. campsite WLAN), LTE reception (3G, 4G, 5G) AND integrated GPS reception! You cannot see their properties from the outside, as there are different features in one and the same housing shape. A recommended manufacturer is e.g. Panorama Antennas.

Teltonika Networks is a manufacturer of routers for industrial applications. Now, a mobile home is not an industrial application, but it is plagued by vibrations, high interior temperatures in the summer when exposed to sunlight and is therefore quite comparable.

Their products are also equipped with this GPS functionality. Teltonika offers a paid tracking service, including geofencing*. This makes it possible to trigger an SMS alarm as soon as the vehicle moves outside the set virtual fence and, similar to a navigation system, to display the current location and route of the vehicle.

This means that the alarm is raised within a few minutes and all information is available to the police so that they can catch the thief within the shortest possible time.

Teltonika – GPS-enabled routers

The following routers between around 190 euros and 500 euros are equipped with GPS:

• RUT906
• RUT 956
• RUT-M50
• RUT-X11
• RUT-X12
• RUT-X14
• RUT-X50

Integration into SmartHome

Anyone who already monitors various sensors with SmartHome (e.g. HomeMatic, RaspberryMatic) can of course also use these for a silent alarm message via SMS. This is a much more cost-effective method than commercially available systems, which, like their components and functions, are well known in the relevant circles and can therefore be sabotaged quickly.

A custom-made device, on the other hand, is too individual to be seen through straight away and its function can be impaired.

Geofencing can also be implemented with SmartHome, just like in the aforementioned solution via Teltonika router.

ps If you need personal support in the implementation for a fee, you are welcome to Ticketing make!