base station destroyed

Yup.

Been covered many times but no real.search feature makes it hard to find that info.

That is why many users suggest to hide the base and or disguise it.

I'm surprised this wouldn't be mentioned in the installation manual if it's an issue.  It was one of the first things I thought about when thinking of a good place to position the base station.

@martinlw after reading your posts again, I get your point. SS could communicate your viewpoint better to potential customers.

I'd have to imagine they'd not want to make too big a deal out of it in print, as that might be documented cannon fodder for competitors and steer away potential customers on perception. (Not that many seem to look before they leap anyway.)

This seems like quite the vulnerability. :/

When a sensor triggers, the base station should send a signal to both the monitoring company and the auxiliary siren like "sensor triggered, begin countdown' and then if the siren and monitoring station do not hear an "all clear' message within thirty seconds then the alarm sounds and the monitoring company understands there's an issue and calls the owner.  This would mean it wouldn't matter if someone smashed the base station or not - after a sensor triggers, the alarm will sound unless the system gets the all clear code.

This doesn't seem like it would be too complicated, why doesn't Simplisafe have this functionality?

Not sure where anyone could even look for examples or stats on a base station being destroyed.  If thieves know to disable an internet cable, why not disable a base station?

Although, as has been pointed out, the thief would need to know where it's located for that to work.  At MOST I guess a bad guy would have one minute to destroy the  base station before the alarm goes to the monitoring company.  If a perimeter sensor is triggered while in away mode, that's it, the alarm sounds immediately.  Maybe if the thief had been able to see the base station through a downstairs window and moved to it immediately and smashed it, that might work, but that doesn't sound too likely.

An instant trigger would notify monitoring (and sound the siren) instantly.  A delayed trigger would give some small amount of time to find and disable the base unit, which is why that delay should be kept as short as tolerable, say 30 seconds or possibly less.  If they can't find it (or find it fast enough), destroying it is a non-issue.

Wait a sec, I think I had it backwards.  If in Away Mode, the alarm does NOT trigger instantly.  There's the delay.  But it triggers instantly when Home Mode.

I thought also there was some kind of dial delay, where the alarm doesn't send the monitoring service any "alarm triggered" notification for 30 seconds after it sounds.  That'd give an intruder 30 to 60 seconds to find and destroy the base station. Not a lot of time still.  

You wouldn't want to place the base station where it can be seen from a window or from an open door, I suppose.

@Jonny Gogo actually, you can have a delay in home mode too if you want one. I don't, so its 0/0.

On March 31st, 2021 Jonny Gogo says:
Wait a sec, I think I had it backwards. If in Away Mode, the alarm does NOT trigger instantly. There's the delay. But it triggers instantly when Home Mode.

There's a couple different things. With SS2 (what I have x2) there is Entry and Exit delay for Away mode but there is only Entry delay for Home mode. Maybe SS3 is different, but the delays are conceptually the same.

With SS2 -

Away mode, the minimum entry delay that can be user-set is 30 seconds and the minimum Exit delay that can be user-set is 45 seconds. In Home mode a user can set the Entry delay to as low as 1 second, which is nearly instant. There is no Exit delay setting for Home mode, not with SS2 anyway, Home mode activates as soon as you press the button.

That said, by phoning to SimpliSafe support, they can override the minimum Entry delays and, far as I know, set them all the way down to zero if you wish.

But, if you truly want zero delays, by your own hand can set some sensors, like the entry sensors and motion sensors, to instant trigger in the individual sensor settings. The noteworthy point here is the system reacts to the first type of trigger event. If an entry delay countdown is started first, a sensor set to instant trigger will NOT override the entry delay countdown. Conversely, if an instant trigger is first, then the alarm sounds instantly and is not stopped by any sort of delay time.

On March 31st, 2021 Jonny Gogo says:
I thought also there was some kind of dial delay, where the alarm doesn't send the monitoring service any "alarm triggered" notification for 30 seconds after it sounds. That'd give an intruder 30 to 60 seconds to find and destroy the base station. Not a lot of time still.

That was a myth circulating around for a while, apparently still is. There is no post trigger delay for sending the signal to monitoring. As soon as the alarm is triggered/sounds, the signal is sent; no added delay.

What there is, however, is approximately 30 seconds grace period for you to shut off a nuisance alarm before monitoring will call you (like if you have your entry delays set to zero and forget to disarm the system before opening the door).

There are other sensors where there is not a 30 second grace period. Alarm triggers from Smoke, Carbon Monoxide, Panic button, or using the Duress PIN, do not have the 30 second grace period and should always result in call from monitoring.

I’m new to SS but the base station really is a bad design. SS compound  this by suggesting you cannot place it in various places. For many people it leaves it vulnerable.

It seems to me that SS should revise the base / offer an alternative that is like a traditional alarm panel, living under the stairs / in a cupboard etc. Any transmission issues can be dealt with via repeaters / extenders which, if need be, are wired to the base.

Coming from a background of system integration, SS seems to be a ‘so near, yet so far’ type of product, designed by people who did not consider the practicalities.