‎Key fob security | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
J

Sunday, January 13th, 2019 8:02 PM

Key fob security

We just got the system and installed it including a key fob for my wife. I'm concerned that it seems you can disarm the alarm with the key fob without entering the PIN. So if someone were to steal the fob from her purse they'd have access to our address and could break in and disable the system using the fob alone. This seems like a security risk or am I misunderstanding how the fob works?

Official Solution

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

2 years ago

@CaliGirl​ that certainly makes a lot of sense! Don't forget, if you purchased directly from SimpliSafe, we do have a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee, so you have until then to decide if you want to keep it.

Pro tip: If you have Monitoring, you can set your Key Fob's Panic Button to Medical. So that might be useful for your parents as well.

And I want to highlight @lance843's advice: If you ever find that your Key Fob has gone missing, you can always log into your online account, or the SimpliSafe app on your phone, and head over to the Devices section. From there, you can delete the Key Fob, to make sure that it can no longer be used to control your system.

Of course, you can hit the Add or + button at the top right to re-add the Fob back to your system, if you ever find it again!

Captain

 • 

6.2K Messages

6 years ago

@ john.berkenbosch, you got it right and one of the several reasons mine collects dust in a drawer. If you are on interactive plan, your smart phone works much better (securely). If you need it, get a 2nd keypad.

2.2K Messages

6 years ago

That is exactly how the fob works.  Plus putting it in a purse or pocket leads to "pocket dialing".  

I wear it on a lanyard around my neck.  Almost impossible to lose it or have it stolen, and no worries about unintended button pushes.

1K Messages

6 years ago

We have the new ss3 and i know if ypu lose the fob or it gets stolen you can go on the keypad or the app and delete the fob so its no longer there or will ever work

35 Messages

6 years ago

The Key Fob is a great idea and very convenient to use. Nonetheless, it could use some improvements:

1. The obvious "too easy to accidentally press a button while in my pocket or purse" issue, needs to be addressed. Maybe simple software re-coding to require a "double-click" should be required to activate any of the buttons? HEY...I may have to patent that idea!

2. A future replacement model might include some type of "cover" or redesign, offering a desired simple, speedy and effective method of both protecting and implementing easy button use, in case of an emergency.

3. I keep reading about this "Panic Button" on the Key Fob...which is a great idea. However, I just purchased a ss3 "Fortress" system and my fob has NO such button. Either it doesn't exist or it's hidden and I'm not looking in the right place!

4. On a slightly different note, "larger" (and thus more expensive) SimpliSafe systems should, as a "simple" courtesy, include 2 Key Fobs to accommodate husband/wife (parent/child, partner/partner, etc.).

Sorry...I couldn't resist!

Joseph R. Seda, Quality Assurance Analyst

2 Messages

My wife carries the fob and has had the accidental button problem - twice just yesterday she inadvertently set the away mode as we left while our daughter was in the house. 

A plastic cover, perhaps as an additional/optional purchase, that slid tightly over the fob, or pivoted up to reveal the buttons would be a safer way to keep the fob in a pocket or purse. Many of us don’t want to carry on a lanyard. 

2.8K Messages

6 years ago

Joseph, the SS3 keyfob does include a panic button, it's the thin red button across the very top.  If you ever needed to use it, you'd press and hold it for 2-3 seconds, then release (you would get a call from COPS monitoring, so have safe word handy).

2.2K Messages

6 years ago

If you have the remote on a lanyard around your neck, it is immune from accidental activation, plus is very difficult to lose or have stolen.

2 Messages

6 years ago

I don't use mine because if I'm entering my house and someone grabs my keys, they can disarm my system...why not have a numeric keypad on the fob?  And, yes, I don't want it accidentally activated either!

2.2K Messages

6 years ago

A) cost  B) size C) power requirements

Don't have it on your key ring.  If on a lanyard around your neck, it is safe from accidental activation and loss, and would be much harder to grab away.

3 Messages

5 years ago

i'd like to use my two keyfobs as alerts in the event either my wife falls and gets hurt, or I fall ill or get injured.  I'd like to station each one strategically in the house so as to be able to access one of them from floor level etc.  any suggestions ot make this a reasonable option to do?  Thanks.

Ken Chisholm

2.2K Messages

5 years ago

You might want to consider panic buttons instead.  The keyfobs give anyone complete control over your system, so having them easily available to visitors and intruders would seem a bad idea.

1 Message

2 years ago

I recently bought a Simplisafe system and we're going to set it up today. I bought a key fob, but was unsure about it. Figured I would return it if we didn't find a need for it. The obvious security risk seemed like nothing anyone was talking about until I found this thread. If it's in my purse and someone steals it, they have my address and the fob to disarm my system. So I won't take it outside the house. (no, I don't want to wear the darn thing around my neck... LOL) So I think I'm going to use it for when my elderly parents come and stay with us. We have a 2 story home and we arm our current system at night (motion detectors active since we don't have kids and never go downstairs once we go to bed) so my parents can use the fob to disarm it in the morning and I'll just leave it in the house. That way they don't need to worry about using an app or entering a keypad code. We currently have an Xfinity alarm system and they have had no issue arming & disarming that with their phone & their own code, but I just want to make things as easy as possible for them. The key fob seems like a good option for them, so I'll have them use that. (but like I said, it will never go outside the house) 

2 Messages

6 months ago

I love the convenience of the key fobs.  It will work much better and more securely if the OFF button can be disabled or deactivated itself if the alarm has been triggered.  So no one can just disable the alarm with a press on the OFF button of the key fobs. 

New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Article and please be sure to review our Community Guidelines before posting.