Vanolarm  Reviews 90

I purchased this for my van, following limited positive YouTube reviews and thought I’d take a gamble.

The Vanolarm website helped me make my decision to purchase in addition to the reviews. The item comes well packaged and delivered quickly.

Unfortunately, I have my reservations about the audible alarms/sirens. They are similar, if not the same, as cycle alarms on Amazon and I'd bet that if I purchased one of these I could easily get it to work as another audible alarm/siren to sync with the other 2 I got with my package. To get to the AAA batteries, you are supplied with a blue triangular piece of plastic, more suited to strumming on your guitar though, as mine broke trying to get into the plastic housing. I ended up using plastic levers usually used for removing plastic trim fixings. My van has ply wood panels, not unlike most vans and no equipment inside, unlike most vans and the sound is muffled. You'd hear it in the dead of night if on your drive way. The company quote that “94% of people now ignore siren only alarms”, but the company prides itself on the sound being a deterrent, rather contradictory. The audible alarms are controlled by a cheap feeling plastic key fob.

The free app is used to control the sensor/GPS that can be set to detect sound, vibration and door sensor and geofencing, so before you set off, you need to disarm your preselects using the free app and the audible sirens via the fob. I have found that the GPS isn't very effective compared to my phone, sat nav etc. My phone and Vanolarm are both using the EE network, regardless of where I am and most of the time puts my vehicle no where near my location. This is a device issue as there are no problems with GPS where I am or travel to generally. I arm my van for when parked outside my house on my drive, but have to do this down the road where it picks up the EE signal, that my phone has no issues picking up. When I go to remove/put something in the van the next day whilst the vehicle is on the drive, I can't disable the alarm sensor via the app, so I get delayed texts and calls to my phone advising sound detected within. Yet if I set off the sirens, the sensor doesn't recognise the shriek from within and notify me. Thus far I have been able to arm/disarm the sensor/GPS system about 40% at any location and I live and work in 2 separate towns with good EE signal.

The best thing about the audible alarms is the warning it gives if someone tries the door handles and sensitivity can be set. This may be a deterrent before someone tries to force their way into the van.

The GPS is fitted with an EE network sim, provided by 1penny. Once the SIM card is in, I found it almost impossible to get it out, without using tweezers as I wanted to try another sim. Minor cosmetic damage caused to the sim slot unfortunately.

Overall the principle is good, there's not enough social media reviews in my opinion to help the customer decide if this product is for you. As I said, the sirens appear the same as what can be purchased via Amazon and cost approx £12+. So if the GPS/sensor is not up to task, why pay little short of £150 when you end up only using the audible alarms/sirens 2 for less than £30!

Overall I am disappointed in this product. I took a gamble and did not work in my favour. Very shortly my town is about to get an EE 5G mast, which will be only a couple hundred yards from my home. Will this boost my EE/GPS signal ?

Great piece of kit. Easy to install and gives me piece of mind, especially when I work away 👍👍

Received as a present from my wife. Love it. I have a VW transporter which is my pride and joy. Love how I can see where it is at all times plus how well the sirens work by just pulling a handle. Best pressy I've had in years. Highly recommend

Cheap shed alarms . Get from Amazon . The main unit is rubbish . Doesn't react to alarms going off . But talk it goes mad . To much hassle to arm Alarms then turn app on . . In conclusion . Good idea . But cheap components. And after sales well a bunch of a*"#@*!+- holes . Don't waste your time or money .

I'd agree largely with the reviews already posted. Vanolarm claim to have designed this product themselves, but it is in fact just a chinese import with branding applied. The door sensors can be bought more cheaply on Amazon (I recommend doing this for additional door sensors, they are identical). That said, the door alarms work quite well, however they are not loud from outside the van and can be easily removed if entry is gained. I can see changing the batteries being a problem as they are very difficult to access.
The so-called smart-alarm is ok but has many flaws, poor battery life, is not discreet and could simply be thrown out of the vehicle to render it useless. That said, it is useful to send a text alert if it detects the sound of the sirens being activated and may be useful as a tracker if a thief was dumb enough to miss it. Support (email only) is slow, amateurish and evasive when answering questions, and if they don't like the question they simply ignore it.
However, this is a relatively cheap security device and if you keep your expectations low it is possibly better than nothing, albeit with severe limitations. Read the T&C's on the website you will see that the 'guarantee' is worthless.

I. purchased a unit two weeks ago, I bought 4 sensors and a control unit
and to say it’s poor is an understatement.
I paid £160 for the system but have since found the 4 senors are £13.99 each on Amazon and the unit is £25 from Alibaba.

It’s advertised as… Quoted from their website.
“products designed, engineered and rigorously tested here in the UK our Olarm range of products also benefit from knowledgeable and insightful customer service solutions.

The biggest issue for me is that the control unit, which notifies you by text in the event of a break in, has a battery life of 2 nights. It then needs an 8hr charge.
The solution provided by Vanolarm, put it on standby.
Standby basically means no alarm text rendering the product useless.

So guys, be warned, it’s Chinese Tat, save your money!