One-way or two-way car alarm, which one to choose?

Choosing a car alarm is a difficult task for many modern drivers, because the offer of models is incredibly large. Often drivers are interested in what is better-a one-way or two-way car alarm? It’s difficult to answer right away. To begin with, let's understand the principle of their action and functionality, this will help draw conclusions and choose the right protection system taking into account your needs.

What should I look for when choosing an alarm for a car?

When choosing a security system, several important parameters must be taken into account:

• Location of the vehicle. This factor determines the choice of the radius of the car alarm. For example, if the car is constantly standing near the house under the windows, then a system with a radius of about 300-500 meters, with a siren and a light warning system about an attempted theft, is suitable. That is, when in addition to the roar of the siren, the optics also turn on, and the headlights begin to flash.
• Type and number of sensors. Obviously, the more sensors, the better. But here everything is determined by the needs of the car owner. Most often, modern security systems are equipped with a shock sensor, but there may be others: a volume sensor, a motion sensor, etc. For example, if you have very expensive drives installed, an inclination sensor will help, which will record any attempts to remove them.
• The presence of additional GSM, CAN modules is very useful functions, but expensive. It is advisable to put such alarms on expensive foreign cars if a high degree of protection is required.
• Function of autostart, engine blocking, etc. Their presence significantly increases the comfort of operation of the vehicle and increases the degree of protection in case of attempted theft.

Features and principle of operation of one-way alarms

Car alarms with one-way communication appeared a long time ago, much earlier than models with feedback. They can be called the first historical type of security systems specifically designed to protect vehicles. However, they are still in high demand due to their affordable price, unpretentiousness and maximum ease of use.

The principle of operation of such alarms is based on the fact that when an attempt is made to break in, for example, open the door lock or trunk, an alarm is given. This type of system is called one-way because it is capable of transmitting a signal only from the key fob to the control unit, that is, only from the owner of the vehicle to the car. In the opposite direction, the signal is not transmitted and it is difficult for the owner to monitor what is happening with his car. Especially if he is at a great distance and cannot hear the siren. To protect a signal, dynamic coding is usually used in such alarms. That is, the code that the keychain transmits is constantly changing, this is done in order to increase the degree of protection against copying and unauthorized access of unauthorized persons to the car.

If we talk about other functions, many models of one-way alarms can, in addition to notifications when trying to break in, lock the engine, lock the central lock of the vehicle, search for a car in the parking lot and some others.

Obviously, this is a fairly simple security system, but criminals will have to spend a lot of time to get around it. For example, special code grabbers or scanners can be used that are capable of intercepting and copying the signal from the transmitter to the main control module. Of course, manufacturers are constantly improving signal coding to fight criminals, but in any case, no one will give a 100% guarantee of protection.

Features and principle of operation of security systems with a two-way communication type

Alarms that have a feedback module in their design are called two-way. In this case, the driver can, using a special pager, not only control the activation and operation of the security system, but also receive a signal from its main control module in real time. And in some models equipped with a GSM module, a regular mobile phone can be used as a key fob. Naturally, such alarms are much more expensive, but their functionality is much more extensive. One of the most significant advantages of such security systems is the long range of signal transmission and reception. Alerts about a hacking attempt may come even if the car owner with the key fob is at a distance of several hundred meters from the car. And some models boast a signal transmission range of up to one and a half kilometers. Typically, such alarms use complex dialog signal encoding algorithms that are very difficult to crack or copy.

Separately, it must be said about the control keys themselves. Such systems are usually equipped with key fobs with a liquid crystal display. If the system detects an attempt of unauthorized access to the vehicle, the alarm system not only turns on the siren, but also sends a signal to the key fob, on the screen of which an alert immediately appears, and it starts to vibrate. That is, the driver promptly receives information about a potential hijacking and can quickly take action to protect his property.

Many models of two-way car alarms have an additional function-autostart engine. Similar devices can be installed on cars with automatic and manual gearboxes. This function allows you to activate the start of the engine without leaving your home, it is very important in winter when you need to warm up the car. Starting the engine in such cases can be activated both from the key fob in manual mode and automatically configured. For example, if the battery voltage drops below the set limit, or if the engine temperature drops to a predetermined level.

Satellite car alarm

In addition to the two main types listed, there is another option that should be allocated in a separate group. These are car alarms with a built-in GPS module. They also belong to the type of two-way, but their feature is that the installed system allows you to monitor the vehicle around the clock in real time using satellites. This type of alarm is considered the most reliable, since even with perfect theft, you can quickly track where the car is. But you will have to pay for such a service. Satellite car alarms are rightfully considered one of the most expensive.

The principle of operation of such security systems is quite simple. The installed GPS module continuously monitors the vehicle’s geolocation, the system receives data via satellite, and then transfers them to a single database that monitors the vehicle’s movement route. Each car owner gets access to an online service or mobile application, where he can independently verify where and when his car was earlier, where it is at the current time, etc.

To summarize

As we were able to make sure, car alarms are very different, and you must always choose its type, taking into account exactly which functions you need. For example. one-sided is suitable if you have an inexpensive car, you do not want to overpay for sophisticated new-fangled functions and often leave the car under the windows in the courtyard and can quickly respond to an alarm. To increase the degree of protection, such systems can be supplemented with mechanical modules for blocking the engine, steering wheel or a lock on the hood. Bilateral ones will suit owners of expensive foreign cars or those who want to protect the car as much as possible from the majority of existing threats and get a full set of modern service functions that can make the operation of the machine not only safe, but also as comfortable as possible.

In any case, before buying, study the characteristics, instructions and functionality of the alarm you liked. Only in this way you can choose the best option. And the store 130.com.ua will help you buy a car alarm in Kiev, Kharkov or Odessa at the best price.

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