'The dog's got a bit of help': Sci-fi home security scaring off burglars

Rapid advances in technology have given Australians home security systems straight out of science fiction - while costing just a fraction of the devices of yesteryear.

New systems boast motion sensors, smartphone connections and even double as doorbells.

Security company Ring offers a device that looks like a normal doorbell but acts as a home security system.

Its motion sensors detect anybody who walks past, sending a notification to the owner's phone.

It allows absent homeowners to even chat with delivery people.

However, it is in home security that the device comes in to its own.

In a video filmed in Dundas, western Sydney, an intruder is seen activating the motion sensors, which sent an alert to the owner's phone.

He was able to monitor what was happening and make enough noise with the device to scare the intruder away.

A similar thing happens in another video filmed 

Ring also offer a security floodlight with a camera attached that works as an additional deterrent.

Tech expert Trevor Long said now, there were at least four systems designed for people to install themselves, using their wifi internet connection.

He rated the Arlo system as the best - albeit the most expensive - on the market, followed by Ring, Uniden and Swann.

"They might only cost a couple of hundred bucks, but they are a remarkable saving compared to the home security systems of just a few years ago," he said.

However, all the systems require good internet connections to work, with an ideal upload speed of at least one megabyte per second.

"Once upon a time the technology was a dog," Sergeant Jose Sarmento of the Queensland Police Force told A Current Affair.

"Now the dog's got a bit of help."

Sgt Sarmento said thieves always targeted properties with the least security. 

"If you've got the alarm system, if you've got the dog, they'll keep walking until they find a house that doesn't have that," he said.

He also urged people to be security conscious even when they were at home, citing the brazenness of modern would-be burglars.

"They will just come in and if you happen to chance upon them they'll have a story to go, like 'oh listen I'm looking for bob, I'm looking for my dog, I'm after a glass of water," he said.