5 Best Driveway Alarm Systems to Keep Your Property Safe

By
Daniel
Daniel
Writer
Daniel is among our most talented writers: based on the dull expert reports he's able to make up a comprehensive, reader-friendly article which anyone can benefit from. Also read more
reviewed
Reviewed By
Tom
Tom
Tom
Expert Consultant
Initially being an engineering specialist, Tom has never stopped learning and acquiring other knowledge and skills. Now he’s involved in technical support for a well-known read more
Last updated: August 07, 2023
HouseAndBeyond is reader-supported. We may earn a commission through products purchased using links on this page. Learn more about our process here

Whether you’ve just had a newborn baby or moved into a questionable neighborhood, installing the best driveway alarm can help keep you, your home, and your family safe. Not only is securing your home important—the first (quite literally) step of security starts in your driveway. A driveway alarm is a highly-effective security option that can help add an extra element to your home security system.

In our article today, we’re going to get into what a wireless driveway alarm system is and how it can detect people or vehicles entering the property, via the driveway. The service can also come with features included in the product that can help scare away potential criminals while giving warning. In our review, we’ve taken into account various important features—including the sensor range, receiver range, it’s weather-resistance ability, and so many others—in our research.

To help you choose the best driveway alarm, we’ve spent hours researching through various manufacturers’ sites, to help compile a list and buying guide to help you choose the best product for you. We’ve scoured the internet and have chosen five of the best driveway alarms for you to choose from—going in-depth with each of their features and what they have to offer. Through our side-by-side product comparison table, in-detail reviews of each product, and buying guide, we hope to help you choose the best driveway alarm for not only your home but also your entire property (and everyone in it).

Quick Summary

Top 5 Driveway Alarm Reviews 2024

?
Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 7480 people in the past 30 days
9.8
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.7
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.4
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.6
9.8
Features
  • Sensor range: 40 feet
  • Sensor type: passive infrared
  • Transmission range: 500 feet
  • Warranty: 2 years
  • Power source: 4 AA batteries for the sensor, 4 AAA batteries or AC adapter for receiver

The Guardline Wireless Driveway Alarm is our Editor’s Choice for the best driveway alarm on the market. Since it is so versatile as a product, it can easily be customized to fit any driveway or the outside of any home in their yard.

For the full package, the wireless driveway alarm comes with a full receiver and only one sensor—which might be seen as a negative, however, the Guardline Wireless Driveway Alarm is fully compatible—with possibilities of adding up to 16 sensors and an UNLIMITED number of receivers! Especially if you have a bigger property or multiple entries in your yard, this is a great feature. You’ll know when someone is entering your property in every direction!

You also can set and customize each alert chime to something you prefer—with 30 alert chimes to choose from, Guardline has something to fit every personality and home.

Although it might be seen as a bit more expensive than other passive infrared alarms on the market, its lifetime warranty backs up its claims—as well as the versatility, customizability, and flexibility of the various sensors added really pulls through, pulling your dollar much further.

    What are its best features?
  • Comes backed by a lifetime warranty
  • You can add up to 16 sensors
  • There are also 30 chimes to choose from
    What could be improved?
  • You’ll have to change out multiple batteries (it takes 8 batteries)
  • With metal siding, the signal transmission has interruptions
Also Product Ranking:

?
Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 5140 people in the past 30 days
9.7
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.2
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.2
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.3
9.7
Features
  • Sensor range:12 feet
  • Sensor type: electromagnetic probe
  • Transmission range: 400 feet
  • Warranty: 1-year warranty and technical support
  • Power source: 2 AA batteries

The Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm is rated as our best electromagnetic probe type and one of the only ones on our review that we deemed worthy enough to note.

Even though it only comes backed by a 1-year warranty, you’ll have access to technical support, ready to help you whenever you need it the most. If you’re looking for a low-cost option with high-tech gear, the Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm is a great choice!

Especially if your neighborhood is more squirrel-infested than ever, you’ll want to try out the electromagnetic type rather than infrared. So, if you want your device to detect vehicles, but not people, the Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm is for you.

When it comes to features, the buried cable that connects the sensor and the transmitter is only 10 feet long—which might be a bit of negative if you have a much bigger space. However, it has a detection range of 12 feet and a transmission of 400 feet, which means that it’s perfect for a smaller home.

Some other good things to know? You’ll need 2 AA batteries for the transmitter and an AC adapter for the receiver.

    What do we love it for?
  • You’ll have the flexibility of transmitter placement
  • You’ll be able to connect to addition sensors
  • You have the advantage of just detecting cars
    What were we disappointed with?
  • Might falsely detect during storms
?
Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 4577 people in the past 30 days
9.4
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.0
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.2
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.9
9.4
3
Easiest to Install Driveway Alarm

Hosmart Driveway Alarm

Features
  • Sensor range: 30 feet
  • Sensor type: passive infrared
  • Transmission range: 1500 feet
  • Warranty: 2 years warranty on parts and workmanship
  • Power source: AC/battery

Coming with a 2-year warranty and a 90-day risk-free offer, the Hosmart Driveway Alarm comes with a variety of different features that place it at the top of our list of best alarms on the market!

With a history of 30 years in outdoor driveway alarm wireless and driveway alert systems, this brand has the honor of killing the game in leading-edge systems technology.

If you’re looking for one of the best wireless driveway alarms, this works with AC and battery, which helps it last much longer than others on the market.

Boasting one of the easiest methods to install, the Hosmart Driveway Alarm comes equipped with everything you need to get it running in a matter of minutes. It even is highly flexible and expandable for being compatible with up to four sensors—and with an unlimited number of receivers.

If you’re looking for complete coverage, the Hosmart Driveway Alarm detects movement from humans, cars, and large animals. You can also choose from four different chimes instead of getting stuck with just one factory setting.

The Hosmart Driveway Alarm also has one of the longest receiving ranges—up to a quarter of a mile! It’s also quite weather-resistant putting you at ease with any worry you may have!

    What makes it special?
  • Quite simple to set up—in a matter of minutes
  • The wireless range is long and strong
    What cons did we find?
  • The sensor range, however, is small
?
Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 6186 people in the past 30 days
9.2
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.0
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
8.9
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.1
9.2
Features
  • Sensor range:30 feet
  • Sensor type: passive infrared
  • Transmission range: 500 feet
  • Warranty: 1 year
  • Power source: battery

Still, want quality even when you’re on a budget? A driveway alarm doesn’t have to break your bank—simply because you want to protect your home against break-ins!

The CWPIR Weatherproof Outdoor Alert System is a fantastic low-cost option for those looking for a secure and sufficient driveway alarm.

Low-cost enough to fit right into your budget but efficient enough to keep you feeling safe, the CWPIR Weatherproof Outdoor Alert System can detect not only when cars but also humans and animals walk within 30 feet of wherever you placed your sensor.

Another easy-to-install device, the CWPIR Weatherproof Outdoor Alert System has a half-mile transmission range, so this can be a great budget option for a larger area.

One of the downfalls, however, is the fact that the alarm chime only comes with one option—a high-pitched alert sound.

The CWPIR Weatherproof Outdoor Alert System is backed by a 1-year warranty and has a transmission range of 500 feet. It runs purely on battery.

    What makes it special?
  • Is completely budget-friendly for those who are looking for a more affordable option
  • Can reach up to half a mile in transmission range
    What cons did we find?
  • The sound is high-pitched and nonadjustable
  • Not that easy to install
?
Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 8603 people in the past 30 days
9.0
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
8.7
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
8.9
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.9
9.0
Features
  • Sensor range: 50 feet
  • Sensor type: passive infrared
  • Transmission range: ¼ mile
  • Warranty: 30-day money-back
  • Power source: solar-powered sensor and need to replace batteries

Coming back with a 30-day money-back guarantee, the Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm System keeps you feeling safe within your own home. Ranked as our Best Solar-Powered Driveway Alarm, this driveway alarm uses a different kind of source, which helps not only keep it working around your home but helps the environment!

With its solar wireless motion sensor, the Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm is run through a built-in rechargeable battery. If you hear solar-powered and you immediately worry about a rainy day, don’t think twice about it! The Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm can actually be completely charged on a rainy day, with no complicated wiring and its easy-to-install nature.

You’ll also feel completely satisfied with its quarter-mile-long wireless transmission range and up to 50 feet wide sensor detection range.

If you want a driveway alarm that can be set anywhere on your property, the Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm is for you! You can even expand out your system for compatibility of up to 32 sensors and unlimited alarm receivers. This allows you to have complete coverage of your property.

    What are its best features?
  • Has a 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Reaches up to 1/4 mile of transmission range
    What could be improved?
  • Might not be powerful enough for some people

Things to Consider

Before you buy the best driveway alarm for your home and the safety of your family, check out these important features to familiarize yourself with what you need to know!
For these safety essential sensitive motion sensors and receivers, you’ll have the utmost knowledge and real-time awareness of what’s going on at or around your house. If you have young children or precious cargo within your home, you will, with no doubt, want to know what’s around and can potentially enter your home or property!
These driveway alarms normally work differently or uniquely from one another. However, most of the products in this market are used with the medium of infrared beams—making the notification easy and message send quickly to your at-home/in-home receiver.
Outgoing movements are also detected—which is quite useful—especially if you’re keeping tabs about a guest getting out of your home safely or watching a pet and making sure they don’t leave your yard!
Knowing the details that differentiate one driveway alarm from another is extremely important—especially if you want an effective product!
From battery warranties to product description details, we’re going to go through the most important features you need to know before you buy and choose your driveway alarm:

Features to consider while choosing driveway alarm

There are a few important features to look out for when you’re on the lookout for a great driveway alarm. Before you buy, inform yourself of the fully-developed features to help protect your family and your home.

Although you may think these details minimal and unimportant in your quest for the perfect driveway alarm, they can either make or break your purchase.

Some features are more important than others for individual cases, so make sure you read the following information to decide which features you need to make sure are in your next driveway alarm:

Sensor Range

As one of the most important features of a driveway alarm, you’ll want to know how far the signal can reach in your driveway. The wireless driveway alarm is not as effective if it can’t actually reach a signal.

The effective range featured here from 12 (Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm) to 50 (Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm System) feet, means that the sensor can be that far away from the receiver—which is the part belongs in the home and alerts you of anything.

A compatibility range can also be an issue—if you plan on expanding your system or want to add extra sensors or receivers.

Transmission

The transmission range is also important—as it declares its maximum range of the driveway alarm—perfectly working under uninterrupted weather conditions. However, normally with wireless products, an actual, physical obstacle can change that maximum transmission range—so it’s important to know that it’s possible that this range can change due to materials like metal, wood, etc.

In our review, we have driveway alarms reaching as little as 400 feet, like the Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm to those reaching as far as a quarter of a mile, like the Htzsafe Solar Driveway Alarm System!

Before you buy, take a quick look at the transmission range.

Power source

From a solar-powered source to batteries, it’s important to know how your driveway alarm functions and what it will take to run most efficiently. With the driveway alarms on this review, you’ll have to look out for rechargeable batteries—which means that you’ll most likely spend some time charging or single-use batteries—which means you’ll have to be investing in quite a few new batteries.

An alternative (to batteries) power source for the driveway alarms can be a solar-powered sensor or an AC adaptor.

Weather resistance

Knowing “weather” or not the driveway alarm can resist various types of weather, being weatherproof or if the weather is on the warranty is definitely something to look into!

Especially if you live in a particularly snowy or rainy area, knowing that your driveway alarm will be able to withstand a downpour or a blizzard is particularly helpful. Especially in weather where your yard might not be very visible to you, you can rely on the driveway alarm to be your eyes and ears, instead!

Minimal size of an object detected

Will you be consistently alerted for the smallest of disturbances on your driveway like front-yard squirrels or a small ball bouncing over from the neighbors’ house? Taking the time to check out the minimum size of an object detected can definitely help you identify which driveway alarm is best for you.

Depending on which type of sensors you have—whether they’re infrared or electromagnetic can also make a difference in the detected objects.

Electromagnetic sensors generally are more expensive because they are more accurate and avoid alerting the user for a simple heat-activated movement in the yard, like that of a leaf, weather or animal.

Infrared sensors, although they can be more affordable, are generally less accurate when it comes to truly sensing and alerting about an intruder.

Before you bring home and install your driveway alarm, you might have a few questions. Instead of scouring the manufacturer’s website or information pamphlet, scan over our most FAQ’s to see if you find that answer here!

To help you choose the best driveway alarm for you and your home, here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions that most customers have:

FAQ

Can several sensors be linked to one receiver?

If you have a bigger yard or outside area, you can most definitely connect several sensors and link them to just one receiver of the house. You might want to consider an installation company for a “project” this big, however, and see if the company offers technical assistance or support. With most, if not all of the wireless driveway alarm systems, you can use multiple transmitters/receivers together. This helps watch multiple entry points on your property. Although there are wireless systems that have limitations on the number of devices, there are normally options that allow for more than one!

Can infrared sensor sensibility be adjusted?

With the investment in passive infrared—here’s how it works: The infrared sensor reads a motion within its area, sending a wireless electronic code at once to the receiver. This infrared sensor then allows for adjustment in angles—which is especially helpful for weather conditions or front yard critters! Since the sensors are normally mounted with the mounting bracket and screws, you can place it as you want so that the objects that are passing through the sensors’ beam area are generally bigger than commonplace objects, like falling leaves. Some sensors have detection immunity against smaller objects.

Which sensor is considered to be better? Electromagnetic or infrared?

In our guide today, we’ve shown you two options to choose from—electromagnetic, like the Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm (FM231) or passive infrared—like the others! Although it truly is up to personal preference, infrared uses detection of heat and motion. Although this can be quite useful, it also detects things like animals, alerting you about something that might not be on your mind! (Of course, if you want to be alerted with animals and other pests, infrared can be a great choice.) On the other hand, magnetic probes or electromagnetic sensors use a magnetic coil to detect moving metal nearby. Normally, these are much more expensive than infrared—because they deliver a more accurate rating, activated only by cars, etc. Will only alarm when a vehicle moves by and are generally more costly than the passive infrared units.

Our verdict

If you’ve decided to skip out on everything we’ve just written, here are the best products in one summary:

The Guardline Wireless Driveway Alarm is our Editor’s Choice for the best driveway alarm. Not only does it come backed by a lifetime warranty, but it’s also compatible with up to 16 sensors, as well as has 30 chimes to choose from so you don’t have to get one, monotone, factory-setting chime.

The Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm (FM231) is our Best Electromagnetic Driveway Alarm, if you’re looking for some high-quality sensors at a budgeted price. Not only does this driveway alarm allow you to have the flexibility of a transmitter placement, but you can also connect to additional sensors and have the advantage of just detecting cars instead of distracting weather or leaves.

The Chamberlain CWPIR Weatherproof Outdoor Alert System is our Budget Pick from all the best driveway alarms out on the market. Fr a completely budget-friendly option, this alarm also can reach up to half a mile in transmission range and comes backed by a 1-year warranty.

We hope that this article has helped you pick out the best driveway alarm to keep you, your family, and your home safe.

9,8
Total Score
Guardline Wireless Driveway Alarm - Editor's Choice
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *