Part of the Costa del Sol security guide
The subscription alarm trick: the real cost nobody tells you about
When a subscription-based alarm company (like Securitas Direct or similar) offers you "free installation", the real cost is hidden in the monthly fees: typically around €30–50 per month depending on the promotion and your area, usually with a 12–24 month lock-in contract. The hardware is normally on loan — if you cancel, the equipment goes back to the company. Over three years, monthly fees alone can add up to more than €1,600, and you still own nothing.
Ajax works the other way round. You pay for the equipment once — it is yours to keep — there is no lock-in contract and no mandatory monthly fee. 24-hour professional monitoring connected to a monitoring centre is optional, with a monthly fee set by the company that provides it. Connecting the alarm to a monitoring centre is an activity regulated by Spain’s Private Security Act 5/2014 that only a registered private security company may provide, and Dartel Solutions is not one: we neither provide nor resell it.
What is Ajax Systems?
Ajax Systems is a company founded in Ukraine in 2011 that manufactures professional-grade wireless alarm systems. In less than a decade it has become a benchmark in Europe: its products comply with the European standard EN 50131 Grade 2 — the level required for residential and small-business installations — and its FIBRA wired range has already achieved Grade 3 certification, the level required for banks, jewellers, and high-security premises.
The fundamental difference from mass-market brands is technology. Ajax uses its own proprietary radio protocol called Jeweller, with bank-grade encryption (AES-128), a range of up to 2,000 metres in open field, and ultra-low power consumption that extends sensor battery life to up to 7 years.
Checker · 40 seconds
Is your system still protecting you?
If you already have cameras or an alarm — ours or another company’s — check whether they are still doing their job.
What is usually going on
Maintenance visit
A technician checks the whole system, tunes it up and tells you what is worth renewing and what is not.
How it works: hub + wireless sensors
The system is built around a central hub to which all devices connect wirelessly. There is no cabling between sensors; only the hub itself needs a power connection.
The Hub: the brain of the system
The most common model for homes and small businesses is the Hub 2 Plus, with four simultaneous communication channels: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and two 4G SIM card slots. If your internet goes down, the hub switches to 4G automatically. If the power is cut, the internal battery keeps the system running for up to 16 hours. Tampering does not work either: any attempt to open, move, or disable the casing triggers an immediate alert.
The Hub supports up to 100 connected devices and multiple users with different permission levels, making it suitable for a 60 m² flat and an industrial unit alike.
Motion detectors
- MotionProtect: standard PIR detector for indoor use, 12 m range, 88° angle. A pet-immune filter is available on the Plus model (up to 50 kg).
- MotionCam: same as MotionProtect but with a built-in camera. When the alarm triggers, it captures a burst of photos delivered instantly to your phone — you can see within seconds whether it is a real intrusion or a false alarm before calling the police.
Door, window and glass sensors
- DoorProtect: magnetic sensor for doors and windows. Detects opening in 0.15 seconds and also senses vibration (impact on the frame or an attempt to saw through it). Battery life up to 7 years.
- GlassProtect: detects glass breakage by sound and vibration simultaneously from a single point, covering the whole room. False alarms from similar sounds (bottles, knocks) are filtered out.
Siren, keypad and remote
- StreetSiren DoubleDeck: outdoor siren at 113 dB with green strobe light, tamper-proof casing, and backup battery. Audible hundreds of metres away; the green colour makes it visually identifiable as Ajax.
- KeyPad Plus: keypad with card reader and key fobs to arm and disarm without picking up your phone. Handy for entrance areas or for people who do not use a smartphone.
- SpaceControl: four-button key fob (full arm, partial arm, disarm, SOS). Fits on a keyring.
Panic button and additional detectors
- Button: wireless panic button that sends a silent alert to users and/or the ARC. Useful in businesses with a till, for elderly people living alone, or in any situation requiring a discreet emergency signal.
- LeaksProtect: flood detector for bathrooms, kitchens, or utility rooms. Battery-free: runs on induction.
- FireProtect: smoke and temperature detector for fire protection, fully integrated into the same system.
Connectivity: why Ajax has no single point of failure
One of the most common concerns about wireless alarms is: "what if my Wi-Fi or power gets cut?" With Ajax that question has a concrete answer:
- Internet outage: the Hub switches automatically from Ethernet to 4G without interruption.
- Power cut: the internal battery keeps the system active for up to 16 hours.
- Radio interference: the Jeweller protocol detects jamming attempts and generates a specific alert.
- Physical tampering: any unauthorised opening of the Hub or sensors triggers an immediate alert.
For larger installations or premises with structural obstacles, the ReX signal repeater extends coverage without the need to run any cables.
The Ajax app: full control from your phone
The official app (iOS and Android, free) is the complete control panel for your system. From it you can:
- Arm and disarm by zone: for example, activate only the ground floor at night while you sleep upstairs.
- See the real-time status of every sensor: remaining battery, signal level, ambient temperature.
- Receive instant push notifications, SMS, or a phone call for any event.
- Review the event history: who armed the system, who disarmed it, and when.
- Add users with different permissions: a tenant who can only arm and disarm, an employee with access to certain zones.
- View MotionCam photos instantly when an alert is triggered.
Is there a monthly fee or not? The honest answer
The short answer: Ajax has no mandatory monthly fee to operate. The app receives alerts directly. However, if you want 24-hour professional monitoring — where an alarm receiving centre calls the police or dispatches a guard if you do not respond — that does have a cost: it is provided by a certified ARC, independent of Ajax, with a monthly fee set by the security company that provides it. It is an optional add-on you choose if you need it, not a condition imposed by the manufacturer.
That said, many Ajax users in private homes do not sign up for ARC monitoring: direct push notifications on their phone and an outdoor siren are sufficient deterrence. For businesses, or when you want the maximum legal record of any incident (an official alert logged with the police), an ARC adds a meaningful extra layer of protection.
Ajax compared with subscription alarm providers
| Aspect | Ajax (independent installer) | Securitas Direct / Prosegur |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None (ARC optional) | Mandatory, approx. €30–50/month |
| Lock-in contract | No lock-in | Typically 12–24 months |
| Do you own the hardware? | Yes, from day one | No, on loan or lease |
| App control | Full (real-time status, photos, zones) | Limited depending on contract |
| Installer | Free choice (any certified company) | Tied to the provider's own installers |
| Total cost over 3 years | One-off payment (hardware + installation), approx. | €1,080–1,800 in monthly fees alone |
Fee figures are approximate for 2026 in Spain and vary by area, promotion, and type of installation. Either way, the structural difference does not change: with Ajax the cost is a one-off and the hardware is yours.
Security grade: does it comply with Spanish regulations?
In Spain, the Private Security Act and its regulations require that systems connected to an ARC comply with the European standard EN 50131. The Ajax wireless range is certified at Grade 2, the level required for standard homes and businesses. The wired FIBRA range has already achieved Grade 3 for high-security installations.
This means that if you connect an Ajax installation to an ARC, the connection is fully legal, certified, and recognised by the security forces.
Why we at Dartel choose Ajax for our clients
We install security systems in Málaga and the Costa del Sol, and we have completed more than 350 installations. Over that time we have worked with brands across every price range. We choose Ajax for concrete reasons, not for marketing:
- Fewer false alarms. Jeweller technology with dual verification dramatically reduces spurious alerts. With our installations, clients call us far less to ask "what happened?" when nothing actually has.
- The client controls their own system. The app is clear and clients always know what is happening. They do not need to call us to check whether their alarm is active.
- Resilient to power cuts and tampering. In holiday home areas — common on the Costa del Sol — a system that keeps working through power and internet outages makes a real difference.
- Hardware built to last. Sensor batteries last up to 7 years. Fewer maintenance visits, lower ongoing cost for the client.
- Flexible. It can be installed as a standalone alarm for those who want basic protection, or connected to an ARC for those who want professional monitoring. The same hardware covers both scenarios.
We are Ajax distributors and installers in Málaga. That means we handle both the supply of the equipment and the installation in a single step, with a guarantee covering both the hardware and the work carried out.
Do I need a professional installer for an Ajax system?
For a private home that will not be connected to an ARC, Spanish law does not require a certified installer. However, the correct placement of sensors (height, angles, blind spots, radio coverage) makes all the difference between a system that works and one that fails at the critical moment. A poorly positioned motion detector can leave half the room unprotected.
If you want to connect your alarm to an ARC (alarm monitoring centre) so it can alert the police, that service must be managed by a private security company certified by the Directorate General of Police. At Dartel we install and configure your Ajax equipment. See our security service. If you want firm prices: the Ajax Hub 2 control panel is where almost every installation of ours starts, and the motion detector with an HDR camera is the one that sends photos of whatever set the alarm off.
In the shop: Ajax alarm hubs · indoor detectors · Ajax accessories
The Ajax equipment is yours. Move house, take it with you. Guide figures for the hardware and the installation of a home are kept up to date in our 2026 price guide.
What do I lose without a monthly fee?
You lose having operators verify the alarm and call the police for you. With Ajax the system alerts you on your phone, with a photo or video from the detector, and you decide.
Connecting the alarm to a monitoring centre is an activity regulated by Spain’s Private Security Act 5/2014 that only a registered private security company may provide, and Dartel Solutions is not one: we neither provide nor resell it. What we install alerts your phone and the phones of the people you add.
If you want that service later on, you hire it separately from a registered private security company, with a monthly fee that company sets. It is an add-on you take if you need it, not a condition set by the manufacturer or anything that depends on us.
Is it legal to connect an Ajax alarm to a monitoring centre in Spain?
Yes, as long as the system is Grade 2 or higher under the EN 50131 standard and its conformity has been assessed by an accredited conformity assessment body in the European Union. That is what Order INT/316/2011 requires, within the framework of Private Security Act 5/2014.
The Ajax systems we install meet Grade 2, so they qualify; an ungraded kit from a marketplace cannot sit behind a monitoring centre. The monitoring contract is signed by you, directly with the registered private security company that provides it.
What about signal jammers?
Signal jammers are illegal in Spain: manufacturing, selling, installing, holding or using one is a very serious infringement of the General Telecommunications Act 11/2022 (article 76). Against them, Ajax does not rely on a single channel: the devices talk to the hub over its own Jeweller radio, and the hub reaches the internet over Ethernet, Wi-Fi or a 4G SIM depending on the model, so there is more than one route for an alert.
On top of that, the Jeweller protocol detects jamming attempts and raises a specific alert in the app. We do not quote protection percentages, because no manufacturer publishes them.
Who is each option for?
- Ajax, no fee: second homes, holiday rentals, small businesses, anyone who wants to own their equipment and their data.
- Subscription alarm: anyone who prefers not to manage anything and accepts a contract term and a monthly fee for years.
We go through it case by case in monitored alarm or phone alerts? and in which alarm for a holiday rental.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Ajax alarm have a monthly fee?
It has no compulsory monthly fee to work: you buy the equipment once, it is yours for good and the app receives the alerts directly. The difference with operator alarms (Securitas Direct, Prosegur) is fundamental: those run around 30-50 €/month with a lock-in and the hardware is usually rented; over three years you can end up paying more than 1,600 € in fees alone.
What happens if my power or internet is cut?
The system keeps working. The Hub 2 Plus has four communication channels (Ethernet, Wi-Fi and two 4G SIMs): if the fibre goes down, it switches automatically to 4G mobile data. If the power is cut, the internal battery keeps the system running for up to 16 hours. And any attempt to open or tamper with the hub or the sensors triggers an immediate alert.
Does Ajax meet Spanish regulations?
Yes. In Spain, systems connected to an Alarm Receiving Centre must comply with the European EN 50131 standard. The Ajax wireless range is certified Grade 2, the level required for standard homes and businesses, and the wired FIBRA range has achieved Grade 3 for high security. That connection is optional and is an activity regulated by Spain’s Private Security Act 5/2014 that only a registered private security company may provide, and Dartel Solutions is not one: we neither provide nor resell it.
Do I need to hire an alarm monitoring centre (ARC)?
It is not compulsory. Many users in private homes do not hire an ARC: direct notifications to the phone and the outdoor siren are enough as a deterrent. If you want 24-hour professional monitoring —an ARC that calls the police if you do not answer— it is provided by an approved ARC, independent of Ajax, with a monthly fee set by the security company that provides it. It is an add-on you hire if you need it, not a condition set by the manufacturer.
How long do the sensor batteries last?
Up to 7 years. Ajax uses its own radio protocol, Jeweller, with bank-grade encryption (AES-128), a range of up to 2,000 metres in open field and ultra-low power draw that greatly extends battery life. That means fewer maintenance visits and lower cost for the customer.
Does the Ajax alarm have a contract term?
No. You buy the equipment once and it is yours; there is no contract term on the equipment.
How long does an Ajax installation take?
A typical flat or house is done in a day. Beforehand, we visit to assess the system.
Can I start without a monitoring centre and add it later?
Yes. Connecting to a monitoring centre is optional and you hire it separately whenever you want, from a registered private security company. The Ajax equipment works from day one alerting your phone, and adding that connection later does not mean changing the system.
Are signal jammers legal in Spain?
No. Manufacturing, selling, installing, holding or using a jammer is a very serious infringement of the General Telecommunications Act 11/2022 (article 76). Ajax communicates over its own Jeweller radio and the hub reaches the internet over Ethernet, Wi-Fi or a 4G SIM depending on the model, so there is more than one route for an alert, and the protocol detects jamming attempts and raises a specific alert.
Ajax alarm quote for your home or business on the Costa del Sol
We work out the exact equipment list based on your floor plan and layout. No hidden monthly fee, no lock-in contract. Professional installation with guarantee across the Costa del Sol.
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