Gabe Turner: Hey, folks!
This is Gabe at Security Baron and today we're looking at two masters of the home security
domain, ADT and Protect America.
[music]
Gabe: In today's comparison of ADT and Protect America, I'll be looking at their key similarities,
key differences, installation processes, professional monitoring options, customer support, and
mobile applications, so that you have what you need to make the right decision.
If you want to see a list of our favorite home security systems, Google "Security Baron
best home security systems."
If you have a question about today's comparison, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.
Let's begin our comparison of ADT and Protect America with the key similarities.
ADT and Protect America both require you to install their systems yourself.
You're going to do do-it-yourself installation with both Protect America and ADT.
Another thing they have in common is the professional monitoring is a requirement.
With both ADT and Protect America, you're going to have professional monitoring.
Finally it's the contracts.
Both ADT and Protect America require you to sign, at the very least, three-year contracts
with them as home security companies.
Pivoting from some of the similarities between ADT and Protect America, I wanted to focus
on one key difference between the two companies and that's the professional monitoring service.
They both have professional monitoring, but the way you pay for it is a bit different.
With Protect America, you actually get the professional monitoring thrown in with payment
of the system.
However, if you want cellular backup, you have to pay a monthly price for that.
At Security Baron, we're under the belief that everyone should have cellular backup,
just in case something happens with your power line, or your Ethernet cable, and you need
to get that necessary information out.
The cellular backup is important.
With ADT, it's the opposite.
You pay for the professional monitoring, but the cellular backup is thrown in.
You basically get the same functionality out of both systems with their monthly subscription,
but the technical way that you're paying for it is different.
We're moving to our first element of comparison between ADT and Protect America and that is
the installation process.
ADT and Protect America are both DIY installation, so get ready to use your hands.
On top of that, each of these systems is highly customizable.
You can add smart locks and garage door openers.
For the purposes of today's comparison, we're going to focus on these core components of
the hub, keypad, entry sensors, motion detectors, and finally, that indoor security camera.
Beginning with ADT, the installation process is pretty straightforward.
You're going to grab your box, take out your hub, you get your ADT Pulse app, and get to
work.
What's great about it is that all of those components are preprogrammed with your hub.
It's a straightforward process of setting it up.
You'll take out your door sensor, put it in your door frame.
You'll take out your motion detector, put it in the corner of your room.
Finally, you'll get to your indoor security camera and begin to set it up.
Because the ADT camera is actually manufactured by Alarm.com, it was a bit of a process to
set that up, and definitely took the longest of any of the components.
However, I found it pretty easy once I just decided to use my computer to set up that
indoor security camera.
With Protect America, it's very similar.
Your pieces all come together in a box.
The distinction is that you have to be on the phone with Protect America to set it up.
Honestly, it really did facilitate that process.
It was pretty straightforward.
Take out my hub.
Got my pieces together.
I was on the phone with the very knowledgeable and friendly customer service agent.
I went to my door frame, as instructed, put that up.
Put up my motion detector in the same manner, and finally, my indoor security camera.
What was interesting -- something I didn't note on the phone with the rep -- was that
the field of view for the Protect America camera is only 60 degrees.
You have to be very careful about where you place that in your room because you want it
to capture as much as possible with such a limited field of view.
That's just a little note I made about the installation process is that you have to be
cognizant of that.
When it comes to choosing a winner between ADT and Protect America for the installation
process, I hate to say that it's going to be dependent on you and what you'd rather
experience.
Do you want to be listening to music while you set up the ADT system?
Are you OK with having a little bit of a speakerphone call with the Protect America representative
as they walk you through the process?
Each of them is pretty simple and straightforward, but they do require different levels of concentration
and interaction.
When it comes to choosing a winner between ADT and Protect America, we actually call
it a draw.
Moving on from that installation, the next element of comparison between ADT and Protect
America is going to be professional monitoring options.
With Protect America, you actually have the professional monitoring thrown in with the
rest of the system.
However, you're going to have to pay for that cellular backup and it's going to be between
$20 and $60 depending on the equipment that you have and your own needs.
With the ADT system, you pay for the professional monitoring and that also is going to be between
$28 and $60, but you have the cellular backup thrown in.
For the same functionality, and I mean, complete functionality of Protect America and ADT,
you are paying around the same thing.
When it comes to contracts, once again, we find a lot of similarities between ADT and
Protect America.
You have to get a three-year contract with both companies, that's it.
No month to month.
No other options.
It's going to be three-year contract for both ADT and Protect America.
When it comes to the moving policies, once again, we have a lot of similarities in that
for both of them, it's free.
It's do-it-yourself installation.
You just pick up and go.
Install it in your new home, in your new apartment, and you're ready to go.
Just make sure you update ADT and Protect America with your new address so they can
make the proper arrangements to get the necessary authorities to your home, in the case of some
type of emergency.
You're thinking, "Hey, which is the top system here when it comes to professional monitoring
services?"
It's a toss-up.
I can't tell you one or the other because they are basically the same in terms of what
they offer, how they offer it, and what they do when you move around.
It's a draw for ADT and Protect America for professional monitoring services.
The next element of comparison between ADT and Protect America is that all-important
customer support.
Both companies offer online knowledge centers, customer support lines, live chat.
With ADT, you could even turn it into a video chat if you really want to show them something
as you're getting some help.
With ADT, however, the numbers aren't so great.
It's got a 2.5 rating on Google and the customer support ratings reflect that overall 2.5.
On a personal note, our experiences with ADT, had us being passed from person to person
over the phone.
It was like a customer support CrowdSurf.
I do want to mention we had a better experience interacting with the live chat options.
I guess, it's a bit of a mixed bag.
Protect America, on the other hand, has a much higher rating with four stars out of
five on Google.
Personally, we also had a really positive experience.
From the reviews that we've read that mention customer support, other people had that same
experience.
When it comes to picking a top system for customer support, it's really easy here to
go with Protect America for their superior numerical and even anecdotal advantage when
it comes to customer reviews.
Hold on.
Quick question.
I was wondering how do you prefer to communicate with your home security company.
Do you like the live chat option or do you just want to get on the phone with a real
live person?
I'd love to hear your thoughts below, leave us a comment.
All right, let's get back to the video.
The final element of comparison for us today here with ADT and Protect America is that
mobile application.
Many of you will be using their mobile applications to interface with your home security system.
It's important that your mobile app allows you to control every element of it.
When it comes to ADT, it's fitting the bill.
In the Apple App Store, it gets 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is tremendous, and 3.9 out
of 5 stars in the Android Play Store.
People just seemed to really enjoy the mobile app experience with ADT.
Protect America is not doing as well.
iPhone users gave it a 2.4 out of 5 stars in the Apple App Store and a 3.1 out of 5
stars in the Android Play Store.
That 2.4 probably stems from the fact that a lot of iPhone users said that they were
having difficulty connecting the mobile app to their system, in general, which is a serious
cause of concern for us here at Security Baron.
When it comes to choosing a winner on the mobile application side of things, it's clearly
ADT.
They're doing really well when it comes to their mobile application.
Let's do a recap of all the elements we've compared today between ADT and Protect America.
Installation, this was a toss-up between ADT and Protect America.
They're both do-it-yourself installation processes, but Protect America does require you to be
on the phone with the customer service representative.
Professional monitoring, this was a draw between ADT and Protect America.
For the same number of features, it basically cost the same amount of money for your professional
monitoring services, even though Protect America's professional monitoring is technically free.
Customer support, the win here goes to Protect America.
Not only do they have a numerical advantage with their 4.0 Google rating, but we also,
anecdotally, had a better experience on the phone with Protect America.
Mobile application, ADT wins easily here because they have far superior ratings in the App
Store and Google Play Store for their mobile application.
We've come a long way in our comparison of ADT and Protect America and we've got a split
decision on our hands.
They do pretty well in terms of installation and professional monitoring.
One not really outmaneuvering the other, until we got to customer support.
Here, Protect America was the clear winner with its four out of five stars.
Even anecdotal, we had a better experience with Protect America.
However, the opposite is true when it comes to that mobile application where ADT takes
the cake.
They do much better numerically, in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Just something to keep in mind, really, when you're thinking about your decision.
What do you think of yourself as -- a customer support person or someone who's going to be
very much centered on their mobile application experience?
Because that's really what's going to be the main difference between both of these systems.
When it comes to looking at a clear winner between ADT and Protect America, it's going
to come down to your personal preferences.
That concludes our comparison of ADT and Protect America.
If you appreciated today's video, please give us a like and hit that subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Baron.
Be secured.