Protect America vs Nest Secure: An Expert Comparison
Today we will be comparing home security providers Protect America and Nest Secure, and see how they stack up! We’ll go over equipment, monitoring plans, and more!
Owning a home is a really great feeling. One of the most important steps to take as a homeowner is to make sure your home has some sort of security system. Home security systems are great at keeping your home safe, and can save you thousands of dollars in lost property. There are a lot of great security products out on the market that you can use to keep your home and family safe from home invaders. Today we will look at and compare what Protect America and Nest have to offer.
Protect America Control Panel
Protect America offers a great control panel that has a ton of features that they use as the central component of their security system. They offer a premium super thin 7-inch touchscreen control panel. Their control panel is cellular, and can stream your security data at LTE speeds. Protect America’s control also allows you to connect it to your home’s WIFI network as a backup connection, but isn’t a requirement for your control panel to work. Their control panel is powered by an AC power source, but it does include a 24-hour backup battery just in case your power goes out. All of the functions of Protect America’s security system and any connected devices can be controlled right from its touchscreen. It has a built-in 5 MP front facing camera that can take snapshots, and a Micro SD card slot for storage of your snap shots. Protect America’s control includes built in monition sensors and a glass break sensor which are normally sensors that you have to buy separately. It has a Z-wave protocol that allows you to connect smart home automations devices and control them from one it. It has Bluetooth arming and disarming which is a feature that will automatically arm your system when you leave home and disarm your system when you return home.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option, our home security system at Link Interactive >>
Nest Secure Control Panel
Nest started off being well known for their security cameras but their product line has exploded over the years, and now they even make a home security system. Their security system is known as the Nest Secure. They call their control panel the Nest Guard which has some really standout features. It is a wireless control panel that works by connecting directly to your home’s WIFI network, but you do have the option to add a cellular chip. The Nest Guard has a really great compact design making it easy to place. It has a push-button keypad connected to the top of it that allows you to create custom user codes for different uses, and it allows for quick arming and disarming of your Nest Secure system. One really cool feature of the Nest Guard is that it has a built-in motion sensor that will trigger your system if motion is detected around it. The Nest Guard has a backup battery that will last up to 12 hours so it will work even if your power is out. The Nest Guard includes a built-in indicator light that will change color to show different system statuses along with chimes alerts for system status and triggering of connected devices. If your Nest Secure system is triggered it will sound its 85-decibel internal siren. The Nest Guard is really expandable and will work with Z-Wave enabled devices.
See our cutting-edge control panel by Qolsys >>
Who wins?
The control panel offered by Nest for their Nest Secure and the control panel offered by Protect America have some really unique features. We like the fact that both of these sensors have built-in motion sensors. Protect America’s control panel however does have more features than that of the Nest Guard, and we really like the fact it has both a built-in camera and a glass break sensor. Because Protect America’s control panel has more features than that of the Nest Guard, we are choosing them as our winners for this category.
Protect America Equipment
Protect America offers wireless and battery-operated intrusion and environmental safety sensors. To protect the interior of your home, Protect America entryway sensors that are built to last. They offer a regular door/window sensor and a thin door/window sensor. Their door/window sensors will trigger your system if a door/window has been opened. Their motion sensors can detect motion in large areas of your home without the need to buy extra sensors. Their glass break sensor will listen for the sound of breaking glass, and will trigger your system if this sound is heard. To keep your home safe from environmental dangers, Protect America offers smoke/heat, CO2, and water leak sensors. These environmental sensors will make audible alerts if rises in smoke, heat, CO2, or if water leaks/floods occur. Protect America also offers extra keypads, key remotes, and sirens. Their key remotes will allow you to quickly arm and disarm your system with a push of a button, and they include a built-in panic button. All equipment offered by Protect America is DIY (do it yourself) which means that you will need to set up all the equipment yourself, but it is super easy to do.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive >>
Home Automation
Protect America has a ton of add on equipment that you can use right alongside your basic equipment. Protect America offers several different brands of smart locks for you to choose from like August. You can create custom user codes that can be enabled and disabled at any time while controlling them on the go. You will receive push notifications for when your smart locks have been locked and unlocked. If your home has garage doors, Protect America offers an easy to use garage door controller. Their garage door controller will allow you to remotely shut and open your garage doors. You will get alerts for when your garage door has been opened or shut as well through the Protect America app. Protect America has several smart home devices that can help you turn your home to be more environmentally friendly. They offer a few types of smart thermostats, a smart outlet, and light switch control. These devices can be controlled remotely through the Protect America app, and you can set custom timers for when they come on and go off. Their smart thermostats are really great at cutting down on your home's energy consumption per month which can save you money.
Video Monitoring/Cameras
Protect America also has a nice selection of video surveillance cameras you can use with their system as well. They offer an indoor, outdoor, and video doorbell camera. These cameras include night vision, 2-way audio, motion sensors, and the ability to record video in HD. Protect America’s video surveillance cameras work by connecting wirelessly to your home’s WIFI network.
Recommended: See all of our Alarm.com powered video monitoring options at Link Interactive >>
Nest Secure Equipment
The Nest Secure doesn’t have a lot of components to its security system. The sensors they do offer are high tech, battery-operated, and wireless. Nest Secure’s main entryway sensor is called the Nest Detect. The Nest Detect is a combo door/window and motion sensor built into one sensor. The Nest Detect will inform you when your door/windows have been opened while also being able to monitor for any motion in the area it is placed. Another way to arm and disarm your system is the Nest Tag. This RFID Tag that is wireless and battery-operated that allows you to arm and disarm your system by tapping it near or on the Nest Guard. Nest currently only offers one environmental safety sensor which is called the Nest Protect. The Nest Protect is a wireless and battery-operated sensor that will monitor for dangerous rises in smoke or CO gas. If these are detected it will make an audible alert. It also includes a light up feature that will illuminate an area in which it is placed. All equipment offered by Nest is DIY, but they do include a step by step setup guide.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive >>
Home Automation
Nest has partnered with a lot of great companies over the years which is reflected in their premium selection of addon equipment. Today we will only be going over a few of these devices, for a more complete list of addon equipment you can use with your Nest Secure, you can visit their website. Nest has partnered up with Yale to produce the Nest X Yale Lock. This smart lock has a touch-screen keypad that illuminates and allows for one touch locking. You can create custom user codes for your Nest X Yale Lock that can be enabled and disabled at any time. It is powered by 4 double A batteries so you don’t have to worry about having an existing doorbell wiring for it to work. It connects to your home’s WIFI network wirelessly and can be controlled through the Nest app. To make your home greener, Nest offers their smart thermostats. The Nest Learning Thermostat is our favorite. This thermostat is powered by a rechargeable battery, and it works by connecting to your home’s WIFI network. The Nest Learning Thermostat comes with temperature sensors that can be placed in different rooms around your home. These temperature sensors will learn your home’s temperature and automatically adjust to your preferred temperature setting while also making sure you are saving energy on your home’s energy consumption per month. You can also remotely control the Nest Learn Thermostat through the Nest app. The Nest secure system also works with smart bulbs and switches such Phillips and GE.
Monitoring/Cameras
When it comes to video surveillance equipment, Nest has a huge variety. They offer indoor, outdoor, video doorbell, and other varieties of video surveillance equipment. Generally, their video surveillance cameras can capture video in HD, have advanced motion sensors and advanced night vision, and include 2-way audio.
Recommended: See all of our Alarm.com powered video monitoring options at Link Interactive >>
Who wins?
There is a distinct difference between the selection of basic equipment offered by Protect America and that offered for the Nest Secure. The Nest Secure is limited with its basic equipment, but the Nest Detect is pretty neat in the fact that it is a door/window sensor and a motion sensor built-in to one. Protect America offers a huge selection of basic equipment including a couple of different types of door/window sensors. Due to Protect America having a larger selection than what is offered for the Nest Secure, we are giving them the win for this category.
Protect America and Nest offer a lot of great add-on equipment that works with their systems. We really like the variety of smart locks offered by Protect America with the August lock they offer being a well-made brand of smart lock. Nest offers a ton of video surveillance equipment, and their learning thermostat is a great money saving device. This category was a close one to call, but we are giving the win to Nest for this category due to their home automation equipment’s advanced features, and the fact they have a larger selection of video surveillance equipment.
Protect America vs Nest Secure App
Protect America and Nest offer professional, self, and video monitoring services. Their self-monitoring services are done through their apps which are free to download and work for Apple and Android devices. Their apps allow you to remotely control your system along with connected devices including arming/disarming your system, add/remove devices, and instant notifications for events. The app offered by Protect America is a bit more detailed, and has features like Geo-Fencing technology. However, the Nest app is free to use while Protect America has a month to month fee to use their app. Their self-monitoring services work the same in where you have a 24/7 professional monitoring station watching over your home, but to get the service with the Nest Secure system you will need to go through Brinks Home Security (another top security provider). Both Protect America’s and Nest’s video monitoring services are done through their apps where you can stream live and recorded video. The Nest Secure system is contract free (unless you go to Brinks) which means you will pay for all your equipment up front while Protect America offers flexible contracts so that you do not have to pay for your equipment all upfront.
Recommended: Check out Link Interactive. With Link Interactive you’ll get the Alarm.com app (the gold standard in home security), and top of the line security equipment at great affordable prices. See details >>
Protect America vs Nest Secure vs Link Interactive
Protect America and Nest offer some really well-made security systems and products. Nest offers their Nest Secure which is compacted, easy to use, and super expandable. Protect America’s control panel is next level, and has a lot of features that other control panels don’t have. Because Protect America has the better control panel with more basic security equipment than Nest, we are choosing them as our overall winners.
Recommended Alternative: Link Interactive
If you want to pay less without skimping on features and quality of service, take a look at the Link Interactive home alarm system.
Link Interactive and Protect America are very similar in terms of equipment and monitoring services. At Link we offer a more feature-laden control panel in the the Qolsys IQ 2 Panel, complete with Alarm.com self-monitoring and third-party 24/7 professional monitoring. We also offer cutting-edge video monitoring services and cameras, all at a much better price point than Protect America.
We have thousands of 5-star reviews on various reputable third party review sites complimenting our awesome after-sales support! We encourage you take a look at our offer here, get a quote and compare. You can also call us direct at 1-877-826-5443 for further details and speak with a rep!
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