Today we will be comparing home security providers Protect America and Abode, and see how they stack up! We’ll go over equipment, monitoring plans, and more!
Owning a home security system is the perfect way to keep your family and the things you care about safe from home invaders. During the summer months, home invasion crimes tend to rise due to the fact that home owners tend to spend more time away from their primary residences. Today we will start to take a look at and compare what Protect America and Abode have to offer when it comes to a security solution that fits your specific needs.
Protect America Control Panel
Protect America has a really nice 7-inch full colored touchscreen that is the main brain of your Protect America security system. Their full colored touchscreen transmits your data via an LTE cellular signal, but it also connects to your home’s WIFI as an extra connection. It is powered by an AC power source so you will want to have one nearby. If your power does go out, Protect America’s control panel includes a 24-hour backup battery. All of the features of your control panel, system, and any connected devices can be controlled right from the Protect America’s 7-inch full colored touchscreen including arming and disarming your system. The touchscreen will also display your local time and temperature. This control includes a 5mp front facing camera that can take snapshots of when your system is being armed and disarmed. You can store your pictures on an SD card due to Protect America’s control panel including a Micro SD slot. It has a built-in glass break sensor and motion sensors. Its glass break sensor will listen for the sound of breaking glass while its motion sensors will look for motion around it. If your system or any connected devices are triggered, Protect America’s control panel will sound its internal siren. Protect America’s control panel is super expandable and it includes a Z-wave protocol that lets you use lots of great home automation devices with it. One really cool feature of Protect America’s control panel is its Bluetooth arming and disarming which is a feature that will automatically arm and disarm your system when you leave or return home.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option, our home security system at Link Interactive »
Abode Control Panel
Abode has a really neat designed control hub called the Abode iota. The Abode iota looks a lot like a small computer tower making it easy to place, and it works by connecting to your home’s WIFI network. It includes a 4G Sim Card that can be activated so that your security data is also sent via a cellular signal. The Abode iota is powered by an AC power source, and it includes a backup battery just in case your power goes out. The Abode iota includes an HD front facing camera that can capture and stream video in 1080p HD. The Abode iota includes built-in motion sensors that will trigger your system if motion is detected around the iota. The Abode iota is controlled through either the Abode app, key fob (it’s included), or through a push-button keypad. It’s super expandable as well, and you can add up to 160 devices to your iota, and it has a built-in Z-wave protocol that allows you to use lots of great home automation devices with it. It has a 2-way audio feature that lets you directly communicate with your central monitoring station during an emergency. It includes a 93-decibel internal siren that will be triggered if you Abode security system or connected devices detect an event. The Abode iota includes smash and crash protection which means even if an intruder damages it during a home invasion, it will still transmit a signal to your central monitoring station.
See our cutting-edge control panel by Qolsys »
Who wins?
Protect America’s and Abode’s control panels are quite different from one another. We really like the fact that Protect America’s control panel has a built-in glass break sensor due it being a really rare feature. Their touchscreen control panel is also really easy to use, and it is packed full of features. We really like that the Abode iota includes a 1080p HD camera which is another rare feature for a security control panel to have. However, due to the fact that you can control your system and devices completely through Protect America’s control panel and have to use a separate keypad for the Abode iota, we are choosing Protect America 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 offers different styles of door/window sensors, a motion sensor, and a glass break sensor. To keep your home safe from environmental dangers, Protect America offers smoke/heat, CO, and water leak sensors. These environmental sensors will make audible alerts if their designed environmental factor is detected while triggering your system. Protect America also offers extra keypads, key remotes, sirens, etc. All equipment offered by Protect America is DIY (do it yourself), but they walk through the setup process for a fast and easy installation.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive »
Home Automation
Protect America has a really nice selection of add-on equipment that you can use with their system. Protect America offers several different brands of smart locks for you to choose from. The basic functions of the different smart locks are the same in where you can create custom user codes that can be enabled and disabled at any time. You can also unlock any smart lock purchased through Protect America through their app as well as receive push notifications for when your smart locks have been locked and unlocked. If your home has garage doors, Protect America offers the Linear Garage Door Controller. This controller will allow you to remotely shut and open your garage doors, and you will get alerts for when your garage door has been opened or shut. Protect America has several smart home devices to make your home greener. 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. Smart thermostats, in particular, are really great at cutting down on your homes 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 »
Abode Equipment
Abode is constantly expanding their basic equipment line, and they offer wireless and battery-operated sensors to keep your home safe from home invaders and the elements. They offer several different types of glass break sensors, door/window sensors, and even motion sensors which is pretty unique seeing that most companies only offer one type of glass break and motion sensor. They also offer keypads, key fobs, and panic buttons as ways for you to quickly arm/disarm your system and contact emergency services. They have a few different external sirens for you to choose from including an external siren with a strobe light. A unique sensor that the Abode has is their multi sensor which can detect changes in light and humidity. To keep your home safe from environmental dangers, Abode offers smoke, water, and CO2 detectors. These sensors will make audible alerts if rises in smoke, water, or CO2 gas are detected while triggering your system. All equipment offered by Abode is DIY, but they do include a step by step setup guide making installation super easy.
Recommended: An alternative DIY (do-it-yourself) option called Link Interactive »
Home Automation
Abode is still expanding their add-on equipment, and they seem to release new products frequently. They only offer a smart outlet as of now for their only piece of home automation equipment, but do remember that you can use other branded home automation devices with your Abode iota such as Yale Smart locks which are some really highly rated smart locks. Their smart outlet plugs directly into your existing outlet, and it will allow you to set custom timers for when the power comes and goes off. You can plug small appliances into your Abode smart plug and you can remotely control the Abode smart outlet through the Abode app. You also have the option to use other branded smart bulbs, smart thermostats, light controls, etc. with you Abode iota.
Monitoring/Cameras
They do offer some video surveillance cameras that you can use with your Abode security system. They offer a wide-angle motion camera that will take snap shops when motion is detected. They offer an indoor camera that is wireless and is powered by an AC power source. It can stream and record video in 1080P and comes with night vision technology. It has a 2-way audio feature that allows you to directly communicate with whomever is around your indoor camera. Abode also offers an outdoor smart camera. It has the same features as their indoor camera, but includes night vision and can be converted/used as a doorbell camera due to its design, and its ability that allows you to create custom chime sounds.
Recommended: See all of our Alarm.com powered video monitoring options at Link Interactive »
Who wins?
Both Protect America and Abode offer a great selection of basic equipment. They both offer wireless and battery-operated intrusion and environmental safety sensors. They also both offer different versions for door/window sensors. However, Abode has a much larger selection of basic equipment for you to use with their system than that of Protect America, and for this reason we are choosing them as our winners for this category.
There is a big difference between the selection of add-on equipment Protect America offers and the add-on equipment that Abode offers. Protect America has a ton of home automation equipment you can choose from while Abode only offers a smart outlet that you can buy directly from them. Abode does have a really nice outdoor camera, but Protect America offers a video doorbell camera which Abode doesn’t offer. Due to Protect America having the better and larger selection of add-on equipment than that of Abode, we are choosing them as our winners for this category.
Protect America vs Abode App
Protect America and Abode offer professional, self, and video monitoring services. Their self-monitoring services are done through their apps. You can download their apps for your smartphone, and they will work for Apple and Android devices. Their apps allow you remote control of your security system and connected devices. You can stream live video, customize system settings/features, add/remove devices, and receive push-notifications for events all through their apps. However, Protect America’s app is powered by Alarm.com which means you will have more features like Geo-fencing services as well as more home automation control. Their professional monitoring services work the same in where you have a 24/7 professional monitoring station watching over your home for emergencies. They month to month monitoring costs differ greatly, with Abode offering extra cheap month to month monitoring services fees without contracts while Protect America month to month monitoring services fees are higher (but with more features), and do require a contract which means you will not have to pay so much for your equipment upfront. Due to Abode not offering contracts, you will need to pay for all your equipment 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 Abode vs Link Interactive
Protect America and Abode are really great security providers, and we really like their customizable security solutions. Abode offers the iota which has a built in HD camera which is pretty rare in the home security world. Protect America offers a 7-inch full colored touchscreen that is packed full of features, and really easy to use. Protect America also has a ton of add-on equipment for you to choose from which really allows you to expand your system. Because Protect America has a nicer control panel along with more addon equipment than that of Abode, 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!