ADT vs Brinks Home Security: An Expert Comparison
In this post we will be comparing ADT with Brinks Home Security and see which alarm company comes out on top. We will also look into other home security alternatives.
You may be one of the thousands of homeowners across the United States currently shopping around for home security. There are a lot of factors to take in consideration when picking a security company as your provider. You want to make sure that the equipment and monitoring services they offer fit your specific security needs. You also may be wanting to include some smart home and video surveillance equipment into your security system so you will also want to check out how expandable the system you are looking at is.
ADT and Brinks Home Security are one of top providers of home security across the United States, and its important for you to look at the factors just mentioned.
ADT Control Panel
ADT is a trusted provider of home security. If you have been shopping around for home security, you have probably heard of them. ADT offers a wide range of security equipment. Let’s take a look.
The base panel that ADT uses, the digital keypad, allows users to arm and disarm their system and has the capability of hands-free two-way audio with ADT emergency dispatchers. The digital keypad can be wall mounted or placed on a desktop. It works by connecting wirelessly to your home’s WIFI network, but ADT does offer a landline version as well This control panel also includes a 24-hour backup battery just in case the power goes out. The keypad has built in Z-Wave protocol that will you to expand you system to include smart home automation devices. You can connect over 250 devices to the panel and have over 99 custom user codes. The panel also includes a built-in high decibel internal siren that can be easily heard no matter where you are in your home, and will alert you to not only security alerts but also for smoke and CO2 (carbon monoxide) events. You do have the option to upgrade the panel to include a cellular backup option in case the power goes out.
Click here to see Link Interactive’s control panel >>
Brinks Home Security Control Panel
Another name in home security you may have heard of is Brinks Home Security. Brinks Home Security offers the Brinks Home Touch panel which is a completely wireless touchscreen control panel that comes with a 7-inch full color multi-touch screen and sports a 1280 x 800 resolution. This panel happens to be the exact same panel we use here at Link Interactive. Check out our offer.
This control panel has built in 5 megapixel fixed focus front facing camera that allows users to capture still images. It also has a slot for an SD card allowing users to store these images on an SD card. The Brinks Home Touch panel has a built in 85 decibel internal siren with a built-in backup battery in case the power goes out. This control panel is powered by being plugged directly into an AC power source and directly connects with your home’s WIFI network. It has the ability to have a cellular chip installed that has LTE coverage which is always good if the power or internet is down in your home. The Brinks Home Touch panel allows users to have 242 user codes, and the smart Z-Wave technology allows for users to have up 119 smart home devices.
Click here to see Link Interactive’s control panel >>
Our take: **ADT and Brinks Home Security offer really great control panels. They both support cellular chips which gives you constant coverage. They also connect wirelessly to your home’s WIFI networks to function. ADT however offers an option for their control panels to also work off a landline, but Brinks Home Security does not. Both of their control panels have a backup battery in case the power goes out. You can also add Z-wave enabled devices to both control panels. Brinks however has a much nicer touchscreen that includes a front facing camera (that is why we use this same Qolsys panel with all Link Interactive plans). ADT’s control panel has more zones than Brinks making it more expandable. However, the Brinks control panel is a bit more compatible with other branded devices than ADT’s control panel. Also, the Brinks control panel includes a Micro SD slot for more storage while ADT’s control panel does not have this feature. In our opinion due to the more advanced control panel, Brinks comes out on top. Get better pricing on this control panel when you select a package through Link Interactive.
ADT Equipment
ADT has a variety of sensors to protect the entryways of your home. Their door/window sensors come in wired or wireless sensor form. They’re are battery operated and UL Listed so you know you will get getting a high-quality sensor. They have a wide variety of styles for these types of sensors which gives users the ability to find a sensor that will fit any door or window frame in their homes. ADT also offers wired or wireless motion sensors which are perfect for covering wide areas of your home. Their motion sensors have a detection range of 35’ x 40’ and are pet immune. They are battery operated with a battery life of up to 7 years. If your home has glass windows that you would like to have some protection for, ADT offers those as well. Their glass break sensors listen for the sound of breaking glass, and they will trigger your ADT system if this sound is heard. Their glass break sensors are battery operated as well.
ADT Additional Equipment
ADT offers a ton of co-branded equipment that will work with their system. Today we will be giving some examples of that equipment. ADT offers Kiwkset automated door locks. These locks allow you to create custom user codes. You can also remotely unlock and lock these locks.
ADT offers their own branded smart thermostats. ADT’s smart thermostats works for most HVAC heating and cooling systems. Their smart thermostats allow you to remotely control the temperature in your home. You can also set custom timers for when your heating and cooling system comes on and goes off.
If you have a garage door you can purchase a garage door controller through ADT. Having a garage door controller will allow you to remotely open and close your garage door. You will also receive push notifications any time your garage door has been opened and shut.
ADT also offers a variety of smart plugs and light switches. Smart plugs and smart light switches allow you to control lights and small appliances while on the go. You can set timers as well for when these lights and small appliances turn on and turn off.
ADT has a few different options for video surveillance equipment as well. They offer indoor, outdoor, and doorbell cameras that are wireless. Their cameras work by connecting wirelessly to your home’s WIFI network. All their cameras have excellent video resolution, and their doorbell camera even includes a 2-way audio feature that allows you to directly communicate with whomever is around your doorbell camera. Compare ADT’s cameras with Link Interactive’s.
Read our in-depth review of ADT’s equipment here >>
Brinks Equipment
Brinks Home Security also offers a wide variety of sensors to protect the entryways of your home. They offer the Brinks Home Encrypted door/window sensors for this panel. These sensors are wireless with a range of 600 ft. and come with a replaced lithium battery that has a battery life of up to 5 years. They are small in size which allows these sensors to work with a variety of door/window frame styles, and can also be used for cabinets.
They also offer a PIR motion sensor which can detect the heat from human signatures, and disregard pets weighing up to 40 lbs. The motion sensor is powered by 2 AA batteries with a battery life of up to 3 to 5 years. Just like ADT, Brinks too offers glass break sensors that are wireless and battery operated. These sensors will listen for the sound of glass break, and if it is heard these sensors will trigger your system.
Brinks Additional Equipment
Brinks Home Security has even more additional equipment than ADT. Brinks also offers Kwikset automated door locks. Brinks has several different models of Kwikset locks they offer, but they all work pretty much the same. You will able to remotely lock and unlock your Kwikset locks on the go as well as set custom users codes.
Brinks offers a few different smart thermostats, and they offer Alarm.com smart thermostats. The smart thermostats they offer work for most HVAC heating and cooling systems. You will be able to customize the temperature of your home remotely, and set custom timers for when your heating and cooling system comes on and goes off.
Brinks has a wide variety of smart plugs and switches as well. You will able to control lights along with small appliances remotely while on the go.
When it comes to video surveillance equipment Brinks offers indoor, outdoor, and the SkyBell Slim Line Video Doorbell Camera. The cameras that are offered by Brinks have crystal clear video resolution, and the SkyBell Slim Line Video Doorbell also includes a 2-way audio feature. Link Interactive offers the the Skybell doorbell camera as well.
Our take: Both ADT and Brinks have very similar basic sensors. They offer the same type of intrusion sensors. When shopping around for home security you will not find a wide variation of basic sensors no matter what security company you are researching. Just like ADT and Brinks, most security companies offer door/window and motion sensors that are battery operated and wireless.
Both ADT and Brinks Home Security have a lot of great additional equipment for you to choose from. They both have very similar types of additional equipment that they offer. We really like the video surveillance equipment for both ADT and Brinks Home Security. The main difference between the two is that Brinks really has a larger selection of additional equipment than ADT. Also, Brinks Home Security uses the Alarm.com services to power their app which has a ton more features than that of ADT. In fact, Alarm.com is used by many home security companies, and here at Link Interactive we provide the same Alarm.com home security services at great monthly rates.
Read our in-depth review on Brinks equipment here >>
Monitoring and App
When it comes to monitoring services both ADT and Brinks offer the same types of monitoring pretty much. They offer 24/7 professional, self, and video monitoring services. One difference between the services is the price. Brinks is generally cheaper when it comes to the month to month price for their monitoring services, but he biggest difference between the two is how their self-monitoring services are powered.
ADT uses the ADT Pulse app to power their services. The ADT Pulse App allows you to remotely control your security products while on the go. You can also control any smart home automation and video surveillance equipment that you have connected to your ADT security system through the ADT Pulse app.
Brinks Home Security app is powered by Alarm.com. It offers the same features of the ADT Pulse app but also includes services like Geo-Fencing. The Brinks app also allow for more customization of your security, home automation, and video surveillance equipment.
Click here to see Link Interactive’s app >>
ADT vs Brinks vs Link Interactive
Today we compared ADT and Brinks Home Security and saw what they both have to offer. Both companies have high quality equipment that is easy to use.
However, we feel Brinks has a bit more to offer than ADT in terms of equipment and monitoring features, thanks to the Alarm.com platform which is integral to their home security offer. If you want a system that is comparable to Brink Home Security, but has better reviews and pricing you must give our Link Interactive Alarm.com system a look.
Why you should get Link Interactive instead
Brinks Home Security and us (Link Interactive) are pretty similar in terms of equipment and monitoring services. We both offer the Qolsys control panel, Alarm.com self-monitoring and third-party professional monitoring. We both also offer home automation control and the same video monitoring services. 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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