People put a premium on peace of mind. This is why home security and automation solutions exist. There is nothing like knowing your home is safe even while you are away.
Two recognizable names in the home security and automation industry are Xfinity Home and ADT. How does one compare with the other and which one is the better choice for homeowners?
Let’s compare these two providers.
Xfinity Home Security
Xfinity Home offers home security system with automation options. The system comes with 24/7 professional monitoring so you can be sure that your home is safe.
What you need to know
Xfinity Home offers you different options depending on the equipment package and the service tier that you choose. The basic equipment package comes with a touchscreen controller, door and window sensors, a wireless keypad, and a motion detector. The Xfinity motion sensor covers up to 50 feet, and ignores pets that weigh up to 85 pounds.
You can also add more surveillance cameras and more sensors, as well as enhance your security with environmental protection devices like carbon monoxide sensor, temperature change detector, and smoke detector.
Plans and Payment Tiers
Service Plans
You have two Xfinity home security service plans to choose from. These plans only include services. The equipment are sold separately.
- Home Security Plan: $39.95/mo.
This plan offers smart home control, 24/7 professional monitoring, real-time alerts, cellular system backup, Xfinity Home app, and live HD video. This plan also allows your system to work with Xfinity X1 to view your surveillance cameras on your TV.
To be able to take advantage of the live video capacity, you will have to purchase an Xfinity indoor and outdoor camera.
- Home Security Plus Plan: $49.95/mo.
With this plan, you get all the services offered in the basic Home Security Plan, plus 24/7 video recording, motion-activated recording, and AI that detects people, pets, and vehicles. You also get the capability to easily look back on important moments.
The 24/7 video recording requires an Xfinity indoor/outdoor camera.
Monitoring
The Xfinity Home security system connects to a certified central monitoring station via a broadband connection with cellular backup to ensure that your home and family are still protected even when the power is lost.
Equipment Plans
- Base Home System: $360 one-time payment or $15/mo. for 24 months
Under this basic plan, you will get one touchscreen controller, three door and window sensors, one pet-friendly motion sensor, one battery plus cellular system backup, the Xfinity Home app, and an Xfinity Home Security yard sign.
- Complete Home System: $480 one-time payment or $20/mo. for 24 months
The Complete Home System will give you everything from the Base Home System, but with one wireless keypad, five-door and window sensors, and one HD indoor/outdoor Xfinity camera.
- Ultimate Home System: $600 one-time payment or $25/mo. for 24 months
Under this plan, you will get everything from the lower-tier plans but with 10 door and window sensors and two HD indoor/outdoor Xfinity camera.
Warranty and cancellation
Xfinity gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, if you wish to cancel your home security service before the term of your contract ends, you get to pay a $1,100 termination fee, minus $100 for every three months you have kept the service. This means that the termination fee you have to pay goes down the longer you have used the service.
What you would like about Xfinity Home
Xfinity Home offers a home security system that you can customize easily. You can add more sensors and cameras, and you can toss in some smart features, like smart lighting and smart thermostat.
Xfinity also allows you to arm or disarm your security alarm and manage your system at home or while you are on the go with its mobile app. What’s more, you can set real-time alerts based on your schedule and preference, as well as check on your home live with clear HD video. And if you have chosen to go smart and add in the automation aspect, you will be able to control your lights, thermostat, locks, and more.
Xfinity Home can even integrate advanced security technology into your old system.
You would also like the fact that Xfinity Home Security offers a DIY installation option. However, there are times when they require professional technicians to install the system. These include instances when an address has never had Xfinity service before, when an installation is complex, or when it includes four or more pieces of equipment.
What could be better
Many homeowners using Xfinity Home report feeling deceived by their contract. Though it does offer a variety of package options, the company requires a minimum two-year agreement. Furthermore, this contract could change and could require costly upgrades.
ADT Home Security
ADT has 145 years of experience under its belt, and that says a lot about its reputation in the home security industry. Aside from security systems, ADT also provides round-the-clock professional monitoring and automation options.
What you should know
With ADT, you have different home security plans to choose from. The company also designs custom solutions according to your needs.
ADT provides and installs security equipment through its independent partners. Its premier third-party provider is Protect Your Home. The company is able to monitor its systems, detect intrusions, and automate your home for your energy-saving goals and convenience through both hardwired and wireless equipment.
Equipment
ADT’s home security system includes these basic equipment: control panel, motion sensor, wireless sensor, wireless remote, and backup battery. You also get window decals and a yard sign with your plan.
You can get additional features by choosing any of the advanced packages. Protect Your Home supports different types of sensors, controls, cameras, and home automation features, including keychain remote control, touchscreen control panel, door entry sensor, window entry sensor, garage door sensor, motion detector, glass break sensor, water leak or flood sensor, carbon monoxide and smoke detector, keypad door locks, and indoor cameras.
What’s more, the company has ADT Pulse, which is a smart home security product that communicates wirelessly with smart home devices via uses Z-wave technology. The ADT Pulse system integrates with various third-party smart devices for the home such as the Nest thermostat.
Additionally, an ADT system works with Amazon Alexa to connect with the ADT Pulse app. This means that you can arm and disarm your system, make sure your door is locked, or turn your lights on or off using just your voice.
Plans
ADT’s home security plans tie you up for 36 months or three years.
ADT’s home security system packages already include the equipment and the costs for professional monitoring. However, the monthly rate you need to pay under your contract doesn’t include professional installation costs. To have your system installed by professional technicians, you need to pay $99 upfront.
The ADT Protect Your Home packages are:
Basic Security: $27.99/mo.
This is ADT’s entry-level package and it includes a digital keypad, a wireless keychain remote, a loud alarm siren, three door and window sensors, and an infrared motion detector. It already covers round-the-clock professional monitoring but doesn’t come with smart home features.
This package is landline-based, which means the system has to be connected to a phone socket in order for it to work. It also doesn’t have cellular backup, so in the event that the alarm is triggered and something goes wrong with your phone line, ADT won’t know about it. However, the alarm will still sound. And in case of a power outage, the system has a backup battery to keep it active for up to eight hours.
Basic Security + Wireless Connect: $48.99/mo.
This security package comes with everything the ADT Basic package offers, but with the cellular safeguard.
ADT Pulse Select: $52.99/mo.
With this package, you get everything the lower-tier plans offer, plus added home automation. You will be able to connect to and access your security system any time and from anywhere using the ADT Pulse app. You will be able to arm and disarm your system, receive notifications, and get real-time updates.
ADT Pulse + Video: $58.99/mo.
This package gives you everything in the ADT Pulse Select, but with video surveillance. It provides an indoor surveillance camera that allows you to monitor your home through live stream using the ADT Pulse app.
ADT Pulse + Home Automation and ADT Pulse + Video & Home Automation plans
Both of these are the top security plans from ADT. They offer full home automation if you want a smart home complete with a security system. The plan’s cost depends on the equipment and devices you need.
Other plans with other partners
ADT has other third-party suppliers and offers other packages and plans with these partners. These packages and their respective prices may vary.
Warranties and cancellation
Homeowners get a 90-day limited warranty for ADT’s security equipment. If something goes wrong with your home security system while this limited warranty is in effect, you only need to pay $25 to get an engineer to fix it.
Moreover, ADT gives you the option to avail of the Quality Service Plan (QSP), which is an extended limited warranty. The QSP is bundled in with some of the packages. However, if you have the Basic packages, you will need to upgrade for the QSP and pay an additional $7 a month.
Meanwhile, if you terminate your home security contract before the 36-month term is up, you will have to pay 75 percent of any outstanding balance.
What you would like about ADT
ADT’s professional installation comes with a comprehensive risk assessment by the company’s highly trained installment professionals and security advisers. This assessment will identify your home’s security vulnerabilities and potential risks. The professionals will also make recommendations on the best security solution for your home.
ADT’s motion sensors won’t be triggered by big pets weighing up to around 95 pounds. So pet owners don’t have to worry about the alarm sounding off every time their dog passes by the motion sensor.
Additionally, ADT’s response center will quickly respond to a raised alarm. A monitoring professional will try to contact you first via phone or via the control panel’s two-way voice feature. You will be asked to verify your identity by providing a passcode. The responder will guide you and help you find out which of the sensors triggered an alarm. But in case you do not respond to the monitoring professional, the company will assume there’s an emergency at your home and will call for help.
You would also love ADT’s six-month money-back guarantee, its good customer service, and the low-cost contract-free option.
What can be better
ADT uses third-party retailers for its equipment, and this means same-day installation for customers in some locations. However, this also means you might never know exactly what equipment you’ll get until the installer comes.
Moreover, ADT is not as fully transparent as other providers in terms of costs. You would have to call ADT to get a quotation and such calls could last long because they will always try to sell you more products.
ADT also needs to improve on its long-term contract, the high moving costs, and its inconsistent customer service.
Comparing Xfinity and ADT
ADT’s and Xfinity’s technological offerings are more similar. Both have apps for Android and iOS, and these apps allow you to remotely arm or disarm your security system. Both ADT and Xfinity can send you text and e-mail alerts in case of an alarm. They also offer indoor and outdoor security features with their cameras, which allow for live surveillance or streaming.
Both offer comprehensive home automation, too, as well as different packages for different needs.
The Main Differences Between Xfinity Home Security and ADT
Both service providers require a contract, but Xfinity’s has two years while ADT has three. Both also charge installation fees, but Xfinity does offer promotional discounts that could end up waiving this fee.
Speaking of installation, Xfinity offers a DIY installation option, while ADT does not.
Xfinity also shines in its ability to bundle up different services. For instance, Xfinity’s parent company, Comcast, allows the inclusion of over 260 TV channels with home security and monitoring services in its most comprehensive plan. ADT, meanwhile, focuses only on home security and automation.
ADT’s edge is its geo-location services via ADT Pulse, where a GPS system can connect with your mobile phone’s own built-in GPS and determine if you’re almost home or if you are leaving. This ability allows your automated system to perform smart functions, like locking the garage door when you have gone out, turning on the lights when you are about to arrive home, and regulating the temperature in the room to make you immediately comfortable.
Final Verdict
It’s pretty much neck and neck between Xfinity and ADT in terms of the home security systems they offer. Both companies have comprehensive and technologically advanced home security and automation systems that would surely give you peace of mind.
What Xfinity and Comcast bring to the table is convenience.
Meanwhile, ADT is considered better in everything else. ADT has top-of-the-line equipment and highly rated customer service. Many reviewers also find ADT better when it comes to monitoring options, value, and contract flexibility. With ADT’s reputation spanning more than a century, it’s really a no-brainer.
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