GE Security Systems by Protect America - Our research
From a cost standpoint, the GE security system offered by Protect America has the lowest monthly
monitoring cost at $29.95 per month for their cheapest home monitoring package (the "Copper Package").
The Protect America GE Security System Offer
Protect America offers a total of five monitoring packages when you order a GE security system.
Three of these packages, the Copper, Bronze, and Silver, offer a totally free up front cost for
the hardware and installation in exchange for your commitment to a monthly monitoring agreement.
The agreement requires that you pay the monthly cost for 36 months (i.e., 3 years) and that
you pass a basic credit check. Two of the packages, dubbed "Premium Packages" by Protect America,
have an up front cost between $99.00 - $149.00, but include more entry point contacts if you
have a larger home and need to monitor more windows and doors.
While Protect America is not as established as the bigger companies we review on this website,
the GE security systems that they offer are all of high quality and we feel that their monitoring
packages are a good value. The company has been around since 1992 and has grown steadily over the
years. There are other GE Security authorized dealers, but we focus our research on the packages
offered by Protect America because we have identified them as a solid online business with
an established web presence.
If you have bad credit, you might have to pay a "Connection Fee"
As mentioned earlier, you need to pass a credit check in order to qualify for the promotional
discounts like the free equipment and installation. This is generally the case with all
security companies including ADT and Brinks Broadview. In the case of Protect America, you
may have to pay a $295 connection fee if you do not pass their basic credit check. This is
a fair business practice and is similar to cell phone companies charging a
deposit when you have bad credit but want to get cell phone service. Think of it like this:
when a company doesnt charge you anything for equipment and installation, they are losing
money initially with the hopes of making a profit over time as you pay the monthly monitoring
fee. But if you are a bad customer and don't pay your bills, they could end up losing a lot of
money. So, if you have bad credit, they may consider you a higher risk to them.
Broadband Internet Monitoring - Good option for people with no landline phone
We like this option because more and more people are ditching landlines these days, and
traditional home security system monitoring would be unavailable for these customers.
For an extra cost of equipment upgrade, there is an option called "HomePulse" that Protect
America offers which uses your broadband internet connection to notify their monitoring
facility. They claim that using a broadband connection is actually about 4 times as fast
as using a landline solution.
Cellular Monitoring - For those without Internet or a landline phone
Another flexible monitoring solution is through their "Cellular" option. With this option,
your security system will have a dedicated wireless connection to the monitoring facility.
This also requires an equipment upgrade (more up front cost) and is limited based on
cell phone coverage in your area. Since the system uses a GSM wireless protocol, we're guessing
that they are either using T-Mobile or AT&T wireless networks for this solution since
those wireless companies use GSM networks. *Update* According to an email we
received, they can use either AT&T or T-Mobile depending on your zip code.
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