ADT has long been at the forefront of the home security industry, and as such, offers nearly every piece of equipment you could want to protect your home. From stalwart devices like motion detectors and security cameras to more modern ones like doorbell cameras and smart home devices, you’ll have little issue tailoring your system to your home.

Unfortunately, you can’t purchase ADT online. To order, you’ll need to call and speak with a sales agent, who will ask you some basic questions about your needs, such as how many doors and ground-level windows you have. They’ll also ask you about your preferences, like types of cameras, environmental sensors, and smart home systems.

You’ll also need to consider whether you want devices from Google (which partners with ADT), or ADT-branded ones. ADT’s devices are white-labeled, meaning they’re made by a third-party manufacturer, but it also means greater compatibility with other systems and devices. We opted for ADT’s devices, knowing we could tack on Google or other brands down the road.

ADT offers some order transparency before you call, but not much. While its website sheds light on its available packages and pricing, you won’t really know what’s in them until you call.

ADT only has three packages available:

• The Secure Package includes the basics like the control panel, door and window sensors, and motion detectors
• The Smart Package includes the basics plus smart plugs and lights
• The Video & Smart Home Package includes all of the above, plus camera options

While ADT doesn’t highlight its individual products, it does have solid smart home compatibility. ADT has native compatibility with Google via its direct partnership, so you’ll find that you can pair Nest cameras, thermostats, control panels, and a bevy of other Google devices directly to your home security system with little trouble. And it connects easily to other smart home systems too, using IFTTT (If This Then That) integration. So, the vast majority of your smart devices (Alexa, Samsung, etc.) will also connect seamlessly.

Once you know exactly how you want to build your system out, you’ll schedule an installation time. When our technician arrived, he carefully walked us through every device we ordered (and some we didn’t, too).

We were immediately impressed by the look and functionality of the control panel, which stands out by its sleek design and appears to be able to stand the test of time. And there are some features of the panel that we really like. First, it connects to ADT’s monitoring centers via radio signal. Some competitors, like Cove and Alder, connect via SIM card to cellular networks—both of which gave us headaches when we tested those systems. The other features we really liked were that the panel’s camera snaps a photo of whomever arms or disarms the system (otherwise, it doesn’t run continuously), and it has a “clean screen” function that lets you wipe off fingerprints without accidentally setting off your alarm.

After that, unpackaging the other devices felt a little anticlimactic. They looked and felt overly simple and didn’t project the “wow” factor that the control panel did. Of course, that didn’t matter for some of the devices—such as the door, window, and motion sensors—for which less is probably more. But others, like the combination heat, smoke, and carbon monoxide detector, were extremely bulky and cheap-looking and wouldn’t do most ceilings any favors.

If the control panel and environmental sensors represent both ends of the spectrum, the cameras rest somewhere in the middle. The ADT cameras are simple and fairly nondescript. We’ve seen better-looking cameras out there, such as Vivint’s, but overall we’re very happy with our ADT ones. They have strong bases that aren’t susceptible to tipping over (which is the problem with Vivint’s more aesthetically pleasing cameras), experience little lag time on the video feed, and have a really high-quality 1080p HD picture. They also have a decent field of view at 145 degrees (practically speaking, that’s about the same as a typical line of sight).

Up front, we weren’t sure what to expect with our equipment. On the one hand, ADT is extremely customizable and carries a wide selection of devices. On the other, we had no idea what that equipment was until we called. We also expected every device to blow us away with their looks and quality. The control panel definitely met our expectations. The rest? Time will tell.