Boat security systems
Hardwired Boat Security and Alarm Systems
A complete Guardian boat security system costs $1,895 for the cellular bundle or $2,495 for the cellular plus satellite bundle, with an annual service plan of $300 or $660 after that.
That is the whole price. Hardware, sensors, siren, strobe and wiring harness are in the box.
Most boat alarms sold today are consumer security parts in a marine housing. They run on wireless sensors, they false alarm when the boat rocks or a sensor battery drops, and after the third 2 a.m. phone call most owners turn them off.
The Guardian is built the other way around. Every sensor is hardwired into the boat. There are no sensor batteries to die, no radio link to drop, and nothing competing with the other transmitters on board.
Tell us the boat and where it sits. A specialist replies the same business day.
What does a boat security system cost?
Between $50 and $2,500, depending on whether you are buying a noisemaker or a monitored system.
Here is what the money actually buys.
| Type | Typical price | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Padlock, cable, motor lock | $40 to $250 | Slows down a casual thief | Tells you nothing |
| Standalone siren alarm | $50 to $300 | Makes noise at the dock | No alert if nobody is there |
| Wireless consumer alarm kit | $130 to $550 | Motion or entry alerts by app | Sensor batteries, false alarms, cellular only |
| GPS tracker only | $50 to $900 | Location after the boat is gone | Does not stop the theft |
| Hardwired security and monitoring system | $1,895 to $2,495 | Detects, deters, alerts and tracks | Requires installation |
Guardian pricing, in full:
| System | Price | Annual plan |
|---|---|---|
| The Guardian Cellular Bundle | $1,895 | $300 |
| The Guardian Hybrid Bundle | $2,495 | $660 |
| The Guardian Cellular, tracking and monitoring only | $895 | $300 |
| The Guardian Hybrid, tracking and monitoring only | $1,495 | $660 |
The service plan is not optional and we do not hide it. It covers unlimited cellular data, or unlimited cellular and Iridium satellite data on the Hybrid, with no charge per alert and no charge per message.
What is the most effective anti-theft system for boats?
The one that does three things in sequence: detects the intrusion before anything is taken, makes the thief leave, and keeps telling you where the boat is if they take it anyway.
Most products do one of the three.
A lock is detection with no alert. A siren is deterrence with no detection. A GPS tracker is location with no deterrence, which means you find out where your boat went, not that it was going.
The Guardian runs all three in one system: five detection layers, a 125 decibel siren with a strobe, and cellular plus satellite tracking that keeps reporting after the alarm.
Why wireless boat alarms false alarm and hardwired ones do not
Because a wireless sensor has to survive a boat, and most of them were not designed for one.
A wireless sensor carries its own battery. On a boat that battery lives in salt air, in heat, under constant vibration. When its voltage drops the sensor either stops reporting or starts reporting things that did not happen. Both look identical on your phone.
The radio link has the same problem. A boat is a metal and carbon box full of transmitters, and every wireless sensor on board is sharing space with them.
Guardian sensors are wired into the Guardian control unit and powered by the boat. Nothing to replace, nothing to pair, nothing to lose signal. The Guardian also monitors the battery it runs on, so a dying house battery becomes an alert rather than a silent failure. There is no scheduled maintenance.
What if someone cuts the power?
Every Guardian device ships with a battery backup. If the power to the unit is cut, the device keeps reporting its location.
That matters more on a hardwired system than on any other kind, because cutting power is the first thing a thief who recognizes the unit will try.
Together, this is the difference that decides whether the system is still armed in year three.
No obligation. We will tell you if a smaller system is enough.
Five-layer security system
The five layers and what each one actually stops
Infrared beam, for open boats and helm electronics
An invisible beam across the helm or the main access point, supplied as a paired infrared beam sensor kit. It is the right answer for center consoles and open boats, where there is no door to put a sensor on and the electronics are the target.
Walk through the beam while the system is armed and the siren, the strobe and the alert fire at the same time.
You can see it triggered in the demonstration filmed with Captain Mike Genoun of Florida Sport Fishing Television, on The Guardian system page.
Door and hatch sensors, for enclosed spaces
Magnetic or flush-mount door and hatch sensors on cabin doors, engine room hatches and lockers. Multiple entry points can run on one system.
These are the layer that protects gear you cannot bolt down.
Theft fence, for boats on a trailer or in a slip
An accelerometer inside the control unit that detects the boat moving when it should not be. It fires before the boat leaves the property, which is the only useful moment.
Trailered boats are the clearest case. Two of the top ten boat insurance claims are boat theft and boat equipment theft, according to BoatUS, and a trailered boat can be gone in minutes.
The 125 decibel siren
Nine distinct sound patterns, at a level comparable to a jet engine at takeoff. The commonly cited industry reference point for an alarm is 85 decibels.
Volume is not vanity here. A thief who cannot work quietly moves to the next boat.
LED strobe
Sixteen flash patterns on the LED strobe. It tells everyone on the dock which boat is the problem, at night, from a distance. A siren alone leaves people guessing.
See it triggered on camera
Captain Mike Genoun of Florida Sport Fishing Television walks through the armed infrared beam.
What happens when the boat is out of cell range?
On the cellular systems, nothing gets through until you are back in coverage. On the Hybrid, the system switches to Iridium satellite and keeps working.
This is worth being precise about, because it is where most comparisons are made badly.
The Guardian Hybrid uses two-way Iridium communication over a 66 satellite low earth orbit constellation. Two-way means you can also send commands to the boat from the app: arm, disarm, check status. Several competing systems use one-directional satellite, which can report a position but cannot receive anything back.
The cellular side runs 2G, 3G and 4G LTE-M across 142 countries, which matters in places where older networks are still the only networks. The satellite side runs through an external Iridium satellite antenna included with the Hybrid.
If your boat never leaves cellular coverage, the Cellular Bundle is the right system and you should not pay for satellite. If you fish offshore or cross to the Bahamas, the Hybrid is the one.
Does boat insurance require a security system?
Some policies require a tracking device, particularly on higher value vessels and in higher theft areas. Many carriers also offer a premium discount when an approved system is installed.
Both of those depend entirely on your carrier and your policy, and we will not tell you otherwise.
What we can tell you is that the Guardian Hybrid meets the carrier requirements we have been asked to meet for mandatory tracking coverage. Before you buy, call your agent, ask whether your policy requires a tracker and whether they offer a discount for one, and ask what documentation they want. Then call us and we will tell you exactly what the Guardian does and does not do, so you are not guessing on either side.
When you do not need a full security system
If your boat is a small outboard on a trailer in a locked garage, and you are not carrying electronics worth stealing, a good lock and a $300 tracker will serve you better than $1,895 of sensors. Spend the difference on the lock.
If your boat sits in a staffed marina with camera coverage and controlled dock access, and you mainly worry about water in the bilge and a flat battery rather than theft, start with The Guardian Cellular at $895 and add sensors later. The system is modular and the control unit is the same.
The full bundle earns its price on boats where the electronics package is worth more than the alarm, where the boat sits unattended for weeks, or where the owner is not in the same state as the boat.
Does The Guardian include a camera?
No. The Guardian is a sensor and alarm system, not a video system.
We are saying this plainly because a lot of people searching for a boat security system are picturing a camera, and it is better that you know now than after the box arrives.
A camera tells you what happened after the fact and needs bandwidth and power to be useful offshore. A beam sensor and a siren stop the event while it is happening. Many owners run both, from different suppliers, and that is a reasonable setup.
If video is the main thing you want, we are not the right first purchase.
What are effective ways to prevent boat theft?
Layer cheap deterrence under real detection. In order of cost:
Remove what is portable
Handhelds, tablets, rods and outboard fuel tanks. Most marina theft is opportunistic and takes under two minutes.
Lock the outboard and the trailer coupler
A motor lock and a coupler lock cost under $200 together and eliminate the fastest category of theft.
Record your hull identification number and serials
Photograph the HIN and every serial number on the electronics, and keep them off the boat. This is what recovery actually runs on, and it costs nothing.
Put the boat where it is seen
A slip in view of the marina office or a camera beats a dark corner of the yard, every time.
Then add detection
Locks slow people down. They do not tell you anything. Detection is the layer that turns an overnight theft into a phone call at the moment it starts.
How installation works
Guardian systems are hardwired, so they are installed rather than stuck on.
We prefer you use a local marine yard for the install. If you have mechanical experience it is not a difficult job, and there is a step by step How to Install video on our YouTube channel.
We manufacture the systems ourselves and we work with dealers, installers and boat builders. Some boat builders install the Guardian at the factory, so the boat arrives protected on day one.
Once installed, you activate your service plan, we set up your dashboard and we walk you through the TMG DASH app on iOS or Android.
Frequently asked questions
How many sensors can I add?
Up to six on the standard Guardian control unit. The bundles ship with the infrared beam, door and hatch sensor, high water sensor and shore power sensor already included.
Can I arm and disarm from my phone?
Yes, from the TMG DASH app, including over satellite on the Hybrid.
What happens when the alarm goes off?
The siren and strobe fire immediately and the Guardian places an automated voice call to you. You can add as many alert recipients as you want, so your captain, your yard or a neighbor at the marina can be called too.
Does it work on a trailered boat?
Yes. The theft fence is the layer designed for it, and it is one of the strongest cases for the system.
What does the annual service plan cover?
Unlimited data between the boat and the app. $300 a year for cellular, $660 a year for cellular plus Iridium satellite. No per alert or per message charges. See service plan details.
Do you sell to fleets and boat builders?
Yes. Charter fleets, rental operations and commercial vessels are handled through fleet tracking, and boat builders through our OEM program.
Send us a message
Have a question? A Marine Guardian specialist will get right back to you.
Prefer to talk? Call 800-397-9807