Ring type doorbells

Sandtree

FiestaRed said:

Just found the Ring website and spotted they also do security cameras too. If everything works together that would be a big plus for me.

Most, if not all, the makers of smart doorbells also do security cameras.

Worth checking the pricing for recording too though, some companies have a per device model whereas others have a per property irrespective of the camera count

TadleyBaggie

I've had a Ring doorbell for a few years (wired to the existing bell transformer so no battery required). I bought two Ring battery spotlight cams last year in their Black Friday sale. All work well.

FiestaRed

TadleyBaggie said:

I've had a Ring doorbell for a few years (wired to the existing bell transformer so no battery required). I bought two Ring battery spotlight cams last year in their Black Friday sale. All work well.

Thanks for the help. Do the doorbell and cameras all work together as part of the same system?

Diesel44

Ring doorbells are kind of subscription based. After setting up the app, you get a months free trial, where short video clips are stored in the app.
Now my trial is over and I have not subscribed, I have lost the storage of videos.  All I get now is a live view, I still get notifications on my phone, of front door activity but no stored video to see what caused the notification.
I think the subscription for one item is £2.50 per month or multiple items is £8.

FiestaRed

Diesel44 said:

Ring doorbells are kind of subscription based. After setting up the app, you get a months free trial, where short video clips are stored in the app.
Now my trial is over and I have not subscribed, I have lost the storage of videos.  All I get now is a live view, I still get notifications on my phone, of front door activity but no stored video to see what caused the notification.
I think the subscription for one item is £2.50 per month or multiple items is £8.

Thank you for the help Diesel, really appreciated. It's good to know that you can still get a live view of who's at your door even if you don't take up the subscription.
Not seen the phone app yet, I guess it's something they tell you about in the Ring when you buy it.

chrisw

Diesel44 said:

I think the subscription for one item is £2.50 per month or multiple items is £8.

Yes, I paid the £25 annual subscription for my doorbell.

The other thing to bear in mind is that you need good WiFi coverage or it will be blocky and the sound broken up. The signal on mine changed significantly if I moved the doorbell a couple of inches up or down. I ended up buying a WiFi extender in the end.

ashe

I love smart home stuff but for me both nest and ring are not yet mature enough propositions and both have their downsides e.g delays in alerts on nest, because it has to encode a gif and process facial recognition you’re looking at about 10 seconds delay and with ring its a bit less as not recording 24x7 but that’s it’s downside 

we went with in the end with a £15 doorbell off amazon with 2 plug in chimes and we cover the door with a nest IQ camera so we still get the alerts but it covers a better angle than the doorbell would, we didn’t have to pay to get a transformer out in and we get instant doorbell but with the same facial recognition and two way comms etc 

because of where a doorbell goes we would want a camera as well even if we did get it, so it works for us

saver2000

I bought a reolink lumus motion activated spotlight, can get notifications, it can also save the 4 seconds before it detects motion. Also if anyone goes up to the door at night it will light up the porch and path to the door.

Sandtree

ashe said:

I love smart home stuff but for me both nest and ring are not yet mature enough propositions and both have their downsides e.g delays in alerts on nest, because it has to encode a gif and process facial recognition you’re looking at about 10 seconds delay and with ring its a bit less as not recording 24x7 but that’s it’s downside 

The door bell itself is instant with Nest as its a basic electrical connection and nothing to do with facial recognition etc.

On my ancient wifi only iPad it can take a few seconds for alters to come through, 10-20 probably, but on the Mrs' iPhone 11 (or whatever fairly recent thing she has) the alerts are normally within a second or two.

fred246

The Eufy doorbell is supposed to be really good. It has it's own storage so no subscription required.