Best Video Doorbell

nottsphil

Exodi said:

... or that they could be stolen but appreciate the latter is somewhat irrational). 

Why is it?

Exodi

nottsphil said:

Exodi said:

... or that they could be stolen but appreciate the latter is somewhat irrational). 

Why is it?

Depending on whether we think about doorbells or cameras -

Doorbells (whether wired or battery) generally need an eject pin to take the doorbell out of the mount. If it was a battery powered doorbell, at that point you could be on your way, whereas if you had a wired doorbell, you'd need to loosen the two screws on the back to disconnect the two wires (and then you can be on your way).

The reason I say it is an irrational fear, is because somebody walking around with an eject pin/removal tool in their pocket is unlikely to be put off by also needing a Phillips head screwdriver and an additional 5 seconds if the doorbell is wired.

Regarding the cameras, usually the biggest deterrent to theft is that they are installed high in the air. As before, if a thief was willing to bring a ladder to swipe someones cameras, I doubt it would be a deal breaker for them to also bring a pair of scissors if the cameras are wired (they're not difficult to rewire, and if they are connected to an exterior plug, like many are, they could just unplug it).

I used it as an argument to convince myself to buy the wired ones, but in reality, I doubt any thief has realistically been deterred by whether a smart doorbell/camera is battery or mains powered.

There are anti-theft products available to anyone that genuinely believes theft is an issue.

chrisw

I think you are overestimating the thieves. Battery or mains, they will lever it off with a large flathead screwdriver and give it a sharp tug to separate it from any wiring.

Exodi

chrisw said:

I think you are overestimating the thieves. Battery or mains, they will lever it off with a large flathead screwdriver and give it a sharp tug to separate it from any wiring.

Yes, we agree with each other. Please don't get me wrong - I was responding to someone about why I felt the difference in fear of theft (between battery/wired) was irrational as they asked why. Fortunately doorbell theft isn't very common, but nonetheless, it is relatively easy and the doorbell being wired or wireless doesn't make much difference. As someone that has wired a few doorbells, the wires come away from the back pretty easily - as you say, with a sharp tug or one rotation with a screwdriver.

Many are wired into uPvC, so you could just as easily take a claw hammer and take the mount with you in one swift motion if you really wanted.

DigSunPap

I used to have a Ring when they first came out but it always kept playing up it was frustrating. As a few have already said in the thread we made the switch to Eufy last year and have had no issues so far.