Ring Doorbells....

[NikNak]

Its Black Friday and theres some 'deals' to be had....

Has anyone got one.?

Which one and why did you opt for that one.?

 

[bigbigblue]

Not Ring, but I recently got a Geree video doorbell from Amazon. Reasons for purchase were 2k video (Ring are 1080p I believe), and hard wired power (didn't want to have to keep changing batteries). So far very happy with it. Very few false rings, as the human detection algorithm seems to work pretty well.
Downsides are that you cannot ask Alexample to show you the picture. The Amazon listing claims you can, but the Alexa skill required just does not work. as well as the internal SD card, I have it recorded by my Hikvision NVR when movement is detected, via the doorbell's ONVIF support.
All in all pretty happy with it for 69 of my pounds sterling.

 

[fezman]

I've got one - i think its OK. V good pictures in the day, good enough in the night.

When amazon had their prime day i added a wired one and a stick up one with the solar panel.

It costs me £8 for ring per month now, but i have 75% of my house covered and recorded whenever anyone enters my property. The other 25% will be covered asap.

 

[Glitch]

I have a wired Ring doorbell. Agree with Fezman about picture quality, it's fine.
Human detection works well - no more wildlife triggering alerts. Get occasional false alerts caused by shadows of people walking past the gate.

My first one had set up problems but the support was excellent - spoke to proper experts in the U.S. and they sent a replacement unit which has been fine.

Remember this is not a continuous recording system. It just records events when someone enters the configured alert zone. No good for monitoring my car parked on the street outside the house. Catalytic converter was nicked!

What I have noticed in the last month or two is the delay in processing the alert videos. It used to be available instantly, Now it can take minutes to process which is not much use if you have an intruder. I guess their servers are creaking due to the number of devices they are selling.

 

[paulrbarnard]

My Dad just bought one in the sale. I fitted it for him last weekend. It works great and connects to his computer and their phones. It was about 15 minutes to install and configure. Ring continually try to up sell more services and accessories as you install but I set it up simply as a doorbell with none of the paid services. My Dad is very happy with it.

 

[NikNak]

Thanks guys... it would be nice to hardwire it and i am looking at how i can do it

What I have noticed in the last month or two is the delay in processing the alert videos. It used to be available instantly, Now it can take minutes to process which is not much use if you have an intruder.

Just a thought.... occasionally we have to unplug the Echo device and reboot as she(?) sometimes has a 'tantrum'....might be worth trying on the doorbell.?

 

[XH558]

Thanks guys... it would be nice to hardwire it and i am looking at how i can do it



Just a thought.... occasionally we have to unplug the Echo device and reboot as she(?) sometimes has a 'tantrum'....might be worth trying on the doorbell.?

Contact Ring through the App and they will synchronise your device.

 

[gregmcateer]

Don't know if it's true, but I heard that the ring means Amazon can pretty much log every access to your house. If that's true, they can take a running jump as far as I'm concerned

 

[pe2dave]

Are they addressing security issues?
Would seem so

 

[BEE13]

I have Ring Video 2 with the separate Chime. Very pleased but note these things:

• The battery is rechargeable but you have to remove it to recharge. Don't lose the non standard screw. It takes several hours to recharge so you'll be without a bell for that period. Either buy a 2nd battery or hardwire with a transformer.
• There is a sometimes a small time delay of video reaching my phone which might be the servers but is also related to the speed and signal strength of the WiFi and the phone data signal. No data signal, no video.
• The ongoing subscription is not essential but is needed if you want to keep recordings more than a minimum time. Look it up, I can't remember the details.
• Take care over where it's positioned. You can set the response areas in detail by moving boundary lines on an image and you can have 3 different areas for different times / settings.
• I think you do need the Chime which plugs into a socket inside the house. If you don't have it, I think all the rings are either on your phone or outside on the bell. I think there might be a way round that but I can't remember.

Despite all that, it suits me fine and I like it.
Brian

 

[pe2dave]

Can you record to your computer hard drive via wifi from the bell?

 

[Glitch]

Can you record to your computer hard drive via wifi from the bell?

No, unfortunately not. I think the video clips are all stored in the Ring cloud. Not aware of any local storage. If your broadband fails then the alerts are not recorded.
Seems to be getting very popular and they keep adding new features. For example, you can record still images at specific intervals.
Hopefully just a matter of time before they offer a continual recording.

 

[pcb1962]

Can you record to your computer hard drive via wifi from the bell?

There are a few options, but nothing straightforward.
Some info here but as the article states, all they would have to do to kill off any of these methods is to encrypt the video stream.