RING Door Bells , any good?

Mr Bump

Mr Bump

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Paul
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my work from home office is in the way back of our huge old Victorian terrace and
i am fed up with trying to listen for whimpey taps on the front door so fancy one.
will be on battery so how long do the batts last and is there an cheap option for cloud video storage?
 
Mr Bump said:
looking at this model
Click to expand...
We have a 2nd generation Ring on the front door, which replaced a 1st generation unit that failed after roughly 4 years.

The current one seems to be reliable after three years or so but there are things they don't tell you...
  • Buy a spare battery and keep the security screwdriver handy so you can change over quickly when it runs out of juice. (you can run it from mains power if you want to wire it up but we don't)
  • Make sure you have a wireless access point close enough for the signal to get through every time.
  • Do read the online documentation and ensure you have the security settings correct for your needs.
  • Don't rely on direct communication between the Ring and a handheld device. Our experience suggests that putting the Ring in range of your access point is much more effective.
All that said, it's proved good for us, allowing us to answer a caller from 300 feet up the garden.

Ring doorbell on front door Ixus 70 IMG_4408.JPG
 
People obviously actually ring your doorbell then Andrew! Here, most takeaway deliverers don't press the very obvious ringer, they only lightly knock on the door, and couriers/posties don't bother at all these days, just leave things in the porch and presumably hope they've got the right address. Thankfully my wfh office looks out of the window next to the front door.
 
lindsay said:
People obviously actually ring your doorbell then Andrew! Here, most takeaway deliverers don't press the very obvious ringer, they only lightly knock on the door, and couriers/posties don't bother at all these days, just leave things in the porch and presumably hope they've got the right address. Thankfully my wfh office looks out of the window next to the front door.
Click to expand...
My experience is pretty similar except my office jis upstairs. I usually have to open the window and call out. They're long gone by the time I get downstairs as the stairlift is rather slow. Even slower if I'm halfway down and someone rings the bell! :LOL:
 
lindsay said:
People obviously actually ring your doorbell then Andrew! Here, most takeaway deliverers don't press the very obvious ringer, they only lightly knock on the door, and couriers/posties don't bother at all these days, just leave things in the porch and presumably hope they've got the right address. Thankfully my wfh office looks out of the window next to the front door.
Click to expand...
You dont have to ring the Ring Doorbell, it detects a person before hand and makes a noise and also sends a notification to your phone.

AndrewFlannigan said:
We have a 2nd generation Ring on the front door, which replaced a 1st generation unit that failed after roughly 4 years.

The current one seems to be reliable after three years or so but there are things they don't tell you...
  • Buy a spare battery and keep the security screwdriver handy so you can change over quickly when it runs out of juice. (you can run it from mains power if you want to wire it up but we don't)
  • Make sure you have a wireless access point close enough for the signal to get through every time.
  • Do read the online documentation and ensure you have the security settings correct for your needs.
  • Don't rely on direct communication between the Ring and a handheld device. Our experience suggests that putting the Ring in range of your access point is much more effective.
All that said, it's proved good for us, allowing us to answer a caller from 300 feet up the garden.
Click to expand...
Do you pay the subscription? I would like a camera front and rear that I can dial into and see prior activity especially if the alarm goes off. Not keen on £8.99 a month to do so.
 
Marc said:
They're long gone by the time I get downstairs
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I have that issue too.
My man cave is directly above the front door, I see them coming, head down the stairs half a dozen steps away,
And next thing the van has gone and Amazon claim the parcel was handed to resident, and they never even knocked.
So I sympathise, you stand no chance :rolleyes:
 
I have one and I would never NOT have one now.

When someone stands in the doorway or presses the button all my Alexa devices tell me someone is at the door. It establishes a video and/or audio link with the caller at the press of a button or my voice command. It also plays them a message asking them to wait a few minutes or to leave the parcel on the doormat - although as has been said, most do that anyway.

If I'm not at home, it does all the above to my phone.

I pay extra for the subscription and think the cost is peanuts for the service and convenience it gives me.

As I'm disabled, I can open the front door remotely too if I know the caller. My regular postie and delivery bod, will just put the parcels inside the front door. I can see this all on the video link of course.

Although I hate 'Big Brother' technology normally, these are a game-changer for me. (y)

Edit - I forgot to add that I use the wired one as I was told it was more reliable. Almost three years on and it's still going strong.
 
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I've got a 3rd gen Ring. Opted to get solar charger for it. I have to charge the battery twice a year (December and March - door faces west so only gets sunlight in the afternoon).
Without the subscription, live video only, with subscription, video is stored for 30 days.
Brilliant device
 
In the last year I've gone from no smart home at all to being a full Ring household with doorbell, alarm, floodlight camera,and an indoor camera for the dogs. It's brilliant. Also set up a similar system for my parents place and they're thrilled with it.

As has been said, you'll need good WiFi coverage so worst case you might want an extra access point for the doorbell.

Battery life is measured in months and as has been said a spare is handy to be able to instantly swap.

I'd recommend the subscription, nor only do you get the storage but you're also covered for replacement of any stolen devices (not that I've heard of it happening).
 
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Tony_M said:
I've got a 3rd gen Ring. Opted to get solar charger for it. I have to charge the battery twice a year (December and March - door faces west so only gets sunlight in the afternoon).
Without the subscription, live video only, with subscription, video is stored for 30 days.
Brilliant device
Click to expand...
I have the same set-up, only on a south-facing door. Battery needs charging once a year in the middle of winter (I live in darkest Norway with little daylight in winter) and wouldn't be without it now. Have had the same one for over 5 years now and never a problem...
 
We went from the battery version to wired and seems the quality and latency is slightly better. We wouldn’t go without one now. Especially, having the ability to decide who to answer the door to!
 
We don't have a Ring doorbell but do have a couple of security cameras.

They are both powered by small solar panels and even during last winter there was always enough charge to power them, though on one of them the rechargeable battery power went down pretty low. We had to use a wifi extended so one of them could link to the router but other than that they work well.

Dave
 
I use a blink doorbell as I wanted to avoid anything that required a subscription. But otherwise the same thing.

But as a security device they are pretty limited.
 
A few years ago, for £200 I bought a 4 camera wireless CCTV system. I have one camera by the front door, another looking over the drive, and two around the back. I have an app on my phone to access live or recorded video. Keep thinking about a Ring doorbell camera but I don't think it will add much to what I already have.
 
My existing doorbell was wired so powering the ring was easy enough with a new transformer replacing the inside bell, but the main reason I went with ring was to integrate it to other smart systems. I usually wear headphones or have music on so listening to Alexa mutter there's someone at the door wasn't great, but it's now set up to trigger a light in the living room and at my desk to shine red through hue when there's someone at the door. Good WiFi signal is a must, wouldn't recommend it being more than one room away.
 
I've got a the Ring Doorbell (1st Gen), Alarm and Camera's, all works flawlessly and although I could do with upgrading the doorbell to a Pro it's not a high-priority as the 1st gen is still working flawlessly from day 1.

My father has had issues with a failure of his spotlight cam, but a quick support ticket with Ring and they sent out a replacement straight away.

Don't overlook the fact that the subscription for Protect Plus covers all devices at the property for cloud storage AND warranty, definitely worth it and like others have said I would not be without one now.

I did however test Amazon's blink doorbell when it was in pre-release. Great device to be fair and 2 x AA's lasted quite a long time!
 
the thing i find odd about them is that the outside unit rings really loudly when you press it. Must be very annoying for neighbours at night. I assume you can turn that off so no idea why people dont.
 
ive a 2nd gen ring door bell, with subscription, works fairly well,were close to the road at the front so get lots of false alarms but ive set the catch area to just monitor the door to cut that down we have a box that chimes at the back of the house so we can hear it, ive a separate cctv system on the back of the house that notifies me anything there, both notify me through my phone, worth it for peace of mind
 
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