If you have one, what kind?
Pro’s? Con’s?
Pro’s? Con’s?
Video Door Bell
- Thread starter Kanewpadle
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I have Ring doorbell and couple of cameras besides.
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I have a SimpliSafe doorbell camera. Part of a larger security system with three outdoor cameras and two inside.
Pros & Cons? Works well as part of an integrated security system.
Cons: Doubt if it makes sense as a standalone camera. For standalone, Amazon Blink or similar, I would think.
Pros & Cons? Works well as part of an integrated security system.
Cons: Doubt if it makes sense as a standalone camera. For standalone, Amazon Blink or similar, I would think.
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30-30remchester
Member
Put one in several months ago. The first notification of a guest arriving was when we were out of town. Looking at the guest, she was a moose walking by.
THE PILGRIM
Member
I got a Eufy front and back.
The one in front replaced the doorbell ringer box.
The rear one has a motion detector light and is mounted above the garage door and is mounted on the light receptacle.
Both store events.
The one in front replaced the doorbell ringer box.
The rear one has a motion detector light and is mounted above the garage door and is mounted on the light receptacle.
Both store events.
I have a Blink at home and a Wyze at the MIL's home. Both work well. Be advised there is a bit of delay involved. You don't get instantaneous communication with a visitor like they show in the promo materials.
In terms of reliability they both seem great. The Wyze has a bit higher quality picture. The Blink app is a little easier to use.
In terms of reliability they both seem great. The Wyze has a bit higher quality picture. The Blink app is a little easier to use.
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JET4
Member
Unless they have improved them the Ring one is worthless. I bought one a few years back and tested it out.
I walked up to the door and then turned around and walked away. When I got a notification I saw the back of my head walking away.
If someone was stealing a package all you would see is there back.
I return it and have never bought another one.
I walked up to the door and then turned around and walked away. When I got a notification I saw the back of my head walking away.
If someone was stealing a package all you would see is there back.
I return it and have never bought another one.
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Our first Ring was that way. We now have a Ring Pro-2. It starts recording much sooner. It records about 30-feet out when someone is approaching it.
Much, much better and it operates the way the first generation should have.
I did have to get a stronger transformer for my existing doorbell chime to work correctly. I followed the link on the Ring web site and it took me to Amazon for the correct one. It took about 10 minutes to replace and the chime now works correctly.
BTW: The Ring is really easy to install, it starts the set up and walks you through the connection to your WiFi and how to configure the options.
I would, and have,added perimeter cameras for early detection. Not all miscreants are coming through the front door. 
I installed a RING doorbell (Ring Video Doorbell 4) in December 2021 and absolutely love it! I bought two batteries and keep one charged, and swap them out when it notifies me that it has 30% left on the charge. The app on my cell phone with the features is really nice.
A woman who lives a mile from me posted a ring camera video a few years ago of a mountain lion walking down her sidewalk at 9pm in a Denver suburb of a gazillion people lol
We have a Blink system. Six cameras. Five cameras cover exterior of the house and one in the garage.
Front door and garage door cameras record people walking from street to the front door.
Field of view and distance is adjustable.
Gives alerts and views on phone while away from home.
We have a fountain next to the front door and we see cats, coons, foxes and deer in our driveway quite often at night.
Front door and garage door cameras record people walking from street to the front door.
Field of view and distance is adjustable.
Gives alerts and views on phone while away from home.
We have a fountain next to the front door and we see cats, coons, foxes and deer in our driveway quite often at night.
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SimpliSafe. The doorbell camera interfaces with the overall system. It's not stand-alone; you will need the base station to go with it. Of course that paves the way to add other elements to your system.
The camera has motion detection and infrared illumination for when the sun goes down. You can set the infrared to always on, never on or automatic as you desire. Motion detection has sensitivity and "detect humans" settings. Ostensibly the human detection looks for vertical shapes with two legs. Turning it on reduced deer detection but not 100%. You can also set motion detection exclusion zones. Initially my flag made it crazy, but an exclusion zone fixed that.
I like that the camera is powered by the low voltage ac used for the conventional doorbell. There's a backup battery inside the doorbell camera. The WiFi has been fine with the exception of one time it went offline and locked up. A hard reset fixed that. SimpiSafe offers a free (upon request) mounting kit so you can angle the doorbell for optimum view.
SimpliSafe in general is a good system. The other outdoor cameras are also WiFi but have Li Ion rechargeable batteries in them. Nice that there's no need for running power to them, but they do need recharging every few months. As noted above, the doorbell camera doesn't need this.
Overall, I'm happy with SimpliSafe. They offer great support. There's a wide assortment of system elements to add. If you go that route, be sure to look for large discounts available from time to time. Never pay full price with them!
The camera has motion detection and infrared illumination for when the sun goes down. You can set the infrared to always on, never on or automatic as you desire. Motion detection has sensitivity and "detect humans" settings. Ostensibly the human detection looks for vertical shapes with two legs. Turning it on reduced deer detection but not 100%. You can also set motion detection exclusion zones. Initially my flag made it crazy, but an exclusion zone fixed that.
I like that the camera is powered by the low voltage ac used for the conventional doorbell. There's a backup battery inside the doorbell camera. The WiFi has been fine with the exception of one time it went offline and locked up. A hard reset fixed that. SimpiSafe offers a free (upon request) mounting kit so you can angle the doorbell for optimum view.
SimpliSafe in general is a good system. The other outdoor cameras are also WiFi but have Li Ion rechargeable batteries in them. Nice that there's no need for running power to them, but they do need recharging every few months. As noted above, the doorbell camera doesn't need this.
Overall, I'm happy with SimpliSafe. They offer great support. There's a wide assortment of system elements to add. If you go that route, be sure to look for large discounts available from time to time. Never pay full price with them!
I have a paranoid neighbor lady across the street. She catches everything. When they deliver to her door she looks through the horizontal blinds in the room above her door; she looks like one of those signal lights on a ship in the older war movies.
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RING is excellent! I recently added a few more Ring outdoor cameras. So far I have seen 2 Black Bears, a Panther, a huge Coyote, an Alligator - all on my property. The video quality is incredible and it has infrared capability in the dark. I'd highly recommend Ring systems! BTW, with the central station monitoring option you get a lifetime warranty / replacement on the equipment and their rates are quite reasonable. Their customer service is pretty darn good also. No long wait times on hold, always helpful and never rush you off the phone.
In my old home I used Blink which I really never cared much for.
In my old home I used Blink which I really never cared much for.
We have a Ring, and I installed one at my mom's house.
Both work great. I did the 2-battery thing, however the batteries last about a year before getting below 50% which is when I replace with the backup.
The installations and set up are simple and straightforward.
We actually had to lower the sensitivity because it was capturing cars going by on street.
You may need to adjust the mount depending on the angle of your door frame relative to the approach to your door. They have mounting plates to assist with that.
We have had ours for 3 years and the one at moms is about a year old with 0 issues.
I think we paid about 80 for ours and 100 for the Ring 2 I installed at moms.
Good luck to you.
Both work great. I did the 2-battery thing, however the batteries last about a year before getting below 50% which is when I replace with the backup.
The installations and set up are simple and straightforward.
We actually had to lower the sensitivity because it was capturing cars going by on street.
You may need to adjust the mount depending on the angle of your door frame relative to the approach to your door. They have mounting plates to assist with that.
We have had ours for 3 years and the one at moms is about a year old with 0 issues.
I think we paid about 80 for ours and 100 for the Ring 2 I installed at moms.
Good luck to you.
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Chip it is amazing what having a water-feature at your house will attract.
My koi pond has constant traffic from dusk until dawn of a host of critters. My favorite is the momma bobcat with her 3 kittens in tow.
It was not quite dark yet and some little neighbor girls saw the cute baby kittens and were coming over to pet and play with them. Momma bobcat climbed up a big pine in the blink of an eye.
I got out there as quick as I could to send the girls home. The babies hid in the shrubs when they saw me. They were not scared of the little girls.
I went back in and watched the camera. Momma climbed down, got her babies out of the bushes and cuffed each one of the back of the head for I guess not following her up the tree.
Beemerguy53
Member
We installed a Ring video doorbell at my girlfriend's home last spring. It works great, does exactly what we wanted it to do.
It lets us see who's approaching down her long driveway, and turn away or ignore pesky solicitors ("no, we don't need a new roof") without having to open the door. It also records the foxes scampering around her front yard in the middle of the night.
Installation was easy, with no hassles. Highly recommended...
It lets us see who's approaching down her long driveway, and turn away or ignore pesky solicitors ("no, we don't need a new roof") without having to open the door. It also records the foxes scampering around her front yard in the middle of the night.
Installation was easy, with no hassles. Highly recommended...
MetalMan
Member
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Same here. Ring doorbell, stick up cam (solar panel) for side and floodlight cam for rear.
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