Ring Doorbell

[FarmerTan]

We are putting in a system. It might be fully installed now as all the junk and mess related to installation which was on my honing table (my wife mistakenly calls it the dining room table) is gone.

As I came in the back door I could hear voices.

View attachment 1009808

Turns out to be unrelated to my membership in the Brotherhood of Shaving Crazies. My wife was talking to me from her friend's house miles away, via her phone, and the camera/light installed over the door.

Weird it was. I had no idea it talked.

Spoiler: It?

It does not mean my wife! I am quite aware that SWMBO talks.

No surprise there, but perhaps our property will be safer with a ring system. We live in a neighborhood where there are break-ins far too often. Nice neighborhood, perhaps very nice but still in the city and too close to bad areas, etc. as city neighborhoods often are.

Most of our neighbors already had the RING or some similar system.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I was just thinking that this would be a great thing even when I'm home, and your post reminded me that it might be even more important if I'm home: hard to get hurt by a bad guy in my home when I'm on vacation. But an early warning, even out here in the sticks is important if I'm in the Lazyboy!

 

[Mojo88]

Once we found out everything was ok, my wife and I wondered if our bird starting talking. We have an African Gray that has a habit of saying hello and Hey you!!! whenever someone walks in. I can just imagine the look on the officers face if she she started talking. I guess we will never know, but if she did I bet it was the surprise of the night.

 

[garyg]

If I understand the gadget correctly, it doesn't retain images/videos for any length of time in itself. So if, as is my preference, I am not lugging around the cell phone at the precise moment someone approaches, I can't go back later and review who might have swiped the package that was left at 11 am, that I discover at 2pm, unless you buy into some subscription service?

 

[Mojo88]

It’s 30.00 for a year for cloud storage if you want the video captured in the cloud.

 

[simon1]

If I understand the gadget correctly, it doesn't retain images/videos for any length of time in itself. So if, as is my preference, I am not lugging around the cell phone at the precise moment someone approaches, I can't go back later and review who might have swiped the package that was left at 11 am, that I discover at 2pm, unless you buy into some subscription service?

I, also, am not connected to my cell phone by umbilical cord. I have been thinking about regular security camera(s), but the expense is really not worth it where I live and since I retired I'm home most of the time. A dog and a firearm works well...tried and true. Believe me, you don't want to try to steal from an ex-lawman. Some have lived to regret it.

This is the closest thing I have to a security camera but not the same make or model but the camera itself and the controls on the inside look exactly the same as mine...it takes still pictures, up to 3 in a series and it fires on movement so it will take multiple series of pictures of the same incident, or video with sound. It stores the pictures on an internal SD card forever. It's silent and uses an infrared flash that can't be seen.

Yes, the whole thing can be stolen and it doesn't relay what it records to a separate storage system, but if you conceal it well it's pretty safe. Although it doesn't alert you in real time so you can call the cops.

1080P Waterproof IP56 HD Outdoor Hunting Camera 42 IR LEDs Infrared Night Vision Hunting Scouting Camera Wildlife Hunting Monitoring Camcorder | Wish

 

[garyg]

A trail camera like Mike cites would be a lot cheaper & more versatile since it isn't a fixture like a doorbell. I've had exactly zero wonderment over the past say 25 years about who was at my front door at a given moment, but have puzzled annually over what chewed my one day short of ripe tomatoes .. you could buy two trail cams for less than the Ring Doorbell, and have change left over to not pay another subscription service

The Ring doesn't appear to be much use unless you drag around a cell phone, and are prepared to interrupt whatever you are doing to surveill the Hare Krishna leaving a brochure ... Should be great fun as election day approaches ..

Or in the alternative, you pay tribute to the cloud forever, but I'm sure that price will be decreasing over time.

Guess it depends on each individual's situation & their apprehension about their own environment.

 

[FarmerTan]

I know if you have a decent used smart phone and decent wifi that you can use it as a security camera, per a friend of mine that is much smarter than I.

No idea how it works though!!!

 

[simon1]

Guess it depends on each individual's situation & their apprehension about their own environment.

Yup. In the last 25 years I've only had a couple of things stolen. One was when I let some people fish in my pond, and one time they came up and I was out in the shed and they didn't know I was there...caught one of them poking around looking at things. Came up missing a weed eater later, but a detective I used to work with knew who they were by my description of the car. No more fishing allowed in my pond.

The last time was when someone pulled up and didn't know I was at home...they tried to raid my carport. I held them until two deputies arrived and they were carted off. And yes, a firearm was involved. I don't recommend a person trying to intervene unless they are familiar with legalities and the use of firearms...it could get messy.

It was nice to see an investigator from the S.O. that I knew from working with him though, he asked if I threw down on them and I said No, just had it in my hand as there wasn't any cause and he said "I sure as hell would have". He came out due to there being several burglaries in the area and some jewelry, drug paraphernalia, and a firearm were found in their vehicle due to the deputies inventory of the vehicle incident to arrest...none of the young deputies knew who I was.

 

[John Rose]

... On a hunch I decided to purchase a Ring Doorbell due to having a new person take care of our pet. [...snip...] When I opened the app, there were two police officers telling me our garage door and our man door to the house was open. ...

How about the pets?
Did they escape out the door or are they in cages/aquariums/terrariums?

 

[RayClem]

My wife and I are both retired, so one of us is normally home. One of the beat features for me has been the warning I get when package delivery folks come up the driveway and deposit a package on the front porch. Although I live in a fairly safe neighborhood, there are far too many stories of packages being pilfered from front porches in many neighborhoods. That is why some delivery services are now delivering to locked cars, garages and homes that have electronic locks that can be opened by the delivery agent. I do not want to give those services access to my home and vehicle, so when the Ring doorbell alerts me I go and retrieve the package before anyone might have an opportunity to remove it.

I would hate to have one of my packages of shaving supply stolen. The thief likely will open the package, exclaim "Wwhat the heck is this? !@#$%^%" and toss it into the garbage.

 

[cyclingsteveb]

I've got the Nest Doorbell cam. It works great. You get notified if someone walks up to your door as well as ringing the doorbell. I also have a parcel bin at the front door, that way any deliveries aren't in plain sight.
I've also recently installed a new Chamberlain garage door opener after the last one died. Wifi connection. You can check to see if the door is closed and open / close it remotely. So far it works great. Of course these systems depend on an internet connection.

 

[Mojo88]

How about the pets?
Did they escape out the door or are they in cages/aquariums/terrariums?

Fortunately, the only pet we have is a parrot and she is in a cage, so everything was ok. My wife made that comment that someone could have taken the TVs and other electronics. I told her with the recent advancements in electronics the outdated models we have are worth next to nothing. The things of value that I was concerned about were bicycles, jewelry, guns and my tools, many of the tools and guns have sentimental value as they were my dads. What I was thinking about is the damage that always happens during a break-in. I have seen homes where everything is completely trashed and every drawer is pulled out and emptied. All and all we were very lucky as there have been several cars close to us that have been broken into. Most were unlocked and owners left things of value in their cars.

 

[Mojo88]

I've got the Nest Doorbell cam. It works great. You get notified if someone walks up to your door as well as ringing the doorbell. I also have a parcel bin at the front door, that way any deliveries aren't in plain sight.
I've also recently installed a new Chamberlain garage door opener after the last one died. Wifi connection. You can check to see if the door is closed and open / close it remotely. So far it works great. Of course these systems depend on an internet connection.

We are due for an upgrade as our openers are over 18 years old and I was looking at the Chamberlin system. Did you install it yourself? The one thing that drives me crazy is leaving the house and wondering if we closed the doors. I can't tell you how many times over the years we get a block away and turn around to check and make sure we closed the doors.

 

[RayClem]

We are due for an upgrade as our openers are over 18 years old and I was looking at the Chamberlin system. Did you install it yourself? The one thing that drives me crazy is leaving the house and wondering if we closed the doors. I can't tell you how many times over the years we get a block away and turn around to check and make sure we closed the doors.

Chamberlin makes some excellent openers. They also make the Craftsman units. Since it has been a long time since yours was replaced, you might want to hire a garage door serviceman to install it for you. It will save you some money by doing it yourself, but there are a lot of headaches for the uninitiated. I installed one about 5 years ago with the help of a friend and it works just fine, but it took a lot longer than I expected since it was essentially a direct replacement.

Also, a garage door serviceman will make sure you get the right size unit for your door. He will consider the width of the door, the height of the door, and the construction of the door: wood or metal,insulated or not. All those factors affect the weight of the door and need to be considered when selecting the HP rating. Also, if you can afford it, go with a belt drive unit. They are more expensive than the chain drive units, but they are much quieter and run more smoothly.

 

[FL shaver]

We use a Ring doorbell and a couple of rechargeable Arlo cams. They are mostly used by my wife to keep track of my movements and to send the kids funny Dad vids. Someday they might help with security.

 

[RayClem]

We use a Ring doorbell and a couple of rechargeable Arlo cams. They are mostly used by my wife to keep track of my movements and to send the kids funny Dad vids. Someday they might help with security.

Years ago, folks took home movies on 8mm film. Now you can do that with your Internet cameras.

 

[cyclingsteveb]

We are due for an upgrade as our openers are over 18 years old and I was looking at the Chamberlin system. Did you install it yourself? The one thing that drives me crazy is leaving the house and wondering if we closed the doors. I can't tell you how many times over the years we get a block away and turn around to check and make sure we closed the doors.

Yes I installed it myself. Took me about 4 hrs unhurried. Used some of the old hardware which saved some time. Some of the setup could use an extra set of hands. I used to do the same thing - take out the garbage then get in my car and start driving to work, thinking a block away I forgot to close the door. The Chamberlain systems fix that. You can set the door to close in X minutes after opening. I got mine at Costco for a great price.

 

[njpaddy]

I've been on the fence about Ring for a couple of years. With 3 doors, I'm not sure how useful one Ring would be and I don't want to be bothered with Ring on all 3. Amazon buying Ring put me off Ring as did some reviews about an elevated porch and cars on a busy street setting it off.

I've been an Amazon customer for 20 years, but I trust my privacy with Amazon about as much as I trust it with Google, Facebook and the rest of that invasion of privacy ilk. Years ago, my wife and I decided on having no front doorbell and I removed it. Family, friends and neighbors knock on our side or back door. We don't answer knocks on our front door. We just ignore them until they go away, the same as we do with numbers on caller ID that we don't recognize.

We have an alarm system on all doors and windows, installed by a previous owner with small children. The only problem we've had in almost 18 years was last summer when we were on vacation and corrosion on a basement window contact triggered false alarms sending police to the house two days in a row. The first thing I did when we got home the day of the second false alarm and I figured out the problem, was call the police dept, explain what happened and apologize. They seemed to appreciate the call and didn't bill me for the false responses.

 

[dieselfuel79]

Upgraded our home alarm system including sensors, glass break and the sky bell was included (same idea as ring.)

I work shift work and my wife and kids are sometimes home, alone, overnight. I can see who’s at my door and when. I can answer the door while working so my wife is uninterrupted when she’s giving the kids a bath, reading or just spending time. The camera also has night vision.

The phone app is also excellent. Aside from getting notifications when someone is at my door, I can also see when my wife sets or disables the alarm. (Very handy when I come home in the morning and the babies are still asleep). I can also set my alarm away from the house if I’ve forgotten. The doorbell picks up motion of anyone on my front steps and I can set the sensitivity level or how far from the door I’d like to record.

Have door-to-door sales people or other agents coming to your door? Deal with them from the comfort of your couch or office without having to put on your pants, or get hit with that middle of winter frosty wind.