Video door bells

[sam_b]

I think technically you can do without a subscription but it limits the video playback - we pay £25 per year so it’s not much.
We don’t have a separate chime - we have linked it to an Alexa routine so she announces “there is somebody at the door’ prior to that, it was linked to our phones and “rang” on there. 😀

[chrisxal]

We have blink, it is super easy to set up, no hard wiring, no subscription and I get notifications on my phone anywhere in the world, I can see and speak to anyone who approaches my house, no door bell at all.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Is there a minimum internet speed needed for these? I am also late to the party but discovered Ring a couple of days ago and it seems good but our internet speed is around 10-13mpbs and the front door isn’t very close to our hub, would this be a problem? Also DD says there’s been problems of hacking with video door systems, is this true?

[Stitchesmumanddad]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Is there a minimum internet speed needed for these? I am also late to the party but discovered Ring a couple of days ago and it seems good but our internet speed is around 10-13mpbs and the front door isn’t very close to our hub, would this be a problem? Also DD says there’s been problems of hacking with video door systems, is this true?

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We have RING. Our internet router is a fair distance from the door, so my son set up a booster so the Ring works.
We love our Ring. Of all the security systems I have, my favourite for ease of use is Ring.

[shack69]

Ring is the one most people have and it can be wired or wireless with rechargeable batteries. Setup is simple just follow the instructions, you will need the app on your phone. The big draw back for me is the £25 a year subscription to keep recordings.
The Blink XT2 is also an amazon company and comes with it own hub which is supposed to make it operate better. It also has a talk/speaker option. But there is no subscription to store about 2 hours of video with this one (NOTE XT2, as the next gen may have a subscription model).
The XT2 comes with batteries which last upto 2 years dependent on activation.
The XT2 is not a door bell but a very good motion activated device. I have to say i've been impressed with the setting on the movement.
There are lots of other less well known models around and all are generally simple to set up , eg create an account, enter wifi password, sync camera/bell.
Ask yourself this question first. Why do you want a video doorbell? Will you use the features.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

My Wife wants one but my view is why?

Firstly we have a sign on the door saying no cold callers so that discourages them.

Secondly it would be the other side of 2 double glazed uPVC doors so will struggle to get WiFi

Finally we have CCTV looking at the porch door so that's got the security side covered.

I can understand why people want them but it's a lot of loot for little benefit in my view. However I am quite happy to install one for somebody to earn some cash.

N.B. Keep an eye on Screwfix and other similar websites as quite often they are hugely discounted and way cheaper than Amazon.