Wifi doorbell.

[KryptoNyte]

It's 2014, and this is the best we have for a wifi doorbell, so I can answer the door remotely?

http://www.amazon.com/SkyBell-Wi-Fi-...ct_top?ie=UTF8

[flowjoe]

I had to click the link, now their Amazon ad is following me everywhere.

[jarredduq]

This looks pretty good. https://ring.com/

[pjpjpjpj]

I don't understand why you'd want a doorbell right in the middle of your door. Some of these, it appears they have to be, so that the camera is looking right at the person at the door. That might be fine for an apartment in a multi-resident building, but not if you have a nice home with a nice front door (full disclosure, we just replaced our front door and the wife's agonizing over the look, style, color, window/sidelights, doorbell, etc., was unbelievable... no way in the world something that looks like these would fly.)

The camera needs to be a separate piece from the button, and talk to it (bluetooth or however) so that the press of the doorbell awakens the camera or something. That way you can have the button in a "normal" location and also put the camera somewhere less conspicuous.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by jarredduq

This looks pretty good. https://ring.com/

I was doing a little research on this product today, but I couldn't find any real people reviews - wasn't even available on Amazon. Then I found a commercial review (or a product explanation, rather) at digitaltrends.com and I see that this is the same company that tried to market the Doorbot, which was essentially a failure.

No wonder why "Ring" doesn't want to sell on Amazon, the honest reviews crush their products.

Why can no one get such a simple thing right?

[KryptoNyte]

Google should come up with something here. They could call it "The Placeshifter."

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by jarredduq

This looks pretty good. https://ring.com/

After the reviews surfaced, this unit starting looking fairly decent, so I grabbed one at the local Best Buy. Minus a few hiccups, this unit is quite good. According to an email from the developer responding to a few questions, there are a number of really nice features that are apparently coming down the line in the next 1 to 3 months. We'll see.

The one thing that struck me as particularly extraordinary, are the devices ability to wirelessly (and painlessly) connect to your mobile device to perform the hardware installation as well as the software setup. It was reminiscent of the first time I dialed in all the settings on an AVR via the TV screen instead of the tiny screen on the receiver itself - only way better. The packaging and included hardware were extremely well thought out. The $200 was a bite, but in the end, I'd have to say that the value is there for folks looking for a wifi doorbell.

[Fuzzy]

I find it incredibly sad that people as a whole have given up on running wires from one permanent location to another nearby permanent location...

[KryptoNyte]

If you're referring to the power, you can still hard wire this thing, in fact a lot of folks just use the power wires from their old bell. If it's the wireless data connection, the wifi does very well for what it needs to do - I can't really see any reason to force a hard network wire in this scenario.

I am actually running it off the unit's battery until I'm comfortable enough to rip the drywall off and drill another hole in the brick to run a hard power wire. The problem has come in dialing in the motion sensitivity - I burned the battery down in just a couple weeks with the darn thing recording every car that drove by.

There are some other things that don't quite work as they should yet, most of it software related, so hopefully we'll see some improvements over the next few months. It is pretty darn slick to be able to answer the door when I'm at work, and better yet, it gives you the option to see and hear whose at the door before deciding if you want to respond at all.

[Fuzzy]

I don't even answer the door most the time when I'm home...

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I don't even answer the door most the time when I'm home...

My doorbell rarely rings any more, not after I hung this "No Soliciting" sign. And, delivery people often wait for me to answer the door to say how much they like the sign instead of dropping the box & running.

Actually, I might be interested in a doorbell like the one discussed here... I should see if there is one to tie into my security system.

Andy

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Opus4

My doorbell rarely rings any more, not after I hung this "No Soliciting" sign. And, delivery people often wait for me to answer the door to say how much they like the sign instead of dropping the box & running.

Actually, I might be interested in a doorbell like the one discussed here... I should see if there is one to tie into my security system.

Andy

I am getting this sign thank you.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

There are some other things that don't quite work as they should yet, most of it software related, so hopefully we'll see some improvements over the next few months. It is pretty darn slick to be able to answer the door when I'm at work, and better yet, it gives you the option to see and hear whose at the door before deciding if you want to respond at all.

It would be great if you could just tap into the camera stream using whatever software you want (e.g. BlueIris, iSpy, VLC, etc.). It sounds like that isn't supported yet (but may be coming soon?).

It makes sense to use their app for real time monitoring and 2-way communications when someone presses the doorbell, but I would prefer not to use their cloud service for motion capture and storage. I'd rather be able to tie that in with a single piece of software that monitors any and all cameras I may have.

[KryptoNyte]

A support rep is supposed to be calling me tonight to work on some of the motion sensitivity problems, I'll ask him if they have any plans to open the camera up for use with other pieces of software. They do currently claim to be working on live video feed at any time, and a website interface of some sort, which is currently not supported.

In all honesty, this camera is missing some key pieces of design to make it a full on motion sensing security camera, such as;

- Have the ability to record continuously, and then back itself up a few seconds prior to the motion to create the saved video file. This is critical for any security camera. If you were running the device off the battery, this would most certainly be impossible as the battery would be dead in a couple days.

- The night vision isn't very good in my opinion.

There are a quite a few other niggles that aren't working as they should right now, and my fear with any product like this, is that the company will abandon this hardware version too early, and fire up a new product with the features working correctly, much like they did with the Doorbot, the predecessor to the Ring Doorbell.

I will say that, as a doorbell, the remote calling, video, and answering works very well today.

It is 30 bucks a year for cloud video storage account, which some folks will have no problem with, and others will scream bloody murder over. If that 30 bucks a year also means Ring.com sustainability and software/firmware improvements new and old devices alike, then I'm good with that. Like many folks, I'm not fond of cloud storage, but in my mind there really isn't a security concern here (as all the video is usually of public areas anyways), and I do like the fact that all my computers at home can sleep when they are not in use.

I really like the idea that they will send you a new unit if yours is stolen - as it is, the system does prevent theft, by design.

[KryptoNyte]

Nice.

But who in their right mind likes toothpaste mixed with chocolate?

Originally Posted by Opus4

My doorbell rarely rings any more, not after I hung this "No Soliciting" sign. And, delivery people often wait for me to answer the door to say how much they like the sign instead of dropping the box & running.

Actually, I might be interested in a doorbell like the one discussed here... I should see if there is one to tie into my security system.

Andy

[KryptoNyte]

So after a short but sweet conversation with the support rep this evening, it's clear that they have every intention of the selling this device before it's functioning they way they advertise, then attempt to make promises that they'll do everything they can to fix it.

If you'd like to buy one for the full price, I'm sure they'd love to add you to their beta testing group. Mine's going back to the store, and my $200 will come back out of their pocket. A fantastic idea from a group of people completely incapable of executing it.

[Rob23]

I recently looked into this, but the lack of an available API appears to lock one into using their cloud storage service. It's too bad as it otherwise appears to have potential.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Opus4

My doorbell rarely rings any more, not after I hung this "No Soliciting" sign. And, delivery people often wait for me to answer the door to say how much they like the sign instead of dropping the box & running.

Actually, I might be interested in a doorbell like the one discussed here... I should see if there is one to tie into my security system.

Andy

I work nights, and sleep during the day. I get really tired of a daily continual barrage of solar salesmen and jesus freaks coming by. Even with a No Soliciting sign, they ring away.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I work nights, and sleep during the day. I get really tired of a daily continual barrage of solar salesmen and jesus freaks coming by. Even with a No Soliciting sign, they ring away.

I have the same sign, thanks to Andy. Where I'm at in NJ, you can complain to the police about violations of a no soliciting sign and they'll fine the people. As always, political solicitors are exempted, but they don't stop by very often.