Ring type doorbells ...any info .?

[Evans Electric]

Long standing customer has asked me to sort out a Ring  doorbell  ,  the push  I believe is a camera  and it calls your cellphone  when pressed .

Anyone fitted one ,? What is involved ?  Do they supply everything you need ?  

 

[Zeespark]

They do Mr Evans, you can use a kit thats either battery powered (I think) and one that runs from the existing door bell wiring.

Andy Guinness

 

[OnOff]

May help:

https://en-uk.ring.com/pages/manual-guides

 

[phil d]

God help you if you need tech service, they're in America and totally useless, and that's all I can say really.

 

[Murdoch]

Ring units are good and easy to set up 

But they need mains power (you can use the existing cable from a previous transformer) I don't think that battery is an option.

And the bell push needs to be able to have a good signal from the house hold WiFi to work ...

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

They are great in theory but a waste of money.

Delivery bloke presses the button, you are not home and you answer and tell him to stick it round the side and you watch while he does, all great?

No, that is the theory. The truth.

Delivery bloke presses button......................

Button wakes up, connects to wi fi

Wifi then connects to network

Network then contacts your phone

Your phone is in your pocket, you are not sure if it made a noise

It did make a noise and you grab your phone, you enter your unlock code

You tap the app you see delivery bloke walking down your path

You know  he is the delivery bloke because he is carrying a parcel

It took "so long" for everything to happen, including you getting and answering your phone, the delivery bloke left.

Seems the norm is around 30 seconds, by which time.............

Also if the motion detect is not set up right it will be for ever notifying that there is some one there, when there isn't.

They have to pay for cloud storage if they want to keep the pictures .

You can use its battery and charge it as and when, you will get an  email telling you its nearly flat.

Normal UK door bell transformers are no use as they are often only 8v

 

[phil d]

They are great in theory but a waste of money.

Delivery bloke presses the button, you are not home and you answer and tell him to stick it round the side and you watch while he does, all great?

No, that is the theory. The truth.

Delivery bloke presses button......................

Button wakes up, connects to wi fi

Wifi then connects to network

Network then contacts your phone

Your phone is in your pocket, you are not sure if it made a noise

It did make a noise and you grab your phone, you enter your unlock code

You tap the app you see delivery bloke walking down your path

You know  he is the delivery bloke because he is carrying a parcel

It took "so long" for everything to happen, including you getting and answering your phone, the delivery bloke left.

Seems the norm is around 30 seconds, by which time.............

Also if the motion detect is not set up right it will be for ever notifying that there is some one there, when there isn't.

They have to pay for cloud storage if they want to keep the pictures .

You can use its battery and charge it as and when, you will get an  email telling you its nearly flat.

Normal UK door bell transformers are no use as they are often only 8v

What worries me with them is that far from, as the advert says, "make people think you're in when you're not" they can work the other way and confirm that you are not in. Example, man rings doorbell and it goes to your phone, you answer and at that point as you are speaking, a police car hurtles past, sirens blaring. Guy stood on doorstep hears sirens over phone, but doesn't hear them himself, as in nearby, therefore it's obvious that wherever you are, you are certainly not at home. 

 

[Doc Hudson]

I can see a practical application for visual / audio doorbell response to check who's calling while you are still at home, but I really don't see how if you are not there it would be any advantage at all. As Richard says, unless you are in an environment with good reliable fast internet access, so the connection on your phone wont break up, freeze, drop out, the transmission delays will be so obvious to anyone outside the door that they will know you are not at home anyway!  However if the person at home was elderly or has restricted agility or wheelchair bound, (or healthy fit person doing jobs in the back garden when you may not normally hear your doorbell), if the door goes, they could answer check who it is and ask them to "please wait for a minute or so and I am on my way to the door" as most delivery drivers are walking back down the drive is there is no prompt answer. 

Doc H.

 

[phil d]

I can see a practical application for visual / audio doorbell response to check who's calling while you are still at home, but I really don't see how if you are not there it would be any advantage at all. As Richard says, unless you are in an environment with good reliable fast internet access, so the connection on your phone wont break up, freeze, drop out, the transmission delays will be so obvious to anyone outside the door that they will know you are not at home anyway!  However if the person at home was elderly or has restricted agility or wheelchair bound, (or healthy fit person doing jobs in the back garden when you may not normally hear your doorbell), if the door goes, they could answer check who it is and ask them to "please wait for a minute or so and I am on my way to the door" as most delivery drivers are walking back down the drive is there is no prompt answer. 

Doc H.

Exactly, lets be honest, the speed some of these delivery drivers work at, you'd think they were trying to be knock and run champions. I had one the other week, I'd seen him pull up and was actually about to open the door when he knocked, being stood behind the door it took all of about 3 seconds to open it, by which time he was already back by the front gate.

I know that they are under pressure, but the way some of them deliver is shocking, I recently watched one guy attempt to deliver something to a neighbour, she was out so he threw it over the side gate! When she came home, completely unaware he'd even been, I popped over and asked if she was expecting a parcel, "yes, a glass ornament for a present" she replied, "well, I don't know about an ornament, but I think you'll find a box of broken glass behind your gate" I told her, and sure enough there was. The courier firm insisted that "no driver of ours would ever throw a parcel over a gate", despite the fact she told them that I had seen what he had done.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks for passing those bits on .   That delay thing doesn't sound so good .  The Missus has an Amazon Fire thing that only gets the weakest wi-fi signal from the hub , which is only upstairs...however its not for my house .   But if I supply & fit , then find there,s a poor wi-fi signal  what do I do  ,  one of those booster sockets I see advertised ? 

 

[Geoff1946]

I would be concerned at accepting responsibility for the overall operation of anything which depends on the user's WiFi. 

It's far more reliable than it was a few years ago but can still be temperamental and need "help" from an owner with a bit of technical nouse. That's doubly the case when a "booster" repeater is involved; I had to reset mine only today.

 

[Geoff1946]

BTW, I forgot :   HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

[Geoff1946]

so he threw it over the side gate!

A couple of years ago my son ordered a full size solar panel to fit on a camper van and the courier did exactly that; over my 6foot gate!  How it survived I don't know; I found it a full ten feet behind the gate.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Thanks for passing those bits on .   That delay thing doesn't sound so good .  The Missus has an Amazon Fire thing that only gets the weakest wi-fi signal from the hub , which is only upstairs...however its not for my house .   But if I supply & fit , then find there,s a poor wi-fi signal  what do I do  ,  one of those booster sockets I see advertised ? 

Looking at the link that OnOff supplied, some of the doorbells have hard-wired options to the router..  

e.g.  https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005248526-Download-the-Manual-Ring-Doorbell-Elite

The Video Doorbell Elite..

If you are going down the lines of one of these..

I would use a hard-wired connection to the router..

NOT wifi….

ALSO...

You will probably need to set it up using your customers phone..

As you will need the App downloaded..

So.. Herein lies another potential problem..

What if customer has a lettuced phone that is not fully compatible with the ring app????

Could end up wasting loads of time setting things up for it not to fully work as expected in the end?

:C  

A lot of grey areas for things to go wrong and not work...

I still like the bog standard push-button, bit of wire, and a power supply + bell..

Initial cost/Hours of successful operation = Reliability (High).

No wifi's to reboot,  no passwords to lose, no batteries to recharge...

Just good ole fashioned simplicity!

Guinness

 

[phil d]

If it is just for use around the home there are several that can do this and work just like a baby monitor, they come with what I can only describe as a small 'tablet' type thing, except that it only works with the ' bell push', they are designed for use within and around the garden of an average sized home. Depending on what is needed this may be a better option,as Special says, depending on type of phone, age of customer etc, the 'ring' unit could be fraught with problems.

 

[Evans Electric]

If there are problems to be had ...then rest assured  I'll be having them !       I may try to talk them out of it .      They totally ..NOT ... technically or practically minded . 

 

[Geoff1946]

I fitted a Lifemax stand alone type, (CPC   SR08307) for an elderly relative. It has a battery powered outdoor unit and a rechargeable handset like a cordless phone.

It retains a picture of any caller when unanswered, or presents live video on the handset screen when answered.

It was simple and seemed fine to me, but she fell out with it because she couldn't remember, or be bothered, to take the handset around with her.

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

     I may try to talk them out of it .      They totally ..NOT ... technically or practically minded . 

I wouldn't do that, just tell them the truth, it electric and uses wifi and an app, the electric bit you can do blindfold, but the "computer side" is not something you do on an everyday basis and if it has any problems, sorry but you can not help, so you would be better off not taking on such a job,. 

 

[Evans Electric]

I fitted a Lifemax stand alone type, (CPC   SR08307) for an elderly relative. It has a battery powered outdoor unit and a rechargeable handset like a cordless phone.

It retains a picture of any caller when unanswered, or presents live video on the handset screen when answered.

It was simple and seemed fine to me, but she fell out with it because she couldn't remember, or be bothered, to take the handset around with her.

I'll bear that one in mind  , thanks Geoff.