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Ring Doorbell

We were finally able to take an extended vacation after always taking a week at a time. On a hunch I decided to purchase a Ring Doorbell due to having a new person take care of our pet. For additional peace of mind I added another couple timers and notified the police department we would be gone for two weeks. The second night we were gone the alert on my Ring app went off at 3 am showing motion at the door. When I opened the app, there were two police officers telling me our garage door and our man door to the house was open. I told them through the ring that it should have been closed and the only one that had permission to the home was the pet sitter. They asked for permission to go in the home and I allowed it. After a couple minutes they verified that it was a mistake and the door was left open by accident. I gave them the code for the door and they closed it. The next morning we called the sitter and explained the situation and told her each time she came to the house to verify everything was ok and then push the doorbell. We live in an area that is patrolled heavily and we have low crime, but I feel we really dodged a bullet on this one. Next time we go on vacation I will install a system for monitoring the garage door through an app and probably get a security system. I have to say I am glad I got the Ring Doorbell it made us feel more secure.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Very lucky indeed but did the pet sitter leave both doors open by mistake?
Impressive police you have there
 
We also have a ring doorbell. When we go on vacation, the teenage girl across the street feeds the cats in the morning and again in the evening. She enters and exits through the front door which has a doorbell. When she arrives and when she leaves, I get an alert so I know she has done her job properly. It is a wonderful addition for home security.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
These devices sound pretty good. I'll have to see what we have out here in Australia that is similar.
 
These devices sound pretty good. I'll have to see what we have out here in Australia that is similar.

Ring is owned by Amazon. I believe an AUS/NZ version of the doorbell is available. This is to allow for differences in the electrical systems down under.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
There was a prison escapee in West Tennessee recently and Ring is how he got caught. The home owners saw him on the Ring taking drinks out of their outdoor refrigerator and notified the police. I imagine Ring will see a slight uptick in sales from West TN now.

I want one. I just can’t justify it. I live in the country
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
WE dont have a camera dorrbell (yet) but I have the NextDoor app on my phone and many posts from neighbors with camera doorbells catching thieves/porch pirates/nefarious characters creeping around... It seems that they are catching on though; hoodies, sunglasses, baseball caps, all in an effort to hide their faces.
 
There was a prison escapee in West Tennessee recently and Ring is how he got caught. The home owners saw him on the Ring taking drinks out of their outdoor refrigerator and notified the police. I imagine Ring will see a slight uptick in sales from West TN now.

I want one. I just can’t justify it. I live in the country

Depending upon where you live, it may catch bears, cougars, coyotes, raccoons, etc. invading your property, even if there are few two-legged creatures in the neighborhood.

Then, of course, if the revenuers knock on your front door, the door cam will give you enough warning to escape out the back. Just think how things would have been different during Prohibition had video cameras and doorbells been available.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
We put one in after our nearly twenty year old, conventional doorbell breathed its last gasp. We've had it for a while, now, and there has been more than one occasion that I was glad to have it. It's funny how quickly someone's story can change when there is contrary, video evidence. Even though our doorbell normally wouldn't face down the walkway and towards the street, the kit included a couple of shims so that you can angle the camere left, right, up, or down.

It's great for looking back on something that happened. However, unless you have a ripping good connection and a quick draw reflex on your phone, you probably will not be able to actually answer a ring or alert. I've only been able to pull that off a couple of times. I still am glad to have it.

We went ahead and put one of the Ring cameras over our garage, as well. It looks down our driveway and at our back door. That one is not hardwired and runs on a battery that I have to charge from time to time. That's pretty easy to do, though. I can reach it with a stepstool, and it just clips into a bracket. I've never really paid that much attention to how I have to charge it, but it feels like it's every few months or so--a relatively minor effort.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
We put one in after our nearly twenty year old, conventional doorbell breathed its last gasp. We've had it for a while, now, and there has been more than one occasion that I was glad to have it. It's funny how quickly someone's story can change when there is contrary, video evidence. Even though our doorbell normally wouldn't face down the walkway and towards the street, the kit included a couple of shims so that you can angle the camere left, right, up, or down.

It's great for looking back on something that happened. However, unless you have a ripping good connection and a quick draw reflex on your phone, you probably will not be able to actually answer a ring or alert. I've only been able to pull that off a couple of times. I still am glad to have it.

We went ahead and put one of the Ring cameras over our garage, as well. It looks down our driveway and at our back door. That one is not hardwired and runs on a battery that I have to charge from time to time. That's pretty easy to do, though. I can reach it with a stepstool, and it just clips into a bracket. I've never really paid that much attention to how I have to charge it, but it feels like it's every few months or so--a relatively minor effort.
Thanks a bunch. We are in the "searching" stage of an eventual purchase.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I can't say, really. We always have a light on at the door. It's not much, as light goes, but it does get a good picture (though often only black & white).
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Depending upon where you live, it may catch bears, cougars, coyotes, raccoons, etc. invading your property, even if there are few two-legged creatures in the neighborhood.

Then, of course, if the revenuers knock on your front door, the door cam will give you enough warning to escape out the back. Just think how things would have been different during Prohibition had video cameras and doorbells been available.
Those things coulda kept my grand pappy outta jail!
 
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Here is a picture of an officer walking up to our door at 3 am. We have the Ring 2 with 1080 HD. I bought the 2 because I wasn’t sure about the current wiring. It takes 8-24 vac transformer. I didn’t have time to check and the 2 has battery capability. I would have bought the one on QVC as it has an extender and better price, but I didn’t have time to wait as this was a last minute hunch. Installation was about 10 minutes. Just make sure you have strong WiFi.
 
How good are the cameras at night with nothing but the moonlight?

The doorbell contains an infrared light source and an infrared sensor. Thus, it can still see on a moonless night. I have had mine go off in the middle of the night when a moth flew too close to the lens.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
The doorbell contains an infrared light source and an infrared sensor. Thus, it can still see on a moonless night. I have had mine go off in the middle of the night when a moth flew too close to the lens.
Cool. Thanks for the info
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
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.

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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.

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
 
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