Smart Doorbell(I'm a tad lost)

freshpopcorn

I was planning on purchasing a smart door bell for somebody for Christmas. Originally I thought it would be an easy enough purchase. However now I'm a tad lost.
The person has a hard wired door bell at the moment.

What am I looking for exactly.

The bell?
The bell and chime?
Or the bell and an Amazon echo?

Do all device connect easily to people's smart phones?(I've heard mixed reviews)

Any advice?

Also any recommendations with be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

The Muppet

Just the bell. I have the ring bell on my elderly mams house . very happy with it.

freshpopcorn

The Muppet wrote: »

Just the bell. I have the ring bell on my elderly mams house . very happy with it.

I was told they'd have no chime or something if I didn't buy the chime box?

wexfordman2

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I was told they'd have no chime or something if I didn't buy the chime box?

With nest, you re use the existing chime box , and when someone rings, the chime box rings along with any phone that has the app installed and any smart speakers in the house will chime also.

You need a wired doorbell, wifi coverage must outside the front door, and the bell transformer needs to be 18v I think (easy to replace if its not).

ted1

Many offer a subscription service, do you intend on paying that too?
If not what features do you lose?

squawker

ted1 wrote: »

Many offer a subscription service, do you intend on paying that too?

the subscription service on "Ring" doorbells is the biggest con ever, and no way of getting a local feed

Make sure you look around for a bell that can display the feed on your local network without having to pay those shyster's a monthly fee

banie01

I have a Chinese video doorbell that integrates with the Tuya/Smartlife app.
It's fairly functional, receive push notifications to my devices.

It's cheap and cheerful way to dip my toe into video door bells.

I would advise getting a chime or compatible ringer for in the house, to eliminate any lag or delay in notification when you are at home.

Bluefoam

I'm against the new 'subscribe' to life mantra coming from every angle... I have Arlo Pro 2 cameras ordered & I plan to link one of them with an Arlo Audio Doorbell... No subscription required.

They also do a Video Doorbell for €3 per month... But it makes more sense for me to use one of my cameras linked to the doorbell as it's location will remain the same anyway.

Daveq

I'm waiting for the Eufy Video doorbell to launch this side of the Atlantic. No subscription, chime included, good spec. Probably won't be in time for Christmas though, I was onto support and they reckon it'll be early January.

The Muppet

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I was told they'd have no chime or something if I didn't buy the chime box?

They dont but you can connect it to the existing doorbell. The ring runs off the same voltage. I have a ring pro on my own house and that needs a higher voltage bell transformer than teh standard one. Theres a lifetime guarantee on them too.

GarIT

Whatever you do under no circumstances go for ring. The Gardaí have free access to watch the camera whenever they like and can freely take recordings from the camera.

https://www.cnet.com/features/amazons-helping-police-build-a-surveillance-network-with-ring-doorbells/

It might seem like a good idea in some ways until you're being questioned about your comings and goings or whoever you associate with and you find out no warramt is needed because as part of the service agreement you have to agree to give access to the camera and any recordings to the Gardaí.

wexfordman2

GarIT wrote: »

Whatever you do under no circumstances go for ring. The Gardaí have free access to watch the camera whenever they like and can freely take recordings from the camera.

https://www.cnet.com/features/amazons-helping-police-build-a-surveillance-network-with-ring-doorbells/

It might seem like a good idea in some ways until you're being questioned about your comings and goings or whoever you associate with and you find out no warramt is needed because as part of the service agreement you have to agree to give access to the camera and any recordings to the Gardaí.

Its hillarious that you didn't actually read the article you posted.

GarIT

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Its hillarious that you didn't actually read the article you posted.

That's just how it started out, or how it is advertised. How it has worked in practice has been very different. There are a few cases of people being taken in for questioning in the US over someone who was at their door being a suspect in some unrelated crime.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/police-can-get-your-ring-doorbell-footage-without-a-warrant-report-says/

There are also rumours of Amazon's facial recognition software being applied to.rimg doorbells allowing police to easily get a list of everyone who has been to your house and everywhere you have been that has a ring doorbell.

wexfordman2

GarIT wrote: »

That's just how it started out, or how it is advertised. How it has worked in practice has been very different. There are a few cases of people being taken in for questioning in the US over someone who was at their door being a suspect in some unrelated crime.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/police-can-get-your-ring-doorbell-footage-without-a-warrant-report-says/

There are also rumours of Amazon's facial recognition software being applied to.rimg doorbells allowing police to easily get a list of everyone who has been to your house and everywhere you have been that has a ring doorbell.

Again, from your own article:-

"The reports that police can obtain any video from a Ring doorbell within 60 days is false," a spokesperson said. "Ring will not release customer information in response to government demands without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Ring objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course."

I wont be replying to any more of your conspiracy theories, good luck, keep the tin foil hat on, at least.it will keep you dry in this weather if nothing else.

freshpopcorn

Thanks for the advice.
The whole GDPR, Gardai monitoring us wouldn't bother us to be honest.
Can anybody recommend a device to me? please.(Preferably without a monthly fee).

wexfordman2

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.
The whole GDPR, Gardai monitoring us wouldn't bother us to be honest.
Can anybody recommend a device to me? please.(Preferably without a monthly fee).

The nest works very well for me, and I use it without subscription. So, with that in mind, and it being the only smart doorbell I have used, I think the nest would be a good fit.

But, you will need to ensure they have wifi coverage at the place where the doorbell is first, and then check what type.of transformer they have to see if they need to replace it in advance

Gargled

wexfordman2 wrote: »

...
But, you will need to ensure they have wifi coverage at the place where the doorbell is first, and then check what type.of transformer they have to see if they need to replace it in advance

I was told by the electrician that the cabling wouldn't take 24v to the Nest. Did you upgrade that too?

wexfordman2

Gargled wrote: »

I was told by the electrician that the cabling wouldn't take 24v to the Nest. Did you upgrade that too?

Nope, standard bell wire, re used. I would get a second opinion on that tbh if I was you.

TheBigGreen

Anyone buy this smart doorbell?

Looking to get the parents a smart doorbell for Christmas.

Gumbo

TheBigGreen wrote: »

Anyone buy this smart doorbell?

Looking to get the parents a smart doorbell for Christmas.

A few reviews on YT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV7i4goPdc4

freshpopcorn

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'm probally not getting it now. The person I was getting it for did something nasty enough to my mother.
I'm consider getting something much smaller now.