As there are some pretty decent prime day deals to be had, I was wondering if these are any good? I’ve had a search through the forum but can’t find any real feedback and of course you never trust the reviews on Amazon.

I could genuinely do with some camera protection as I’m working from home a lot more these days (who isn’t). Our front door faces outwards from the side of the house, so I’m after another camera to cover the car on the drive and maybe the other side of the house. The ring stick up camera is about £60 on prime day which seems pretty good compared to some of the others.

Anyone got one and if so what do you think? Alternative suggestions also welcome in case I’m barking up the wrong tree.

No, IMO.

Remember that there is a subscription model if you want it to retain any functionality after the first couple of months. So not just 60 quid.

I found there was a massive lag between someone pushing the doorbell and it actually ringing on my phone or PC. Enough to mean that I’d be lucky to see the back end of the delivery van pulling out of my road by the time I sprinted to the front door. It’s cloud-based so it has to call home and then home has to call you. Got even worse after I decline to pay them subscription.

I got mine refunded after two months.

Standalone wireless camera recording onto a hard drive should work better, haven’t got any recommends though.

A few neighbours have them. Get the ringer for inside the house though rather than relying on push notifications to your phone.

We have a couple of Neos cameras, one inside the porch to pick up when stuff gets left (couriers know they can just drop off in there) or if someone tried to break in, one covering the driveway in the garage eaves so it’s mostly out of the rain. They also have a subscription model but work well enough in the free tier and you can fit a microSD for a few days worth of local recording. I think they can all struggle with outside motion detection if you live near a road and get headlights from cars etc on your driveway.

As above, although not owned one, every time I’ve looked into getting a ‘smart’ doorbell so many reviews mention the lag that to me it fails in it’s main function. Added to that a lot of people seem to get connectivity issues with them and I haven’t bothered. A remotely-accessible instant working intercom on the door bell would be handy (mostly for deliveries if not in) but the tech isn’t there yet.

I have a separate CCTV system but it’s PoE with local NVR rather than being a stick-up/wireless option so costs a fair bit more upfront (I don’t have any subscription costs though and can remote access the footage).

I got the wireless security camera. £2.50 per month for cloud storage. Well designed with useful features (e.g.lights on/off, sensitivity settings, notification/video to your phone of activity). A doddle to set up and with the option solar panel. forget it – until you need it

Yeah, I quite like mine.

I WFH in the garage and got sick of sticking notes on my door.

I have a dot in the garage and the ring sends an alert to that. I can then pop out and see who is at the door.

There is lag with the phone app. I don’t see how that could ever be quick enough.

I think it is pretty handy as a camera, records everyone that comes to my door.

Mick

I’ve got a few Neos cams – one covers the front door but is inside, looking out through a window. Obviously I can’t chat with whoever’s at the door like the Ring doorbell but I get an alert that someone’s there when I’m out (it auto arms when I leave the house). Works pretty well considering how cheap the cameras are (+£30/year for the extra cloud storage/scheduling functionality).

I also get to see the local badgers and foxes running around at night.

I have a Ring. It always claims to have low strength wi-fi even though it’s close to the router. It’s just a poor design in that respect. I’ve heard it’s better wired in to the mains than on battery, but I’ve no evidence.
I have a Chime close to it which rings a couple of seconds after the bell is pressed and my phone rings a couple of seconds after that. (over 90% of the time).
Although it’s annoyingly slow to connect to the live screen I’ve found it invaluable when I’m working in the workshop at the end of the garden. If I’m expecting somebody to come to the door and maybe not ring the bell then I switch on the proximity alarm and that works too.
I find the live screen is faster on 4G than on the Wi-Fi. It’s impossible to get it up on time when in the house but a couple of times on a bike ride (and once in Costa Rica) I’ve been able to talk to the caller.

Ours works well, small lag from ringing to then calling my phone, but it’s seconds. No subscription needed for mine as I already have 4 other cameras set up to a HDD type thing. I get a text when the camera is activated, someone passing etc (this feature can be a bit annoying).
Think it’s EvZiv doorbell and the other cameras use Hik-Connect.

Thanks for the help by the way. I’m going to give one of the cameras a try for a few days and if it’s crap I’ll send it back before the 30 day trial runs out.

We have a couple of Neos cameras, one inside the porch to pick up when stuff gets left (couriers know they can just drop off in there) or if someone tried to break in, one covering the driveway in the garage eaves so it’s mostly out of the rain. They also have a subscription model but work well enough in the free tier and you can fit a microSD for a few days worth of local recording. I think they can all struggle with outside motion detection if you live near a road and get headlights from cars etc on your driveway.

Yep, we have Neos, inc one pointing at the front door at a window. Even the ones in the house get triggered by cars passing by at night with headlights on as enough light comes in the windows to fool them into thinking its movement. They were fantastic VFM at two for £25 but they seem to have gone up in price now….

I had an original ring doorbell v1. Its about 2 years old and started playing up, battery wouldn’t last and the plastic housing broke.

Ring gave me a discount code and I picked up a ring doorbell v2 for £60. It’s far better quality than my original.

As for WiFi lag etc, I have a chime Pro that not only rings but boosts the WiFi. It made a massive difference.

I’ve just bought a mains adapter for mine but not used it yet. I’m hoping it doesn’t set me in fire.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383653650282

As I’m already paying for cloud storage I was thinking of buying a camera too to add to my account. Any links to a good deal?

When someone knocks on the door I look out the window to see who’s there.   Costs me nothing.

From my experience of doing Grocery Deliveries the Ring doorbells are a guarantee that you’ll be waiting a while for the door to be opened. It could be the demographic that buys them being old and doddery but I’m more inclined for it to be that they’re laggy and don’t always connect. I have spotted a new player in the market called Ion, they seem to be quick and reliable but no idea on who they are. Guessing it’s a local firm fitting them as they all have the same positioning on the doors.

I will go out my way to advise anyone not to get a Ring product.

Two weeks before my garage was robbed, the two Ring ‘stuck up cams’ were watching out the front of the house, cartching al the usual boring stuff like bin men, dog walkers and even a spider on the camera.

The night my bike was robbed I went to review the footage and there was an 8 hour black hole.

I contacted Ring (not easy and involved social media stalking) and they decided to look into it.

I was scheduled a call with some ‘manager’ in the USA who listened to my concerns and when she was told the value of the bike she pretty much stone walled me.

Got the ‘we don’t guarantee performance or accept liability’s stuff.

The major flaw with Ring is it only records upon detection of movement. No movement, no recording.

My next door neighbours Nest caught the footage but bike was never seen again.

Ring wouldn’t even offer refund, so took it back to Argos and bought Nest.

That said, If i was to have another system I’d go for a Wired hiki vision system becvasue theyre not suceptible to wi-fi/RF jamming.

From my experience of doing Grocery Deliveries the Ring doorbells are a guarantee that you’ll be waiting a while for the door to be opened.

I noticed that quite a few delivery guys didn’t even bother trying to press my Ring (fnarr), but went straight to door-knocking.

There was another thread on these a few months ago. We’ve had them since the v1 doorbell came out. Been good for us. Mobility issues mean getting to the front door can be an issue, so this solves that. Don’t have the lag people report above, the phones and chime ring almost immediately. Video feed seems slightly more reliable on Android for some reason.

But yeah, factor in the £2.50/month per device (or £8 unlimited) if you want the 30 day video history.

The major flaw with Ring is it only records upon detection of movement. No movement, no recording.

You can now enable snapshot capture that takes an image every 30 seconds on a powered camera. Still not as good as a continously running camera though, although motion detection seems reliable for me.

Just to be contrary – I’ve got Arlos about the place and when the local scrotes decided to try and break in in early June it gave such lovely pics that my local Bobbie could name them one by one ! Tried a ring, piece of sh1te. Gave up with it and sent it back

Quite like mine – doorbell and 3 cameras. Have the subscription but it covers all of them for no extra cost. Delivery guys and gals always use it now because we always either answer the door or speak to them over the speaker.

@Kryton57

When someone knocks on the door I look out the window to see who’s there. Costs me nothing.

Wow, even when your not at home? That’s impressive 😉

Don’t forget that any cctv has the potential to put a scroat off and go for an easier target.

Its a bit Tinfoil Hat but there are a lot of incidences of Ring Video cameras being hacked as part of the IoT … a quick google brings up a lot of stories from December time.