I just bought and installed the Ring alarm system. Comes with 2 keypads, base station some door/window sensors, 2 motion detectors and I added 2 cameras.

The website is kind of vague on what can be done/ monitored without a subscription (free). Of course they want you to sign up for a monitoring plan.

My question is do I need to pay for a subscription (and if so, which one? Or can I be secure handling it myself or does the no subscription route limit the capabilities of the system too much?

Boiled down, what can I do or the alarm system do without a paid subscription?

A quick search at c h a t g p t dot com reveals the following:

A Ring security system can still provide a number of useful features without a subscription, though you'll be limited compared to a full plan. Here’s what you can generally do without subscribing to a Ring Protect plan:

### 1. **Live Video Streaming**
You can still watch live video feeds from your Ring doorbell or cameras on your phone, tablet, or computer. This allows you to monitor your property in real-time.

### 2. **Motion Alerts**
You will receive motion alerts when something is detected by your Ring device. This is helpful for knowing when someone is at your door or when motion is detected in the camera’s view.

### 3. **Two-Way Audio**
You can use the two-way audio feature to communicate with visitors or potential intruders through the built-in speaker and microphone on your Ring doorbell or camera.

### 4. **Device Control**
You can control the settings for your Ring devices (such as adjusting motion detection sensitivity, setting up zones, or enabling/disabling notifications) through the Ring app.

### 5. **Real-Time Notifications**
Ring will still send you alerts in real-time when motion is detected or when someone rings your doorbell.

### 6. **Video History (Short Period)**
While the Ring Protect subscription offers more extensive video storage, with no subscription, your access to video history is very limited. If you’re quick enough, you can still view recent footage for a brief time before it’s overwritten.

### 7. **Siren (on devices with a siren)**
If your Ring security system includes a siren, you can manually activate it to deter intruders.

### Limitations Without Subscription:
- **Video Recording and Cloud Storage:** Without a Ring Protect plan, you won’t be able to record video clips and store them in the cloud. This means that once a video is overwritten, you can no longer access it.
- **Shared Access:** If you want to share access to your Ring devices with family members or friends, that feature is more limited without a subscription.
- **Rich Features (Like Smart Alerts):** Some advanced features like "People Only" motion detection or video history for extended periods (e.g., 30 days) are only available with a subscription.

For most basic monitoring and alert functions, you can get by without a Ring Protect plan. But if you want longer video history, more advanced detection features, and cloud storage, you’d need a subscription.

1) does your homeowners give you a premium discount for an alarm system?
2) does the price of the Ring monitored alarm offset the the premium benefit?
3) add the Z wave smoke detector to fully utilize the fire protection .

I have the 10 dollar a month plan for my cameras and I added a Ring alarm a few months ago. I've had the plan for years and to the best of my recollection, for 5 bucks a month you get coverage for one camera and for ten bucks a month you get unlimited cameras. It's about the recordings and I don't think those plans have much to do with the alarm. Without a plan you'll get all your alerts on your phone and short recordings of events. With a paid plan you get 24/7 recording that you can go back and look at. The alarm plan is for monitoring, I believe, and it's 20 bucks a month. When we move I may bump my plan up to that.

i have two Ring doorbell cameras (front and back door). They record to a device locally that has a thumb drive. Stores plenty of video of events.

That said, accessing this video remotely is slower than if it was in the cloud. The device is the "Sync Module 2" that can be bundled with the doorbell.

Maybe you could store the video locally?

https://ring.com/support/artic...e-and-Ring-Alarm-Pro

Ugh, but that requires a premium subscription for some reason.

They've changed the plans since I subscribed and it looks like without a subscription plan you don't get recordings. They don't make it easy to find out but it appears you get alerts and can go to live view but can't go back and view recordings.

I have the Ring Alarm and the Doorbell camera. For $100 per year I get the monitoring that includes online video backup. The monitoring includes letting the cops know if the alarm is going off. Without the $100, you get only an alarm that lets you know it is going off. Great if you are asleep upstairs and a bad guy breaks in. Not so great if you are out of the house.

My advice, pay the $100. But the real question is, Why did you want an alarm? If it was just so you knew what happened or was happening, save the $100. It is worth it to me to have the cops come and to have the historical video online.

quote:

Originally posted by armedprof:
I have the Ring Alarm and the Doorbell camera. For $100 per year I get the monitoring that includes online video backup. The monitoring includes letting the cops know if the alarm is going off. Without the $100, you get only an alarm that lets you know it is going off. Great if you are asleep upstairs and a bad guy breaks in. Not so great if you are out of the house.

My advice, pay the $100. But the real question is, Why did you want an alarm? If it was just so you knew what happened or was happening, save the $100. It is worth it to me to have the cops come and to have the historical video online.

I also have the Ring alarm but I was notified in March they are no longer offering the $100 yearly price for monitored alarms. The price is now doubling to $200 a year.

I believe without the paid monitored alarm you will still receive alarm activations on your phone through the Ring app. You would then have to call your local 911 service and request police dispatch yourself.

We have the Ring security plan. Our security coordinator recommended it so we would have the video storage if a problem arose. It’s substantially cheaper than any of the “monitored” plans like ADT and it works just fine. We have the standard plan which is $100 a year.

https://ring.com/plans