I have the Ring doorbell and checking out the alarm system. I was looking at the basic system and adding additional motion sensors. I was going to cover the entry points with motion senors and not worry about the door sensors. I was also going to add an extra keypad. One for the garage man door and one for our bedroom.

*Has anyone found any concerns, bugs or issues with the system?
*How does the monitoring system work? Alarm is tripped, Ring calls me first to verify
then calls local PD? When Ring calls PD does a person call or is a prerecorded
message?
*Do I get the multiple camera plan and alarm monitors for $10 a month or are they $10
each?

It all depends on your wifi signal, your internet upload and download speeds how well they work together, if its anything like mine you'll know everything that happens just shortly after it's happened. So if your Ring works really well it might work for you.

If you think you'll get notice of some criminal walking up the drive while he's on the way like the TV commercials you'll probably disappointed. In almost 100% of the cases by the time the live feed comes up I can see the back of the UPS/Amazon truck pulling out of the viewing area...

When you need it to connect, it won't, when they ring the bell the time it takes for the signal to get to your phone, the phone to open the app and the conversation to start you could have walked to the door.

So if the alarm works as well as the doorbell, I'd run... because the crooks won't have to...

Sure others have better luck, just reiterating what mine does. Kinda like watching instant replay on tv, only you missed the live play...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
It all depends on your wifi signal, your internet upload and download speeds how well they work together, if its anything like mine you'll know everything that happens just shortly after it's happened. So if your Ring works really well it might work for you.

If you think you'll get notice of some criminal walking up the drive while he's on the way like the TV commercials you'll probably disappointed. In almost 100% of the cases by the time the live feed comes up I can see the back of the UPS/Amazon truck pulling out of the viewing area...

When you need it to connect, it won't, when they ring the bell the time it takes for the signal to get to your phone, the phone to open the app and the conversation to start you could have walked to the door.

So if the alarm works as well as the doorbell, I'd run... because the crooks won't have to...

Sure others have better luck, just reiterating what mine does. Kinda like watching instant replay on tv, only you missed the live play...

Yes my doorbell videos are a little on the slower side since im trying to upload video to the ring cloud and download video to my phone at the same time. However the motion notifications are spot on.

I guess you dont actually have the alarm system.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
It all depends on your wifi signal, your internet upload and download speeds how well they work together, if its anything like mine you'll know everything that happens just shortly after it's happened. So if your Ring works really well it might work for you.

If you think you'll get notice of some criminal walking up the drive while he's on the way like the TV commercials you'll probably disappointed. In almost 100% of the cases by the time the live feed comes up I can see the back of the UPS/Amazon truck pulling out of the viewing area...

When you need it to connect, it won't, when they ring the bell the time it takes for the signal to get to your phone, the phone to open the app and the conversation to start you could have walked to the door.

So if the alarm works as well as the doorbell, I'd run... because the crooks won't have to...

Sure others have better luck, just reiterating what mine does. Kinda like watching instant replay on tv, only you missed the live play...

My nephew has the alarm along with an outside camera and an inside camera. Video on those cams is awesome, from some vids he has sent me. So far he likes it and likes it better than a much older wired system he had on the house. Has only had about 1-2 months now. So on the alarm he hasn't had any complaints. He hasn't had any incidents to test out the alarm just a few test vids of dog inside and some outside activity across the street. BUT....


Exactly what HRK said to the Tee. This is exact same scenario I have with the Ring doorbell. WiFi is excellent and fast. But the delay from Ring sensing to sending to retrieving to viewing is horrible. And if you try to "live view" during an alert it just keeps giving you an "ignore/view" selection and never connects. So if the Ring alarm has as much as a delay as their cameras do I wouldn't use it. We have had a SimpliSafe alarm for around 4yrs and are satisfied with it. I don't have any of their new cameras with it though so cant vouch if the response on cams is same as Ring.

A great recommendation did come from a 25+ yr friend over the weekend, he commented on how he just recently put Nest on his private business building and was blown away with the quality of the videos and especially the night vid. Says he going to redo all the cameras on his house to Nest now.

Mine rings with any little motion in front of it. Squirrels, chipmunks, even the wind blowing flowers. Every time I take the dogs out and go back inside. Like a couple of dozen times a day. I have set it for a small field of view. I don’t want to shut it off because I don’t want to miss something. I have caught a couple UPS and FedX folks dancing for the camera, and another lady throw my box from 10 feet away up onto the porch. But still, if go down south for a month or 2, I can see what’s happening back at home with only a slight delay. I like it in spite of its warts.

I don't know about the alarm system, but as others have said, the delay for video on the Ring doorbell system is so bad that the device is almost unusable.

For those with the video lag. What's your upload and download speed on wifi?

I have about 120 up and 5 down

We have the whole Ring enchilada here. Doorbell, four cameras, sensors everywhere. It’s been awesome for me. No connectivity issues, live feed pops up within a couple of seconds. Have yet to have a false alarm. I would get the Pro doorbell...much faster. There are coupon codes online if you google for it.

If the system goes off, they call whomever is on the “list”, if you don’t answer or can’t give the password...PD is called. There’s a couple of duress options also that send *everyone*. If you use these panic options, there’s no calling off the cavalry.

Set up is simple. Your internet speeds should be fine. Customer service is great.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:


I guess you dont actually have the alarm system.

I do not, I should have been clear, that because of the delays on the doorbell I wouldn’t put in their video because it probably will have the same issues

As to speed 175/25

I’ve got the alarm system haven’t had any false alarms. Need to have good WiFi coverage in your house and garage I believe if you pay upfront it was 99.00 for the year and warranties all your ring products.

video lag has nothing to do with the Ring Alarm system. When the alarm trips you instantly get a notification on your phone. While it does use WiFi it also has its own cellular radio. Mine had been perfect. I have 3 cameras outside and 3 inside. All entry doors including the one to my office where my gun safe is have sensors. 2 keypads (hallway and bedroom), I can even arm and disarm the alarm with my Alexa using my voice. I can also view all my Camera feeds on my echo Show/spots, TV’s or even my movie theater if I so choose. I haven’t had any issues. I do have 1 gig fiber internet on a Mesh network.

I have it.

It works as advertised.

Firmware updates add features over time, so that's nice.

$10 for all cameras and the alarm system.

I have the alarm but none of the cameras. The alarm works well, you can control it over your phone and easily arm/disarm it. No delay in connecting to the base station with the app. It also works with my Amazon Echo. The sensors are on the larger side compared with Simplisafe's current models. However, the monthly fee is less than Simplisafe and it works for me.

A drawback is that it does not have glass break sensors at the moment. They keep saying it's in the works so far no indication of when they will be released. I bought additional motion sensors to make up for that. Also, they are not fully compatible with third-party Z Wave devices. Third-party sensors will give you notifications but will not trigger the alarm. Overall, if you don't mind about the glass break sensors it's a good system.

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the basic system and added 2 additional motions sensors, a keypad and the fire/co alarm.

I opened the Amazon prime credit card and got $70 gift card. Total was $300. Plus a free echo dot. Not too shabby

Hi gpbst3,

Looks like I'm too late to give you this input as you've already ordered, but figured I'd provide my $0.02 anyway.

I have the Ring Pro Doorbell. This is the hardwired version that is a little more responsive than the battery version.

I also have a Simplisafe alarm system with 4 cameras.

Here's my take on the video capabilities of both.

My Ring notifies me instantly of motion, but then I click the notification to launch the app and it takes a few seconds to connect and show me a live feed. Not bad, but usually I get the delivery person returning to their vehicle. The Ring is very sensitive, but has also had some missed motions. No real reason why, I just know I've walked up to the front door before and not received a notification. I usually get it, but sometimes a minute or two later. These are very infrequent though.

The Simplisafe also notifies me of motion, most of the time... For some reason the notification of the Simplisafe is more flaky than the Ring. Sometimes it will trigger once, but then not a few minutes later. We also have one in our living room that the shutter is supposed to close on when the alarm is off. Fairly frequently it won't and then we get notifications anytime we move in the house. I sometimes can reset it by accessing it through the app, but other times it stays this way for a day or so and then goes back to normal. I will say though that accessing the Simplisafe video feed is faster than the Ring. If I get a notification of motion and click the notification, I'm watching a "live" feed within a second. Now I put "live" in quotes because its actually not live. There is a delay of a couple seconds, but you're watching from the beginning of the trigger if you click right away.

So all in all I think they're about equal for what they are. They're not perfect, and I don't think resolution wise you'd be able to ID anyone from either unless they come in for a close up. They do what we want in that they keep an eye on things and provide early warning and peace of mind while away.

Another thing to note is that if you get one of the systems. Pick up the water sensor, temp sensor, and smoke alarm. These usually will get you a discount on your home owners. They did ours, and the discount of 5% easily covers their cost.

I recently had a great 3 way conversation when I was in the next city over with the mail lady who was on my front porch and my daughter who was in the next state over.

Mail lady: Rings the doorbell. Daughter 1000 miles away and I (I was in the next city over) "Your dog is loose."

I see mail lady on the front porch petting the pup.

Me: "SIT". (pup sits)

Daughter: "In a long way away but is there a black truck in the driveway?" (I flip to the other Ring cam and see the black truck)

Mail lady: "yes"

Daughter: "that's the contractor, he let her out in error"

LOL, the contractor heard the conversation and called the pup to the back yard and then closed the gate he had forgotten to close. We all laugh and I thank the mail lady for being wonderful.

I love ring. I bought it as I live inner city where we get criminals knocking on doors late scamming people and my daughter and wife kept disregarding my entreaties to not open the door to strangers. Now they can have a conversation with the door closed. Or visit with the dog and the mail lady.