Ring motion sensor video doorbell

[Hot Flatus]

What are the panel's views on these?

I'm not normally one for ubiquitous cctv, but I did catch the village crackhead peering through the glass on my front door at 9pm at night a few months back.

I see you have to pay €3 a month to retain images, but otherwise don't need to. Are these things useful or are they the sort of thing you get bored of and remove the app after the first week of novelty?

[MikeFromLFE]

We've got one, and I like it.
It was bought after our plants were stolen from outside the front door.

It's very useful for 'answering the door' when you're out ("leave the parcel behind the plant in the porch" or "can't come to the door, I'm in the bath" - you can be anywhere!)

The motion zones are customised to avoid getting the yummie mummies on the school run, or next door going to work at silly o'clock.

No false alarms, and I've not knowingly missed anyone.
The battery needs charging about every 6 weeks (USB if not hard wired).
I've paired it with Alexa which gives it a much louder ring. The additional chime is a complete PITA.

[Hot Flatus]

Thanks. Eschewed the chime and ordered a ring thing for £67 with an Echo for £0 that can work as the bell.

Best of all, I'm going to give it to my beloved for part of her Christmas present.

That should stop her buying me lavender bath salts every year 

[Jaded]

I did catch the village crackhead peering through the glass on my front door at 9pm at night a few months back.

You could have taken me to the pub…

[Polar Bear]

Anything with the words ring and motion in it's name smells a bit iffy if you ask me.  😉

[Hot Flatus]

 

I can smell your thoughts

[Polar Bear]

You're welcome.  😊  🤮

[ian]

I get to watch all couriers read the sign telling them to put the parcel behind the porch, stand there for a moment of slow cerebation, and then dump it on the front step and walk off. We have the Arlo thing. Nothing exciting has ever been captured, fortunately. Not sure what we're supposed to do if it does.

[grams]

Post something excitable on Stasi dotcom Nextdoor and enjoy the collective tutting about the world today.

[riskymoth]

I have a Netatmo Presence (now called "Smart Outdoor Camera") - and I notice they now do a "Smart Video Doorbell". Of interest because Netatmo is a French company, so I think the data protection is potentially better than US/Chinese owned companies. Mine records to an internal SD card, and can also be configured to upload to DropBox or your own FTP server - so no subscriptions needed. The camera caught a couple of lads trying all the doors in the neighbourhood very early in the morning a couple of years ago - the evidence was instrumental in them getting a suspended sentence...

https://www.netatmo.com/en-gb/security/doorbell

[Hot Flatus]

Well, I bought one. A Ring 2 that does motion sensing and has a speaker so you can talk to people. As promised it was offered to beloved as a Christmas present as it might be useful for her WFH which involves a lot of Teams meetings.  It was very easy to set-up and integrate with the Echo thing. I am the principal administrator but I shared it to Mdm F. She can see and respond to all calls but can't fuck about with the settings.

There's a downside though.

Mdm F is currently recuperating at her mother's after an operation. The motion sensor kicks in when I open the door to put anything in the recycling bin and within seconds there is her disembodied voice clanging out into the street wanting to know what I'm doing. I'm getting a little fed up of talking to the front door so I may switch her off.

[Kim]

You need to hone your shite courier ninja recycling bin skills.

[Hot Flatus]

I might have to start doing it out of the front window.

Although if seen the neighbours might think I'm being held hostage, only to be confirmed when they come to the front door and be greeted by her metallic voice like that Demonseed film.

[Pingu]

Welcome to the future that Tomorrow's World promised us.