Ring/Nest/Other Camera Doorbell Megathread

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LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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I was looking at getting a Ring doorbell as it looks like really useful tech and my friends that have them love them.

What is the board opinion of them? Any lesser known brands with better features or reliability?
 
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Pyksel

Rasterizing . . .
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We were originally going to pick up the Ring but after comparing it to the Nest Hello, we opted for the Hello. We're big fans of the Nest ecosystem as well and it ties in nicely with the rest of the devices when managing them from a single pane of glass.

nexus2cee_nest-app-secure.png
 
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meStevo

I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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Yeah, after RIng finally sent us a replacement doorbell for our video problems, I'm tempted to just send it back and buy a Nest. I have 2 Ring floodlights from last black friday still sitting here uninstalled though, maybe toss them on Facebook / Craigslist, would prefer to be in one ecosystem where possible.

Via recent slickdeals thread:

 
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Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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I was considering getting home security cameras this Black Friday but from reviews it seems there's not a consensus about what's better. Whether it's Nest, or Amazon's Arlo? or just off brand cameras you setup yourself. I like Nest, but I've got a pretty intense thermostat already as the Heat Pump is pretty new in my house, but not getting their thermostat doesn't mean I can't get the rest of their stuff?
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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Well, I'm sold. I'm getting the Nest.

Anyone know the best deal? I found it for a little less than $180 shipped on eBay new and no taxes.
 

Flipmode

EQOA Refugee
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I already have a Nest thermostat and was gonna get the smoke detectors for the house. I’ve slowly been peeping out the entire ecosystem. Looks pretty legit. Any downsides or hacks on Nest stuff? My fear is getting a smart lock that can be bypassed and make it easier to get robbed. Then again, a piece of wood isn’t stopping them if they want in either.
 

yimmien

Molten Core Raider
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I keep looking at these but I always wonder how much data they use uploading to cloud. My ISP options are shit and all have data caps. We have cats that hang out on our porch so figure it would trigger quite often. Anyone know what the average monthly upload amount looks like?

Leaning towards Skybell because it does not have a subscription and actually looks like a doorbell and not a tiny phone sticking on your wall.
 

Arative

Vyemm Raider
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For the nest, you can set the video quality to upload. I have mine set to the middle and it says it will do it's best to limit uploads to 120gb a month.
 

Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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These all have options for video recording only when motion is detected, right?
 

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
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I already have a Nest thermostat and was gonna get the smoke detectors for the house. I’ve slowly been peeping out the entire ecosystem. Looks pretty legit. Any downsides or hacks on Nest stuff? My fear is getting a smart lock that can be bypassed and make it easier to get robbed. Then again, a piece of wood isn’t stopping them if they want in either.

I've had 2x Nest thermostats and 2x smoke detectors since they came out. No issues and worked great. That's why I was looking in to the doorbell and cameras as well. Only thing about the doorbell is I have no existing powered one and couldn't find a battery powered one (I think, was comparing a ton of different ones at the time). Same for cameras and running power to them. Only really want two, one for back and one for front. Maybe if one had a flood that'd be good, my main entrance is the alley behind house and it is isolate and dark.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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I have a ring because someone bought it for me.

I actually like it a lot. Wish it was a nest though
 

Cad

<Bronze Donator>
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I have half considered removing my doorbell entirely, nobody ever comes to the door that I actually want to talk to.
 

Pyksel

Rasterizing . . .
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Our Nest Hello has lost connectivity to our network a few times but what's slick is the camera will typically try and take a pic right before it happens and email you to let you know if any external forces were the cause of the disconnect. 9 times out of 10, we've found our camera is disconnecting due to an issue on our network such as having daisy-chain topology enabled on our Orbi or congestion on the 5GHZ band. Still a fantastic door bell.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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I have half considered removing my doorbell entirely, nobody ever comes to the door that I actually want to talk to.
That's why you get this my man. Pull up the video and see it's some solicitor? Ignore it or yell at them through the app.

The only thing i hate is my house doesn't have power going to the doorbell so I use it on it's rechargable battery. Lasts awhile, but a pain taking it out to charge it.
 

Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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That's why you get this my man. Pull up the video and see it's some solicitor? Ignore it or yell at them through the app.

The only thing i hate is my house doesn't have power going to the doorbell so I use it on it's rechargable battery. Lasts awhile, but a pain taking it out to charge it.
No power to the doorbell? Pleb house. FeelsBadMan.
 

Frenzied Wombat

Potato del Grande
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I have a Ring wired doorbell, Ring floodcam, and outdoor Ring cam with solar panel. I also have a Nest thermostat E.

All work pretty flawlessly, though the Nest was a pain to setup due to the fact that I have a heat pump. I would suggest getting a Wink II to go with whichever you buy, Nest or Ring.

I have not tried the Nest cameras, though I have heard they work great. At the time I bought them all, Nest wasn't making cameras, so do keep in mind that Ring has a more mature product line, though that doesn't necessarily mean they are better.

EDIT: If you don't have a wire to your doorbell you can get a battery model, which is what I had on my old condo. Batter lasts about 2-4 months depending on how aggressive you have the motion sense/video turned on.

It's worth getting a video doorbell for security purposes alone. A thief will always ring your doorbell before robbing you, and I avoided being robbed exactly this way-- doofus rang my doorbell asking for "Bill", I answered from work that there was no Bill here, and then they robbed my neighbor.
 

Daezuel

Potato del Grande
22,813
48,098
Lots of deals on the Rings right now, have heard bad things about the Ring 2? Not sure if my doorbell is wired or not, haven't checked yet, I would doubt it though. Was considering Ring more because I was going to also buy into their security system which is pretty fucking cheap right now. You can also get their monitoring service for $100 a year which seems way fucking cheaper than anyone else. Then again, apparently you have to apply for a fucking permit to have an alarm here @ $35 a year and I think twice that if you have a silent/panic alarm attached?

I have an ADT system wired up from the previous owner but a bunch of the door/window contacts are gone so I'd have to replace those anyways and there is no fucking way I'm paying them monthly.

Still have to install my Nest 3 thermostat (which I've slacked on since it's a dual fuel system and it tells me I need a pro to install, debated returning it but missed my return window so meh)
 

Rajaah

Honorable Member
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Semi-related question. Occasionally doing some uber due to its mobility, but I've seen enough wacky uber videos on here to know how psycho people are. So if I'm gonna keep doing that I should probably have some kind of camera in the car. What'd be a cheap and effective option (preferably that can be turned on and off)? Something with low visibility is probably also a good idea. I'm wondering if there are any phone apps that turn the phone into a dash-cam without it overriding your top layer app (since presumably you'd need it to dial 911 in the event of an issue). Gonna look into that tomorrow.

99.9% chance I'll continue never having an issue with how sporadically I do it, but on the off chance yeah. Any recommendations?