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Original poster

Why get a Ring doorbell?

90 replies

WhistPie · 29/07/2023 13:21

Don't get me wrong, we've got one and it's useful but it only records the first 20-30 seconds after it's detected a motion or a bell ring. So why do people suggest getting one to record doorstep interactions? Or have I not got mine set up right?

(Oh, and nobody can hear me talking properly through it if I don't go to the door and use it as a walkie-talkie)

OP posts:
TheBitterBoy · 29/07/2023 15:55

Our ring doorbell alerted us to a trespasser checking out the equipment in our garden (currently having building work done). We have a large front garden, so it only goes off if someone is approaching the house. I never felt the need in our previous house as it was on a busy road with a short driveway. Glad to have one now we are in a more secluded area.

Superpinkflowerpower · 29/07/2023 15:48

@WhistPie Your first mistake was buying a ring doorbell.

Id suggest getting a Euphy Dual 4k doorbell with home hub and a sensor. I've never missed anyone and the facial recognition is great.

MereDintofPandiculation · 29/07/2023 15:45

You can add ‘safe place’ instructions to your Amazon orders on the website. If Amazon delivers to your “safe place” and the parcel goes missing from there, you have No come-back against Amazon, it’s now your responsibility.

lap90 · 29/07/2023 15:42

We're out most of the week so helps to keep an eye on the front of the house really and if the bell is pressed and we're out can talk to whoever has rang the bell. Your delivery driver reads notes - great? Can't say some of ours do.
Even if we are in the house, it's the ease of seeing who is at the door without getting up and any night time activity.

GLmum · 29/07/2023 15:42

I have one. I use it to watch the hedgehogs that visit my back garden. Thinking of getting another one at the front of our house to watch the deer that roam our road late at night.

MangoBiscuit · 29/07/2023 15:40

Ours is a cheaper one, not ring brand. It records more than 20 seconds, I've got a downloaded video that's several minutes long. ExH can't try to pick arguments on my doorstep anymore. Well he could, but he doesn't want anyone seeing that! I can talk through mine from my phone, so if I'm out, I've answered the bell ring and asked delivery drivers to please put the item in the bike shed. It's been pretty useful, and it was only about £50.

Original poster
WhistPie · 29/07/2023 15:37

Yes, I find it very useful for answering the door when I'm either in the garden or in bed on the 2nd floor! But it had stopped recording when a chugger was very aggressive towards me, so I had no footage to prove it to the charity - I had his face recorded but not the aggression, so it wasn't able to be used for evidence. For that, I think I'd need CCTV

OP posts:
emsiewill · 29/07/2023 15:14

I find it reassuring to see that DD2 has got home after a night out. We've also had some amusement over the years from watching both DDs trying to get in after nights out. "Won't someone please rescue me" whispered in a desperate voice was one highlight.

newyearsresolurion · 29/07/2023 15:09

Got mine after my house was broken into

newyearsresolurion · 29/07/2023 15:09

Gif my after the house gif broken into. I feel very secure with it

ruffler45 · 29/07/2023 15:02

Fit a 2 or 4 camera CCTV system instead much better coverage from a security point of view.

User16496743 · 29/07/2023 15:02

I find it useful if I am in the garden and don't hear the bell go for deliveries, my watch pops up with it so I don't need my phone with me

Aposterhasnoname · 29/07/2023 14:56

We have the cameras, not the doorbell. We also still have our car as it alerted us to someone trying to steal it and we were able to shout at them through the speaker and scare them off. The ones at the back are mainly used for hedgehog watching.

milveycrohn · 29/07/2023 14:50

We have a Nest doorbell, similar I presume.
If someone rings the bell, and we are out, we can answer using our phones, which my DH has done. It could be a parcel, but it could be someone else.
We only check the footage if something unusual occurs.
I am not sure if it actually notifies us if someone passes, but it records it.
We checked while away and saw an accident outside our house (middle of the night, when a car driven too fast went into parked cars opposite). We gave the footage to the neighbour concerned for his insurance. His car was a write off.

Eddyraisins · 29/07/2023 14:45

I love mine.
The notifications aren't really a hassle you don't have to look at them all and you can make it less sensitive.

Jellifulfruit · 29/07/2023 14:43

gingerguineapig · 29/07/2023 13:29

I don't understand why you would want one at all. The last thing I want is my mobile going off every time someone approaches my home. If I am not there, I can't do anything about it (eg if I am at work or even more so if I am on holiday). If I am there, I can look out of the window to see who it is if I am not expecting anyone or a parcel.

You don’t have to receive notifications for this.

meridian37 · 29/07/2023 14:35

I used to work with a guy that had one and when he got a notification he never bothered checking it, he used to just say that will be my neighbour walking past the door

We've got exterior cameras that are great, they cover a huge area

HommeSweetHomme · 29/07/2023 14:27

My neighbour opposite has a Ring doorbell which he polishes daily as though it's made of delicate goldleaf! He also has another camera up on the wall looking down at the Ring doorbell

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 29/07/2023 14:11

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

JenniferBooth · 29/07/2023 14:09

to prove that the HAs contractors didnt turn up when they swear blind that they did and to prove they are lying about me denying access

Housing associations hate this technology

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 29/07/2023 14:04

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

VisionsOfSplendour · 29/07/2023 14:01

This reply has been deleted

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Same here, lots of night time videos of would be or actual thrives, it doesn't put them off at all, they all wear the same clothes so are totally unidentifiable

Stealing milk from the doorstep is surely a 1970s joke, hardly any doorstep deliveries now and everyone WFH 😀

SummerBunn · 29/07/2023 14:01

I love mine. I can ask parcel delivery drivers to leave parcels etc, let people know I'm just five minutes away from getting home etc

I can also see who is at the door without answering, which was helpful when someone turned up with a weapon, I just didn't open the door.

Rainiestsummer · 29/07/2023 14:00

gingerguineapig · 29/07/2023 13:29

I don't understand why you would want one at all. The last thing I want is my mobile going off every time someone approaches my home. If I am not there, I can't do anything about it (eg if I am at work or even more so if I am on holiday). If I am there, I can look out of the window to see who it is if I am not expecting anyone or a parcel.

There are settings. You don't have to get an alert for each movement, can adjust the sensitivity, screen out neighbours, make it only come on for a ring etc.
I quite like seeing that the children have got home from school safely.

Conkersinautumn · 29/07/2023 14:00

I only lock the door if I'm going to be out all day!

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