Are ring typer doorbells worth it or stressful? Thinking mental health (maybe a bit dramatic)

[AShortName]

I have a public right of way to countryside near my front door. Most of the people passing are great, but some are less so (dogs let onto my garden to use it as a toilet - who knows why considering where the house is placed, plus other stuff).

I wondered if having a ring type doorbell might make some people think twice about their actions on my property (the thought of being watched).

On the other hand, I wonder whether constant alerts would be stressful and I would be happier with an 'out of sight, out of mind' approach.

I wondered what other poeple's experiences were.

You don't need to have constant alerts. Mine only alerts me when someone rings the bell.

I love mine, you can set the boundary so it only picks up anyone that enters your garden.

I don’t think a ring doorbell would deter people tbh. Maybe a polite sign as a reminder that someone lives there?

You can turn off the alerts for a ring doorbell if it becomes too much, we personally find ours useful, seeing if things have been delivered, watching the kids arrive home from school etc.

I don't know if it is a deterrent. But we just got a Eufy light/camera to replace the light by our front door that was broken.

DH had just installed it and I was playing around with the settings. I somehow managed to unintentionally turn on the alarm that was activated when someone walked on our path to our front door.

Just at that moment, someone let their dog walk on our path and wee on it. You should have seen the woman's face when the alarm suddenly went off, she quickly pulled the dog away! Of course this was all recorded on camera.

We've obviously disabled the alarm setting now, but we have set up notifications on our phone to tell us if someone is coming to our front door.

It means we could speak to someone there without having to answer the door, which is useful since we both WFH and our home office is on the 2nd floor.

We have a door bell that notifies when anyone comes close to the house. Or drives past. Or a cat saunters across the path.

DRIVES. ME. INSANE.

DP loves it.

@BloodyAdultDC you know you can reduce the alert area on the Ring doorbell app so you don't get alerts at, say, long shadows walking past on winter?

We have ours set at about half our drive.

I love ours, screening whoever is knocking at the door or ringing so we only answer the door when needed (I.e. not to angry Nottingham knockers etc)

Oh yeah, he knows that, he likes knowing what's going on at home though

Ironically, the actual door bell bit doesn't work - so if I'm wfh he gets the alert and either calls me to answer the door or intercoms the person and asks them to knock or leave the parcel. I won't have the notifications on my phone.

Yes, we have had words about the damn door bell..

I agree I don't think it would be a deterrent though. I don't have a dog, but if I was wandering on the path next to a house I don't think I'd notice if it had a ring doorbell

If you have that much anxiety I would assume nothing would work except working on that

Anxiety is a big word to throw at someone you don't know.

I've had people letting their dogs toilet on my garden, throw litter on it and (the final straw) I have found used needles in the perimeter bushes. All because of the ginnel/ cut through that gives access to some countryside runs next to my garden.

I am concerned that getting multiple needless alerts might not be healthy (if I see anything that is not good that I am unable to stop)

I don't think a camera doorbell will stop anyone serious, but might be a simple way of making some people think twice. My front garden is not big, do it's not like things are happening at the end of a long garden

If you do get a Ring type camera or doorbell, you shouldn't angle it so that it records activity on the public right of way, only on your property. Is it an issue that people actually come onto your property, or just chuck things onto your land?

Could you add some kind of boundary fence to deter the dog walkers allowing dogs onto your land?

Both. I don't want to film anything other than my garden, although it's small, so maybe a problem....

I want to stop people coming into my garden or cutting across it. I hoped that Pele would think twice about throwing things in.

I have no interest in filming the lane. I hope that there might be some deterrent.

My front garden is one of those front tiny almost worthless things. In theory I could remove the bushes and put up a fence, but I don't want to do that (the bushes are loose and not a hedge). Anything more substantial (like a hedge) would take up most of the garden

I think a 'warning: CCTV' sign would be as effective but without the temptation for you to check footage every five minutes. I'd be the same!

It won't make anyone think twice. They are so common now people don't even register them.

I have a Ring doorbell. As a survivor of DV it makes me feel safer. Frankly after the first couple of weeks of obsessive interest I now ignore the alerts - unless it's 5 am when I check for early rising axe-murderers and see either our local fox or the cat from a few doors down on their rounds. It's also useful when WFH because my office is in the attic and it gives me longer to get downstairs.

Sounds like you need a fence to deter the trespassers.

You can get wire fence panels that just push into the ground (assuming it's not hard standing), if you search for no dig animal barriers you should find some. That would stop dogs with inattentive owners from wandering onto your land.

I don't think any kind of CCTV sign or obvious cameras will stop the littering and needle dropping. In some areas you can report used needles appearing regularly to the local authority who may notify the local police drug team. Might be worth seeing if you can do that where you are.

I don't think the sort of people who chuck rubbish into gardens as they pass would notice a ring doorbell - they're pretty unobtrusive, so unless you put a large sign or light or something up people aren't going to clock it. I think it would mostly frustrate you that you can see the person doing it after the event, but can't prevent it.

Realistically with things like needles - or even crisp packets - if you recognise the person, are you going to confront them about it later? If not, and if the presence of a doorbell isn't a deterrent as passers by won't notice it, what impact is it going to have on the problem.

Sorry yes what I meant was, I don't think it would deter people because I don't think they'd register that you had one. So many people gave them now that I've stopped noticing them

We have a blink outdoor camera at our front door, not a doorbell.

all notifications are off!

We pay £8.99 per month for storage but so far we have forwarded video from two incidents to the police, located wayward parcels, posted pooping dogs without their owners picking up the mess on Facebook and generally felt a bit safer.

I doubt I'd notice if someone had a ring doorbell