Ring doorbell

[Arewethereyetarewe]

Hi

I was wondering if these are worth it?

My parents are older and frail. It would be helpful as they live in an area of lower crime but an odd neighbours. They don’t have a smart phone but do have an iPad.

I was considering a wired in version.

Any advice or recommendations would be good 😊

Thanks.

These weren't available when my mother was still at home but if they had been I would have bought one for her.

My thinking is that it would have been useful for me to be a shared user so I could view it and check what was going on. My mother was no good with tech herself - would your parents be able to work it out themselves and make use of it?

Hopefully someone with experience will be able to advise you properly.

We have battery solar powered ring ones - they’re great. You can have several phones connected to them, think DH has his iPad connected too. Our gate one work about 30m away from the WiFi.

Consider whether they'll be ok putting it up-many things that seem easy to us aren't if they have any disabilities/medical needs. Obviously I'm not saying all older people would, but I've seen too many people criticised for struggling, and it's not ageist to say it's a fact younger people are statistically less likely to have such needs.
If you're going to sort it for them, obviously fine.

My parents don’t use a smartphone but have an iPad.

Tbh it is because their neighbours are a little unpredictable and I thought the fact it records would be helpful.

They are not tech savvy and would probably use it like a doorbell.

I would like it for the appearance of security.

I hope that makes sense 😊

I have an electrician to fit a wired one 😊

We have a Eufy for my mum and have the app downloaded on to our smartphones so we can check on who is calling on Mum. It’s been very useful! For example when a dodgy salesman was at the door etc.

She isn’t tech savvy so doesn’t have the app herself so just uses it as a doorbell.
Ours doesn’t store loads of data, as there’s no monthly fee, so a Ring might be better for you if you want more of the recordings stored.

I would recommend wired rather than wireless, so it’s sensible that’s your plan. When my parents were burgled the crucial minutes were missing from the doorbell footage and the police told us burglars use blockers.

Interesting to read about the blockers! The plan was for a wired version.

It was more as a deterrent because my parents are not tech savvy. It will be a doorbell tbh 😊

I was not aware of the fee for Ring so will look into Eufy.

Thanks for the suggestions ☀️

We had one at mil house to monitor carers and others coming and going. If you buy the chime to plug in with it, your parents just hear the doorbell as usual and you have it remotely on your phone. We never gave mil access to the app so she just saw it as a normal doorbell
it was priceless as it flagged up multiple issues including missed care visits. We also had the night when the firemen rang it as the foreign carer had rung 999 and asked for help as mil was burning… she had a temperature. Funny now but heart stopping at the time

Ring doorbells are great. It’s £50 a year to save the footage. You can get indoor cameras to add too, you could then keep an eye on them inside the house: might be helpful if you want to check they’re up and about each morning.

We have a Tapo doorbell for 90 yr old DP. For them it was just a doorbell (which they couldn’t hear anyway).
it is a rechargable battery one. The battery lasts a few weeks and we have a second to swap when it is running low. We put a memory card in it so we can always access footage from our phones.
It is useful for

• checking on and speaking to callers
• monitoring the carer visits
• checking that they had returned home safely after trips out.

Crucially for us it eventually showed DP starting to going out in the night/early hours when their cognition/time perception started to decline. It became clear they needed a care home for safety. It also gave us evidence for an increase in attendance allowance to the higher rate. Now we use it to keep an eye on the house while it is empty. Im very glad we installed it. 🥹 Tapo doorbell

Thanks for the replies

Some options there to consider. 😊

You don’t have to be ‘tech savvy’ 😂 - the Ring doorbell app is very easy to use.

Just be aware that "wired", may only mean that it's powered by wire and a power supply rather than a battery, and may still be connected via Wi-fi for data and susceptible to wi-fi jamming.

Personally I use a subscription free doorbell camera that uses ethernet for power and connectivity to my network. The storage is within the doorbell, which could be physically stolen, but I also have multiple CCTV cameras that store 24/7 footage within the house, so this isn't a concern for me.

It sounds like burglary isn't your big issue, you just want to check on who is coming to the house. I expect your parents agree to this? I think you would have to tell them. We have a ring doorbell - we can answer it and speak to people while on holiday. So you would be able to field knocks on theur door if you set yourself up.

@Arewethereyetarewe the Tapo one we use has no subscription - we put a memory card in to store all the video footage which we can access from our phones. Much cheaper and very easy to use.

My DSiL bought one for our step mil ...she loathes it and its become yet another passively aggressive thing for her to moan about.

This sounds like a good option. Thanks 🙏