Security doorbell cameras

[Bunglebubs]

Hi I am thinking about buying one of those security doorbell cameras/video recorders, but I don't know which are good and which are not. I am looking for one that I can see who is at my door and take a photo if they press the door bell but also be motion activated. I would rather it was hard wired than rely on wifi connection. I would also prefer if it had a small discrete button rather than those large box types ive seen so far. Can anybody recommend me a decent one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[weasel]

Those ads make me laugh. The fact the burglar rings the doorbell then just leaves when someone answers. Burglars DON'T ring doorbells :roll:
90% are opportunist, you leave a door or window open and hey presto. The other 10% don't give a **** if you are home or not. Either way that camera is useless.

Besides, even if you do get a picture of him/them, do you think the police will do anything about it? They don't go out to burglaries any more. They will just give you a crime number and case closed.

Save your money. Spend it on something useful, like SW.

 

[subzero]

I also see what you mean about those 'large box' wi-fi doorbells, a normal looking bell would be an obvious better choice, the security ones aren't discreet at all. And now thanks to all the TV ads thieves now know what a 'Ring' doorbell is and what it looks like and know not to ring it ( if they were gonna even do that ), but like weasel says almost all thieves will never ring the bell anyway, the only good use it has is if you want to know who's at your door before you open it.

I also love that Ring advert showing that guy talking to the thief at his door, while the guy is in a loud ****ing supermarket having his shopping beeping through the scanner that the thief can clearly hear. :lol: :lol:

 

[Bunglebubs]

I know what you mean about those ones on tv, I dont want one of those big box things somebody would just hit it with something heavy, but thats not what I am wanting it for, I want one that will record any motion near my door and record it or if they do ring the door bell I can see who it is before I answer the door.

More like this idea, as there are plenty of cheap ones about, just trying to see if anyone has one or something similar that works reasonably well and doesnt break after a couple of months.

 

[subzero]

I know what you mean about those ones on tv, I dont want one of those big box things somebody would just hit it with something heavy, but thats not what I am wanting it for, I want one that will record any motion near my door and record it or if they do ring the door bell I can see who it is before I answer the door.

More like this idea, as there are plenty of cheap ones about, just trying to see if anyone has one or something similar that works reasonably well and doesnt break after a couple of months.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about hardwired ones, but can at least give advice on one to not get and that's an IP camera, I got one several years back above my front door for the same purpose to see who's there before I open it. I had the camera's software program running on a tab on my laptop so i could have a quick glance whenever the door went, but it worked off of wi-fi and relied on a good stable connection and quite a few times the door would go and i'd look at the screen and there'd be nobody there because the camera/program had frozen and wasn't showing a live picture, and sometimes the software would just crash or not load on me, so it turned out to be pretty useless and I got rid of it.

So in short the advice I can give is to at least stay away from cheap no-name cameras because they'll most likely be Chinese made, and/or have cheap unreliable Chinese software, and to stay clear of anything wi-fi ( iv'e seen in product reviews that even Ring doorbells have connection problems ).

 

[Mr-shifter]

I have 2x arlos at home. They aren't doorbell ones but they are just about everything everyone has criticised so far on this thread. They are battery operated and Wireless.

They connect wirelessly to a bridge rather than the WiFi. The bridge then is hardwired to the router and that feeds back to the internet so although it is wireless they talk to the bridge and the connection is very stable, but you have no communication cables.

As for batteries. Hmm. They only last about 3 months so I have rechargeable ones. They last about 1.5 months so I have three sets for 2 cameras and generally swap out one a month. That seems to work.

The good thing about these is you can move them about. There is no subscription like there is with ring, for up to 5 cameras and 7 days cloud storage and there is a pretty good app for both watching the footage and dialing in at any time.

I can cover the whole of the front of my house with 2x cameras and I have picked up some interesting stuff since I put them up. I have had to tell one of the neighbors to tell their friends my driveway is not a turning point when I'm not there and if I'm not in and expecting a delivery I leave my phone number on the door. I can then instruct them where to leave parcels and keep an eye on them, and I always drop the old "I can keep an eye on the parcel on my cctv" when I'm speaking to them. The most passive aggressive threat I have.

I will also say, nothing will stop someone getting into your house. A upvc door can be popped in seconds if you know what you are doing and I have yet to see a plastic door that can sustain a prolonged attack with a sledgehammer. It comes down to simple common sense. Lock windows and doors, have security lights all over the house and cctv and ring doorbells are well known by burglars. This is a good thing. It's not about making the house completely secure and burglar proof, its about making your house more secure than all the others on the road. Most thieves are opportunist. If your house looks hard work, they will go down the road and break into the unlocked car or go through the house with the open window.

 

[Bunglebubs]

Thanks guys for the input, really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I will look into that arlo one mr-shifter, thanks for the heads up on it.

 

[lejackal]

I don't have CCTV but I've yet to meet anyone prepared to risk it against the big dog jumping head height behind the door.

 

[Snaketibe]

I have 2x arlos at home. They aren't doorbell ones but they are just about everything everyone has criticised so far on this thread. They are battery operated and Wireless.

They connect wirelessly to a bridge rather than the WiFi. The bridge then is hardwired to the router and that feeds back to the internet so although it is wireless they talk to the bridge and the connection is very stable, but you have no communication cables.

As for batteries. Hmm. They only last about 3 months so I have rechargeable ones. They last about 1.5 months so I have three sets for 2 cameras and generally swap out one a month. That seems to work.

The good thing about these is you can move them about. There is no subscription like there is with ring, for up to 5 cameras and 7 days cloud storage and there is a pretty good app for both watching the footage and dialing in at any time.

I can cover the whole of the front of my house with 2x cameras and I have picked up some interesting stuff since I put them up. I have had to tell one of the neighbors to tell their friends my driveway is not a turning point when I'm not there and if I'm not in and expecting a delivery I leave my phone number on the door. I can then instruct them where to leave parcels and keep an eye on them, and I always drop the old "I can keep an eye on the parcel on my cctv" when I'm speaking to them. The most passive aggressive threat I have.

I will also say, nothing will stop someone getting into your house. A upvc door can be popped in seconds if you know what you are doing and I have yet to see a plastic door that can sustain a prolonged attack with a sledgehammer. It comes down to simple common sense. Lock windows and doors, have security lights all over the house and cctv and ring doorbells are well known by burglars. This is a good thing. It's not about making the house completely secure and burglar proof, its about making your house more secure than all the others on the road. Most thieves are opportunist. If your house looks hard work, they will go down the road and break into the unlocked car or go through the house with the open window.

Excellent advice, and it sounds like you have a pretty good system to boot.