Ring - Video Doorbell (1st Gen) - Multi

1) audio is mute for a few seconds after the video starts. Trouble shooting and customer service were not much help, hopefully a software update will fix that in the future. Might not bother anyone else or maybe it's just mine, either way I live with it. 2) motion distance setting needs some work. While passing cars trigger a recording at 30 ft away, a person can walk up to my door and at times even begin to walk away before the motion triggered recording starts. I've set and reset motion distance settings but I hope with a future update it can be fixed. 3) motion recordings. I wish Ring would incorporate technology that is already being used with other security cameras. Although I don't know the exact lable for what I'm talking about, those with security cameras or dashcams will understand. When a motion is detected and recording starts, I wish the recording would save the first few seconds before motion was triggered. I'M NOT ASKING RING TO READ THE FUTURE. 4) Ring supply's just about everything needed to install their product, but those with an existing doorbell wired through a gang box might need to use there heads a little more. The gang box is to large for the Ring doorbell to cover the hole and no way to attach it to the wall. So while you remove your existing door bell cover from the gang/electrical box, don't break or toss out that cover. Reuse it or take the existing doorbell cover to Lowes, Home Depot or someplace you can purchase a cover. Match size and holes if purchasing a new cover to the color of your choosing. (It helps if you take the rear frame of the Ring so you can decide if you'd like a larger size cover). While there decide how you'd like to attach your frame to the cover, there are a number of ways. If you purchase new screws be sure they have a flat top, so Ring can be placed properly. After installing the new cover, place the template over the cover and mark the holes. I predrilled small holes I marked from the ring template while attached to the wall (stop the drill as soon as it goes through and back it out, just so your sure your wires aren't harmed). Overall, I love it. I don't have to rush downstairs to greet a rude solicitor. Sorry for any misspellings, grammar, or punctuation mistakes. Other than the gang box issue, Ring was easy to install.

The setup is fairly easy and straight forward. I had issues solely because at the exact time I got mine wired in and setup, the Ring servers went down so none of the functions worked. After that the unit has worked awesomely. The only tiny flaw that I've found with this unit is that light reflections will trigger the motion sensor and give false positive alerts. For instance, my front door faces north and when a car drives by going East or West, the sunlight reflecting off the windows will trigger the motion detector. When I check the live view there's nothing but when I go back and watch the video you see the flash off the car when the video starts and watch the car drive by. This isn't a once or twice occasion. It's incessant. Luckily my road doesn't get much traffic. I've verified that this isn't due to my motion detection area being too far out because I've set it to the closest setting and it still gets tripped. There has been a time or two where headlights have reflected into it and set off an alert too. I'm not complaining, but I want to let you know that this is a situation you may have to face. The pictures show the beginning of the motion alert video and you can see the washed out "flash" of the camera where it is triggered. The second picture is the car that stopped and you can see how the video stabilized. Also be aware, if you don't sign up for their plan, you can not keep recorded video after your trial period. You will then only be able to see live view. It's only $30\year or $3\month to keep all the recorded videos which is worth it to me in case someone tried to do anything and it kept the proof for me. All in all, I absolutely love it since I'm a paranoid person and don't trust anyone. This lets me keep an eye on my casa when I'm not there.

This is a cool idea for a product. It has a nice clear super wide view, is very easy to install, especially if you use the battery option, and is very nice to be able to see whos at the door anywhere and talk to them. However, it has 2 major issues. 1) Lag between doorbell press and you getting notification. This lag can be anywhere from 1-5 seconds and I've had a few test runs that took 5-10 seconds. Since it's wired directly into my doorbell, I hear that ding-dong and know someone is there. And I can open the app and answer the door faster then the notifications arrive usually. 2) The cold when using the battery option. This is going to be a problem for you. As you may know, batteries tend to loose their charge MUCH faster in the cold. So if you live somewhere its cold often, you will want to get the version that hard wires into your power and have it installed by an electrician. My unit was at 100% yesterday afternoon in 23f temps. I tested it 4-7 times getting the zones right etc. Today it's 18f currently and the battery is already at under 50%. Keep that tiny little security tool handy because you will need it a lot in the winter. I highly suggest the hard wired electric in this instance. Overall, its nice, works nicely and has a good view of things. Do keep in mind that if you have siding, you will most likely need to make a mount plate that makes it lay flat and not angled against the siding, thus pointing it forward and not slightly upward. Mine, as it's installed now cannot see the ground but I can see people at the door easily. You'll also need to take some time working on getting your motion zones setup as they can be triggered easily if not set right. Luckily this is not too difficult and the zones are very versatile. Overall, this is a cool product and the monthly/yearly fee to keep your recordings is very reasonable at only $3 a month or $30 a year. Compare that to Nest's cams which cost much more a year to save footage.

Love that this Ring is wired or wireless to suit your needs. Read the instructions, watch the videos, and follow along for easy set up and installation. Even comes with proper little tools! You’ll also need your own drill (maybe wire strippers too) Pretty sweet set up for $99! I got the the warranty too. Had a little trouble with wires and with no stripper/cutters I was finally able to wire old doorbell wires to new Ring. Visibility’s very good too. I am feeling pretty confident now and off to buy a wire-free Ring camera. It’s taken me a few years to give in but, it’s a necessary evil these days unfortunately. See pics and have fun!

Works well most of the time. Installed under a covered porch so has a hard time with exposure near vs. far. Exposure can only be adjusted by RING and you have to call in to have it done. It adjusts between 0-5 and is usually factory set at 3. What this means is when the people are coming under the porch, I can see them fine but I can't see down by the driveway because the video is usually blown out from the sun. So I can't see anything past 20 feet at best since the camera is adjusting for the area under the porch which has significantly less sun. Works well though although sometimes it will not notify me right away so the person is walking away before I can answer

RING is awesome!!! I thought I would would love it but wasn’t sure but in this age of front porch delivery its a must have!!! There is some latency in regards to time to answer versus time they rang the bell and some back lighting issues which is out of Ring’s control. Again so worth it. We will definitely upgrade in a few generations and this time I will buy the top end model of Ring has! If you want to get your foot in the water without spending a ton you cant go wrong with this one. If you have some means and a lot of porch deliveries I would buy the top end RING you can.

I purchased a Ring Doorbell about a week ago. It was fairly easy to set up, although in certain parts the instructions were quite unclear. The unit worked perfectly when indoors. However, I needed it to monitor who was at my back door, so I had to mount it outside. At that location, the wifi signal strength was marginal. I contacted customer support who spent a lot of time with me trying to fix the problem. However, they eventually sent me a 'Chime-Pro', which is a wifi range extender, which I plugged in just inside the kitchen door. It took quite a long time with customer support to set up the Chime-Pro, but in the end it worked fine--and I was NOT CHARGED FOR IT! Pros: Well designed motion sensor with many settings to optimize a specific installation; friendly, efficient customer service team; useful two-way audio ability to talk with the person detected. The 'night vision' capability is very good. Cons: It would be nice within the Ring Doorbell app to be able to save freeze frame images that show, for instance, the clearest view of a person outside the door, and the ability to export these single frames. An incremental frame control would also be very useful. Similarly, it would be useful to be able to zoom individual freeze-frame images to get a clearer view of a portion of an image--such as a face. It would be useful to have a sensitivity control for the motion detector. Last night it was snowing and the motion detector kept repeatedly triggering! The quality of the video image would promise to be good using the 1080 pixels, but because the width of the field is so large--the unit uses a fish-eye type image format--1080 pixels does not get you very sharp images (see photos). Again, some control over the zoom factor would be very useful. The Mac version of the app somehow won't show more than the first frame of the video sequence.

Have pondered purchasing Ring doorbells for years since my neighborhood is pretty quiet and I don't have much foot traffic, didn't feel I needed one. When Best Buy recently had a sale, I bought two; front and back door. I absolutley love them and the ability to see action when I am away from home. So far I have only seen cars passing, the postman, an Amazon deliverly and an elderly relative wondering out...well worth it. The quality of the pictures are fine for my purpose, and the ability to go back to events I missed is invaluable. I purchased the WIFI extender because I didn't get a good connection to the back door Ring, but now it is fine. The extender is also a chime which chimes when there is motion or a doorbell rings, which is nice for when my moble phone is off. The only thing I would do differently is purchase the wedge bracket (as was suggested), because there are steps leading up to the house and I would get a better angle view. Will do that at some point.