Alternative to Ring Camera

Hardware
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So Ring Cameras have been getting a bad rap of late on security. Not so sure I want their camera / door bell anymore. Does anyone have any alternative recommendations? I like the whole concept - just not a fan of their views on privacy

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Google Nest doorbel.

Also it’s really easy to disable a Ring Pro doorbel. Lift the cover and press the reset button.

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The Eufycam series. They now have wire free cameras, doorbell, floodlight and more and I think all of their cameras have local storage.

I’ll be replacing my Arlo camera with the Eufycam 2 which has a batttey that lasts a year.

Logitech Circle is another camera system that is higher quality than many would assume. They just don’t market it as heavily as other brands.

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IMHO the Nest doorbell has the same issues as the Ring.

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9to5mac.com has been covering the doorbell/camera beat fairly well. They’ve written about products from Arlo, Robin, August, and Netatmo, some of which are HomeKit-compatible, some not.

One of the hosts of the site’s podcast, Zac Hall, was discussing doorbell-cameras (and his own home unit) on the latest episode (a good podcast for discussions of Mac-related news, by the way), but that subject didn’t interest me so I skipped over it.

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Thanks all for the suggestions.

Ideally HomeKit would be nice and some decent security. Generally was happy with Ring although not having HomeKit was a disappointment. But from what I’ve read about security - now want to find a replacement. Arlo looks good but “coming soon”.

I’ll check out the 9to5 episode

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I don’t have one but Apple’s secure home video enabled Logitech Circle sounds Interesting:

Logitech’s Circle 2 is first cam to support Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video

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HomeKit secure video is neat on paper but super broken in practice right now.

https://512pixels.net/2019/11/homekit-secure-video-is-buggy-and-frustrating/

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Here is some more fun with Ring camera’s :-/

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I hear this is reused passwords and the like but still a worry - hence the worry.

The concept is cool - answering the delivery man while we’re on holiday in New Zealand and telling him to leave the parcel with the neighbours was cool but the security…

Tim - please make a competitor, and a new Airport while you’re there.

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The answering the doorbell via the web is a fantasy, there is so much delay. The mailman is long gone by the time you reply.

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I agree their privacy policy is dodgy and now being owned by Amazon it’s probably going to get worse. However, I like the products. We have the doorbell pro, floodlight camera, and chime installed. I refuse to place cameras inside the house.

To address the hacking potential I have a couple things in place to address these products specifically:

  • our wifi broadcasted ssid is hidden at the router level
  • using 1Password our wifi password is maxed out I think to something like 64 characters LOL
  • also using 1Password I max out the Ring password characters with full numeric and symbols
  • turn on Ring 2FA

I have been considering adding a product like the Bitdefender Box to limit device communications, but haven’t pulled the trigger on it.

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If you want to top this off:
Create a Vlan with guest limitations. And close down the firewall to only those ports that are strictly needed for their functioning.

The most important step beside a strong password that is often forgotten is to frequently check and apply firmware updates!

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Not really - it depends.

The most common causes of delay are poor wi-fi connection and wake-up of the camera in the battery versions of Ring (original Ring and Ring 2). The wired version (Ring Pro) has virtually instant-on camera with minimal delay. I have two Ring Pros installed and find them quite useful. The motion detection notification always precedes the doorbell press, anyway. Most delivery workers don’t even ring the doorbell.

My recommendation is to choose the Ring Pro, even if it means you must run low-voltage wiring from a nearby power outlet - that’s what I did for my 2nd Ring Pro on the outside door for the garage. Also recommended is a wi-fi extender or added wi-fi access point to ensure good wi-fi signal.

Recommendations by @adamashlock are excellent.

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I have setup quite a few of these doorbells. Marking sure WiFi is strong. But the bottle neck are the ISP’s

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https://www.cyberscoop.com/blink-amazon-camera-tenable-iot-flaws/

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The EFF chimes in:

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