Ring/Blink doorbell security systems

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kenpoprofessor
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Re: Ring/Blink doorbell security systems

#16

Post by kenpoprofessor »

smithers599 wrote: August 18th, 2022, 4:43 pm OK, the suspense is over. I had decided to go with the Ring product, because Costco only carries Ring and Blink, and I wanted to use the Costco gift card. (Which was stupid, I admit. I buy enough groceries and other things at Costco that I could have used the card for that, and bought the doorbell thingy elsewhere.)
Anyway, I went to Costco determined to buy the Ring, but when I got there, I discovered that the Costco Ring product can only be wired, cannot run on batteries. My current doorbell is on the side, so wiring to that would not have given me a good view. The Blink product is optional wiring or battery. In addition, the Blink product comes with a slew of extra cameras. So, I can wire it to the existing doorbell, and then stick up one of the extra cameras above the front door to get the better view.
There is no subscription with Blink, either. Apparently, the vids are saved to your phone and you can set it up to delete the backlog every X days.
Of course, it is still in the box. I am sure it will take me two weeks to get it up and running. I am not a handy guy. Changing a light bulb usually involves at least two trips to Home Depot.
Thank you all for the very useful advice -- seriously. It has been very educational.
I put up very spendy cameras on the campus we work at, high end PTZ with voice, but I don't think they have audio out speakers. All hardwired to the network.

Just put up three of these last week.

Image

https://cookandboardman.com/axis-q6075- ... ikEALw_wcB


Have a great, gun carryin', Kenpo day

Clyde


QuietM4
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Re: Ring/Blink doorbell security systems

#17

Post by QuietM4 »

smithers599 wrote: August 18th, 2022, 4:43 pm
There is no subscription with Blink, either. Apparently, the vids are saved to your phone and you can set it up to delete the backlog every X days.
I have a couple of Blink cameras, and they absolutely have a subscription if you want to quickly access your live camera/saved videos via their cloud service. If you choose not to pay the subscription fee, it takes a few moments to access the video. Also, if you want to save any video without paying the subscription, you must have the Blink Sync Module plugged in somewhere in your home with a large enough flash drive inserted into it.

It's not a bad system by any means, but the promise of "no subscription" is misleading at best. I think I got about 60 or 90 days free before I got prompted to start paying for a cloud service subscription. I use the Sync Module with a 64GB flash drive plugged into it...I've had weeks of videos of me going in/out of the house without running into storage limits. Using their cloud storage vs the Sync Module to store video has a very noticeable speed difference...it takes anywhere from 5-10 seconds for me to call up and view a saved video, where it was nearly instant while I had the free cloud service.
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smithers599
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Re: Ring/Blink doorbell security systems

#18

Post by smithers599 »

^^^
OK, thanks. Good to know.
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BigNate
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Re: Ring/Blink doorbell security systems

#19

Post by BigNate »

smithers599 wrote: August 16th, 2022, 7:46 am I am probably the last person in Arizona not to have a Ring doorbell. Now I have a Costco gift card that's burning a hole in my pocket.

I know nothing about these gadgets. Those of you who are tech-savvy, which Costco product should I get?

I would like to have
- doorbell with camera and two-way talk
- camera on the back door
- motion-detector floodlights on the sides of the house

Costco offers two brands: Ring and Blink. Which do you think?

Thank you. Thank you verra much.
I don't know Blink - but I have a Ring bell (hard wired) and I've been pretty happy with it. The delay when I'm out of the home is such that if they ring the bell and walk away immediately (say, a delivery guy) I don't often see them before they are gone (can scroll back and see who it was) - but it is nice to be able to do so. It has worked well, been reliable, and the optional "cloud" service to store video is pretty cheap ($3.99 per month). As a vendor goes - they've been good.
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