The Wyze doorbell is a bit underwhelming. What does the brain trust recommend ?

The brain trust here have likely tried between 0 and 1 doorbells per person so have no basis for comparison. Also, the various doorbells suit different requirements. What is your requirement? Much better to go to a valid review site such as Wirecutter or Consumer Reports.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2021 04:04PM by davester.

My parents have had a ring for a couple years and like it.

CBelt,

What about the Wyze Doorbell is underwhelming? I have a Ring and, aside from crappy wifi, it's been rock solid. Once I solved the wifi issues, no problems at all. Bonus is that it integrates with our alarm system.

Robert

IMO this gets into which video surveillance system you want to buy into. We use Ring and it works pretty well. The main thing I wanted was the option of having motion sensor floodlight cams. I figure a motion sensor floodlight is as likely to deter trouble as anything else.

But I also agree with davester, maybe its just confirmation bias talking. But nothing is bothering me so much I want to switch to a different system.

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The Eufy doorbell has gotten good reviews. Only reason I haven’t dumped my August is that Eufy doorbell doesn’t support RTSP. I’d like to be able to record to my NAS and not the cloud.

Which large corporation do you wish to surrender your privacy to?

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Comedy Central: Best news channel that isn't a news channel.

Fox News: Best comedy channel that isn't a comedy channel.

As a side note, a neighbor got a Ring doorbell as a Xmas present. It was installed on the brick next to the front door and they can't use it as they can't get the signal to their phones. They were told they can't mount it on brick as it blocks the signal...

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My name is DP, and I approve this message.

DP,

Nope. You can install it on brick. Mine is installed on cinderblock. The ones at my parent's home is on brick. If the issue is blocked signal, then it's resolved by putting a wifi booster in the home, opposite the ring doorbell. Didn't need to do that at my parents house for the back door. Had to do it for their front door and mine. No problems at all once boosters were in place.

Robert

Cinderblock here too. Works fine.

We have used Wyze doorbell and Ring. Our Ring door cam works better with a wi-fi booster (Ethernet connected booster run outside, not chime pro) As a bonus it includes the alarm service for $10 month (yearly plan). Still also use Wyze for their sound detection (fire/co2 alarms, barking dog, etc)

We've had a Ring for several years. The response delay (10–15 seconds) is annoying and potentially nullifies the device's usefulness.

I prefer eufy (Anker) cameras over Wyze. The eufy doorbell has 4GB local storage. All other eufy cameras can handle up to 128GB micro SD local storage. No subscription for cloud storage. They work with Home.app. 2K quality recordings. They re-connect reliably to my wifi after power outages. My several Wyze cams were not reliable in those cases.

Both Wyze and eufy iPhone apps work well on M1 Macs.

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cbelt3
The Wyze doorbell is a bit underwhelming. What does the brain trust recommend ?

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2021 06:15AM by modelamac.

Article,

That's more of a your situation than an everyone situation. What you're experiencing doesn't match my experience. No delays. The only issue was WiFi and that was partially due to the weak wifi hardware built into the device and the fact that cinderblock and similar materials disrupt wifi. Combined it was an issue until I boosted the network right by the doorbell.

Makes me wonder... What steps have you taken to find the source of the issue?

Robert

Prior to the latest Wyze app update, it took much longer to load live Wyze video than the Eufy app did.

Eufy cameras reconnect automatically after dropping wifi, Wyze not so much. And it seems that having too many Wyze cameras on wifi starts to cause issues with the wifi. If I disconnect them, the issue goes away. Not sure if it's because of the cameras or the beta firmware that supports RTSP.

I only have on Eufy camera that drops for periods of time but it's in a shed with aluminum siding. The Wyze camera it replaced was even worse and would have to be physically disconnected from power in order to reconnect. The Eufy rejoins once the signal is adequate.

I have a Ring Pro and had a Ring (non-pro) before that.

The pro has a much better camera. For example. our door faces east, and the morning sun would almost totally wash out the picture.

The pro did much better. The sun was still a bright spot, but the rest of the picture was clear.

Mine is installed on brick and I don't have any wifi issues.

I did have to replace it once when the super-capacitor died.

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Article Accelerator
We've had a Ring for several years. The response delay (10–15 seconds) is annoying and potentially nullifies the device's usefulness.

Are you talking about the delay between pressing the button and the ringing of the doorbell?

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Robert M
DP,

Nope. You can install it on brick. Mine is installed on cinderblock. The ones at my parent's home is on brick. If the issue is blocked signal, then it's resolved by putting a wifi booster in the home, opposite the ring doorbell. Didn't need to do that at my parents house for the back door. Had to do it for their front door and mine. No problems at all once boosters were in place.

Robert

A Ring brand wi-fi booster or any brand?

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My name is DP, and I approve this message.

DP,

Any booster ought to do it. I live in a pre-war apartment building and it disrupts wifi like you wouldn't believe. it's 1450 sq feet.

I had an Apple Airport Extreme as a main router at one point and used an Airport Express as a booster. Put one inside my house on the floor by the entry door. The ring doorbell was on the other side of the cinderblock wall. That did the trick.

Switched to a mesh networking system. Main router in living room. Satellite in the farthest side of the apartment and another where I'd placed the Airport Express. Works even better.

Robert

Thx, M!

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My name is DP, and I approve this message.

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Robert M
What steps have you taken to find the source of the issue?

What steps could I take to find the source of the issue? The Ring app says signal strength is "good" (RSSI -65 dB) and device health is fine.

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mattkime

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Article Accelerator
We've had a Ring for several years. The response delay (10–15 seconds) is annoying and potentially nullifies the device's usefulness.

Are you talking about the delay between pressing the button and the ringing of the doorbell?

No, the delay between someone coming in detection range and us receiving a notification of same.

Article,

Part of it is the natural delay between the time the doorbell detects something and the time it takes for it to process what has detected. Nothing you can do about that. The rest of the delay could be due to a slew of different issues. One could be a weak signal despite what you see in the app. Could be slower speeds in that area of your home. Could be connectivity issues between the doorbell and the mobile application. Lots of different possibilities.

Any delays we had were resolved when I boosted the wifi signal to the doorbell. Ours is at RSSI -37 dB, which is significantly better than what you've listed. A signal you rate as good at RSSI -65 dB is what I consider mediocre and might not actually be sufficient and could be a factor.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2021 08:29AM by Robert M.

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DP
As a side note, a neighbor got a Ring doorbell as a Xmas present. It was installed on the brick next to the front door and they can't use it as they can't get the signal to their phones. They were told they can't mount it on brick as it blocks the signal...

Another Brick Ring user - works just fine (but my Wifi is in 2nd floor bedroom off left of the front door)

I do have the delay issue but it is pretty arcuate most times. It detects when the postman delivers mail to the Front porch but will miss the guys that deliver the Val pack type thingees on the front porch (I think they are Ninjas).

I see in the app or web that it also catches huge trucks (cargo van or larger) driving down the street most times with a motion alert but have it dialed down the alert on my phone.

I just looked - today was garbage day - it missed most of my can being picked up and dumped (arm side load truck) but video shows it driving to my neighbors can and engaging.

UPS and FedEx porch deliveries have been hit or miss.

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Robert M
Article,

Part of it is the natural delay between the time the doorbell detects something and the time it takes for it to process what has detected. Nothing you can do about that. The rest of the delay could be due to a slew of different issues. One could be a weak signal despite what you see in the app. Could be slower speeds in that area of your home. Could be connectivity issues between the doorbell and the mobile application. Lots of different possibilities.

Any delays we had were resolved when I boosted the wifi signal to the doorbell. Ours is at RSSI -37 dB, which is significantly better than what you've listed. A signal you rate as good at RSSI -65 dB is what I consider mediocre and might not actually be sufficient and could be a factor.

Robert

Having spent a tremendous amount of time troubleshooting Ring reception issues, I can add to this that it also definitely matters whether you're using 2G or 5G and how many devices are connected to a given network or device. For example, if you're using a Chime Pro, do not connect more than two devices to it.

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