You can buy a live blink subscription. It was pretty spot on when we had it. We were more concerned about tracking issues so we just go with the delayed local store now.
Arlo vs Ring
- Thread starter wheels686
- Start date
I have Arlo camera's but not the doorbell. Let me preface beforehand that I have the app that controls it on a Google Pixel 5 phone and they operate through my Google WiFi network, I do think that the experience depends on what tech you are operating on. My sister has the same camera's but run's Apple Iphone and a different Wifi network and she hasn't had issues so take it for what it is.
So I have had some significant systematic issues with the camera's and the app but since you are using the doorbell I won't go into those details unless you are interested. I will let you know the primary reason I purchased was because they were cord free (ran off of lithium batteries (re-chargeable)
What I will warn you of though is their customer service. When I had my issues with Arlo I called the customer service line and requested a call back to address the problem. I will also add that I pay the $10 monthly subscription fee so that all video is stored on the cloud. I also figured this would give me addition customer privilege's as a paid member. When I finally got a call back, it was a friendly man by the the name of Suresh, and although friendly he was very "by the book" and did not possess the customer service acumen that I would expect from the tech centric business.
He informed me that if I wanted him to help me with the problems the camera was having that I would have to pay a one time fee of +/- $200. This $200 would be one time and I would forever be able to have them fix my problems. I am a very calm and leveled headed person and rarely get upset but this got me a little upset. So, I got 5 cameras for around $500 and he was going to charge me an extra $200 to fix a problem on a camera that I had only had for a month. In my mind, the price of assistance should be fixed into the price of the camera. I hung up on him, Suresh tried to call me back but I didn't pick up.
After some extensive Google research I discovered many people were having the same issues as I and the company had yet to issue fixes for the problems.
So, long story short, do your research be confident in what you pick but be warned that if you go with Arlo you could possibly run into some issues.
So I have had some significant systematic issues with the camera's and the app but since you are using the doorbell I won't go into those details unless you are interested. I will let you know the primary reason I purchased was because they were cord free (ran off of lithium batteries (re-chargeable)
What I will warn you of though is their customer service. When I had my issues with Arlo I called the customer service line and requested a call back to address the problem. I will also add that I pay the $10 monthly subscription fee so that all video is stored on the cloud. I also figured this would give me addition customer privilege's as a paid member. When I finally got a call back, it was a friendly man by the the name of Suresh, and although friendly he was very "by the book" and did not possess the customer service acumen that I would expect from the tech centric business.
He informed me that if I wanted him to help me with the problems the camera was having that I would have to pay a one time fee of +/- $200. This $200 would be one time and I would forever be able to have them fix my problems. I am a very calm and leveled headed person and rarely get upset but this got me a little upset. So, I got 5 cameras for around $500 and he was going to charge me an extra $200 to fix a problem on a camera that I had only had for a month. In my mind, the price of assistance should be fixed into the price of the camera. I hung up on him, Suresh tried to call me back but I didn't pick up.
After some extensive Google research I discovered many people were having the same issues as I and the company had yet to issue fixes for the problems.
So, long story short, do your research be confident in what you pick but be warned that if you go with Arlo you could possibly run into some issues.
I used to have Google Nest and, even though it was a wired system, I loved it. We re-painted our house and my wife didn't want wires running all over the new paint job. I switched to Blink and sold my old Nest cams on eBay. I regret it. As some others have pointed out, with these battery systems that are not "always on," by the time the motion triggers the camera whatever triggered it is gone. We had a real life scenario a couple weeks ago. Someone tried to break in to my neighbor's car. They escaped by hopping my fence and running through my back yard. By the time my camera kicked in, all we and the police saw was a shadowy figure from behind running away. I have no doubt my Nest cam would have nailed them. Nest does offer a battery-operated cam now but I'm a firm believer that wired is the way to go, as big of a pain in the ass as it may be to setup.
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Thanks for the help. It sounds like Ring will be the best option. I'm looking for a wired version of the doorbell. I want the best quality one. Any suggestions?
I just got the Ring 3 for our back door after having the previous version on the front door. I didn't look closely since I was fine with batteries, but it did come with two wires with terminals in the box. So, I would imagine that's the hard wiring kit. Double check before purchase though.
I wired my Ring to the existing door bell wiring so I don't have to worry about regularly charging the battery. It has been good but it is a fine line getting it set so it recognizes someone coming up the drive and doesn't constantly go off on a windy day when the trees are blowing around.
