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Does anyone have "Ring" home security doorbell/cameras, etc?


sheryl
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My Dad had this before he passed away and it did seem to work well.  I only saw it in use a couple of times b/c we are in NC and he was in OH.  He did not have it long.

I've seen on a local group here that people have Ring.  I'm wondering if anyone here has it and what components?  Is it worth it?  

I'm eyeballing -

Doorbell 2 OR Pro
 

Do you have the interior "home security" (interior) and/or the security cameras (exterior)?  Which ones? 

I know the pros.  Any cons? 

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2 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

One con is that it can be hacked then outsiders can inside your home, etc.  (And even get into your home if the lock is on it) It's the main reason we've resisted getting it.

 

"How" can they hack it?  Is that a wifi thing?

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I don't know about the hacking, but I know someone who got rid of hers and switched to some sort of local private security company because they had an incident and realized that despite paying for remote video backup they couldn't pull the video and send it to police for some reason.  She thought the price for the video storage was ridiculous considering the local security company covered the whole house with 30 day video backup for less than Ring charged.

Same family also had an incident with a babysitter and apparent sexual abuse grooming and has since put video cameras in the house almost everywhere but the bathrooms, guest rooms, and adult bedrooms.  Kids under 10 have total video coverage.

We have multiple friends who switched from a local company to SimpliSafe.  I heard a commercial recently that they've added video options, but haven't looked into that yet.

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We have the Ring security system - doors, windows, motion.  Have been happy with it.  No Ring cameras.

We went with Nest outdoor cameras.  The monitoring isn’t bad, but they are essentially useless without the monitoring.  We have three of them, and there’s a discount for multiples.

We do not have integrated locks, though we’ve looked at the new Nest/Yale lock.

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We have had Ring for a while.  We do not have any cameras indoors and the doors can't be opened by Ring. Our system just has cameras on the door with the Ring doorbell.  We already have an extensive camera system on the outside of the house that automatically records all footage and stores it for 30 days or something like that.  We added Ring for the the sole purpose of being able to communicate with people when they ring the doorbell without having to open the door. We can see who is at the door and communicate with them. We can even talk to people at one of our doors when we aren't home, which makes them think that we are actually at home.  

Edited by edelweiss
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15 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

One con is that it can be hacked then outsiders can inside your home, etc.  (And even get into your home if the lock is on it) It's the main reason we've resisted getting it.

 

 

How could anyone get inside your house by hacking a Ring doorbell? The doorbell isn’t attached to the locks on the doors.

You and I must be thinking of two different products. We use the Ring 2 doorbells and we like them. Easy to install, easy to use, very simple app, and the camera quality is adequate — and I can’t imagine how or why anyone would hack them.

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On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 2:28 AM, Catwoman said:

 

How could anyone get inside your house by hacking a Ring doorbell? The doorbell isn’t attached to the locks on the doors.

You and I must be thinking of two different products. We use the Ring 2 doorbells and we like them. Easy to install, easy to use, very simple app, and the camera quality is adequate — and I can’t imagine how or why anyone would hack them.

I think (not certain) someone can manipulate the wifi signal.  If that's possible, they could hack into the house, I guess.  

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2 hours ago, sheryl said:

I think (not certain) someone can manipulate the wifi signal.  If that's possible, they could hack into the house, I guess.  

 

But how? The doorbell is just a doorbell with a camera and a microphone. It’s not attached to the door locks in any way.

I could understand if it was a whole house security system with remote door locking capability, but I thought you were asking about the Ring doorbells. Sorry if I misunderstood!

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Cat. As I mentioned, I'm not certain.  I thought I read (google) and vonfirmath (first reply above) mentions it.  But, how did an eastern European hack into our wifi 5 years ago and ask for 2 bit coins to release our "hijacked" files on OUR computer?  They originate these hijacks in eastern Europe which is thousands of miles away from us in NC!  That was via wifi b/c wifi is connected to our computers.  I'm not tech savvy so I'm the wrong person to ask.

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They couldn’t necessarily get access to your house per se - unless you also have a WiFi enabled lock. However, anytime you connect something to your home’s WiFi, it does add in the potential to put your data at risk given the lax security of many IoT (internet of things devices).

https://threatpost.com/iot-security-concerns-peaking-with-no-end-in-sight/131308/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/iot-security-warning-your-hacked-devices-are-being-used-for-cyber-crime-says-fbi/

In the case of the Ring doorbell - I don’t have one because there’s not guarantee that camera on my front door won’t be used to breach my privacy. They talk about the cameras on our devices being activated without our knowledge. Same thing for your front door - except now they can track the activity around your house. Who’s coming and going? What patterns are there to when you leave or arrive? And how can I trust that it’s not being activated without my knowledge whether by the company or by a third party who hacked into lax security.

My secondary issue is how secure it is. They can use IoT devices to listen in on what’s happening on your network. I can’t find the article now, but maybe last year there was one where they monitored the traffic being sent and received via all the IoT connected devices in an apartment. Even if the device isn’t doing so for nefarious reasons, by accumulating data about you and combining all of these various pieces of data, they can gather together a fairly accurate picture of you.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/

Is it nice? Sure, but these devices aren’t just reporting back to you. They’re reporting back to the company and then the issue is, what are they doing with that data? Like with Facebook there will be all sorts of people who won’t care or don’t think it’s a big deal. YMMV, but I figure since they’re already data mining me, I’m not going to make it that much easier by letting them into my home. Not even if it means I can monitor my house from my phone.

Edited by mamaraby
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2 hours ago, mamaraby said:

They couldn’t necessarily get access to your house per se - unless you also have a WiFi enabled lock. However, anytime you connect something to your home’s WiFi, it does add in the potential to put your data at risk given the lax security of many IoT (internet of things devices).

https://threatpost.com/iot-security-concerns-peaking-with-no-end-in-sight/131308/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/iot-security-warning-your-hacked-devices-are-being-used-for-cyber-crime-says-fbi/

In the case of the Ring doorbell - I don’t have one because there’s not guarantee that camera on my front door won’t be used to breach my privacy. They talk about the cameras on our devices being activated without our knowledge. Same thing for your front door - except now they can track the activity around your house. Who’s coming and going? What patterns are there to when you leave or arrive? And how can I trust that it’s not being activated without my knowledge whether by the company or by a third party who hacked into lax security.

My secondary issue is how secure it is. They can use IoT devices to listen in on what’s happening on your network. I can’t find the article now, but maybe last year there was one where they monitored the traffic being sent and received via all the IoT connected devices in an apartment. Even if the device isn’t doing so for nefarious reasons, by accumulating data about you and combining all of these various pieces of data, they can gather together a fairly accurate picture of you.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/

Is it nice? Sure, but these devices aren’t just reporting back to you. They’re reporting back to the company and then the issue is, what are they doing with that data? Like with Facebook there will be all sorts of people who won’t care or don’t think it’s a big deal. YMMV, but I figure since they’re already data mining me, I’m not going to make it that much easier by letting them into my home. Not even if it means I can monitor my house from my phone.

But, isn't wifi the point.  I'm not understanding.  I thought sense you could operate any component from your phone how else would one do that remotely if it didn't involve the use of wifi?

Again, I'm not tech savvy.  What is IoT?

I do NOT want to operate any home security component (lock, cameras, etc) from my smart phone.  I guess that's the point of getting it.  I just like the idea of being able to see who's ringing the doorbell and to have use of cameras. 

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IoT = internet of things - in other words all of the things that connect to the internet and can be operated by an interface like your phone, Alex, or Siri.

1 minute ago, sheryl said:

But, isn't wifi the point.  I'm not understanding.  I thought sense you could operate any component from your phone how else would one do that remotely if it didn't involve the use of wifi?

I do NOT want to operate any home security component (lock, cameras, etc) from my smart phone.  I guess that's the point of getting it.  I just like the idea of being able to see who's ringing the doorbell and to have use of cameras. 

You don’t. That’s the whole point. By installing those things, giving them acces to your network/router, and agreeing to the terms of service you’re accepting a certain level of risk and data mining. It’s why my doorbell, thermostat, light bulbs, door locks, appliances, TV, etc are all the “dumb” versions. No WiFi, no risk. I also have “Hey Siri” disabled on my phone and you’ll never catch Alexa in my house.

The links I gave are fairly simple and do go over the risks inherent in those devices. ZDNet in particular is a consumer level publication.

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1 hour ago, sheryl said:

But, isn't wifi the point.  I'm not understanding.  I thought sense you could operate any component from your phone how else would one do that remotely if it didn't involve the use of wifi?

Again, I'm not tech savvy.  What is IoT?

I do NOT want to operate any home security component (lock, cameras, etc) from my smart phone.  I guess that's the point of getting it.  I just like the idea of being able to see who's ringing the doorbell and to have use of cameras. 

 

How would you see who was ringing the Ring doorbell if you weren’t checking the Ring app on your phone? 

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On 8/22/2018 at 11:28 PM, Catwoman said:

 

How could anyone get inside your house by hacking a Ring doorbell? The doorbell isn’t attached to the locks on the doors.

You and I must be thinking of two different products. We use the Ring 2 doorbells and we like them. Easy to install, easy to use, very simple app, and the camera quality is adequate — and I can’t imagine how or why anyone would hack them.

I think a lot of these companies also have WiFi door locks now. Like a keypad lock that can also be opened electronically. 

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5 minutes ago, kitten18 said:

I think a lot of these companies also have WiFi door locks now. Like a keypad lock that can also be opened electronically. 

 

Yes, you’re right — they definitely do. I just thought sheryl was only interested in the doorbell with the camera that shows who’s at the door.

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1 minute ago, Catwoman said:

 

Yes, you’re right — they definitely do. I just thought sheryl was only interested in the doorbell with the camera that shows who’s at the door.

I think she was, it was other people who were talking about getting access through the WiFi locks. 

 

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Just now, sheryl said:

I guess, Cat. I don't want to assume the smartphone is the only way to view people. 

 

I can understand that — I’m just not sure how you would be able to use that kind of product because the Ring doesn’t come with any kind of screen. You would have to use their app. 

Maybe someone will know of a different kind of product that would work for you!  ?

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