Dahua vs hikvision doorbell

Badstraw

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Hello, I’ve been looking into a smart doorbell for a while, and I can’t decide yet between dahua VTO2202F-P and hikvision KV8113 or KV6113
I think it’s easier to integrate the dahua with HA, but hikvision offers better picture quality. I’m looking for POE, ONVIF, RTSP for blueiris and good reliability with the app.
Do you guys have any of those? Which one would be the best doorbell?
 

user8963

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"best" ? all systems on the market are somehow shitty.

you have to distinguish between doorbell and intercom... doorbells (these 2 wire AC devices) which are sold in US are good... but the intercom system ?

  • you cannot change sounds on dahua intercom devices, so you have to use their sounds. most annoying is the ringback tone ... but the the indoor station sounds are not better... its complete china flavoured. just watch a video on youtube and you will hear it.
  • dahua indoor stations are bloated with their alarm system, you cannot hide it
  • dahua indoor stations have "china look design" , hikvision use more known user-friendly IOS/android design, not bloated with their alarm system (if you are not using 93/95-series display)
  • dahua intercom devices have no standalone mode, so you need an indoor station (maybe they fixed it now)
  • dahua is annoying because they dont update their products. if there are bugs, it may take a long time to never for an update. hikvision has updates they fix bugs ..
  • dahua has many app problems, which are not fixed in years

both offer poe,rtsp etc.. both have the same quality in my opinion... hikvision has rfid reader

hikvision has standalone mode on KV8113/KV6113 but... you cannot add a chime ! this is only possible with indoor station... maybe they will have a fix for it... or you mod the device with some soldering.. then it should be easy possible to add a chime.


you should look into here...

this is one of the devices which offers poe instead of wifi... but you need a chime modul if you want to add one
 
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Badstraw

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I appreciate your help… you’re correct, it’s not a doorbell but it was easier to use a popular name. :)
I was gonna buy a dahua because of this video
But now, I don’t know… I don’t like the fact that they don’t update their products, but I like their API because it seems that I could send rest commands to integrate it with home assistant. Hikvision looks more professional though..

I was reading that thread about yoosee but I don’t know how good it would be long term..

maybe I could get a KV8113 and add a chime with a relay. I would appreciate any suggestions..
 

user8963

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i suggest you to not believe anything what is shown in a youtube video. these people are mostly stupid as hell, only test a few things and sometimes are paid for reviewing a product. if you ask them deep in comment, they dont answer or say "i dont have the product anymore,..." "didnt test it" ... whatever.

i am talking about this :

stupid.PNG


title: the one doorbell to do it all
but cannot answer call on HA ... haha...


stupid2.PNG

........
_


here is a thread about the dahua intercom devices.. you can try to ask there ... there are people who have these devices and may can answer your questions.

its just MY personal opinion. i ordered the dahua device and send it back because i was not happy with it.

_

if you plan to use the display, you dont need a chime. it has a ringtone and you can also add a external chime to the display.
hikvision has a standalone mode on kv6/kv8 series, so you dont need a display. but you cannot add a chime to the outdoor station... and there is no device available which can be a network chime or whatever. it is a bit stupid... you only have the app available ... not sure what hikvision was thinking about the "standalone mode"-solution. maybe they will update the firmware and will implement a link to one of the two available relais ... would be nice
if you dont need a display i would buy a normal "smart" doorbell.. less problems, but no POE
 
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GaryOkie

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Regarding integrating the Dahua VTO with home assistant - refer to this HA dahuavto2mqtt addon > Dahua VTO to MQTT Broker

I don't have this Dahua device, but I do have an Amcrest 2K doorbell (virtually the same as Dahua's 2K doorbell) which is integrated with HA using an amcrest2mqtt addon to trigger on doorbell presses and motion/human detection events. Works great.
 

livebild

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Regarding Dahua:
There was an interesting comparison regarding image quality here: IP Video Intercoms
I have the Outdoor station and it can work perfectly well without an Indoor monitor.
You can also change the ring tone (using some kind of workaround).
The Outdoor station has a SIP server and SIP client. So you can use an external SIP server with the Outdoor station.
For me I prefer to let the Outdoor station with the SIP server and subscribe my router to it (which as a SIP client). My router then forward each call to all my landline phones. When someone is using the doorbell, the indoor monitor, all the landline phones and my mobile phone are ringing and I can answer from anywhere (you can even send an image to the landline phone).
 

Badstraw

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i suggest you to not believe anything what is shown in a youtube video. these people are mostly stupid as hell, only test a few things and sometimes are paid for reviewing a product. if you ask them deep in comment, they dont answer or say "i dont have the product anymore,..." "didnt test it" ... whatever.

i am talking about this :

View attachment 99191


title: the one doorbell to do it all
but cannot answer call on HA ... haha...


View attachment 99192

........
_


here is a thread about the dahua intercom devices.. you can try to ask there ... there are people who have these devices and may can answer your questions.

its just MY personal opinion. i ordered the dahua device and send it back because i was not happy with it.

_

if you plan to use the display, you dont need a chime. it has a ringtone and you can also add a external chime to the display.
hikvision has a standalone mode on kv6/kv8 series, so you dont need a display. but you cannot add a chime to the outdoor station... and there is no device available which can be a network chime or whatever. it is a bit stupid... you only have the app available ... not sure what hikvision was thinking about the "standalone mode"-solution. maybe they will update the firmware and will implement a link to one of the two available relais ... would be nice
if you dont need a display i would buy a normal "smart" doorbell.. less problems, but no POE
I talked to a few guys and they told me that it’s a good device for the price (they’re still using it after one year), I’ve seen the POE switch, VTO and VTH for 220 bucks, so that’s not bad at all. At this point I’m still contemplating the KV8113 but I haven’t seen that many reviews either, so as long as I can use the app with notifications reliably and use homeassiatant to detect when someone pushes the button outside, I’m okay.
 

Badstraw

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Regarding integrating the Dahua VTO with home assistant - refer to this HA dahuavto2mqtt addon > Dahua VTO to MQTT Broker

I don't have this Dahua device, but I do have an Amcrest 2K doorbell (virtually the same as Dahua's 2K doorbell) which is integrated with HA using an amcrest2mqtt addon to trigger on doorbell presses and motion/human detection events. Works great.
Thanks, I was reading that thread the other day but the developer won’t update the addon, so I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to use it with HA in the future. I hope that’s not the case..
 

livebild

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Badstraw

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Regarding Dahua:
There was an interesting comparison regarding image quality here: IP Video Intercoms
I have the Outdoor station and it can work perfectly well without an Indoor monitor.
You can also change the ring tone (using some kind of workaround).
The Outdoor station has a SIP server and SIP client. So you can use an external SIP server with the Outdoor station.
For me I prefer to let the Outdoor station with the SIP server and subscribe my router to it (which as a SIP client). My router then forward each call to all my landline phones. When someone is using the doorbell, the indoor monitor, all the landline phones and my mobile phone are ringing and I can answer from anywhere (you can even send an image to the landline phone).
The image quality looks really good:

Right UP is Dahua Starlight cam (5442) and Right DOWN is Dahua intercom, left UP HIK DS-KD8003

DA583676-4D28-483A-BEBA-324C0F019E97.png
it sounds amazing that you can forward each call to landline phones, I have an Asus RT-RX router with Merlin. Would you share your settings please?
Are you getting notifications consistently on the app? That’s what I would use the most..

thanks!!! I appreciate your help so much.
 

livebild

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You need an appropriate router: I have a Fritz!Box which have a SIP client and a DECT server.
The SIP client is subscribed to the Dahua SIP Server and the landline phone (DECT) are subscribed to the Fritz!Box.

No issue with the app DMSS in iOS. The app is often updated and sometimes after update, you have to re-subscribe your VTO. But other than that it is quite reliable.
 

user8963

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There was an interesting comparison regarding image quality here: IP Video Intercoms
First, it is a doorbell system. For what reason do you need "good" quality ? Also it really depends on your lighting situation. All cameras on this screen are forced to color. How should that work in a near darkness scene? All devices would switch to B/W on low light...

I have the Outdoor station and it can work perfectly well without an Indoor monitor.
The Outdoor station has a SIP server and SIP client. So you can use an external SIP server with the Outdoor station.
Lol... yes with an external sip server (which can use video, so most included in routers wont work) you can do that. But then you cannot use Dahua App and lose some functions.
Which SIP-Server are you using? Which app for push notifications are you using? Are you able to see early media ?

You can also change the ring tone (using some kind of workaround).
Feel free to post the solution.

According to this thread, it is not possible anymore to change the ringbacktones on outdoor station, i wasnt able either.


How it is possible to disable this "calling now"/"door is unlocked" shit.

Also sometimes it doesnt stop ringing on indoor station if you take call with mobile app.

I am open to solutions, ........
 
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Badstraw

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You need an appropriate router: I have a Fritz!Box which have a SIP client and a DECT server.
The SIP client is subscribed to the Dahua SIP Server and the landline phone (DECT) are subscribed to the Fritz!Box.

No issue with the app DMSS in iOS. The app is often updated and sometimes after update, you have to re-subscribe your VTO. But other than that it is quite reliable.
That’s what I wanted to hear, thanks!!! One more thing, have you tried to update the firmware? I was reading a thread the other day and it seems that It’s quite easy to brick the device if you don’t upload the correct firmware..
 

livebild

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First, it is a doorbell system. For what reason do you need "good" quality ? Also it really depends on your lighting situation. All cameras on this screen are forced to color. How should that work in an near darkness scene? All devices would switch to B/W on low light...
For me this is not important, for others it is important.
At night the Dahua switch the IR light when someone is ringing. Quality is quite good in this case.


Lol... yes with an external sip server (which can use video, so must included in routers wont work) you can do that. But then you cannot use Dahua App and lose some functions.
Which SIP-Server are you using? Which app for push notifications are you using? Are you able to see early media ?
No as explained you can use an external SIP server (Asterisk or Fritz!Box for instance), but I personally prefer to use the Dahua SIP server and subscribe my Fritz!Box (which has a SIP client) to the Dahua SIP Server.
I am not that interested in video, so only the voice is sent by SIP.
I am using DMSS and it is working well with my setup.


Feel free to post the solution.

According to this thread, it is not possible anymore to change the ringbacktones on outdoor station, i wasnt able either.
I can have a look, it's true that the ring tone is not that nice. But for me it is very low in the list of requirements (even lower than a good quality picture).


How it is possible to disable this "calling now"/"door is unlocked" shit.

Also sometimes it doesnt stop ringing on indoor station if you take call with mobile app.

I am open to solutions, ........
I'll try but I never had an issue answering either with the indoor station or the landline phone.
I am only answering with the mobile app when I am outside, so I don't know.
I'll test the next time.
 

livebild

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That’s what I wanted to hear, thanks!!! One more thing, have you tried to update the firmware? I was reading a thread the other day and it seems that It’s quite easy to brick the device if you don’t upload the correct firmware..
Yes be careful. Uploading a firmware is quite easy but don't put the wrong firmware...
 

user8963

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At night the Dahua switch the IR light when someone is ringing. Quality is quite good in this case.
another problem what i had... (maybe they fixed it now) ...
the backlight of the outdoor station only worked if you press a button, so a visitor cannot find it in the dark lol

but all in all i love these reactions...

"i am not interesting in video, so only voice over sip is OK" ... why do you buy a video intercom then?
"these sounds are not nice, but i am ok with it" ... why do they include these china crap in the system which you cannot disable ? i dont understand who even WANTS it. The whole street is hearing it in the night !

but all this i posted above... , if you dont care about all this, then dahua might be better than hikvision (also you can add onvif cameras on indoor station on dahua, this is not really possible on hikvision)

No issue with the app DMSS in iOS. The app is often updated and sometimes after update, you have to re-subscribe your VTO. But other than that it is quite reliable.
Not sure how you get it working... but



But maybe you can assist these peoples to get it working? Or maybe it is just working good with apple devices...


You have 2 other recent Dahua integrations with Home Assistant:
yes but you can still not answer the call on HA ... you may can get a notification, you may see the visitor,, have a button to open the door... but you cannot speak with him or hear him.
so i dont understand where is the benefit to include it to HA without 2way audio ??

but if you know how to make it possible, feel free to post the solution... i would consider to accept the ringbacktone and use dahua
 
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livebild

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Oh perhaps you are right.
But for me this is also a non-issue as it is not possible to approach the door in complete darkness. So I had to put a light outside anyway.
If they cannot find the outdoor station (which is huge in my opinion), I think I have a problem with my guests ;-)
 

user8963

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@livebild

yeah... sadly it is not allowed to record the street with cctv in most european countries,
so i dont really care about quality.. i need it only if someone press the button, then B/W image is fine. the angle and mounting options of the intercom is limited, so i dont need it in my "surveillance" system.
i can have better cameras on my property with a good view...

one is happy with dahua, one with hikvision. for me both have some unacceptable bugs, which are only acceptable because they are so cheap and there is no better system on the market (even 2N/doorbird systems are not that good, only pricy) ... for me hikvision system has less annoying features/bugs, so i choosed it.
if there is a solution for the ringbacktone , i would choose dahua, because some features on dahua are better.

if someone cares in design and user friendly interface, then he should choose hikvision,,, because the design/interface of dahua intercom systems is in my opinion awful.

... OP should buy a test device and play around, if he likes it... fine. if not , send it back
i bought my outdoor station on aliexpress, so i was only able to send the displays back... :(
 

livebild

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Dahua interface is really not that nice and it is really easy to get confused.
However the hardware (the VTO) seems to be good (time will tell), and quite flexible: this was the deciding factor for me between Dahua and Hikvision.
In the thread I referenced above, there were the following statements:

HIK DS-KD8003:
It uses P2P or open ports. It DON'T WORK as standalone device - it require HIK indoor station - which works as voice server, push notification server and proxy to HIK Connect (P2P).
This model is not ONVIF compliant (only HIK private protocol + RTSP), there is no web config page (closed port 80), no open documented API.

Dahua DHI-VTO2202F-P
It uses P2P or open ports. It WORKs as standalone device (no indoor station requirement).
ONVIF compilant, SIP server&client, works with external SIP servers, RTSP, MJPEG... I found documentation for Dahua web API - but web hook implementation is more complicated.
 

livebild

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another problem what i had... (maybe they fixed it now) ...
the backlight of the outdoor station only worked if you press a button, so a visitor cannot find it in the dark lol

but all in all i love these reactions...

"i am not interesting in video, so only voice over sip is OK" ... why do you buy a video intercom then?
"these sounds are not nice, but i am ok with it" ... why do they include these china crap in the system which you cannot disable ? i dont understand who even WANTS it. The whole street is hearing it in the night !

but all this i posted above... , if you dont care about all this, then dahua might be better than hikvision (also you can add onvif cameras on indoor station on dahua, this is not really possible on hikvision)
Indeed I thought that having the video was interesting, but in practice I don't care. My area is quite safe and seeing the people doesn't bring much to the table.
Being able to recognize a person is a minimum, but targeting Full HD or 4k is perhaps a bit overkill.
But there are some people who like to upload to Youtube, so YMMV.

Yes the ring is really loud and not that nice. Some visitors even complained that they were frightened ;-)

Not sure how you get it working... but

But maybe you can assist these peoples to get it working? Or maybe it is just working good with apple devices...
I don't know, it is really working fine on iOS (except after some update).
But I was really careful to confirm that the app subscription was correctly registered (you have to use the query script on the german forum you mentioned) and I am not using P2P (my phone is connected through VPN to my local network).
Big issue with Android is the battery management differences between different Android devices. Some are more aggressive or "creative" than others and your DMSS app may end up "optimized away" and as a result is sleeping when it is supposed to accept a call. On iOS, it is easier to manage as everything is the same.

yes but you can still not answer the call on HA ... you may can get a notification, you may see the visitor,, have a button to open the door... but you cannot speak with him or hear him.
so i dont understand where is the benefit to include it to HA without 2way audio ??

but if you know how to make it possible, feel free to post the solution... i would consider to accept the ringbacktone and use dahua
When I will have time (in another life maybe), I will try to see how this HA integration is working.
But normally it is easy to answer from a third party SIP client, so there is not reason that it couldn't work with HA.
 
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