New doorbell recommendations

badix89

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Hi, after I kicked everything from UniFi out (3 cams + 1 doorbell and all switches) I need a new solution now. I have a Hikvision DS-KV8113-WME1 here for testing, but Im not sure if I like this system. If someone is ringing in front and I’m not accepting the “call” it’s not stopping, it’s just ring and ring and ring.
Isn’t there any option to get only push notification when someone rings instead of calling?

is there any good alternative for doorbell?
I need something with WiFi and recording with blueiris. I checked reolink, but I read very often that the cameras are not a good decision.
 

wittaj

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Reolink Doorbell is the one exception to Reolink and is the go to for many people here and works with BI. While this is for the POE version, it applies to the wifi as well. But it is the only camera you want from Reolink!

 

TonyR

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I installled 2 Wi-Fi versions of the Reolink doorbell this past June as described at the bottom post link. I set both up using RTMP initially but last month I changed the Side doorbell to RTSP as a test. Below is a screenshot of the main and sub streams URL's.

In either case you log into the cam's embedded webGUI and enable RTMP, RTSP and ONVIF as needed.

Reolink-Doorbell-RTSP.jpg

 

badix89

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So reolink doorbell is the way to go? This doorbell is better than the linked Hikvision?

Why are the other cameras from reolink not recommended?
 

duplo

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Hikvision is an intercom system.
So why it should stop if no one answer. Not sure what your aim is

You can set a max ringtime like 15s. Then it stops after 15s, if no answer. You can use your own ringtone on indoor station, and set it to one time.

If you want 1time doorbell ring indoor and just video and/or get push notification with screenshot, then you need to buy us style doorbell like reolink.

Thats the main difference between intercom and doorbell!

The design of these doorbells is not common in europe. But if you like it, go for it.

In most european countries you answer the door. Here no one press a button, throw a package and leave.
 

wittaj

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Why are the other cameras from reolink not recommended?
Do they hope to have the cameras provide video at night? Is there enough light to simulate daylight? If not all Reolink cameras will be able to tell the police is what time it happened.

In most instances, you want to get a camera that will perform at your location for the worse situation, which for most of us is at night when it is dark and there is little to no light. If a camera performs at night, it is easier to tweak settings to make it work during the day than it is the other way around.

Did I mention avoid Reolink, especially at night they are horrible. Look at these examples.

What you mean a missing hand isn't normal LOL :lmao: (plus look at the blur on the face and he is barely moving and this should be ideal indoor IR bounce and it struggles):


1672013569648.png




How about missing everything but the head and upper torso :lmao:

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding a license plate)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters :lmao:

1672013751058.png




And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your property? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns:


1672013780681.png


Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the cameras can't see you


Here is the unofficial Reolink page where people have provided their best nighttime image captures. As you will see, they are basically useless.

 

badix89

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Ok that looks shit....
In the end i want something good. As i told already, i kicked everything from unifi out and wants now to put everything on my server (blueiris was just the first thing i thought of, if there are better solutions i will take it).
I need one doorbell with wifi, good quality, NO CLOUD. I can take something different than BI, if there are better solutions. Or is Reolink doorbell still the "best" solution for this?

What camera should i take for outside (for my garden, 10meter range, viewing angle ~100˚). I dont have POE cable there, so i need something with wifi.
 

wittaj

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The reolink doorbell is still the best solution.

As far as cameras are concerned, the following thread lists the most commonly suggested cameras here based on distance to IDENTIFY and represent the best overall value in terms of price and performance day and night:



Is the camera only to watch on your garden and not to try to capture perps?

Most here do not recommend wifi cams for surveillance type activity - especially for systems like BI or an NVR that is receiving a signal 24/7.

Wifi and cameras do not go together for anything other than pet or kid watching.

There are always ways if you don't want to run an ethernet cable.

You need power anyway, so go with a powerline adapter to run the date over your electric lines or use a nano-station.

Maybe you are fine now one day with wifi cams, but one day something will happen. A new device, neighbors microwave, etc.

Cameras connected to Wifi routers (whether wifi or not) are problematic for surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to send cameras through a wifi router. At the very least it can slow down your entire system.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent, especially once you start adding distance. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes - mine goes 45 seconds. Now do the same with a camera connected to a router and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

The same issue applies even with the hard-wired cameras trying to send all this non-buffer video stream through a router. Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues. The consumer routers are just not designed for this kind of traffic, even a GB speed router.

So the more cameras you add, the bigger the potential for issues.

Many people unfortunately think wifi cameras are the answer and they are not. People will say what about Ring and Nest - well that is another whole host of issues that we will not discuss here LOL, but they are not streaming 24/7, only when you pull up the app. And then we see all the people come here after that system failed them because their wifi couldn't keep up when the perp came by. For streaming 24/7 to something like an NVR or Blue Iris, forget about it if you want reliability.


This was a great test that SouthernYankee tried and posted about it here:

I did a WIFI test a while back with multiple 2MP cameras each camera was set to VBR, 15 FPS, 15 Iframe, 3072kbs, h.264. Using a WIFI analyzer I selected the least busy channel (1,6,11) on the 2.4 GHZ band and set up a separate access point. With 3 cameras in direct line of sight of the AP about 25 feet away I was able to maintain a reasonable stable network with only intermittent signal drops from the cameras. Added a 4th camera and the network became totally unstable. Also add a lot of motion to the 3 cameras caused some more network instability. More data more instability.
The cameras are nearly continuously transmitting. So any lost packet causes a retry, which cause more traffic, which causes more lost packets.
WIFI does not have a flow control, or a token to transmit. So your devices transmit any time they want, more devices more collisions.
As a side note, it is very easy to jam a WIFI network. WIFI is fine for watching the bird feed but not for home surveillance and security.
The problem is like standing in a room, with multiple people talking to you at the same time about different subjects. You need to answer each person or they repeat the question.

Test do not guess.

For a 802.11G 2.4 GHZ WIFI network the Theoretical Speed is 54Mbps (6.7MBs) real word speed is nearer to 10-29Mbps (1.25-3.6 MBs) for a single channel



And TonyR recommends this (which is the preferred way IF you want to do wifi)

The only way I'd have wireless cams is the way I have them now: a dedicated 802.11n, 2.4GHz Access Point for 3 cams, nothing else uses that AP. Its assigned channel is at the max separation from another 2.4GHz channel in the house. There is no other house near me for about 300 yards and we're separated by dense foliage and trees.

Those 3 cams are indoor, non-critical pet cams (Amcrest IP2M-841's) streaming to Blue Iris and are adequately reliable for their jobs. They take their turns losing signal/reconnecting usually about every 12 hours or so for about 20 seconds which I would not tolerate for an outdoor surveillance cam pointed at my house and/or property.

But for me, this works in my situation: dedicated AP, non-critical application and periodic, short-term video loss.... if any one of those 3 conditions can't be achieved or tolerated, then I also do not recommend using wireless cams. :cool:



Here is the thread that shows the quality from consumer grade cameras, most of which are wifi cameras and you can see they are a pixelated mess with motion:

 

badix89

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I see, big thanks for this statement and your time!
I will check if I can put some cat6/7 cable from my rack (in the basement), outside to the cameras.
What if I have cat cable for the doorbell too? Is reolink still best option?
What about Axis I8116-E?
 

magier76

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I am thinking about the AXIS I8116-E to but there are no reviews and i know it might be because it’s an expensive camera but really wanna know if it’s woth buying the axis.
 

TonyR

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I am thinking about the AXIS I8116-E to but there are no reviews and i know it might be because it’s an expensive camera but really wanna know if it’s woth buying the axis.
It might be a terrific doorbell and at the price and warranty it should be. But their specs are are not clear regarding how it performs at night: does it have IR or not, visible light LED's or not.....very unclear. Like you I'd be hesitant until I heard from some owners and operators.

And if you don't want or need alarm I/O, relay control, RFID or card reader, intercom function, and SIP compatibility then it's overkill, IMO. Why spend $800 when $100 will do the same job? :idk:

I have 2 Reolink doorbells functioning rock-steady since June '23, streaming to Blue Iris VMS.
 

magier76

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From the past i always had Axis security cam’s and loved them even in the dark there where not lots of other brands that could compete.
I do need the I/O relay controle for my smart home because i want to intergrate it with Fibaro HC3 setup.

But i am open for other brands.
Night vision and relay are a must for my z-wavefibaro setup.
 
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