Dec 2020 - Comparison of RTSP Doorbells

ruasonid

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I had read user feedback that there are issues with motion detection alerts being slow, although this could be with the HikVision app. Also choppy WiFi. Possibly can be resolved with a firmware upgrade. Any experience of this?
 

silencery

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I had read user feedback that there are issues with motion detection alerts being slow, although this could be with the HikVision app. Also choppy WiFi. Possibly can be resolved with a firmware upgrade. Any experience of this?
I don't use the hikvision app with the DB2, so I'm afraid I can't say.

The wifi connection has been very stable for me for both the DB2 and DB11, but good signal strength is probably a must.
 

silencery

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According to your table the EZVIZ DB1 "spec sheet claims to have PIR, but doesn't seem to be true." Are you sure about that? It does appear to have a PIR-like window inbetween the camera and the button. The YooSee spec sheet used to claim it had a PIR but not anymore.
I retested this myself again today with the latest firmware. Unfortunately, the results are inconclusive. I cut a tiny piece of tape to completely cover the lens to ensure software motion detection was disabled and verify the onboard PIR was working. It worked... sort of (inconsistently is the way I would describe it). Conducting walk tests with the lens covered, it triggered motion, but only 4/10 times. Uncovering the lens again, I was able to trigger the camera 10/10 times. This indicates SOMETHING is there, but it doesn't seem very accurate.
 

Zelf

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Hi and thank you for the neat presentation! Ok so there are no other viable option except theses 3 one's ?

Any older viable models from same manufacturers still good?

Possible to connect a doorbell directly to poe switch to BI without using wifi ?

I am so affraid to get it ripped off from my wall on a busy city street at theses prices.
I dont want to use an sd located outside in an open public space just between my door and the sidewalk.
Thinking of dremeling a smaller rectangle than the doorbell shape on the side metal door frame and riveting the doorbell from inside the structure leaving acces to only push button and cam to see.

Cant wait to see your advises, i might go for the poe one dahua and spray paint the bottom black.
 

ruasonid

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Does anyone have a photo of the backplate of the DB1?
 

silencery

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Good question.

These doorbell style models are meant to be used as easy replacements to existing doorbells. The manufacturers take some basic steps to secure the doorbell to the wall, but it's not going to stop someone really determined - if you've seen a Ring doorbell in person, these devices are about the same as far as security goes. The cases have torx screws to prevent people from opening them up, and some of them are reinforced with basic brass threads. Ultimately though, they're still secured with fairly soft plastic, so even a forceful kick could knock the doorbell off the mount. It's not that hard. Of the two I have seen in person, I would say the Dahua is a little more secure compared to the Hikvision (the two tiny torx security screws can be defeated with a determined screwdriver), but not by much.

Keep in mind neither of these two doorbells support POE. Only the yousee model has an ethernet port, and even then it's only a data port. To power it, you would run either AC/DC power or use their included POE splitter. If you use the splitter, your install location needs to be large enough to fit the splitter in the wall.

If you're streaming video to a BI server none of the models listed above require an SD card. The SD card is only necessary if you want to use the doorbell's app to view events.

Everyone's environments are really different. If you're in a dense urban environment, you may want to look into a doorstation style setup which is designed to be integrated into the wall and installed more securely. These aren't simple doorbell replacements, but more like intercom systems.

Otherwise, your idea to flush mount the device might work.
 

Zelf

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Good question.

These doorbell style models are meant to be used as easy replacements to existing doorbells. The manufacturers take some basic steps to secure the doorbell to the wall, but it's not going to stop someone really determined - if you've seen a Ring doorbell in person, these devices are about the same as far as security goes. The cases have torx screws to prevent people from opening them up, and some of them are reinforced with basic brass threads. Ultimately though, they're still secured with fairly soft plastic, so even a forceful kick could knock the doorbell off the mount. It's not that hard. Of the two I have seen in person, I would say the Dahua is a little more secure compared to the Hikvision (the two tiny torx security screws can be defeated with a determined screwdriver), but not by much.

Keep in mind neither of these two doorbells support POE. Only the yousee model has an ethernet port, and even then it's only a data port. To power it, you would run either AC/DC power or use their included POE splitter. If you use the splitter, your install location needs to be large enough to fit the splitter in the wall.

If you're streaming video to a BI server none of the models listed above require an SD card. The SD card is only necessary if you want to use the doorbell's app to view events.

Everyone's environments are really different. If you're in a dense urban environment, you may want to look into a doorstation style setup which is designed to be integrated into the wall and installed more securely. These aren't simple doorbell replacements, but more like intercom systems.

Otherwise, your idea to flush mount the device might work.
Thx!
So Yoosee can be bought with a splitter from the same brand I guess?
Was opting for the yoosee in the very beginning, just I was unsure if it was an unreliable brand.

Raspi2b+ or higher connects well to Blue iris via Ethernet and a cam hat?
I would hook up a normal bell, with cam notification triggers from raspi to BI with drilled hole for raspi cam on top of doorbell. If I go the DIY road but unsure...

It might have too much false positive if the raspi feed is triggered only by cam on not with doorbell. Unless it is a continuous stream to see who is when the bell rings.
 

silencery

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The yousee comes with a splitter included. Looks like a pretty good deal. I'm afraid I can't speak to the quality directly as I don't have one.

I REALLY love the idea of raspi-based doorbell. I toyed with the idea a little, and it would be a fun project to tackle, but personally I haven't had the time. Admittedly, I didn't look into it in great detail, but just off the top of my head, you will need the following for a good result:
  • Good quality low-light sensor camera (I haven't seen one yet, but link one if you have) with wide angle lens.
  • IR light - either built-into the camera or mounted externally
  • Mic and speaker
  • POE hat
  • Doorbell button
  • Optional: a PIR sensor to lower false positives.
  • On the software side of the PI, you'll need a good ONVIF server to send video/images/events to BI or whatever DVR you're using.
  • Optional: SIP server
  • 3D printed case to house all of the above.
Its important to remember motion events and doorbell events should be separated. Most people would want to passively record motion events, but receive active notification of doorbell presses.
 
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ruasonid

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I did a site survey yesterday and have decided to go with the EZVIZ since it will fit neatly on the door frame adjacent the front entry door. It means I will have to drill the adjacent door frame to pass a cable and then run that up the frame internally inside conduit. WiFi means no need for a thick Ethernet cable and heavier trunking inside. The doorbell will be close to the WiFi router (4.5m) so should not present any issues.

The one issue I picked up is that the mid-pm sun shines from SSW at the front door and will likely wash out the image. Not always going to be an issue in the UK climate, especially in winter when the sun is lower in the sky. One possible workaround is to plant a shrub or small tree at the boundary.
 

RazzMtazz

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I didn't include the skybell since it doesn't appear to support RTSP

The second doorbell received poor reviews in the past and has been superseded by the SD-M5. There is an existing thread here on it. The RFID capability is cool, but I'm not sure how it would be integrated.

I did not include intercom systems since they're usually proprietary, but yes, they could work for some people.
So i got the second doorbell, ive set it up in my bedroom to test it out, so far its doing pretty good, electric chime always sounds, video is good, slight problem with two way sound on feedback (have to mute the mic or speaker to stop the feedback loop) , pir sensor works well, phone app always receives a notification although sometimes its a loud call on the phone and sometimes its just a small notification like an email sound. Havent figured out how to display the video on my google nest hub.

Here are some potential caveats:

1) the electronic chime range is unknown, my house is big, so will need multiple electronic chimes, i dont know how far away thry will still work.

2) Sometimes the notification on the phone are too muted (typical soft sound same as generic notification sound on my android, could be email, sms, facebook etc)

3) would like it to ring and display on my google nest hub on doorbell button press but dont know if its possible.

UPDATE 1: two way audio doesnt work, gives feedback loop all the time, have to keep muting the mic after speaking. Otherwise doorbell chime always sounds and i always get a notification on my phone whenever button is pressed. So its consistent atleast. I would say that the outdoor speaker might be too low for noisy environments.
 
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Cinnman

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Good question.

Keep in mind neither of these two doorbells support POE. Only the yousee model has an ethernet port, and even then it's only a data port. To power it, you would run either AC/DC power or use their included POE splitter. If you use the splitter, your install location needs to be large enough to fit the splitter in the wall.

Otherwise, your idea to flush mount the device might work.
Please allow me to add a correction. The port on the Yoosee is poe and data---it works with a single cat 5/6 poe cable plugged into the back of the doorbell from your source. While there is a splitter included in the camera package (as well as a separate power cable that could alternately be used in another port on the back of the camera) none of those need to be used. I have it hooked up at the end of about a 100 ft run with just the ethernet cable plugged in to the back of the doorbell. The original question was what voltage on the poe was correct and if an at/af (48v) device would fry the doorbell since it was not rated at/af compliant. I actually wired it up to two different injectors directly before installing it and it worked, however for safety, I did use a stepdown convertor from ubquity that provides 24v before ultimately hooking it up to the at-poe-switch. But note that the adaptor is located at the switch end of the run. The only connection required at the doorbell end is a single cat 5/6 cable.
 

Cinnman

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Sorry, but one other comment just in case it may help someone researching. I did try the Yoosee DB with the wifi interface during my original setup test. This was with an excellent wifi signal in the same room as the router---I personally would not recommend wifi interface. It just was not consistent. It did work, but video streaming interrupted frequently specially when a triggering was initiated, button pressed, audio tried---whatever, I felt like I was wasting my time and I just quit messing with it. Particularly since the cam supports wired poe/data. The wired connection has been dead on solid and that I do recommend.
 

silencery

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Oh, no kidding. I thought the port on the doorbell was data only. That's great news. I'll update the chart in the first post.

What's the included splitter used for then?
 

SecuritySeeker

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Oh, no kidding. I thought the port on the doorbell was data only. That's great news. I'll update the chart in the first post.
What's the included splitter used for then?
It's not a splitter, it's a passive PoE injector and goes on the other end of the cable, right after the switch:

Switch -> Ethernet cable -> PoE-injector -> Ethernet cable -> YooSee RJ45 socket

See bottom halve (Method 3 &4) of the picture below from their website:



The included power-supply also connects to the PoE-injector. Instead of the supplied PoE injector you can also use something like the Ubiquiti Instant AF (the one that @Cinnman is using with his) which can be powered by a proper 802.3 PoE switch and outputs 24V passive PoE which will also work with the YooSee. The advantage of this setup is that you don't need a separate power supply and no AC wall outlet for it.
 
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silencery

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Excellent, thanks for the clarification! That makes more sense.

Will update first post to reflect this update.
 

Basshook

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Seems like every other day there is someone asking about the best Blue Iris compatible doorbell for the residential market. I'm writing this thread to share my findings so far comparing the current options. This is a continuation from my post on the DB11 here. Many new doorbell cams were announced at CES this year in January, but most have not hit the market yet or are still incompatible with ONVIF.

(Doorbird is also a viable option since it checks most of the boxes, but I did not include it here as the resolution is low and price point is too high compared to these models).

I'm embedding a few sample videos comparing the hikvision and dahua cams. Both videos are mounted from the same exact location.

Hikvision DB1

Dahua DB11


SUMMARY OF FEATURES & KNOWN ISSUES

Following is a comparison chart based on information and feedback from everyone here. Thanks to all the people who posted information! (I do not own the yousee model, so I've not had a chance to test it). I will try to update with known issues as they are reported or as I find them.



ADVANCED FUNCTIONS/HACKS

Integrating doorbell button notifications to home automation systems

APIs have not been found yet to read events, so some users have suggested creative ways to send doorbell button press events to other home automation systems. In my case, I'm using a simple relay wired in parallel to the power wires. When the button is pressed, voltage drop causes the relay to be tripped and you can send a simple on/off signal to any custom switch (alarm sensor, zwave switch, etc).

My doorbell install uses DC 12V, so a standard automotive 12V relay such as this one works well, but the concept should be similar for AC powered installs.

Use ONVIF to send PIR events to BlueIris

(Why does this matter? PIR is usually a reliable way of detecting motion, sometimes more accurate than software. In some cases, it may be better to trigger alerts based on the camera's onboard motion detection and send this alert to BI in order to lower false positives)

If you want the doorbell PIR to trigger blueiris, take the following steps in BI. First verify your camera is capable of sending ONVIF streams (not just RTSP). In camera configuration in BI:
  • Instructions for Hikvision models
  • Set Discovery/ONVIF port to 80
  • Set path to /Streaming/Channels/1?transportmode=unicast&profile=Profile_1
  • "Get events with PullPointSubscription" must be checked
  • In the camera, go to PTZ/Control tab. Enable PTZ, select Hikvision from the Network IP dropdown.

Sending animated gifs to mobile notifications
This is a more complex subject involving many moving pieces, so I will add this later
Thanks for the trick on using the Bosch relay to interface to HA. Interesting that the DB11 actually has a couple of small batteries in it that allows it to continue operating even though the supply voltage gets yanked to almost zero!
 
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silencery

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Yeah, interesting right? at least the hikvision and DB11 both have large capacitors inside expressly for this purpose. I assume most wifi Doorbells are designed similarly
 

Basshook

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I have a few questions regarding my DB11, perhaps someone can help with:
1) Every few seconds my DB11 image block pixelizes almost like its adjusting focus. It does not seem sensitive to camera location (near or away from the access point).
2) BI is reporting approx 19 fps, is this typical?
3) Anyone able to get DB11 and the Android BI app to work with 2-way talk?

Thanks.
 
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