Ring Alarms discounted for Prime Day (2020 Oct 13)

bp2008

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wittaj

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I really wish I would have jumped on that deal, but I was (still am) in the investigation mode to replace my current alarm system.

For those with the Ring Alarm system, do you have it isolated from the internet? We spend so much time talking about keeping the cameras off the internet, but I cannot find anything that for sure says this system will work without internet service? I was hoping I could set it up where I would have to VPN in to see it just like the cams?

It also appears they do not have an external audio siren?

Has anyone been able to make connectivity with this system and Blue Iris? I did a search and couldn't really find anything.
 
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I really wish I would have jumped on that deal, but I was (still am) in the investigation mode to replace my current alarm system.

For those with the Ring Alarm system, do you have it isolated from the internet? We spend so much time talking about keeping the cameras off the internet, but I cannot find anything that for sure says this system will work without internet service? I was hoping I could set it up where I would have to VPN in to see it just like the cams?

It also appears they do not have an external audio siren?

Has anyone been able to make connectivity with this system and Blue Iris? I did a search and couldn't really find anything.
It does not have to be connected to the internet, it can be on your intranet. It uses cellular signal to call police dispatch. But the base station and keypads and sensors talk to each other over wifi, so you have to have some type of router set up in your home. In my opinion the ring alarm and sensors together with alexa is the best bang for your buck out there right now. I pay 100 dollars a year for monitoring, for right now you can't beat that. I cancelled ADT and never looked back - 45 dollars a month = 540 dollars a year. It was a no brainer. You can add external siren, i have not added it to blue iris, but i can buy another camera now :p
 

bp2008

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For those with the Ring Alarm system, do you have it isolated from the internet? We spend so much time talking about keeping the cameras off the internet, but I cannot find anything that for sure says this system will work without internet service? I was hoping I could set it up where I would have to VPN in to see it just like the cams?
I did buy and install one of these systems. No, I haven't tried to isolate it from the internet. That would prevent it sending alerts to myself or anyone else, and more than likely prevent the Ring app from working. IP cams are totally different. IP cams are notoriously bad at cybersecurity and they don't need internet access to do their jobs.

It does not have to be connected to the internet, it can be on your intranet. It uses cellular signal to call police dispatch.
I suppose that is true (except alarm systems don't actually call the police). You could probably use it on cellular backup permanently as long as you maintain a paid subscription. The base station would need internet access to set it up initially though.


But the base station and keypads and sensors talk to each other over wifi, so you have to have some type of router set up in your home.
Actually they use Z-Wave. Wifi (or ethernet) is only used by the base station to connect to "the cloud".
 

wittaj

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So people can take over Ring Cameras like we have seen on those viral videos, but they cannot take over a Ring Alarm system?

I'm just trying to figure all this out - I don't have Alexa or any of that stuff for the very reason of not needing Amazon to listen to everything I say LOL, but wrestling in my mind why some IoTs are no-no's to have access to the internet and others seem to be ok to give access to?

My existing alarm system is an older system (20 years old LOL) and has zero connectivity to the internet but it starting to fail and no longer even made anymore, so I am searching for a replacement - one of the cons of my old system is if it goes off when I am not home, it isn't notifying me, so the newer system has some advantages, but I put a lot of effort into isolating my cameras and don't want to just arbitrarily add an alarm system with internet access if that compromises my system?
 

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Make your ring account password strong, like any other, as well as your wifi password. Ring has mandatory two factor authorization which is secure but a pain with your online account because it times out pretty quickly and you have to login again and again go though two factor which sends a code to your phone via text. Any device that attempts to login that isn't authorized sends an alert email. I haven't heard of any hacks to the security system. It can be installed via ethernet cable rather than wifi. That's how I have mine set up. I do not believe you can set up the system without access to your home network. I didn't try and I don't believe you can. I don't know if you can take it off line once it's set up. I suppose maybe you can but I don't use it like that.
 

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So people can take over Ring Cameras like we have seen on those viral videos, but they cannot take over a Ring Alarm system?

I'm just trying to figure all this out - I don't have Alexa or any of that stuff for the very reason of not needing Amazon to listen to everything I say LOL, but wrestling in my mind why some IoTs are no-no's to have access to the internet and others seem to be ok to give access to?

My existing alarm system is an older system (20 years old LOL) and has zero connectivity to the internet but it starting to fail and no longer even made anymore, so I am searching for a replacement - one of the cons of my old system is if it goes off when I am not home, it isn't notifying me, so the newer system has some advantages, but I put a lot of effort into isolating my cameras and don't want to just arbitrarily add an alarm system with internet access if that compromises my system?
The primary issue with ip cameras is that most use port forwarding or poor p2p implementations for remote access. Ring does not do that. Their cameras are secure particularly with two factor authentication. Using your logic you could never use any internet connected device.
What you can and should do with your ring alarm is to use your wifi guest network. I do this with ring alarm and all my wifi thermostats. They are then all isolated from your primary network and each other. At the office I have it on a vlan which accomplishes the same thing but allows me to have it wired.
 

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Yeah, I didn't think of using the guest wifi - that seems like a reasonable solution - do you feel the wifi system is still as responsive as hard-wired at the office? I have no idea how much bandwidth one of these use, but I am assuming fairly small?
 

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Yeah, I didn't think of using the guest wifi - that seems like a reasonable solution - do you feel the wifi system is still as responsive as hard-wired at the office? I have no idea how much bandwidth one of these use, but I am assuming fairly small?
I cannot discern any difference. There is very little data the system needs to communicate - a few bits here and there. Its not like a camera that is constantly streaming a bunch of video.
 

Shockwave199

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Why didn't I think of the guest network. Will do that asap as well. I also picked up the bridge and mailbox sensor deal too. Shipping next week. My mailbox is just far enough down the driveway to be a bitch to find out the mail hasn't come yet. Hopefully that little doodad saves me a lot of wasted trips, especially in the rain and cold.
 

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It does not have to be connected to the internet, it can be on your intranet. It uses cellular signal to call police dispatch. But the base station and keypads and sensors talk to each other over wifi, so you have to have some type of router set up in your home. In my opinion the ring alarm and sensors together with alexa is the best bang for your buck out there right now. I pay 100 dollars a year for monitoring, for right now you can't beat that. I cancelled ADT and never looked back - 45 dollars a month = 540 dollars a year. It was a no brainer. You can add external siren, i have not added it to blue iris, but i can buy another camera now :p

The sensors use zwave
 

wittaj

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OK - doing more research LOL - has anyone found a way to integrate BI with Ring Alarm?

Searching didn't really find anything, but I found where it appears someone took the Samsung Smarthings along with Ring Alarm to be able to force commands to BI - but it appears they configured it to use one of the sensors to turn on a light instead of an alarm trigger?

And it appears for whatever reason Ring doesn't make an external alarm, so I would like to integrate it to BI to alarm out an external siren, but cannot find anything where someone has done that?
 

wittaj

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So it looks like in further investigation that the Samsung Smartthings app and a 3rd party BI integration Fusion does not or will not be working with a recent update and the developer said he doesn't have time to devote to a change...so I guess looking for another way to integrate an alarm with BI?
 

wittaj

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So based on recommendations here, I went ahead and snagged the Ring alarm on Black Friday deals and was in process of setting up and the Ring.com website goes down. Cannot do anything local while site is down.

I sure hope this is a rarity because not off to a good start - it does appear to have in excess of a 99% uptime, but timing sucks. Ipcamtalk has a better uptime in my experience lol.

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Shockwave199

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Yeah I think bad timing for you. I really like my ring stuff. Doorbell pro, alarm system and mailbox sensor. Today was the only day I've had an issue with doorbell live view and it turns out it was them, lol. I think you'll end up liking the system. Good luck.
 

wittaj

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@Shockwave199 - I am hoping just bad timing. I had installed some of the components yesterday just to play and really liked what I saw, so I was excited to finish installing today and well that hasn't happened. Are your app notifications working when doors open and close, alarm set, etc.? Mine is dead today with that feature.

You like the mailbox sensor? One of the things I was playing with was could the motion sensor that came with the unit work as my mailbox isn't metal, but is some weird material I call paper mache lol - if the paint comes off the mailbox it gets really flaky and porous and the mail gets wet, so it is painted a couple times a year - nice HOA mailbox installed there LOL. Anyway, it worked for awhile and then lost signal, so I may need to get the mailbox sensor.

How long is the cable and what diameter is it - no way I want to risk drilling thru this piece of crap but I do have an opening on the end of the hinge that I think it might fit thru.
 
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Shockwave199

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@Shockwave199 - I am hoping just bad timing. I had installed some of the components yesterday just to play and really liked what I saw, so I was excited to finish installing today and well that hasn't happened. Are your app notifications working when doors open and close, alarm set, etc.? Mine is dead today with that feature.

I didn't know the app could notify door open/close. I don't think it can but I would turn that right off. And if Alexa can give a verbal on that I'd turn that off too. It can make an audible sound from the hub and the sensor can blink but I turn all that stuff off. I don't like dings and notifications for every little thing. The alarm set can be an app notification but I turn that off too. Just a preference is all.

You like the mailbox sensor? One of the things I was playing with was could the motion sensor that came with the unit work as my mailbox isn't metal, but is some weird material I call paper mache lol - if the paint comes off the mailbox it gets really flaky and porous and the mail gets wet, so it is painted a couple times a year - nice HOA mailbox installed there LOL. Anyway, it worked for awhile and then lost signal, so I may need to get the mailbox sensor.

My mailbox is metal so the alarm motion sensor doesn't work. I haven't installed room motion sensors yet. Never cared for them. I might activate them and put them on shelves though. I do not trust sticky tape at all so I would not install anything like that and that goes for the door sensors too. Years ago I had a door sensor fall off in the middle of the night with just tape and it scared the piss out of us. No tape ever if it can be helped. I did put a motion sensor in the glove box and that's awesome. Sends a phone notification and you can have Alexa let you know as well. Anyone gets in the car and rifles through the glove box I'll know any time over night. The car is close enough up the driveway to the hub inside to be reliable for that.

How long is the cable and what diameter is it - no way I want to risk drilling thru this piece of crap but I do have an opening on the end of the hinge that I think it might fit thru.

The cable is a foot long I think, maybe two. I used the door gap as well but I taped the wire in place to avoid it getting caught up or damaging the wire. You need the ring bridge too for the mailbox sensor. I got the whole kit on sale as a pre-order. I think I like the mailbox sensor the most lol. It saves me wasted trips on a daily basis. Home run for me.

If any of your alarm stuff isn't working you might consider reinstalling in the app. I can imagine that could happen in the middle of initializing the gear during a ring outage.
 

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wittaj

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Dang - the pre-order photos showed the Ring display outside the box all black lol.
 
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