Doorbell Recommendations

Has anyone noticed the sudden flurry of cheap (like sub GBP£30) video doorbells that have appeared on eBay in the past week or two? Anyone have any positive experience with any of these?

You got a link?

No. Try “smart doorbell” into eBay. There’s tonnes of them.

How unhelpful of you. We need more unhelpful people asking for reviews on products located by ill defined searches.

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On the subject if people not being helpful…

I’m sorry you became confused.

I didn’t ask for a review of a product. I asked if anyone had any experience with cheap Chinese doorbells.

As you, clearly, don’t; my message is not for you.

No need to get harrumphy, just don’t respond.

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I agree with Nickrout, you could be more specific…
Having a ton of cheap cameras doesn’t mean they all work equally…

I use a cheap Anran, and so far it works great…

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Time flies. Another video doorbell with HACS integration This is the ULTIMATE Video Doorbell that we've all been waiting for! - YouTube

The irony here is I was googling “Doorbell compatible with home assistant” and this is the first result Google presents. By your standard, I would have had to keep searching.

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+1 on DLVNV’s post, I’ve had my sights on a doorbell for some time but have been turned off by the lack of AC power at my door. I’m at a point where I’m willing to look past the short comings of a battery powered doorbell, the bigger problem is how to decide which device will most easily integrate in home assistant and provide the best functionality, I was hoping there would be a thread where people have already run this to ground, but all I’m finding is this thread which is quite dated in the world of smart home devices. Even if someone could point to a newer comparison of devices and their integration into home assistant, that would help a ton, I’ve not been able to find it.

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just chiming (hurhur) in here to say I went for the reolink doorbell, have managed to get it into home assistant, and am using its person recognition to automate an ikea bulb in the front door light. So very happy with that, would recommend, though haven’t had a video doorbell before so no real points of comparison. My home assistant proficiency level is probably: below average.

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My AD110 just died because it filled with water after just one week of Oregon rain.

Based on more up-to-date research, I went for a Reolink with a shroud (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSBTNRKJ) and I am very impressed. The Reolink integration is much much nicer than the Dashua one. The shroud does limit the field of view a little but it is worth it.

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Thank you @rob_a

I’d second the recommendation of the Reolink, from the standpoint of the quality of the HA integration, the flexibility of interfacing. However, I had problems integrating it with Frigate (solved now) and it has “unpowered” itself several times and lost WiFi signal, and settings, several times too. I wish I’d gone for the POE version and faced the disruption of cutting some holes in the ceiling. All that said, when it works, it works very well.

I’ve literally gone through 4 of the wired WIFI Reolink doorbells and have finally given up. They have been consistently unreliable for me. I have several other Reolink cameras, wifi and poe, and have little to no problems with them. If you plan to stream 24/7 I would NOT recommend the Reolink Doorbell.

What has been unreliable about your reolink? Were you using the PoE doorbell or the wifi?

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I had the same issues and Reolink sent me a new replacement but I’m having the same issue. It has to be an issue on their hardware. I replaced my doorbell transformer for a more powerful one at their request but that didn’t help. Mine loses power most of the time when someone pushes the doorbell button and even sometimes when it recognizes a person. Almost to the point of replacing with a simple smart button and having a reliable camera up above.

Same issue for you @IanScottMoyes ?

That’s bizarre! Almost seems to me like the wiring from transformer to Reolink has high resistance and under low load is fine but under higher load it can’t deliver the current. I would check basics by disconnecting the wires at the transformer and the Reolink, short circuit the two wires at either the transformer end or the Reolink end and then check the loop resistance at the other (open) end. It should be almost zero. If it is then perhaps the 120V supply to the transformer is restricted for some reason. With everything reconnected, attach a voltmeter to the transformer secondary output and have someone press the doorbell button while you watch the transformer output voltage…it should drop very little, if any. If it does drop then the transformer cannot supply the current being requested at the same voltage and I’d try connecting the transformer temporarily to an alternate mains power source as a test.

Well, a few months have gone past, I thought I’d share my experience with you, in case it’s useful. If it’s not, no problem, just ignore my post and enjoy the rest of your day. :slight_smile:

My spec is, internet connectivity, local storage, HAOS “compatible”, no subscription.

1: My first video doorbell was one of these generic Tuya compatible ones:

Frankly, it was useless. Poor WiFi connectivity, 5-10 seconds lag, poor image quality at night.

2: My second was this Arlo Essentials one:

Better. Decent WiFi connection, NO WIRES, because it has a rechargeable battery. Still very laggy though.
3: My third was one of these Reolink WiFi ones.

You may notice, this project is starting to get a little expensive. Maybe I can spare you some of that.
OK WiFi connection but it kept “unpowering” itself. It would just; die. Then later, come back to life. It didn’t matter what I tried to fix it. GREAT Home Assistant integration, worked well with Frigate and with Agent DVR, MUCH less lag. However, this tendency to go to sleep eventually got the better of me so.

4: I bought the POE version of the Reolink one and had an electrician run a network cable to it, where the doorbell power cable had been (20 years ago I would have been up for scrambling around in lofts but, those days are behind me). It’s SO good, I never think about it. I can record video onto a local NAS, snatch snapshots from it, use 2 way audio to chat to the person at the door. Highly recommended. UPDATE THE FIRMWARE to the latest version.

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I can […] use 2 way audio to chat to the person at the door.

How did you get this to work with HA? There are a lot of users having issues with 2-way audio on Reolink doorbell, some users stated that only works if the firmware is at a specific version

And

I’m planning to build things to my HA and a 2-way doorbell is on the list, so I did some research and found users having issues with it, could you please show what you did to get it working?

Thanks

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I’m currently also sreening for video and 2-way audio doorbells with HA integration. Hence, I’m also interested how @IanScottMoyes managed to get things running. Would you please share your integration?
Thx