Since many of the group here seem to be of ages where people buy their first house or an upgrade, have a question or several about doorbells.

We recently closed on a house circa 1910. It has a wired doorbell, which will be in the way when we move a wall to expand the downstairs half bath. A few questions:

Is there any great advantage to moving the existing wired unit or buying a different wired system?

Advantages/disadvantages of wireless systems. What are the considerations for choosing one of the zillion options?

Smart systems (i.e. Ring). Are they worth it? Recommendations to buy or avoid?

We had one installed about 10 years ago….it went off when the wind blew hard. It kinda worked for about 6 months.

I know this helped a lot.

I have the Ring wireless and I love it.  I wish I gotten it hard wired but it's nice to see who is at the door without getting up.  

Ring is cool, it just sucks recharging it every so often. Our is OLD so we could probably use an upgrade soon.

Go with wired with a battery backup. I'm sure you already have enough electronics you have to keep charging. This one is important. 

Really like my wired Ring doorbell. I got the nicer one that can customize the area it notifies you of someone being there, bc we live on a main road and have cars continuously. I don’t pay for the monthly servicing though. I also have the security system but half of it is still in the box bc I am lazy. 

I have the Ring wired. Love it. I do pay the monthly fee, but it is minimal. It took a minute to zero in the motion area (don't alert me if somebody is walking by on the sidewalk), but once that was set up it has been great.

Only down side, I could not get it to work with my existing chime. Don't really need it though. When somebody rings the doorbell the phones go off as well as my Alexa devices.

posted by Fred Garvin

I have the Ring wired. Love it. I do pay the monthly fee, but it is minimal. It took a minute to zero in the motion area (don't alert me if somebody is walking by on the sidewalk), but once that was set up it has been great.

Only down side, I could not get it to work with my existing chime. Don't really need it though. When somebody rings the doorbell the phones go off as well as my Alexa devices.

If you call Ring, they'll send you a new chime for free. It's nice because the new ones have a built in night light

We had Ring, but switched to Arlo a few years back. We like it a lot more.

posted by brutus161

We had Ring, but switched to Arlo a few years back. We like it a lot more.

What do you like better about Arlo versus Ring?

posted by birddog23

What do you like better about Arlo versus Ring?

I like the app better and Arlo works with Apple Home Kit. I have my entire house wired with Apple Home Kit, so that was important. 

posted by birddog23

What do you like better about Arlo versus Ring?

Also, I like the night vision on the cameras better than Ring's

Thanks for the responses, we decided to go with the Arlo wired product.

posted by queencitybuckeye

Thanks for the responses, we decided to go with the Arlo wired product.

We went with Ring. Just to spite all of you.

Installing this weekend.

posted by birddog23

We went with Ring. Just to spite all of you.

Installing this weekend.

I’ve had Ring at an old house and google nest at this one. I prefer Google Nest. 

I have a dog that can probably hear me typing this post from 300 miles away…he’s our doorbell