this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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Smart Homes

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Help me choose a doorbell (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world to c/smarthomes
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Wifey wants to be able to see who's at the door before answering.

It seems difficult to match up the capabilities of the various options to what we actually want, so I'm looking for suggestions or recommendations.

Don't want any cloud privacy nightmare nonsense. Don't really even want local storage. Just a live video stream from doorbell to iPhone and/or Android, triggered by the doorbell button.

I don't have HA or any other smart home stuff set up currently, but might like to add it in future.

Required features:

  • answer the door via iPhone, or Android, whoever picks it up first.
  • see who's at the door without letting them know we're looking. Like if I have to "answer" the doorbell before the video comes up, that'd be bad.
  • no cloud / subscription.
  • works without any storage.

Nice to have:

  • Option to add recording/storage later if I change my mind.
  • option for Home Assistant integration later if I ever get around to it.
  • totally wireless / rechargeable.
  • motion detection I guess.

Is there anything suitable out there?

Edit: also nice to have i.e. not required * internet connection so I can see who's at the door even when I'm outside of my wifi range.

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[โ€“] not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The reviews I've seen of the reolink ones say when the doorbell rings you get a phone call that you have to answer before you see video. Does this let the doorbell-ringer know that I'm aware of them?

[โ€“] GreatAlbatross 2 points 9 months ago

I honestly couldn't say, as I don't use the app.
The camera is always streaming video, so you could always pick up the feed in another way.