Category: HOME

RING DOORBELL UPDATE No 2

Please refer to my previous posts:

https://whysun.com/uncategorized/ring-doorbell/

https://whysun.com/home/ring-doorbell-update-chime-pro-wi-fi-extender-problems/

Since the previous post about Wi-Fi issues, I have been regularly checking the Health Report of the Ring Doorbell 2.

The Chime and the Chime Pro continue to have no problems.

On the other hand, the Wi-Fi issues with the Ring Doorbell 2 seem to have been fixed. I have not changed anything myself, so I can only assume that Ring has issued a remedial firmware update.

Over the past month, there has only been one dropout. However to reconnect, all I had to do was press the ringer button and it reconnected to the Chime Pro network. This is now satisfactory as I could ask my neighbour to ring the doorbell to reconnect it if I was away, and any person pressing the button would also re-connect it.

During the month of June, I have been keeping a screenshot of the Device Health Report every couple of days :

01ARing 4 Jun

During this period, the RSSI level remained within the “Good” range.

As I said, I did not change anything. The battery level has gone from 72% to 48% and weather in South East Queensland is never an issue.

Therefore I will delay my purchase of the Ring Doorbell 4. In any case, I can’t find a “4” at  local retailers. The Ring web site lists them but I am happy with my model and will wait until I see them for sale in the shops before deciding on an upgrade.

BATTERY

In the space of a month, battery level has gone from 72% to 45%.

This is consistent with the approximately 3 months life I have been getting from a fully charged battery. I have “Snapshot Capture” turned on with a snapshot taken every 14 minutes. For best battery life it can be fully turned off or for minimal battery impact set for a capture every  hour.

You can set Snapshot capture for 5 minute intervals but this has a “substantial” impact on battery life. I haven’t tried this setting but I imagine it would be dramatic. In fact the app says that this setting is for wired or solar charged devices.

However, I don’t mind having it at the 14 minute setting as this gives a general overview of activities AND a spare battery solves the battery life issue. Having a fully charged spare means that you can swap over the battery in a few seconds instead of having the doorbell out of action for hours while you re-charge the battery.

You get a notifaction when the battery needs re-charging. At that time, I top up the spare which doesn’t take long and swap them. I then re-charge the spare to be ready for the next swap.

All is well with the world – apart the current lockdown in this area.

RING DOORBELL UPDATE – CHIME PRO WI-FI EXTENDER PROBLEMS–UPDATED MAY 21

REFER UPDATE NO 2 – Wi-Fi problems appear to be fixed.  RING DOORBELL UPDATE No 2 – Whycal’s Blog (whysun.com)

The previous comments in my post about the Ring Doorbell 2 have generally not changed but, after about 12 months of use, I have some comments to add.

CONS – Delay of 6/8 seconds App Response.

This negative feature has been less of a problem than I first thought. Callers seem to wait for a response well beyond the delay time and, if they become impatient, they tend to press the doorbell again. I have not had anyone leave before I got to the door.

Therefore, I will remove this from the “CONS” and put it in a new “SHOULD BE AWARE OF” list.

CHIME PRO WI-FI EXTENDER  CARE! UPDATE MAY 21 – SIMILAR ISSUES WITH NETGEAR EXTENDER SUGGESTS THE DOORBELL 2 IS THE PROBLEM

On the other hand, I have found an issue with the Wi-Fi extender built into the Ring Chime Pro that, at least in my case, is an addition to the “CONS”

After further observations, the issues with Wi-Fi seem to be related to the Doorbell 2.

RSSI – Explanation – The Ring Apps (Health) show the strength of the Wi-Fi signal measured as RSSI.

RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indicator. It is a measure of the strength of the Wi-Fi signal being received by the device. More correctly, it measures the loss as the values are a MINUS figure. Consequently, the closer the value is to Zero, the stronger (or better) the signal. Zero would be full strength (i.e. no loss) and minus 100 is no signal (full loss).

An RSSI of say minus 55 or better is considered “Good” for most normal use cases. Minus 56 to say Minus 60 is still good enough. Minus 60 to minus 70 is reasonable or OK while minus 70 and lower is not so good and lower than minus 80 is bad.

When connected directly to my Router via Wi-Fi, the Doorbell shows an RSSI of around minus 73 but it still works well.

Even so, I decided to install a Wi-Fi extender, so I bought a Chime Pro and located it between the router and the doorbell but closer to the doorbell – about 1 metre or 3 feet away from the doorbell. The signal strength received by the Chime Pro was minus 50 (or better).

I then connected the Doorbell to the Chime Pro. This was easy using the Ring App on my phone.

When the connection was complete, the Doorbell RSSI was good – under Minus 50. I then forgot about but, after several weeks, I noticed that the Doorbell had lost its connection to the Chime Pro. I turned off the power to the Chime Pro, waited a minute or so, then turned it back on and the Doorbell re-connected automatically.

I then began to regularly check the Wi-Fi for both the Chime Pro and the Doorbell.

The Chime Pro connection to the router remained strong but the connection from the Chime Pro to the Doorbell began to deteriorate and after a couple of weeks it was no better than the original connection direct to the router. Dropouts between the Chime Pro and the Doorbell also occurred occasionally.  The same issue has now become apparent with the Netgear Wi-Fi Extender.

The most annoying drop out occurred while I was in North Queensland over Christmas. (Lock downs for travel within the state had been lifted.) The Ring Doorbell was disconnected from the internet for a couple of days and, without physical access to the device, I could not do anything about it. Luckily, there was a power blackout from a thunderstorm and, when the power came back on, the Doorbell reconnected automatically to the Chime Pro.

I was not at all happy with this and on return, re-connected the Doorbell directly to the router. Dropouts ceased and it seemed to operate well, even with a low RSSI of around minus 73. I did not leave it attached to the main router long enough to state that dropouts had ceased.

I then remembered that I had a Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender (Model EX3700), so I set it up and attached the Doorbell to this device.

This resulted in an immediate and permanent improvement in the Doorbell RSSI to minus 50 (or better) with no dropouts in the last couple of months. After a while, deterioration in RSSI as well as dropouts also started to occur with the Netgear Extender.

The Netgear Extender is about the same price as a Chime Pro and, in my case, performs much better as a Wi-Fi extender. I have a standard Chime plus the Chime Pro and I now use the Chime Pro solely as a Chime ringer.

I don’t know if I just got a bad device but – once bitten, twice shy. Internet searches suggest that the issue is with the Doorbell not the Chime Pro.

Checked reviews on the Chime Pro on various sites and it gets generally favourable reviews (4 out of 5 stars). However, the less favourable reviews can best be summed up by the heading on one – “Chime works – Wi-Fi Extender sucks”.

That is my experience, but it is definitely not the majority consensus. I have changed my mind about which device is causing the problem.

AND to be fair, other brands of Wi-Fi extenders have similar reviews.

My conclusion:

Going on the generally favourable reviews, I must have been unlucky with the extender function in my Chime Pro.

However, I will keep using my Netgear Extender and, in future, probably not risk buying another Chime Pro to use as a Wi-Fi extender.

UPDATE May 21

Exactly the same issues have started to occur with the Netgear Extender prompting the conclusion that the Wi-Fi problem is with the Doorbell 2 rather than the Wi-Fi extenders.

I note that the Doorbell 3 is advertised as having enhanced Wi-Fi, but I assumed that this related to the Doorbell 3 having both 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands.

There is a new Doorbell 4 coming out in a few days and some retailers are discounting the Doorbell 3. Since I have more money than sense, I will replace the 2 with a 3 and see if this improves the situation. I will provide further reports in a couple of months.   I have read the unfavourable reviews of The Doorbell 3 and it has similar complaints about Wi-Fi as the Doorbell 2. Therefore, I will wait for the Doorbell 4 to come out to see if people keep complaining about this issue before I spend more money.

NOTE  – I can’t find a Doorbell 4 in stock at any local retailer. I’ll keep looking but, in the meantime, if I go away for a few days or more I will first:

  • Remove the Chime Pro from the power for a minute or so (eventhough I no longer think it is the problem): and
  • Remove the battery from the Doorbell 2 and replace with a new fully charged battery so that it is turned off completely. This will re-establish a fresh Wi-Fi connection.

It takes time before the Wi-Fi issues start to occur.

RING DOORBELL

REFER UPDATE and Update No 2 – Problems appear to be fixed RING DOORBELL UPDATE No 2 – Whycal’s Blog (whysun.com)

A few months ago, I bought a Ring Doorbell 2. The main reason for buying one was the superseded model (Ring Doorbell 2) was on sale at about a 50% discount. The latest model has better Wi-Fi, video, and motion detection BUT not that much better – an upgrade rather than a significant improvement.

Therefore, I went ahead and bought a Ring Doorbell 2, a Chime Pro to amplify the ring and improve the Wi-Fi reception plus a spare battery (see below for why I recommend a spare battery); AND I also paid AUD$40 for an annual subscription.

SUBSCRIPTION

NOTE for RING devices to be of real use you do need the subscription that provides storage, downloading and sharing of video. The subscription is cheap – AUD$4 per month OR AUD$40 per year to save video for 60 days for 1 video recording device (not including non-video devices like the Chime – a ringer extender – or the Chime Pro that includes a Wi-Fi extender as well).

At AUD$40 per year it is well worthwhile. If you have more than one video recording device, it jumps to $150 per year. However, most people only have one eligible device. This means you have 60 days, to download and save any particular video to your computer.

PROS

  • Excellent Video quality (Doorbell 2 that is – The 3 is said to be even better)
  • Excellent night vision video
  • Starts recording in about 1 or 2 seconds of detecting movement
  • Field of detection is good and adjustable
  • Spare second battery is cheap and easy to swap
  • Easy to set up via the App
  • Even if you are not at home, you can talk to people at the door via the App.

CONS

  • Battery life
  • App Response time – It takes about 6/7 seconds for the App on a phone or computer to respond. (NOTE – it starts recording the video almost immediately) CARE SEE UPDATE

FURTHER COMMENT ON CONS

Battery Life.

The advertised battery life is variable, but 6 months is what you will mostly see in adds. However, my experience is about 3 months.

PLEASE NOTE that any problem with battery life can be easily mitigated by purchase of a cheap second (spare) re-chargeable battery. SO, THIS IS NOT REALLY AN ISSUE. Swapping the battery is easy and, with a spare, you don’t have to wait several hours to charge it. Just charge the spare first and swap it in seconds.

Battery life can vary depending on the number of notifications the doorbell sends, strength of the Wi-Fi connection and cold temperatures. (Cold weather is not an issue where I live.) The number of notifications can be reduced by changing the detection range and field and, if the Wi-Fi signal is weak, you can buy a Chime Pro which not only amplifies the ring but acts as a Wi-Fi extender.

At first, I had mine adjusted to detect cars going past in our quiet street. It turned me into a “sticky beak” – but I lost interest quickly and adjusted it back to my letter box so I can be notified when the postman comes. I get most of my mail electronically so visits from the postman are infrequent.

As stated, the battery life issue is easily remedied by the second spare battery and you get an email when it is time to charge the battery (at 20% level).

App Response time. SEE UPDATE

I assume the delay of about 7 seconds is because it sends to a server and the server sends back notifications to the App and Chimes. The doorbell connects to the internet via your Wi-Fi, but it does not connect directly to other devices on the network. In fact, I have it on a separate network on a different subnet IP address. I have a good internet connection (always at or near my plan of 50/20 Mbps) and the Health Widget on the App reports that the Wi-Fi signal to the doorbell is good.

Seven seconds is not long BUT some of those parcel delivery people move like greased lightning. However, if you get to the door quickly, you can usually get them before they escape to the truck.

Even though the video starts recording almost immediately, the delay for the App and the Chimes to respond, while not a deal breaker, is an issue. When I look at the video later, you can see some people start to look around and contemplate leaving but as soon as they hear the chime go off, they relax.  I want to say that the Australia Post people must be aware of the delay as you can tell from the video that they expect to wait a few seconds after they press the doorbell.

SUMMARY

I am glad I bought it and recommend it particularly if you work and are not at home during the day. Both the doorbell and the Chime (with Wi-Fi extender) were easy to install and set up via the App. 

Definitely factor in the cost of the subscription but AUD$40 per year (AUD $0.76c a week) is nothing and well worth it.

Overall, I am happy with my Ring Doorbell. Although, now you will probably have to pay full price for the latest model (Ring Doorbell 3) as, after a quick search, I can’t see any cheap version 2 models still for sale.

LOCKDOWN – DOOMSDAY PREPPERS (NETFLIX)

Like many other people, I have spent a lot of time under lockdown watching Netflix.

I had watched Season 1 of Doomsday Preppers previously, but I noted that the second season is now on Netflix Australia and I am up to the last episode of this season.

I know many people tend to dismiss and ridicule preppers, but I don’t.

There is nothing wrong in being prepared. Moreover, relying on other people and/or governments in a crisis is not wise.

I have been through natural disasters (cyclones) that resulted in large scale destruction of buildings with food, water and other shortages as well as power outages for extended periods, so it is common sense to be prepared.

Whilst I have neither the capability nor the money to have a “bug out” location and facility, it does not hurt to have arrangements in place to deal with emergencies.

In other words, be a prepper.

The recent panic buying that caused shortages of some essentials has reminded me to always be prepared and, to borrow from the TV series, I am prepping for events that result in temporary shortages of essential supplies and moderate periods without electricity.

Because of prior experiences, I usually have reserves of some essentials. For example, I did not run out of toilet paper during the big TP drought of early 2020 as, out of habit, I keep plenty in reserve.

Therefore, I am going to work on a formal plan to set up a system of reserves using oldest first and replacing with new so that I always have enough for 3 to 4 months on hand. This will apply to everything apart from fresh food.

Before I can consider reserves of fresh food, I will have to explore purchase of a generator to run a small fridge / freezer. The generator will need to run on unleaded petrol like the car, mower etc.

I already have a portable solar charger for my phone.

One thing that many people forget about is cash. We have become very reliant on electronic payments that fail completely when the power goes down. Many businesses cannot even accept non-electronic credit card payments. It is almost all “chip and pin” and/or “tap and pay”.

A moderate amount of cash (and a safe to store it in), ought to be part of any plan. The cash should be in small denominations as, even in the best of times, small businesses can’t change a $100 note.

This, therefore, is my prepper plan. It might not be much but is practicable and reasonable. The “experts” on the TV show would probably only give my plan a low score, but at least it is better than nothing. (Comment – the experts who score the preppers on the show can be hard markers, and I sympathise with some of the participants who complain about their scores.)

I am not one to gloat (cough), BUT a person I know, who had ridiculed me for saying that I liked and watched “Doomsday Preppers”, had to ask me for toilet paper during the big TP drought. I wish that I were man enough to report that I did not say ‘I told you so’ – but I cannot!