Took the DIY Alarm System Plunge: Ring Alarm Setup Experiences
10-20-2018, 02:43 PM
#1
Azine Jabroni
Thread Starter
Took the DIY Alarm System Plunge: Ring Alarm Setup Experiences
The wife and I finally had enough paying the $60+ a month for ADT. We've been on ADT for 5+ years and we had nothing left on our contract, so it was time.
Reasons we left ADT
Materials
This is the stupid easiest DIY thing I have done. Setup is super easy. You can basically set everything up with a Phillips Head screwdriver and a cell phone. All the setup is in the ring App, which I already had.
I bought the starter kit, which includes
Installation
My order of operations for installation was as follows:
The plan to hide the Base Station was foiled for now, but I still was able to put it in a difficult to access location thanks to the range extender, which activates simply via plugging in. The Ring app takes care of it from there and all you have to input is the name and location of the device and you're good.
After installing the base station, the rest of everything is handled through the App, so you can basically forget it exists. Ring advises you to pair all the devices to the Base Station before installing them on walls, doors, or windows, so I paired those next. The things that came in the starter kit paired to the Base Station immediately upon pulling the tab on the back of the device. For the extra contact sensors, the app makes you scan the QR code on the back of the device to pair and it's still super easy.
The motion sensor installation was easy as I had an existing wired system, which I promptly killed without calling the police, safely cut off the wired motion detector and put a connector on the wire to prevent a fire (better safe than sorry). The mountable items all have a mount with screws or adhesive to stick to walls, doors. For the motion sensor in particular, the mount can be installed flat agains a wall or in a corner. I installed the motion sensor in the corner of my living room and it works well. The Ring app is clear in what each setting means and how the settings you choose will behave.
The contact sensors, on the other hand, were a mixed bag. For one thing, I’m installing them on doors, windows, and frames so screws weren’t really an option even though they are included. I, like most people, don’t have flat door frames, so much of my setup time was figuring out what awkward angles the magnets on the sensor could be at and still work. Overall, they all seem fine, but the magnet piece just shouldn’t be so big, honestly. The windows were a lot easier once it became clear the sensor could be perpendicular to the magnet piece.
The keypad is a heck of a lot more useful than the ADT one it replaces. It runs on batteries with the option to plug in. However, where the ADT keypad was stuck to the wall, the Ring one, when mounted, is removable. We’ll see how long the battery lasts, but the ability to remove it from the wall and charge it helps. Not to mention, I could simply plug into the outlet directly below the keypad as well. I had to improvise with the attachment because the old keypad left a large hole in the wall so the mounting screws would not help. To get around this issue, I took the adhesive from the backing of the motion sensor, cut it in half, and stuck the back of the keypad mount. The keypad is so light, it feels like it’s going to stick fine.
Operation
The Ring system doesn’t do anything exceptional, but it’s just a lot less annoying than the ADT system was. For one things, the alarm countdown doesn’t beep constantly. Instead, it makes a kind of countdown noise. Also, it’s worth noting that by default, the “armed home” option does not have a countdown by default so it doesn’t give you a chance to leave (this matters for me as my three 50 lb dogs will set the device off some of the time). Also, I configured my doors as “main” doors to enable the countdown whenever they’re opened. If you make your doors “secondary”, the siren sounds immediately. Also probably worth mentioning that the Ring app notifies the shit out of you. Every time someone arms or disarms the system it notifies you. Haven't looked into adjusting that yet.
Reasons we left ADT
- The price
- Customer service was just bad
- The price
- The App almost never worked for us
- The price
Materials
This is the stupid easiest DIY thing I have done. Setup is super easy. You can basically set everything up with a Phillips Head screwdriver and a cell phone. All the setup is in the ring App, which I already had.
I bought the starter kit, which includes
- Base Station
- Keypad
- Range Extender
- Motion Sensor
- Contact Sensor (for Doors/Windows)
Installation
My order of operations for installation was as follows:
- Connect the Base Station
- Add the range extender
- Add other devices to the system
- Attach other devices to their doors/windows/walls
The plan to hide the Base Station was foiled for now, but I still was able to put it in a difficult to access location thanks to the range extender, which activates simply via plugging in. The Ring app takes care of it from there and all you have to input is the name and location of the device and you're good.
After installing the base station, the rest of everything is handled through the App, so you can basically forget it exists. Ring advises you to pair all the devices to the Base Station before installing them on walls, doors, or windows, so I paired those next. The things that came in the starter kit paired to the Base Station immediately upon pulling the tab on the back of the device. For the extra contact sensors, the app makes you scan the QR code on the back of the device to pair and it's still super easy.
The motion sensor installation was easy as I had an existing wired system, which I promptly killed without calling the police, safely cut off the wired motion detector and put a connector on the wire to prevent a fire (better safe than sorry). The mountable items all have a mount with screws or adhesive to stick to walls, doors. For the motion sensor in particular, the mount can be installed flat agains a wall or in a corner. I installed the motion sensor in the corner of my living room and it works well. The Ring app is clear in what each setting means and how the settings you choose will behave.
The contact sensors, on the other hand, were a mixed bag. For one thing, I’m installing them on doors, windows, and frames so screws weren’t really an option even though they are included. I, like most people, don’t have flat door frames, so much of my setup time was figuring out what awkward angles the magnets on the sensor could be at and still work. Overall, they all seem fine, but the magnet piece just shouldn’t be so big, honestly. The windows were a lot easier once it became clear the sensor could be perpendicular to the magnet piece.
The keypad is a heck of a lot more useful than the ADT one it replaces. It runs on batteries with the option to plug in. However, where the ADT keypad was stuck to the wall, the Ring one, when mounted, is removable. We’ll see how long the battery lasts, but the ability to remove it from the wall and charge it helps. Not to mention, I could simply plug into the outlet directly below the keypad as well. I had to improvise with the attachment because the old keypad left a large hole in the wall so the mounting screws would not help. To get around this issue, I took the adhesive from the backing of the motion sensor, cut it in half, and stuck the back of the keypad mount. The keypad is so light, it feels like it’s going to stick fine.
Operation
The Ring system doesn’t do anything exceptional, but it’s just a lot less annoying than the ADT system was. For one things, the alarm countdown doesn’t beep constantly. Instead, it makes a kind of countdown noise. Also, it’s worth noting that by default, the “armed home” option does not have a countdown by default so it doesn’t give you a chance to leave (this matters for me as my three 50 lb dogs will set the device off some of the time). Also, I configured my doors as “main” doors to enable the countdown whenever they’re opened. If you make your doors “secondary”, the siren sounds immediately. Also probably worth mentioning that the Ring app notifies the shit out of you. Every time someone arms or disarms the system it notifies you. Haven't looked into adjusting that yet.
Last edited by kurtatx; 10-20-2018 at 02:46 PM.
10-20-2018, 05:25 PM
#2
Team Owner
I am leaning toward SimpliSafe right now, mainly because it has paintable sensors so I can hide them on my black doors/windows.
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kurtatx (10-20-2018)
10-20-2018, 05:27 PM
#3
Azine Jabroni
Thread Starter
10-20-2018, 05:32 PM
#4
Team Owner
Appreciate you sharing your experience.
The following users liked this post:
kurtatx (10-20-2018)
10-22-2018, 10:32 AM
#5
Ex-OEM King
Ring looks really awesome but now that they're owned by Amazon, I'm staying away. My whole house is Google stuff and Amazon is a mortal enemy of Google so there's no way to mix the two. Likely going to go with the Nest Hello doorbell and the Abode security as it'll all play nicely together and with the other stuff I already have.
Thanks for the review though! I'll try and do the same when I get the Abode system.
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