Smart Doorbell/Camera System for Bad Neighbourhood

luminousfox on 21/05/2018 - 19:24
Last edited 21/05/2018 - 20:47 by 1 other user

Lately a lot of our Mail has being undelivered due to being "no one home" but there's someone home all the time so the post office either isn't bothering or they're knocking like a fairy. As well as that, mail gets taken from the doorstep because we're in a bad area and the posties dont bother putting mail all the way under the door. The house is facing a main road right next to a tram stop in Melbourne top scummy areas, so my fear is if i get something nice like a "RING" brand system someone is going to rip it off the door or scratch it up, and if i get a basic doorbell people waiting at the tram stop will press it for fun at all hours of the night(we've had a doorbell there years ago and had that same issue). So i'm hoping the camera combo will not only encourage the postie to do their job, and maybe deter other unsavory characters from taking the mail or pressing the button.

Ideally i want to be able to set times at which the doorbell will even ring if that's possible, so say between 10am-5pm the doorbell works and the rest of the time its silent, that's something i could do with the ones that link to phones, but if there's one that does that natively that's even better. The other issue is making sure the thing isn't going to get ripped off the door or smashed, so a well built prison grade one, or one that has the option to be put into a sturdy box.

I'm open to other completely different solutions too,, just keep in mind,really bad area. (Bikies welcome)

TLDR: Postie isn't knocking,Druggies steal mail and press doorbell while waiting for tram. Smart doorbell/camera solution needed.

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  No Username on 21/05/2018 - 19:29

  Try a wireless motion doorbell.

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    luminousfox on 21/05/2018 - 19:34

    Its an extremely high traffic area being both the main street and the tram stop, doorbell would be going off constantly.

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  Master Bates on 21/05/2018 - 19:36

  +5

  AusPost Parcel Locker and/or PO Box sound like the best option given the situation.

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    luminousfox on 21/05/2018 - 20:03

    There is one nearby, but i'm limited to buying small items and from businesses that will deliver to them. A good solution when it works.

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  tsunamisurfer on 21/05/2018 - 19:54

  Is it at all possible that the Scummy people of Melbourne have better things to do than to rip off your Ring Door Camera system?

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    luminousfox on 21/05/2018 - 20:02

    +1

    You obviously haven't lived in Richmond

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      neo on 21/05/2018 - 23:08

      I think Ring replace the system (for free?) if it's knocked off.

      https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003475783-What…

      Might be a bit of a pain with the constant police reports though =P

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  Findo on 21/05/2018 - 22:43

  +1

  Get a big, mean looking dog

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    onetwothreefour on 22/05/2018 - 06:30

    +1

    Or a big mean looking wife, that's what I did.

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  AlienC on 22/05/2018 - 06:58

  Looks like time to head to the diy home automation subreddits and hobby forums.. maybe whirlpool forums is a good place to start for Aussie resources.

  Friend just showed me his new lock for his business that lets him activate the keypad for entry to the building at certain hours using a code via Bluetooth.. pretty neat. I know it's not a camera or doorbell but I'm sure there are some cheap ones around.

  Yeah some sort of time activated scheduled button would be best since motion would drive you bonkers mad.

  Seems like a business opportunity has arrived for some sort of camera identification software and hardware system that allows official auspost delivery personnel to show or enter a code to gain entry to a house and drop off a package or alert a house via doorbell. Hmm.

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    D C on 22/05/2018 - 08:14

    some sort of camera identification software and hardware system that allows official auspost delivery personnel

    Amazon in the US already do this, door lock wired into Alexa. They've also started leaving parcels in your car boot (smartphone app talks to car computer to open boot).

    Years ago I lived in a house with a delivery hatch. Basically a box about waist height wedged into the wall with a door either side. The outside one could be opened by the milk or bread dude, the inside one was locked.

    These days you could set it up so the outside one was open, but locks when the postie puts the parcel in and closes it. Limited to one delivery per day, but no smarts needed. I've seen a few attempts at smart versions of this, no doubt someone makes something along these lines.