10 reviews for Ring Alarm 14-piece kit (2nd Gen) – home security system with optional 24/7 professional monitoring – Works with Alexa

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   KPatel – 4 July 2022

   Buy this when it is on sale! But be aware the Pro version is better!Update: get the ring pro security instead. When wifi goes out, your ring cameras won’t work. Security will still work with the cellular back-up but the pro version improves your security so your cameras can work too.This starter kit (and other variations of it) often goes on sale so buy it then to save a few bucks. If you are looking to go Ring for your home security needs, then this includes everything you need to get started. The key word is started as you will probably need additional windows sensors (and potentially glass break sensors) to finish it all out.The main items you need to start with is the base station and a keypad. I believe this one comes with two keypads. The keypads have an internal battery and you can either keep it plugged in or charge it once in a while. The base station needs to be plugged in at all times. There is an internal battery but it switches to back-up power mode which limits the functions available. The back-up power mode is for situations where you lose power. The back-up mode includes cellular data since you will also loose wifi in power outages (thus you are always protected). The hub also serves as a siren.The window sensors work on doors and windows. It is very easy to install. The app provides detailed information on how to install everything. You will likely need to buy additional sensors to cover all windows and doors. This is where it gets pricey but it is a one time investment.Optionally, I suggest looking into the Ring Glass Break Sensors. While the window sensors will trigger if someone opens or closes a window, it will not trigger if someone simply breaks the glass and enters without sliding a window. Keep in mind, I’ve had these go off if I accidentally hit glass dishes together while in the kitchen.The professional monitoring is currently $200/year which beats most (if not all) of the major competitors (ADP, Vivint, etc). I imagine they will slowly creep up but for now, this is a bargain.If you are subscribing to the professional monitoring, you will also gain the benefit of having your other Ring devices gain premium features (cloud storage for Ring doorbells and cameras).I’m not a fan of the subscription model for Ring doorbells and such. But I’m willing to pay for professional monitoring so it works out well. The Ring app is very smooth and the devices work well. I believe Ring devices only have 1080p capability so the loading times for cameras is quick. So you may be interested in a secondary camera system that does 4k but not necessary. I’d suggest looking at options that have local storage so you aren’t paying for cloud services (lorex is a good brand).All in all, I’m very satisfied with Ring. I’d look at other options with their doorbells and cameras to avoid paying a subscription but since it is all included with professional monitoring, I’ve bought quite a few Ring devices as it is all available in one convenient app.Here are a couple other devices to look at in the Ring ecosystem:Ring Floodlight camerasRing Spotlight cameras (with solar)Ring doorbellAnd it all works with Alexa as well.Recently I has an incident where wifi went down. While the security system itself has cellular back-up, none of my cameras and Alexa work without wifi. I couldn’t view anything locally either. The Ring Pro version fixes this so I’d spend the extra dough for that.

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Cromagnum Man – 28 September 2022

   Easy to install and useAfter long deliberation between this and the SimpliSafe system, I chose Ring and I have not been disappointed yet in anything but the glass break sensors (which are reviewed elsewhere) but even with regards to the glass break sensors, Ring has been very responsive. I had no issue installing all of the door and window sensors and the motion sensors. I already had a Shlage Z Wave door lock which works with this system as well. With the door lock, I never have to arm or disarm the system separately. When I leave, and lock the door, the system arms. When I get home and unlock the door, Ring disarms. I love my Schlage lock even more now that is controls my alarm system as well. I can arm and disarm my alarm verbally as well with security codes. I’m the long run, it should be less expensive to have this system compared to SimpliSafe. It was more expensive to purchase, but the professional monitoring is less and includes the two SpotLight cameras I have as well. I have a Blink camera as well (which is also an Amazon product but is kind of treated like an ugly step child) and I might trade it out for a indoor Ring camera as well. I would purchase again given the chance.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   JP – 30 September 2022

   I’ll Never Go Back to Mainstream Alarm CompaniesPROS:- This was easy to install; a little more complicated if you want to hide the power cord behind the wall. Otherwise it would have been just minutes.- 2 keypads for front and back doors.- Professional monitoring is available (currently) for $200 but is not required. I was paying over $60/month for my previous alarm company.- Plug and play with all my other Ring devices; control from your phoneCON:- If you want professional monitoring or saving videos up to 180 days, you’ll need a subscription from Ring.- Higher up front cost than mainstream alarm companies, which often give you the system for freeOther: I haven’t utilized tech support so I cannot rate that.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   AV – 7 May 2021

   Best valueThis was a no brainer purchase for me when changed homes. If you have an alarm already or not, I hope this review will be helpful to you.Before purchasing an alarm system, you need to set expectations for yourself. What is it going to do for you? Deter burglers? Prevent your kid from running out at night? Know when your toddler runs out the garage door? Lower your home owners insurance premium? There could be many cases. Well with this system, You get far more than what the ADT, Bay alarm or whomever else knocks at your door to sell you a monthly fee and a contract. I’ll tell you about why I have an alarm and why this one works for me.1 – Price. I hate contracts, many of them auto-renew, and unless you read the small print on page 23 section A-4, you wont know that because they wont tell you out loud :). So for me paying for the hardware without a contract was key. CHECK! The price of the Ring.com hardware is fair and the price of professional monitoring WITH CELLULAR BACKUP THAT ACTUALLY WORKS is $10 a month, but wait – did you know it’s included if you have the Protect Plus service with Ring.com? Yep! that means that $100 a year you pay for unlimited cameras and cloud recording becomes basically FREE and then some. I cant find any other carrier that will give professional monitoring for $8.30 a month. Superb value here!2 – Access. I don’t want to rely solely on the carrier to respond to an alarm when I’m away, I want to know immediately, not 90 seconds later after my dog is drugged and my TV is halfway out the door. With fluid access via the Ring.com app, I can monitor all kinds of things remotely, and the best part…3 – Integration. If you dont have a ring doorbell, floodlight cam, stick up cam, etc – you’re missing out. and with this sytem, it’s fully integrated with the Ring cameras to work right along side the alarm for additional security and recording. Do you have an Amazon Echo? Even better! I have an Amazon Echo and 4 Amazon Echo Flex speakers throughout my home. Using Amazon Alexa routines, I can configure announcements for the different door/window sensors in my home. It really becomes an Alexa Security System for me. Example – an amazon alexa routine can be configured to send an announcement of “Inside Garage Door” through ALL of your amazon echo devices in the even the door sensor on the garage door changes its state to ‘open’. These are key for me as I’m the one that needs to know when my toddler decides to run outside and not spend a lot of time trying to figure out WHAT door she went out of. +1 to safety there. This is only scratching the surface. You can do all sorts of things following a door trigger or motion.4 – Notification: Push notifications let me know immediately when something is wrong such as a door sensor being tampered with, the system going on cellular backup, arming or disarming, or if a sensor is not working correctly.5 – Battery life of keypads: I really didn’t want to run wire to the keypads, so this was really important. Luckily Ring has some great power savings settings that have proven to work. The pads (if i remember) were said to last up to 6 months before charging. It’s 6 months and neither of my keypads needs a charge yet, in fact the app shows them at full battery! I dont have the keypads play chirps (since my echos are doing that) and I dont have them light up from motion. They simply are there to arm/disarm or request emergency response.6 – Customer service: It’s important to mention the best customer service comes from a service meeting expectations that doesn’t require a call to a human being. My only interaction I’ve had with customer service as it relates to Ring.com is the phone call to me when my alarm went off. They were very kind and helpful.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   BHJ – 15 May 2022

   Ring all the wayAbout 2 years ago we got a Ring doorbell for Christmas. It’s worked out great! 2 months ago we got the 3 outdoor Ring camera set from Costco, and we’re really pleased with them also. We’ve had an ADT security system for over 18 years. The monitoring cost keeps group, and now it’s $74 a month!We saw the Ring alarm system, and with our good experience with Ring previously, and seeing it’s only $20/month for professional monitoring, with much more high tech controls, customization, and integration with other Ring devices it was a no-brained to consider it. The 14 piece kit was a perfect fit to replace the ADT system. After reading many reviews we ordered it, and received it in just 2 or 3 days without Prime ordering. We installed it that weekend. It was really simple to install! Just make sure not to install the big part of the window sensor right against the window sill, or you won’t be able to slide off the battery cover. During install 2 window sensors showed up on the smart phone app as “tampered”. We still used the ADT System for the past month, since we had just paid the monthly $74 fee.A couple days ago I noticed the Ring camera history no longer worked, because the trial period ended. It was time to switch from ADT to Ring.We’ve been paying $30 a year for Ring doorbell monitoring. The Ring camera subscription was bugging us to start a subscription. Ring said it’s $20/month to monitor all Ring equipment. I wasn’t sure if that $20 would cover the 3 different types of Ring system, but to me it would have been worth it even if I had more than 1 subscription. I signed up for Ring alarm professional monitoring, and immediately found out from the website that my doorbell and cameras were included!!!I called Ring customer support to find out how to transfer my ADT initiated local alarm monitoring permit to Ring and to resolve the “tampered” window sensor issue. They spent a good half hour or more on the phone fixing the tampered issue. Then they showed me how to find the monitoring permit entry screen (Sandwich menu -> Settings-> Monitoring-> Permits). Amazon can’t ship the Ring Smoke and CO “Listener” here to California, but in the reviews I saw several mentions of the First Alert Z-Wave smoke detector and CO detector being Ring alarm compatible. I ordered that 2 days ago, and it’s arriving Thursday! That will pretty much complete the full system, unless I get another for the first floor. It’s been a bit of an investment overall, but it’s going to be so much better at much less maintenance costs!Oh, by the way, I changed one low Ring camera battery a couple weeks ago and the other 2 today, so they last close to 2 months disconnected from power and alerting and recording video several times a day from us getting into the view of the cameras.That pretty much sums up my experience with Ring. I’m happy to answer questions, and I may add more later after any actual monitoring notifications.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   M. Loveless – 23 September 2022

   Easy install, setup, and use! Time consuming setupEasy install, setup and use. Quite time consuming to install and setup, but to be expected. Work great, feel relieved to know if something happens while I’m not at home my possessions are being protected. Features are great and the look of the design is very nice. They kit I bought had enough door/window sensors to cover both entry doors and all but one window. I chose to skip a basement window that is covered by a board and a shelf on the outside. All in all, great price, great product ease of install and setup is almost fool proof.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   BriHG24 – 2 October 2022

   Great valueI already had multiple ring cameras, so I didn’t have to pay anything extra to add the professional monitoring. This alone is saving me almost $60 a month. The system has already paid for itself just because I no longer have that.It was easy to install, the app makes it easy to manage and the only regret I have it that I didn’t buy it sooner.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   John McCarthy – 9 October 2022

   Easy to install and $10 per monthWe had ADT who kept raising the prices to the point where we were paying $80 per month for an old, crappy alarm system. Ring saves us a ton and we have cameras all over the house that actual work. And I installed it in maybe 30 minutes – no technical skill needed.

9. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Deb – 4 September 2022

   Love it!Easy to install. Takes time but not difficult. Delivered was very fast. Each contact can either chime or be turned to silent. Two keypads which seem unlit but as you approach them, they light up. This system is controlled by keypad, Alexa or app on phone. I ended up ordering the additional 6 pack of contacts. Really don’t need the two motion detectors now. Siren from base is loud but not as loud as I’d like. The echo dots will serve as additional “sirens”. I’m very happy with this system and for $350 (not including tax) who can beat that for peace of mind when heading to bed? Love it!Be sure to follow the directions. Don’t pull the battery tabs until prompted!

10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Robin P. – 26 August 2022

    Wow!I can’t believe how easy it was to install this system. I initially had one of the big name security systems. In early 2020, the system ceased working, but I was still being charged $40 a month. When I asked the company to send me another system, customer service gave me conflicting information (doesn’t work with 5G, not showing a malfunction, we can’t just send you a system we have to come in to install, etc.). Because of CoVID I didn’t want anyone in my home. So, I started doing research and found this system-love it! Will be adding more pieces.