Until recently I had been using an EZVIZ DB1C doorbell. I researched before I got it, and it worked immediately when bought. Then the company started playing dirty pool. Over the next two firmware updates (WIth nothing in the notes beyond “bugfixes and imrprovements”) they stripped out the ability to use a local RTSP stream then they stripped out the ability to use their Windows-only software to even re-enable any functionality. Then they jerked me around for over a month before they finally copped to what the company had done.
And of course there’s no way back to a working firmware.
I know people have mentioned Reolink and Amcrest before, but those models are no longer available.
Is there anything in the way of wired, mechanical-bell compatible doorbell cameras that work with HomeAssistant?
I’m so sick of companies that sell you one thing, then strip out the functionality that made it useful, shoving you into their cloud/app shit or leaving you stranded on whatever firmware the thing came with.
GRR
All the Reolink doorbells I can find that look like HA/Frigate compatible have a stupid electronic chime that won’t work for my situation. I need something capable of ringing the mechanical bells otherwise this will fail the WAF check.
I have a Reolink Doorbell. We have about the simplest/cheapest mechanical chimes you can get. (2 total, one on each floor). The Reolink said I should disconnect the chimes and use their electronic ones, because it might mess up the doorbell if I didn’t. I ignored this advice, and the Reolink still rings the mechanical chimes when somebody presses the button. I have yet to see any issues with the Reolink. I did plug in their wireless chime also, and it rings too.
So I would say, YMMV, but there’s a good chance a Reolink will still ring your chimes.
I think it depends how the reolink is powered. If it’s coming from the chime transformer, I don’t think it can also ring that chime. I’d imagine it would work fine with PoE though.
Mine is connected to the network wirelessly. It is powered from the doorbell transformer.
You can use an ESP32 to ring the mechanical bells via HA when someone presses the doorbell