Ring driveway Camera

[Ch1pbutty]

Can highly recommend Ring Driveway cameras.

Woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning to Alexa’s voice telling me ‘motion detected on driveway’ as Alexa is linked to the Ring camera. Check my phone to see a video of a person opening the boot of our electric car!

At the same time the Ring Doorbell Camera captures video of a another person standing near our front door waving something above his head. 10 seconds later, headlights flash on car. So he had managed to unlock the car with the device by intercepting the signals given off by the cars key cards which were inside the house. His mate then opened the boot, drivers door & tries to open front boot (Frunk) which is where we keep the portable charging cable (£500 to replace).

They then leave as I think they must have seen the landing light come on as I ran down the stairs. At this point I thought it was only 1 person…I run outside and get to our gate and then think ‘Sh7t, I have left front door ajar. What if they are hiding by the van’ so quickly close gate & run back indoors and let the dog out as he will normally bark anything that moves.

Wife called 999, gives quick description of the pair from camera footage. Unmarked cars arrests the pair within 30 minutes. Marked car comes to search house & garden. Statements then taken, back to bed. Police said the video was invaluable as links the pair to the crime and can be used in court.

Without the Ring camera we would never had known and the two arseholes would still be out locally looking for their next victim.

Have since purchased RFID wallet for the keycards and set a pin in the car that needs to be entered before you can drive the car.

They had no interest in the unlocked Cali which so they must have had bad taste!

 

[Jay586]

Cable theft is a thing.

I had a quote for cctv but actually think this might be good.

And glad you're ok!

 

[The Tall Luthier]

I'm really sorry to hear your bad news Ch1pbutty, I hope it hasn't shaken everyone up too badly. RFID is definitely the way to go.
I'm not a big fan of giving Amazon a Video / Audio feed in every house in the world, that said it certainly seems to have paid a dividend in this case. Congrats

 

[SusiBus]

Unlocked Cali ? Sounds like you were very lucky. Also, l don't think l would run outside. I'd rather loose my charging cable than gain a bash on the head from a iron bar, but a Ring and Alexa sound a good idea.

 

[Hawthorn37]

I’ve been thinking about installing a camera on our driveway plus door camera. I think you’ve just convinced me to do it.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I’ve been thinking about installing a camera on our driveway plus door camera. I think you’ve just convinced me to do it.

We first got a Nest camera about 7 years ago when we were having some building work carried out and had materials / machinery sitting in the garden. We then switched to Ring a few years later as they offered the rechargable battery option, to which you can add a small solar panel depending on location, then you never need to take the battery out to recharge (which is simple to do in any case). Super easy to install, takes about 5 mins.

Doorbell is good as besides security also avoids the need to drive to the courier depot if you are not in. You can just speak to them thru your phone and tell them where to leave the parcel.

The Ring spotlight cam captured the best footage at the weekend, I think the thief thought it was just a security light as it was dark + down the side of the house. The cameras also have 2 way audio / alarm (on some) so you if you are lucky enough to catch them in the act you can shout through the camera speaker or set the alarm off.

We pay £80 a year fee which covers mulitple cameras and saves footage to a cloud based App which has instant access. You can add further options which will still allow cameras to record should your WIFI go down, but we dont bother with this.

Up until the weekend, the most exciting views were a a few deer on the driveway, postman & the cat!

Arlo also have an execellent reputation but are more expensive.

 

[johnyboy]

Direct Line supplied free RFID key pouches due to these increased relay attacks

 

[TheDoc]

That was a lucky escape! I’ve managed to prevent a few crimes with my ring cameras and would vouch for them. I keep my keys in a decent steel safe which has the twofold benefit of blocking transponder and making it difficult to obtain keys if the property was broken into.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I honestly don’t get the need for cameras…?
Most of the time they don’t prevent the crime, it’s just something for you to watch live or later on…
The better option is always to have comprehensive insurance and preventive measures.

 

[couplands]

That was a lucky escape! I’ve managed to prevent a few crimes with my ring cameras and would vouch for them. I keep my keys in a decent steel safe which has the twofold benefit of blocking transponder and making it difficult to obtain keys if the property was broken into.

When we had our keys stolen from inside the house, the police said not to lock them in a safe as the burglars would most likely wake/threaten you to get them. They said one chap was woken by the thief holding a boiled kettle of water over them and demanding the safe to be opened.

They said put them somewhere out of the way but easy to find if they started searching the house.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I honestly don’t get the need for cameras…?
Most of the time they don’t prevent the crime, it’s just something for you to watch live or later on…
The better option is always to have comprehensive insurance and preventive measures.

Haha….in our case 2 thieves arrested preventing them from carrying out further crimes on that evening at least. Cameras are a preventive measure, they are not there for decoration.

 

[jonr71]

We saw on a local Facebook group that someone in a nearby street had items stolen from her car. I checked our Ring camera recordings and saw 2 people in our driveway trying the doors on our cars. It turned out to be really vital footage to convict the 2 guys. They were carrying a bag that was stolen from the car in the Facebook group. Not only proved that they had taken it, but that it wasn't just "found" as they claimed, but that they were going house to house looking to steal.

We do not have notifications set up on Alexa for that camera because we have milk delivered every day at between 2 and 4 am...

 

[soulstyledevon]

Haha….in our case 2 thieves arrested preventing them from carrying out further crimes on that evening at least. Cameras are a preventive measure, they are not there for decoration.

Good result on this occasion. But I’m sure out of the number of crimes committed up and down the country. The cameras made little to no difference.

Personally, I think it’s a bit creepy the sheer number of cameras the UK seem to have.
Next Black Mirror episode…

 

[TheDoc]

When we had our keys stolen from inside the house, the police said not to lock them in a safe as the burglars would most likely wake/threaten you to get them. They said one chap was woken by the thief holding a boiled kettle of water over them and demanding the safe to be opened.

They said put them somewhere out of the way but easy to find if they started searching the house

Haha….in our case 2 thieves arrested preventing them from carrying out further crimes on that evening at least. Cameras are a preventive measure, they are not there for decoration.

Agree - My cameras have resulted in an arrest and enabled me to prevent a coupe of other crimes. As you get an immediate alert with ring cameras it enables you to action at the time just as you would if you saw it in the flesh as it were.

 

[TheDoc]

When we had our keys stolen from inside the house, the police said not to lock them in a safe as the burglars would most likely wake/threaten you to get them. They said one chap was woken by the thief holding a boiled kettle of water over them and demanding the safe to be opened.

They said put them somewhere out of the way but easy to find if they started searching the house.

That’s interesting. My view is that if they are locked there is a chance they will walk away empty handed and if not and they threaten me I still have a choice of whether to hand over the keys or put up a fight, which I’d happily do if I thought the odds were stacked in my favour but appreciate that may not be for everyone.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Good result on this occasion. But I’m sure out of the number of crimes committed up and down the country. The cameras made little to no difference.

Personally, I think it’s a bit creepy the sheer number of cameras the UK seem to have.
Next Black Mirror episode…

Agree no difference is made most of the time. But in our case we wouldn’t have even known about the incident without the driveway camera, and they could have popped back again at later date (which of course they could still do). They caused no damage and closed the boot & doors afterwards. So the incident has made us to take additional steps to prevent entry to the car, and have now also hidden an apple tag in the van so if that was stolen it gives us at least a small chance of police of locating it quickly after a theft.

Re black mirror - you need to watch below:

BBC One - The Capture

An ambitious young DCI enters the terrifying world of deepfake technology.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Agree no difference is made most of the time. But in our case we wouldn’t have even known about the incident without the driveway camera, and they could have popped back again at later date (which of course they could still do). They caused no damage and closed the boot & doors afterwards. So the incident has made us to take additional steps to prevent entry to the car, and have now also hidden an apple tag in the van so if that was stolen it gives us at least a small chance of police of locating it quickly after a theft.

Re black mirror - you need to watch below:

BBC One - The Capture

An ambitious young DCI enters the terrifying world of deepfake technology.

www.bbc.co.uk

As I am sure you’re aware the apple tags have limited benefit. Rightly, they alert iPhone users to their own existence if the tag is not with you, they also emit a warning beep!
I have installed two tags, both with the speakers removed, in the hope that the confusion will mean that the bad guys only find and remove one of them.

 

[ArunAlec]

From what I’ve seen most criminals are not too concerned about being caught on camera. The many films posted on our local crime stoppers Facebook site shows most are just wearing masks and hoodies to conceal their identity.
The current crime appears to be large white vans being driven around neighbourhoods taking anything metal/valuable from gardens. Loads of videos but no reports of them being caught.
Having said that I still intend to add an external camera to my existing indoor set up.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Re black mirror - you need to watch below:

BBC One - The Capture

An ambitious young DCI enters the terrifying world of deepfake technology.

www.bbc.co.uk

I totally forgot about that episode. Wasn’t it the first one…?

The three that stay in my mind, the bees, weird killer dog robot things and the one where she uses the satnav home button and kills the toddler…

 

[Fish111111111.]

Haha….in our case 2 thieves arrested preventing them from carrying out further crimes on that evening at least. Cameras are a preventive measure, they are not there for decoration.

Yes and if one property has cameras and the one next door has none, which is the thief going try breaking into!!!!

 

[Wrongford]

Although cameras won’t deter the professional thief, they might make the opportunist thinks twice so IMO a worthwhile investment if used alongside other security products.

 

[Anthony1]

I honestly don’t get the need for cameras…?
Most of the time they don’t prevent the crime, it’s just something for you to watch live or later on…
The better option is always to have comprehensive insurance and preventive measures.

We have cameras back and front. The front one mainly to see when deliverins are being made. But 20 minute segments are stored on an SD card. Could be useful identifying criminals. Insurance is fine if you don't mind scumbags getting away with it and going elsewhere to rob other people. We also have IR lights all round the house. Useful for us when we go to the garage or the van etc. Having said all that, we live in a very safe area (famous last words).

 

[WelshGas]

Yes and if one property has cameras and the one next door has none, which is the thief going try breaking into!!!!

The one with the cameras, as they’ve got something valuable to protect.

 

[66tim99]

I think it’s a bit creepy the sheer number of cameras the UK

I used to work for Westminster City Council and the number of successful prosecutions enabled by the cctv network was reassuring, from bag snatches to piecing together murder cases.
I’d have one on every street if I could as the eyes of the police, who are rarely seen on the beat in London these days.
Criminals need to be brought to justice, not only for victims recompense but to prevent reoffending and to deter others.
I don’t see the down side.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I used to work for Westminster City Council and the number of successful prosecutions enabled by the cctv network was reassuring, from bag snatches to piecing together murder cases.
I’d have one on every street if I could as the eyes of the police, who are rarely seen on the beat in London these days.
Criminals need to be brought to justice, not only for victims recompense but to prevent reoffending and to deter others.
I don’t see the down side.

City Centre surveillance vs every Tom, Dick and Voyeur watching your every movement.

There’s a good argument for proper policing. Can’t recall the last time I saw policeman walking down my road or any roads around my neighbourhood…