2026 Expert Review of the Ring Alarm 2nd Generation

What’s in the Ring Alarm Box?

For our testing, we chose the five-piece kit, which came with a base station, wireless keypad, contact sensor, motion sensor, and range extender. Some Ring security cameras are available with Ring Alarm bundles. We already had a Ring Indoor Cam and Ring Outdoor Cam, though, so we didn’t get any. We were able to integrate them easily using the Ring – Always Home app.

Base Station

As the brains of our entire security system, the Ring Alarm base station connected all components to the mobile app as well as the professional monitoring team.

The base station has a built-in cellular chip and a 24-hour battery backup, so the system keeps running even if the power goes out or someone cuts your internet. Setup was simple — plug it in, open the app, and it walks you through pairing everything else step by step.

Needless to say, it’s the one piece of equipment that needs to be online 24/7. In the event of power outages, our base station would still be up and running thanks to the 24-hour backup battery. Coupled with cellular backup, there was minimal room for lost connection with our Ring Alarm, so that was very reassuring.

Another function of the base station is to alert the user to potential danger and break-in incidents, using a siren. The manual says it’s 104 decibels loud, but to help you imagine how loud that is, we could hear it even in the shower. This was a welcome benefit compared to when we tested ADT, because the 85-decibel built-in siren wasn’t loud enough to be heard beyond our living room and kitchen.

>> Compare: Ring Alarm vs. ADT

Keypad

The wireless keypad lets you arm and disarm the system without touching your phone. It mounts to the wall or sits on a flat surface, runs on a rechargeable battery, and includes a built-in siren. Straightforward and reliable for day-to-day use.

Like ADT and SimpliSafe, Ring Alarm doesn’t offer a touchscreen keypad. We ended up managing our system through the Ring – Always Home app. While the app worked fine, a wall-mounted tablet has its advantages. All Vivint packages include a touchscreen tablet that can lets you stream footage, manage notifications, and set up automations.

The Ring Alarm keypad primarily controls the security system. It has arm home, arm away, and disarm buttons – the last one requires your alarm pin to be entered to engage. We also like that it has dedicated alarm buttons for fire, police, and medical emergencies to summon the authorities, although those only work if you have a monitoring subscription. More on that later.

Ring’s keypad is one of the simpler devices on the market. We recommend it for older adults who might prefer a physical keypad over a touchscreen controller.

>> More Recommendations: The Best Security Systems for Seniors in 2026

Motion Detector

Ring’s primary sensor is the motion detector. It’s not groundbreaking, but it doesn’t need to be. It detects movement, and that’s all it needs to do. The passive infrared motion detector has a 90-degree field-of-view and covers up to 30 feet. It works best mounted in a corner to watch over a larger area of a room. The newest model runs on two AA batteries (which come in the box) and can connect to Amazon Sidewalk instead of the Base Station, if you prefer.

If you have pets, we recommend adjusting the sensitivity in the app to reduce false alarms. We set ours to the lowest sensitivity setting and it ignored our 50-pound Labradoodle. The medium setting is best for pets 30 pounds or less. This consideration is why we recommend Ring as one of the best pet-friendly security systems.

Window & Door Sensor

The other security sensor we received was a window and door sensor. As you might have guessed, we normally place these sensors on the front door and every first-floor window, but since we got only one, we placed it on our one window facing the street. Statistics say that glass windows, like ours, are the most common spots for forcible entry.2

We don’t have a large house, so we had no problem connecting the sensor to the base station. But just a word of caution: It has a 250-foot open-air range. Like the motion detector, you don’t need to connect it to the Base Station. You can use Amazon Sidewalk as an alternative.. The Window & Door Sensor also has a button to check its connection status.

Range Extender

If you’re not using Amazon Sidewalk, the range extender is another alternative. It plugs into any standard outlet and extends the Z-Wave signal so sensors farther from the base station stay connected. If your home is larger or has thick walls, this device earns its place in the kit.

Here’s another thing we liked about the range extender: You can daisy chain up to three extenders. That means, rather than placing each extender within 250 feet from the base station, you can have them throw signals to one another. The second range extender doesn’t have to be within the base station’s range, as long as it’s within the range of the first extender. That means the second-gen Ring Alarm is scalable – whether you live in a small apartment or in a big mansion, you can make Ring Alarm work.

If you were counting, those were the five components we received from our five-piece Ring Alarm package. All that cost us $244.95, which is a steal compared to ADT packages that run over $300 for a basic setup. It’s even competitive with SimpliSafe’s package – a comparable SimpliSafe system with the same devices minus the range extender runs around $250.

Ring Outdoor Cam

The Ring Outdoor Cam has all the features we need for security. It has a 1080p resolution with a wide, 130-degree viewing angle. It was more than enough to cover our front porch. It’s also versatile. You can stick it to a flat surface, ceiling, or wall. The latest model even has high dynamic range, which puts the device on par with other top security cameras like Google’s Nest Cam.

>> Find Out More: How Much Do Ring Security Cameras Cost in 2026?

The night vision on the Ring Outdoor Cam is clear and has a pretty good range, which is a must for the best outdoor cameras. That said, the Ring Outdoor Cam is not fully outdoor-ready. It’s not weatherproof; only weather-resistant. There’s a slight difference. Its IP rating is X5. The first digit ‘X’ signifies that it’s not protected against dust at all, which could slip through the casing and ruin the electronics inside. The second digit ‘5’ shows that it has some water resistance – it can resist water sprayed from a nozzle from any direction, which means it can at least withstand rain.

Ring Indoor Cam

Now take everything we said about the Ring Outdoor Cam’s components and put them in a smaller, more compact body — that’s the Ring Indoor Cam. It’s Ring’s most affordable camera, but it still packs in some features we didn’t expect. The one we like most is the privacy cover. Twist that protrusion along the side of the camera’s body and it physically blocks the lens for moments when you want a little more privacy at home.

In terms of features, the Ring Indoor Cam is similar to the Outdoor Cam. The only notable differences are that it has a slightly wider field of view (143 degrees) and has color night vision in low-light situations (i.e., if you have night lights on). However, in zero-light conditions, infrared night vision (black-and-white) still kicks in for both cameras.

We used the Indoor Cam as our living room camera and pointed it at our front door and street-facing windows. That way, if anyone entered without permission, we’d be able to capture their face clearly, day or night.

>> More Information: Ring Indoor Cam Hands-On Review

Video Review of the Ring Alarm

More of a visual learner? See the Ring Alarm in action as Gabe takes it out for a spin.

Piecing the Ring Alarm Together

Ring Alarm is built with DIY installation in mind, and it delivers on that promise. We found our five-piece security kit straightforward to set up — the whole process took less than an hour, and that includes getting our cameras up and running. We recommend installing the Ring – Always Home app first, since it walks you through each step and makes pairing devices much smoother.

The base station setup took a little longer than expected — it wouldn’t connect to Wi-Fi on the first few attempts. We eventually got it working, though we still aren’t totally sure what caused the hiccup. Our best guess is a residual conflict from a first-gen Ring Alarm system we’d previously used. Either way, once the base station was online, everything else came together without a hitch.

Part of what makes the Ring Alarm sensors easy to install is their peel-and-stick adhesive backing. Pull off the battery tabs, peel the double-sided sticker, and stick them to the wall. It’s that quick.

The Ring — Always Home App Experience

We often say that the base station or control panel is what holds the whole security system together. That’s true for most, like the Cove system we reviewed that comes with a base station and touchscreen keypad. But given Ring’s unintuitive base station and keypad, we had to rely more on the Ring – Always Home app.

We worried at first that the user interface was going to be cluttered. After all, the app manages the Ring Alarm, Ring security cameras, and video doorbells. But the opposite was true. We found it very intuitive and well designed. At the top are buttons for arming and disarming the Ring Alarm. Below those buttons are security camera and video doorbell widgets so you can jump into any livestream you want.

Digging deeper, we found plenty of customization options tucked into the settings. You can, for example, fine-tune the sensitivity of your motion sensors or set up custom modes for Home and Away arming. In fact, we think the app is one of Ring’s strongest selling points. It’s why we recommend Ring cameras and equipment to users who prefer managing their security straight from their smartphones.

Ring Alarm’s Monitoring Options

With Ring Alarm, you can either self-monitor your security system and rely on live camera streams to verify alerts, activate cloud video recording, or combine professional monitoring with cloud recording

Ring pricing is reasonable. Ring Protect Pro runs $19.99 per month and includes both professional monitoring and cloud video storage. For comparison, SimpliSafe charges $32.99 per month for their comparable Core plan. Here’s a breakdown of Ring’s options:

We like the value of the Ring Protect Pro plan. It’s as affordable as SimpliSafe’s basic subscription. Since Ring includes cloud storage in the $20 monthly subscription, we see it as a better deal than SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe only includes cloud storage in the $32.99 Core plan.

Virtual Guard: Should You Splurge on It?

Ring has one more subscription plan we didn’t mention above called Virtual Security Guard, and it costs a whopping $99 per month. It’s marketed towards homes and businesses, although we’re guessing that it’s really just geared for upscale homes and businesses that can afford that monthly fee. This subscription includes 24/7 professional monitoring of security cameras and doorbells.

For your privacy, we recommend closing the Indoor Cam’s privacy shutter whenever you’re around if you’re subscribed to the Virtual Guard feature.

We think Ring’s Virtual Security Guard service is expensive, especially when SimpliSafe offers similar functionality for only $32.99 per month with its Core plan. The only difference is that SimpliSafe limits you to the indoor camera, whereas Ring gives you more options.

Another brand with a similar service is Deep Sentinel. The company offers just one type of outdoor camera, but the virtual guard feature works the same way. And the price? One camera costs $399 and monitoring costs $60 to $160 per month, depending on how many cameras you have.

We’ve seen studies that show that merely having security cameras can deter crime 3. Some of the figures that stand out to us are:

• Eighty-three percent of burglars would try to determine if any security equipment is installed before breaking in.
• Of those, 60 percent say that they would retreat if they saw security equipment.
• More than 50 percent of burglars say they strongly consider signs of increased security when picking a target.

While Virtual Guard is a nice feature to enhance your home security, given its current cost, we don’t think it’s a suitable feature for everyone.

Is the Ring Alarm Smart Home-Friendly?

In case you weren’t aware, Ring is actually an Amazon brand now. In fact, Ring is one of the best security systems that works with Alexa. It also works with Google Assistant, so yes, the Ring Alarm is smart home-friendly. But what exactly can it do?

If you have an Echo Show or Nest Hub, you can stream live and recorded video from your Ring cameras and doorbells. You can also use Alexa voice commands to arm your system or pull up your most recent activity log.

If you’re more of a smart speaker type of person, you can make either voice assistant arm your system and read your most recent activity log (i.e., triggered sensors, arming/disarming, etc.).

Our Echo Show displays live camera footage from our front yard.

Ring actually works with other smart home devices too, which makes up for its shortage of equipment options. For example, while Ring doesn’t offer garage door tilt sensors, it works with such sensors from a brand called EcoLink. Or, if your house has higher square footage and you need more sirens, you can pair auxiliary sirens from Dome.

There’s a long list of third-party devices that work with Ring, most of which are via Z-Wave technology. The list includes:

• Smart locks
• Smart switches and dimmers
• Smart bulbs
• Interconnected smoke alarms
• Water valve actuators
• Smart thermostats

That said, Ring is one of our top recommended smart home security systems, although it’s pretty low on the list. That’s because Ring offers only limited automations, unlike the more comprehensive options offered by Vivint and the abode system we reviewed. Both systems let you create rules such as, “If the water sensor detects leaks, shut off the water valve.” While Ring doesn’t offer that, you can control connected devices manually.

>> Compare: Ring vs. Vivint

Ring’s Customer Support

Lastly, let’s talk about customer support. Remember when we said we had trouble connecting the base station to our Wi-Fi? Well, we called Ring’s customer support number and got help from Alex. He was patient with our questions and stayed on the line until we got it connected. While he was just as clueless as we were about what caused the issue, we appreciated him staying with us for about 10 minutes

If you’d rather troubleshoot on your own, Ring has you covered there too. The website includes step-by-step setup guides, video tutorials, FAQs, and an active community forum where other Ring users share fixes and tips. It’s a solid self-serve support experience — handy when you just want a quick answer without waiting on hold.