Ring Alarm Review: 2nd Generation
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Last Updated on Mar 21, 2024
What We Like
- Low-cost professional monitoring: Ring offers some of the lowest rates for 24/7 professional monitoring at just $20 per month or $200 per year, including cloud storage for unlimited Ring cameras.
- Robust Ring ecosystem: We were able to mix and match other Ring devices such as our Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In and Ring Video Doorbell 2 to fortify our Ring Alarm security system. This ended up saving us a lot of money.
- DIY installation: Like many security brands that we’ve reviewed, Ring provided an easy setup that didn’t require a toolbox. It was as quick and simple as peeling and sticking for many of the components. Check out some other options of the best DIY home security systems.
What We Don't Like
- Privacy concerns: With smart security systems can come hackers. Ring is no stranger to security breaches1 but has incorporated two-step authentication into the Ring Alarm app in an effort to reduce the number of hacked devices.
- Connectivity issues: During our initial setup of the Ring Alarm’s base station, we had trouble connecting it to our Wi-Fi. But after a few tries, the connection went through, and, thankfully, we didn’t encounter this issue again.
Bottom Line
Ring’s second attempt at a DIY security system is a success, even more so than the first generation Ring Alarm. It remains one of the most affordable options for DIY home security but now with a sleek look and a wider variety of compatible Ring security cameras and video doorbells.Ring is one of the most prominent names in home security right now. That’s partly because it’s an Amazon company, so you know it’s benefiting from the retail giant’s advertising network. But more than that, Ring is known for its high-quality but affordable video doorbells and security cameras. We’ve personally tested a lot of those cameras, from the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery to the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. And we can say, Ring is a reliable home security brand.
In this review, we’re going to take a closer look at another product line of Ring: the Ring Alarm home security system. More specifically, we’re going into detail about our experience testing the second-generation Ring Alarm. We previously tested the first generation and we were impressed. Was the second generation any different?
What’s new with the Ring Alarm 2nd Gen?
| Smaller keypad | 4.13 x 4.41 x 0.75 inches |
|---|---|
| Smaller contact sensor | 1.56 x 2.09 x 0.55 inches |
| Better contact sensor battery | CR2032 coin cell battery |
| Smaller motion sensor | 2.6 x 2.6 x 1.53 inches |
| Better motion sensor battery | 2 AA batteries |
Is The Ring Alarm Enough For Your Home Security?
One thing we noticed that hasn’t changed in the Ring Alarm is its limited equipment options. It doesn’t offer as many devices as our top-pick security systems. It lacks monitored smoke alarms and gas detectors, and it doesn’t offer smart home equipment, for instance. If you want to see how Ring compares to the best security brands, see our Ring vs ADT, Ring vs SimpliSafe, and Ring vs Vivint guides. Or just cut to the chase and view the packages and pricing below:
Piecing the Ring Alarm Together
DIY installation is the name of the game among security companies these days, so when we finally got our hands on the Ring Alarm five-piece security kit with all the components in one box, we went straight to work. Much like its predecessor, the Ring Alarm was quick and easy to set up, and installing it took less than half an hour. While we already had the Ring — Always Home mobile app installed, we recommend that this be the first step before installing anything else.
When we took out the base station, it looked more or less the same as the first-gen. In fact, as far as we can tell, the only difference is the finish. The first-gen base station has a glossy finish, while the newer one has a matte finish. Everything else stayed the same; well, more or less.
The setup process for the second-gen base station took a bit longer because it wouldn’t connect to Wi-Fi the first few tries. We got it to work eventually, but we still don’t know what went wrong the first time. We came to the conclusion that it was probably just a bug – perhaps because the app can see that we had a Ring Alarm system (first-gen) installed before. In any case, the setup process was a breeze. It took us less than 30 minutes to complete the setup and installation.
Part of what makes the Ring Alarm sensors easy to install was their peel-and-stick adhesive backing. After we pulled the tabs from the battery slots, we peeled the double-sided sticker, and then stuck them to where we wanted to place them. While we were at it, we decided to rename some of them; for example, we named one of the contact sensors “Front Window.”
One thing to keep note of is that the Ring Alarm base station (both the first-gen and second-gen) has a 250-foot open-air wireless range, but walls can affect how far the signal reaches. Fortunately, the five-piece kit includes an Alarm Range Extender – kind of like a Wi-Fi repeater but for the base station’s specific wireless frequency.
The Range Extender will come in handy if you live in a multi-storey house, but for those like us who live in an apartment that’s less than 1,000 square feet, it has little use. The base station’s 250-foot range was more than sufficient; we just made sure to place it in a central location.
FYI: Ring Alarm 2nd Gen components are noticeably sleeker in design than the first generation, so you can place them in tighter areas of your home.
Our Reunion With Ring’s Customer Support
Like we mentioned earlier, Ring offers a ton of guides, video tutorials, and FAQs on its website, but those who need more hands-on help can give Ring’s customer support a call, send an email or use its website’s live chat feature. While we’re not fans of calling customer service, we found that it’s a tried-and-true way of getting a direct response rather than waiting for a representative to respond to an email that was most likely ignored.
This time around, we decided to chat it up with a Ring customer service representative over the phone about the base station’s connectivity issues during our setup. The representative, Alex, was patient with our questions and helped us troubleshoot the issue until we could get connected. We’d recommend calling Ring rather than emailing, as most of our emails to Ring have gone unanswered.
- Professional monitoring for $20 per month
- No contract required
- Amazon-owned company
The Ring — Always Home App Experience Part 2
Compared to when we tested the first-gen Ring Alarm, we saw an improvement in the Ring – Always Home mobile app; at least when it comes to ratings. They now hold over four stars for iPhone and Android. Of course, nothing beats personal experience, and since the Ring Alarm system relies on the app for much of the controls, we took the Ring out for a spin.
We tested the app primarily on an iPhone. We noticed that the disarm, home, and away buttons were moved to the top of the home page. That’s a change we welcome with open arms. It made it so much easier to control the system. Plus, whenever we armed or disarmed the Ring Alarm, all the other phones we had the Ring app on chimed. This was super helpful since we had multiple users on one account, so we appreciated the heads-up.
We also jumped into the history and saw the most recent disarming activity along with changes made to the security system. What’s more, we could check a specific device’s history such as the contact sensor, and see the exact time that someone last opened our front window.
We also adjusted the settings of our Ring devices, like the motion sensor for example. The app lets us adjust the sensitivity from low to high, as opposed to most motion sensors in the market that have a physical toggle selector on the back of the device itself. Since Ring was all app-controlled, we could adjust our home security system on the fly no matter where we were.
There were other features that we could play around with on the mobile app such as changing the name or placement of the devices, customizing notifications that we wanted to receive, and linking Ring cameras. That is another nice thing about the Ring app. Since all Ring products connect to the same app, you can view your cameras right there. That’s super helpful for reviewing alarm notifications or simply checking in.
The Ring – Always Home app is actually one of Ring’s strongest selling points, and that’s why we recommend Ring cameras and security equipment to users who are comfortable monitoring their security systems through their smartphones. The app is always evolving and adding more features – and when it’s not doing those, it’s fixing bugs.
That being said, there are many other security systems that come with a reliable app, and what Ring lacks compared to them is an intuitive way to control the system outside of the app. For instance, when we reviewed ADT, we found the Digital Panel to be a convenient way to access system features. We made the same note when we tested Vivint and the Vivint Smart Hub touchscreen panel. With Ring, it’s either you use the intuitive app or the push-button keypad.
What’s in the Ring Alarm Box?
Like we mentioned before, we ordered and tested out the five-piece kit, but Ring also offers 5-piece, 10-piece, and 14-piece kits with extra components like a panic button. What we liked about the Ring Alarm as a whole is that you can mix and match sensors from the first and second generations while adding cameras and video doorbells for a more well-rounded home security system. Particularly if you’re an existing first-gen Ring Alarm user, you’ll find the compatibility of the second-gen system money-saving.
Similar to our testing of the first-gen, we paired our Ring Alarm with the Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In and Ring Video Doorbell 2 to see if our Ring ecosystem was as cohesive as the first time. Let’s get right into what our five-piece security kit included and the components’ features.
Base Station
As the brains of our entire security system, the Ring Alarm’s base station didn’t undergo significant changes but still connected all components on the mobile app as well as the professional monitoring team.
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. It was also nice to see that the built-in, 104-decibel siren remained in the base station and was still loud enough for us to hear from all our rooms — though our neighbors, who heard the siren go off one too many times, may not be just as happy as we are about the siren’s volume.
Keypad
One of the first noticeable changes in the Ring Alarm that we came across was the size of the keypad. Smaller than the previous generation, the keypad also incorporated three separate buttons that put us into direct contact with the authorities: police, fire, and medical. All we had to do was hold the button down for three seconds, and the base station would notify the appropriate authorities immediately.
If we didn’t feel like using the mobile app, we could arm and disarm the Ring Alarm on the keypad. We also shared access to our apartment with our visiting relatives by creating temporary guest codes. No more sliding the apartment key under the doormat!
Motion Detector
Like the keypad, the Ring Alarm’s new motion detector has a slimmer profile than the first-gen, but with a button and indicator light this time. We saw the motion detector as our second line of defense and stuck it up in one corner of our living room.
If you’re wondering what that button is for, the answer is “troubleshooting.” We were confused at first as well, but turns out, pressing the button starts a diagnosis process that detects connectivity issues. The LED status light provides feedback. One green flash means everything is ok, one red flash means it’s not communicating with the base station but it’s still on your network, and three green flashes means it’s not connected at all.
If you’re like us and despise useless notifications about pet activity, then great news: the motion detector can ignore pets 50 pounds or less under low detection or pets 30 pounds or less under medium detection. This is all thanks to patented motion detection technology, which allows the component to focus solely on human intruders and ignore animals. While we don’t have pets personally, when we were cat-sitting for a friend, this feature definitely came in handy.
Contact Sensor
The Ring Alarm’s contact sensor has an indicator light and gets its power from two coin cell batteries that last up to three years. We placed our contact sensor above our front window, as windows are the most common spots for forcible entry.2
We remembered from our testing of the first generation that the contact sensor needed to be within 250 feet of the base station or else it wouldn’t connect. Even though we avoided that rookie mistake this time around, we still tested the contact sensor and received notifications on the app whenever one of us opened or closed the window.
Range Extender
Following suit with the slim profile, button, and light indicator is the range extender, which amplifies the distance between the sensors and the base station by another 250 feet.
While we didn’t use the range extender, we definitely recommend it for larger homes that need a stronger connection among Ring devices.
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 like us or in a big mansion, you can make Ring Alarm work.
Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In
Another one of Ring’s greatest strengths is that it’s a security camera and doorbell camera brand as well. In fact, Ring is best known for its variety of camera options that range from a simple indoor camera called the Ring Indoor Cam to a smart light-equipped outdoor model called the Floodlight Cam.
As such, Ring is an excellent option if you want to integrate video monitoring into your security system. Better yet, Ring’s monitoring rates include cloud recording, and you’ll use the same app to monitor both the Ring Alarm and your Ring cameras, but more on those below. For now, let’s talk about the Ring Stick Up, which we tested alongside the first-gen and second-gen Ring Alarm.
We used the Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In with our Ring Alarm security system, a plug-in indoor/outdoor camera. Let’s see how it performed during our testing.
- Video: The Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In has 1080p HD video, the current industry standard, plus a wide, 150-degree field of view. While we couldn’t zoom in at all, we were still happy with the clear video image it produced, which, as you can see, is very easy to see. But if you’re looking for a higher-quality security camera in terms of video, we prefer the Nest Cam (battery, indoor/outdoor). We tested the battery-powered Nest Cam and loved its 1080p HD resolution with HDR. We also appreciated its smart features, namely, person detection and facial recognition when used with subscription. While it cost $80 more than the $99 Stick Up Cam, the Nest Cam (battery) was worth every penny.
- Audio: The camera has a speaker and microphone enabling two-way audio so that we could speak to whoever’s in front of the camera and they could answer. This isn’t just a great way to stop intruders in their tracks; it’s also useful for telling family members that dinner is ready, which we preferred to do as opposed to yelling across the house like normal.
- Night vision: The Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In has infrared night vision producing a black and white image in the dark. As you can see, it’s pretty clear, even in the dark, windowless room we tested it in.
- Storage: One disadvantage of the Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In is it’s lack of local storage. The only option is cloud storage. This may be a problem for you if you want continuous recording or if you want to use your camera without Wi-Fi for whatever reasons. However, for our purposes, we were able to get 60 days of cloud storage for a very affordable price, as it’s built into the Ring Protect Plus plan and the less-expensive Protect Basic plan. Once we had recorded some footage, we simply downloaded it from our cloud storage onto a hard drive so we could have a backup. While this process isn’t exactly arduous, we do wish that it occurred automatically.
- Artificial intelligence: Now, with a Ring Protect Basic or Plus plan, we were notified only when the camera detected a person, resulting in much fewer false notifications. However, without a plan, you’ll only get motion-activated notifications.
Ring Video Doorbell 2
Finally, there’s the Ring Video Doorbell 2, a doorbell camera that you can either hardwire into your home or power using a battery. We chose to hardwire it into our existing doorbell set up so it wouldn’t be dependent on a battery.
Here at Security.org, we love doorbell cameras because they let us greet our guests whether we’re just upstairs or across the globe, even speaking to them through the Ring app.
- Video: Like the Stick Up Cam Wired, the Ring Video Doorbell 2 has that 1080p HD video we look for in a camera, plus an even wider 160-degree field of view. While we weren’t able to zoom in, it definitely wasn’t super necessary as our guests stood right in front of it. As you can see from the picture, we were able to see our visitors and front stoop clearly.
- Audio: Every video doorbell we’ve tested out has a speaker and microphone, allowing us to have conversations through our camera and its respective app, and the Ring Video Doorbell 2 was no exception. Now, when we tested it out from our apartment in Brooklyn, we found it super helpful in regards to home deliveries. We get a lot delivered, so it was really nice to be able to communicate with the delivery people and tell them any special instructions.
- Night vision: As you can see, the Ring Video Doorbell 2’s night vision lights up even the darkest of nights via infrared LED sensors, which really helped us greet friends!
- Storage: The same storage options apply to the Ring Video Doorbell 2; no local storage and cloud storage available only through Ring Protect plans. Again, we wish that the Ring Video Doorbell 2 had a slot for a micro-SD card, but it wasn’t hard to download the cloud storage from the Ring app onto a local hard drive.
- Artificial intelligence: Since the Ring Video Doorbell 2 lacks person detection, we received a lot of false notifications, as we mentioned earlier. Most of the video doorbells we review have person detection, which is even more important outside because of cars and animals like squirrels. Living in Brooklyn, there’s a lot that passes our camera every day, so this was a pretty big drawback for us. However, if you live in a more rural area, it may not be as much of a problem.
Ring doesn’t just stop at alarms, cameras, and video doorbells — you can add their Alarm Flood & Freeze Sensors or Alarm Smoke & CO Listeners to reinforce your home’s protection. In our case, we didn’t incorporate any of these accessories into our security system but we tip our hats at Ring’s dedication to expanding its ever-growing product line.
Video Review of the Ring Alarm
More of a visual learner? Check out our video review below, which goes over the same details as our written review.
A Day in Our Lives With the Ring Alarm
What improved with the Ring Alarm 2nd Gen was the overall design of the components; the slimmer profiles made it easier for us to install each component in the tight spaces of our apartment. We mentioned in our review of the first generation that the sensors were brittle, but from what we experienced with the new generation of sensors, they were more durable. Navigating with the Ring — Always Home app felt much better than the first time.
Every Ring Alarm component we tested was pretty much set-and-forget. Once they were installed, we just waited for them to detect possible intruders and sound the alarm. By and large, that’s what we want to see in a security system, especially one that is DIY.
That being said, one feature we’d like to see from Ring Alarm in the future are automatic tests. It’s good that we didn’t have to interact with the system besides arming and disarming it, but it would also be nice to know that the system is online when we’re not touching it. This was a feature we saw from SimpliSafe, one of the best DIY security systems. Automatic tests gave us extra peace of mind knowing that the system was always working and that if it stopped working, we’d be notified.
Ring Alarm’s Monitoring Options
Ring offers some of the most affordable monitoring subscriptions in the home security market. That is despite the price hike we saw in 2021 when Ring launched the Ring Alarm Pro system.
The newer pricing separates cloud storage plans from professional monitoring, but if you get a professional monitoring plan, you’ll receive cloud storage as well. We know it sounds a bit confusing, but here’s the lowdown:
- Ring Protect Free: This is a cost-free plan that allows you to receive alerts and monitor your cameras’ live feeds, but has no professional monitoring or video storage.
- Ring Protect Basic: This plan costs $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year, and allows one camera to store videos in the cloud for 60 days. This plan is charged on a per-camera basis.
- Ring Protect Plus: This subscription provides cloud storage as well, but for all Ring cameras installed in one location. It costs $10 per month or $100 per year.
- Ring Protect Pro: This combines the features of the Plus subscription with professional monitoring, for a low price of $20 per month.
You can hop on over to our Ring monitoring and pricing page for more details or glance at the chart below which sums everything up:
Ring Alarm Monitoring Overview
| Free | Protect Basic Plan | Protect Plus Plan | Ring Protect Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | No | One Ring Doorbell or Security Camera | All Ring cameras at one address | All Ring cameras and security systems at one address |
| Ring and Motion Alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom motion detection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Person only mode | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interact with visitors remotely | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Livestream | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year | Extended warranty | Extended warranty |
| Length of cloud storage (in days) | No | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Review, share, and save Ring videos | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cellular backup for Ring Alarm | No | No | No | Yes |
| Professional Monitoring for Ring Alarm | No | No | No | Yes |
| Exclusive discounts at ring.com | No | No | 10% off Ring products | 10% off Ring products |
| Monthly Price | $0 | $3.99 | $10 | $20 |
| Annual Price | $0 | $39.99 | $100 | $200 |
| Annual Savings | $0 | $8 | $20 | $40 |
The Ring Protect Pro plan comes with other benefits, but these are reserved for the newer and more expensive Ring Alarm Pro system. The Pro version of the Ring Alarm uses a base station that doubles as a Wi-Fi router (using eero technology), and most of the extra features capitalize on that.
All in all, we like the affordability of the Ring Protect Pro plan. It’s as affordable as SimpliSafe’s basic subscription. And because Ring includes cloud storage in the $20 monthly subscription, we see it as a more affordable solution than SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe only includes cloud storage in the $29.99 Fast Protect plan.
Money Saving Tip: If you think you’ll stay in a long-term relationship with Ring, we recommend paying annually so you can save either $6 on the Basic plan or $20 on the Plus plan.
Virtual Guard: Should You Splurge On It?
Recently, Ring introduced a new subscription plan called Virtual Security Guard, and it costs a whopping $99 per month. It’s marketed towards homes and business, although we’re guessing that it’s really just geared for upscale homes and businesses that can afford that monthly fee. And here’s what the subscription entails: 24/7 professional monitoring of security cameras and doorbells.
When your compatible Ring cameras detect a person, an alert will be escalated to Ring’s partner monitoring service. Then, a monitoring agent will gain live access to your cameras and their two-way talk feature, essentially allowing them to deter criminals even if you’re too tied up to respond yourself. And if that doesn’t work, they can dispatch an emergency response just like a regular professional monitoring service.
For $99 per month, Ring’s Virtual Security Guard service is expensive. In fact, SimpliSafe offers the same functionality for only $29.99 per month with its Fast Protect plan. The only difference is that only one specific SimpliSafe camera works with the virtual guard feature, whereas with Ring, you have more camera options.
Another brand with a similar service is Deep Sentinel. This one 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.
For now, the virtual security guard feature is experimental. Only a handful of systems offer such a functionality, and if you want to test it out, SimpliSafe is clearly the most affordable option.
Our Smart Home, Now With Ring Alarm
Something else that we’ve been repeating is that Amazon owns Ring, which meant that we could have a field day with its voice assistant, Alexa. Ring also happens to be the best security system that works with Alexa. Don’t worry, Ring didn’t forget about Google Assistant either, although the Alexa integration allowed us to issue a lot more commands. Here’s what we commanded Alexa to do:
- Arm or disarm the security system and ask for status updates
- Show live footage on our Echo Show devices or Fire TV
- Disable motion alerts from cameras and entry sensors on doors and windows
- Adjust our cameras’ motion sensitivity
- Lock or unlock our doors (if we had compatible smart locks installed) and ask for status updates
- Review recent video clips from our cameras.
Google Assistant couldn’t match up to Alexa in terms of commands, but these were tasks that it could do:
- Start a new recording on our cameras
- Receive health updates on our devices
- Review previous notifications.
Other than voice assistants, here are some third-party devices that are compatible with Ring:
- Dome Siren
- Leviton Decora In-Wall Switch
- GE Plug-In Dimmer
- Schlage Connect Smart Deadbolt
- Kwikset Z-Wave Deadbolt
- Yale Touchscreen Deadbolt
We have a Dome Siren in our apartment because our grandparents, who are hard of hearing, often visit. When we integrated it with our Ring Alarm, we had to test how loud we wanted the siren to be. All we needed to do was adjust the Dome Siren’s volume on the app and see if our grandparents could hear it from the guest room. Any time the Ring Alarm went off, the Siren would go off as well and alert our grandparents, which gave us peace of mind whenever we weren’t home.
Pro Tip: While the Ring Alarm’s base station has a built-in siren, you can add a Dome Siren which works perfectly well with the security system.
Can Ring stand toe-to-toe with other brands? Find out below.
For a closer look at how Ring performs, we compared it with other popular security systems.
Does the Ring Alarm 2nd Gen Outpace the Original?
When it comes to Ring’s products, there’s a second generation for almost everything. What that tells us is that Ring listens to customer feedback and tries to improve the user experience. In the Ring Alarm 2nd Gen exemplified this for us with its newer, sleeker design and the clearer separate buttons for authorities on the keypad. We also liked the fact that placing each component around our apartment was easier than the first time, and the components weren’t as fragile when we constantly moved them around. And, last of all, we loved that the cost for professional monitoring remained affordable. With a traditional security system like ADT, or even with a no-contract plan from Frontpoint, professional monitoring can cost $60 and up. So it’s nice to have a more affordable option with Ring.
Who We’d Recommend the Ring Alarm For…
- Anyone on a budget: The five-piece kit costs $199.99 plus $20 per month for optional professional monitoring, which was a bargain we couldn’t pass up on.
- Someone who wants a robust security system: Ring’s selection of cameras, video doorbells, smart lighting, and sensors supplement the Ring Alarm 2nd Gen, including components from the first generation.
- Amazon aficionados: If you own an Echo Show device or a Fire TV, Alexa is your go-to voice assistant since there are more commands than Google Assistant.
- Someone who prefers DIY installation: No need to bust out the toolbox or handbooks when setting up the Ring Alarm.
Who We Wouldn’t Recommend the Ring Alarm For…
- Someone who’s looking for glass break sensors: Until Ring offers glass break sensors, we recommend looking into SimpliSafe, which includes glass-break sensors in its security systems. Read more in our SimpliSafe review.
- Team Google: Google Assistant has limited voice command capabilities with the Ring Alarm, so you’ll have better luck if you’re already in the Amazon smart home ecosystem.
As a household name in the industry, Ring has come a long way to providing a multitude of security products that are as affordable as they are effective in protecting homes. With contract-free plans and low-cost monitoring subscriptions, our wallets didn’t hurt too much, allowing us to entertain the thought of ordering more Ring accessories to add to our Ring Alarm security system. Beyond the minor hiccup with connecting our base station to our Wi-Fi, we recognized the improvements from the first-gen. Ring really took customers’ feedback to heart! It’s because of this, they landed a spot on our best home security system list.
- Easy, DIY Install
- Works for any size home
- Works great with Alexa
Ring Alarm FAQs
That’s not all, folks! Here are the questions we get the most about the Ring Alarm.
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How much is the Ring Alarm monthly?
The Ring Alarm is either $0, $3, or $10 a month, depending on which plan you sign up for (if any).
Features Free Basic Plus 24/7 professional monitoring No No Yes Cellular backup No No Yes Coverage All Ring devices at one address One Ring Doorbell or Security Camera All Ring devices at one address Custom motion detection Yes Yes Yes Exclusive discounts at ring.com No No 10% off Ring products Interact with visitors remotely Yes Yes Yes Length of cloud storage (in days) No 60 60 Length of warranty 1 year 1 year Extended warranty Livestream Yes Yes Yes Review, share, and save Ring videos No Yes Yes Ring and motion alerts Yes Yes Yes Cost per month $0 $3 $10 If you want 24/7 professional monitoring, the monthly cost is the most expensive at $10. However, even without paying anything for a month, you’ll still be able to live-stream footage and receive notifications from your Ring Alarm security system.
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Is the Ring Alarm any good?
The Ring Alarm is a good security system that includes optional 24/7 professional monitoring, DIY installation, Alexa and Google Assistant integrations, plus tons of cameras and video doorbells to choose from. It also doesn’t require any monthly fees to live-stream footage, receive notifications, or use smart home integrations.
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Is Ring better than ADT?
No, ADT is a better security system than Ring. All of ADT’s systems come with 24/7 professional monitoring and professional installation, while Ring has optional 24/7 professional monitoring and DIY installation only. Ring has also been the victim of several hackings of its security cameras, while ADT hasn’t incurred any privacy issues.
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Does the Ring Alarm call the police?
If you signed up for the Ring Protect Plus plan, which includes 24/7 professional monitoring, then yes, the Ring Alarm can call the police for you in the event of an emergency. However, with the Ring Protect Basic plan or no plan, Ring will not call the police for you.
New York Times. (2019). Somebody’s Watching: Hackers Breach Ring Home Security Cameras. nytimes.com/2019/12/15/us/Hacked-ring-home-security-cameras.html
U.S. Department of Justice. (2010). National Crime Victimization Survey. bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/vdhb.txt