DoorBird Review

Posted on
Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:13 pm
berkinet offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

durosity wrote:
...My experience with doorbird was short and frustrating. Their support was infuriating...

They can be a little teutonic. Too bad you couldn't work it all out. It really is an excellent product. Though, at their price point it sure should be.

Posted on
Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:24 pm
durosity offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

berkinet wrote:
Well, in a single family home, perhaps that might work, and then again maybe not for a number of reasons (ever had an Amazon delivery while you are in the bathroom?). But, in a multi-family dwelling or in case of a remote entry, like a gate, it can be quite useful to have the remote ability even while you are at home.


Last year when my gout flared up (yes.. gout.. I’ve been spending too much time having banquets with Henry the 8th.. and also at the time we didn’t know it was gout) I was stuck in bed so I ordered a dominos and when they arrived answered the door with my ring doorbell, unlocked the door and got them to bring it up to my bed.


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Posted on
Fri Jun 29, 2018 5:31 pm
agame offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

just in case anyone's DoorBird integration has broken: it appears since a software upgrade the newer DoorBird models only support Digest Authentication. Broke my existing integration, but makes it easy to call an Indigo action group directly.

Posted on
Fri Jun 29, 2018 7:21 pm
agame offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

yes that script would need updating.

But given it's now possible to directly call an Indigo action group...its almost redundant (especially if using Security Spy)?

My new implementation just strings together a few easily configured actions...using the Security Spy Helper and Image Stitcher plugin to download and stitch togetherthe images (yes you'd need to be using Security Spy for camera management); pushover plugin to stick them in a notification, and the Cynical SecuritySpy Plugin to trigger saving some video.

Given the direction Security Spy is heading (object/face etc recognition in video streams) it will make increasing sense to use a tool like that as part of the picture for managing cameras.

Posted on
Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:37 am
berkinet offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

agame wrote:
just in case anyone's DoorBird integration has broken: it appears since a software upgrade the newer DoorBird models only support Digest Authentication. Broke my existing integration, but makes it easy to call an Indigo action group directly.

My DoorBird is still on Firmware 000111 and the changes referred to here are in 000112. When I get the update, I will look into changing the authentication method. Most likely I will want to switch to the "request" module, so it will take a little work.

agame wrote:
But given it's now possible to directly call an Indigo action group...its almost redundant (especially if using Security Spy)?
Do you mean by calling the Indigo RestFUL API directly?

Posted on
Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:26 pm
agame offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

Do you mean by calling the Indigo RestFUL API directly?


Yes I mean its simple to call an action group, or set a variable directly from the DoorBird; and do whatever you want from there. [as indigo's built-in web server requires digest authentication, it wasn't wasn't formerly possible to use the restful API, hence the various work-arounds].

I would add that better still (for longevity) would be to implement Doorbird's new architecture rather than the 'legacy API' being discussed here. However that is way more complex.
Last edited by agame on Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Posted on
Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:32 pm
kwijibo007 offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

I’ve just ordered a Doorbird and am looking forward to kicking the tyres.

Has anyone started work on the new udp broadcast protocol? If not I’ll give it a go... I won’t bother if someone else has already started.

I’m thinking of wrapping it in a plugin to create a lock device and some sensor devices for the doorbell, motion sensor, etc.

Pete

Posted on
Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:07 am
agame offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

I had a play but the encryption scared me back to the legacy API.
The approach you suggest would definitely be the most elegant & hopefully would also have longevity.

Posted on
Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:07 am
berkinet offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

kwijibo007 wrote:
...Has anyone started work on the new udp broadcast protocol? ...

Not me.

Posted on
Tue Jul 17, 2018 6:59 pm
kwijibo007 offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

My Doorbird's arrived and I've ben having bit of play with it.

I've figured out the encryption component and can receive events from the unit. Firmware v12 (latest version)appears to only send doorbell pushed and motion detected events. I've done some research and it looks firmware v13 might add door unlocked events.

So I was initially thinking of exposing multiple devices within the plugin. A sensor device for doorbell, a sensor device for motion, a switch device for the IR lights and a lock device for the door strike.

There's two issues I can see:

1. Currently we can't determine when the door strike is triggered (should be fixed in an upcoming firmware release). Currently this makes a lock device fairly useless.

2. We can't determine when the IR Light is on (when triggered by motion or within the Doorbid app). This also makes the IR light device fairly useless. No ETA on if/when support for this will be added.

For version 1 of the plugin I was thinking of exposing just two sensor devices - motion and doorbell. The plugin will include actions for unlocking the door and turning on the IR lights. That way we can still control the door strike and IR lights in a basic manor from Indigo.

I will include more devices in future plugin versions as the Doorbid API evolves.

Any thoughts? Better ideas? Improvements?

Pete

Posted on
Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:15 pm
kwijibo007 offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

lanbrown wrote:
Their door chime doesn't appear to have an API. What about being able to handle schedules via Indigo. The API does mention schedule support.

Will the plugin will support multiple DoorBirds?



I've not got my head around the concept of schedules (or favourites) but it looks like they're fairly well supported in the API. What do they actually do?

Yes, multiple Doorbirds will be supported.

Posted on
Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:02 pm
kwijibo007 offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

Ok Cool. Thanks.

Sounds like a great feature. I’ll get up to speed with it.

Posted on
Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:30 am
kwijibo007 offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

Yeah, I’m really keen to add RFID support. It’s not currently supported in the new the UDP monitoring protocol but looks like it will be added in the next firmware update.

Posted on
Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:07 am
tazswe offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

kwijibo007 wrote:
My Doorbird's arrived and I've ben having bit of play with it.

I've figured out the encryption component and can receive events from the unit. Firmware v12 (latest version)appears to only send doorbell pushed and motion detected events. I've done some research and it looks firmware v13 might add door unlocked events.

So I was initially thinking of exposing multiple devices within the plugin. A sensor device for doorbell, a sensor device for motion, a switch device for the IR lights and a lock device for the door strike.

There's two issues I can see:

1. Currently we can't determine when the door strike is triggered (should be fixed in an upcoming firmware release). Currently this makes a lock device fairly useless.

2. We can't determine when the IR Light is on (when triggered by motion or within the Doorbid app). This also makes the IR light device fairly useless. No ETA on if/when support for this will be added.

For version 1 of the plugin I was thinking of exposing just two sensor devices - motion and doorbell. The plugin will include actions for unlocking the door and turning on the IR lights. That way we can still control the door strike and IR lights in a basic manor from Indigo.

I will include more devices in future plugin versions as the Doorbid API evolves.

Any thoughts? Better ideas? Improvements?

Pete


I have 2 Doorbirds running.

Turning on the IR on movements would be an improvement, it’s very often dark faces and sunny backgrounds on my photos.
With IR they might get som light in their faces even if it’s during daytime.

Another problem is that the masking of the images don’t affect the motionsensor, one of my Doorbirds are faceing a road with a lot of action. I am forced to use SecuritySpy and their masking to get it right.

Looking forward to improvements.


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Posted on
Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:26 pm
agame offline
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Re: DoorBird Review

That implementation model you discuss would be tremendous. I assume you'd expect to continue using SecuritySpy or similar to manage recording?

Regarding DoorBirds facing the street:

- the latest generation of devices allow configuration of the movement sensor based on distance and direction of movement from the sensor, in addition to the usual field-of-view masking. It isn't perfect ( I'm an extreme case only 2 metres from the footpath) however I receive far fewer false positives on my newer installation than the first generation device (which I've reused on a less exposed rear entry) - certainly much better than using Security Spy to mask given the road/footpath are impractical to fully mask, and I also have moving shadows from nearby trees that trigger false-positives.
- Before I had the new sensor available I installed an Aeotec multisensor overhead on my verandah facing the door & intercom, I still use this as my primary motion sensing device as there are no false positives at all. The battery lasts 6 or 9 months.

Regarding bright backgrounds:

I have the same problem. This is something DoorBird definitely can work on. I've improved it by switching on the front veranda lighting when movement or bell press is detected (I use a high powered dimmable LED bulb that I brighten when required). Adjusting brightness, contrast etc don't seem to be much help. I've actually switched off the IR light completely (I find the color image much better than black & white IR mode at night, even in ambient street lighting).

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