A video doorbell lets you see who's at the door from your phone, wherever you are. Getting a good result depends on the door, the power available and what the camera can see.
Wired or battery
A wired doorbell takes power from an existing doorbell transformer or a new supply, so it never needs charging. A battery doorbell is quicker to fit and suits homes where running a cable isn't practical, such as rented or listed homes, but it needs recharging from time to time. We'll recommend one after looking at what's at your door now.
What we check at the door
- Whether there's an existing bell and transformer, and where the chime is.
- The Wi-Fi signal at the front door. Doorbells are at the edge of most networks, and weak Wi-Fi is the most common cause of a slow or missed alert.
- The width of the frame or wall beside the door, for mounting.
- What the camera will see from that spot.
Privacy: the rules in the UK
If a doorbell camera captures the pavement, the road, a neighbour's property or a shared hallway, data protection law applies to you as its owner. The Information Commissioner's Office expects you to have a clear reason for recording, to tell people with a sign, to keep footage only as long as you need it and to answer requests for it. A UK court found in 2021 that a neighbour's doorbell and cameras broke data protection law.
So we set doorbells up to record as little as they need to. That means pointing the camera at your own doorstep, masking areas outside your property where the camera allows it, and leaving audio recording off unless you have a reason for it.
Smart locks
A smart lock is an optional extra. Whether one fits depends on your door and the lock it has now, and we'll check that first. We don't describe a doorbell or a self-monitored camera as an alarm: a monitored alarm with police response is a separate, regulated service.
