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The Ring Indoor Cam* is an affordable indoor surveillance camera. It is fully equipped. With this watchful eye, you’ll always have an eye on what’s going on in your home. In this article, we will introduce you to the camera and show you what it can do and whether it also works at night.
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Table of Contents
What the Ring Indoor Cam Can Do
The Ring Indoor Cam convinces with a comprehensive equipment. It offers the following features:
- Motion detection
- Night Vision
- high-resolution recording
- optionally wireless or with battery operation
- Microphone
- Loudspeaker
- Siren
- comprehensive mounting material.
The camera does not film continuously. It only switches on when required. This is what the integrated motion sensors are for. These have a wide scattering angle and are very sensitive. This means that the camera switches on even before the moving object comes into the field of view. It does not matter whether the shot is illuminated or not.
Infrared LED and correspondingly sensitive night vision sensors are installed for recordings in the dark. These still take sufficiently sharp pictures even when the room light is switched off. The image quality is of course better in daylight or when the lighting is switched on. Placed in a corner, the Ring Indoor Cam has the whole room in view. The wired version is particularly useful if you are rarely on site. For example, it is ideal for holiday homes, allotments or your garden shed. The rechargeable battery version is advantageous if you only want to set up temporary surveillance.
But the camera can do even more. It offers not only a visual, but also an acoustic surveillance. So you can also hear everything that is happening in your home. If you want to scare away uninvited guests, you can activate the siren. This can also be done automatically. You can also use the camera as a means of communication. The integrated speaker and microphone turn your Ring Indoor Cam into a real intercom system.
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Is the Ring Indoor Camera Wireless? Yes and No…
Legal operation of the Ring Indoor Cam
Unlike outdoor cams, the operation of surveillance cameras is somewhat less problematic in terms of legality. You can install the camera in your own four walls without hesitation. It should only not film out of the window onto the street. With outdoor cams, on the other hand, you always have to make sure that your camera only has private ground and no public space in its field of vision.
Otherwise you will violate the privacy rights of passers-by, which can result in severe fines. However, the Ring Indoor Cam is only suitable for indoor use. It has no weather protection. You should therefore only operate it in completely closed rooms. However, you are not allowed to monitor a hallway or staircase if you can film your neighbours with it.
As long as you follow these legal restrictions, nothing can legally happen to you with the operation of the Ring Indoor Cam.
Installing the Ring Indoor Cam
The Ring Indoor Cam comes with a complete mounting kit. It consists of a sturdy bracket and several dowels including screws. The mounting kit is designed for masonry or concrete walls. However, the camera is light enough to be mounted on drywall. However, you will need special anchors for this. You can get these at any hardware store. Take the included screws with you, then you will also find the right size. If you want to attach the camera to a wooden beam, you can leave out the dowels. TIP: Pre-drill the holes for the wood screws with a thin drill bit. This will prevent the wood from cracking when the screws are screwed in.
Installing the Ring Indoor Cam
The camera is supplied with a normal plug power supply. The cable is about 2 meters long. If this length is not enough to reach the nearest socket, you have two options:
- Extension cable
- USB extension cable.
We recommend you to extend the USB side for longer distances. The camera is powered by 12 volts only. This makes the cable less of a hazard than a heavy 220 volt extension.
You can find numerous accessories for the camera in stores. With them, you can really get it securely mounted and professionally installed in every corner.
The camera is available in either black or white. The approx. 15 cm high housing makes the device inconspicuous. However, it is not particularly camouflaged. Visitors will not feel caught out, but will perceive it for what it is: a discreet surveillance device that allows you to keep an eye on your home when you are away.
Setting up the Ring Indoor Cam
A surveillance camera of today uses the smartphone as an output medium. To set up and operate the camera, you therefore need the app “Ring – Always Home”. You can install this free of charge on any smartphone or iPhone. Then you open a user account. Here you enter your email address and your complete postal address. The app needs permission to use your WLAN. Once all this is done, you only have to scan the QR code on your Ring Indoor Cam. The camera does the rest on its own. Now the app wants to know your exact location data. That’s a lot of private information, but that’s what Amazon, the Ring Indoor Cam’s sole retailer, asks for. You should be aware of that before you buy. If you’re not comfortable with that, there are other models where the manufacturer isn’t quite as nosy.
Live or recorded
The range of functions of the app is large. Notifications of motion alerts happen reliably and promptly. If you do not want to be disturbed, you can also record the videos. However, the recordings are not stored in the camera, but in the Amazon cloud. There are various offers for this, which can cause additional costs. Basically, the longer you want to keep the recordings, the more expensive the service will be.
The Night Vision Function of the Ring Indoor Cam
The Ring Indoor Cam has integrated infrared LEDs with which it discreetly illuminates a room. The reflected light is caught by the highly sensitive photo sensors and processed into video images. These are clearly recognizable as night shots. However, they offer sufficient detail to produce sharp images.
The advantage is that the infrared light of the LED is invisible to the human eye. So if you actually have burglars in your house, they won’t detect your camera in the dark. However, the sharpness of the night shots is limited. Faces are no longer clearly recognizable from a distance of three meters. In combination with the motion sensor, the Ring Indoor Cam is still an excellent surveillance camera.
The automatic night vision of the Ring Indoor Cam is somewhat problematic. This cannot be adjusted by the user. The camera automatically switches from day to night vision mode when the captured brightness exceeds or falls below certain thresholds. This is problematic for outdoor cameras when a car drives by with its headlights on. In this case, the camera can briefly switch to daylight mode – and only record darkness.
With the Ring Indoor Cam, this is less of a problem, as the light sources in your home should shine constantly at night. However, if you have difficulties with your night recordings, it may be due to the interfering light.
Audio monitoring with restrictions
The microphone of the Ring Indoor Cam is good enough for surveillance and intercom tasks. The microphone is not particularly selective. It levels out the incoming sound waves to a uniform sound carpet. So if you want to use the Ring Indoor Cam as an intercom but a vacuum cleaner is running in your home at the same time, the sound quality can drop significantly.
Ideal location for the Ring Indoor Cam
When installing the Ring Indoor Cam, it depends on what you want to achieve. If you want to use the camera mainly as an intercom, then it should be installed in a convenient place for your housemates. You can use it to contact family members or talk to visitors.
But if you want to use it as a real surveillance camera, then a placement in the angle of a room is best. You have a large field of view and keep the whole room in view.
For burglary protection, we recommend that you always position the camera so that you have a view of all entrances and exits. This applies especially to the entrance door as well as balcony and patio doors.
Monitor your garage with the Ring Indoor Cam
The garage is a popular burglary spot. Many DIYers store their tools and other valuable equipment there. The Ring Indoor Cam can provide you with a significant plus in burglary protection. But make sure that you don’t film the street in front of the garage door when you open it.
Related questions
Is the operation of the Ring Indoor Cam legal?
As long as you only film the Ring Indoor Cam on your own premises, its operation is perfectly legal. Make sure that the camera does not film onto the street or onto someone else’s property. Then nothing can happen to you with the operation of the camera.
Can the Ring Indoor Cam also be used outdoors?
Ring offers more suitable devices for outdoor use. The Ring Indoor Cam is only designed for indoor use. It does not have sufficient weather protection and would quickly break down in the rain or cold.
How long are the videos recorded?
The length of time you can record your videos depends on the subscription you have with Ring. The maximum recording time for your videos is 30 days.
Conclusion: Comprehensive monitoring at a low price
The Ring Indoor Cam* offers comprehensive surveillance at a particularly low price. With this solution, there is no longer any reason to leave your home unobserved. At the latest, if you have already had uninvited guests, you should think about the acquisition of an indoor surveillance. Ring offers you a very affordable entry into the world of active burglary protection with the indoor cam.
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The cameras offers a very good price-performance ratio. The recordings are good during the day and sufficiently usable at night. However, technology is advancing all the time. Upcoming generations of surveillance cameras will also be able to offer better image quality for night shots.
But keep in mind that a single camera is rarely enough to provide sustainable burglary protection. To keep an entire house in view, you need several devices. However, it is usually sufficient to cover only the sensitive areas. These are mainly the rooms that have direct access to the outside.
This always includes the entrance door. For apartments on the ground floor, balcony doors and access to terraces should also be monitored. This gives you an overview of all areas through which burglars usually gain access to apartments.
Attention: When installing electronic equipment, please be sure to observe the manufacturer’s safety instructions. You have to take care of your own safety. The information on this site only helps you to learn.
Disclosure: This website is the property of Martin Lütkemeyer and is operated by Martin Lütkemeyer. Martin Lütkemeyer is a member of the Amazon Services LLC Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to enable Web sites to earn advertising revenue through advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Links marked with * are affiliate links.