Until recently I had been using an EZVIZ DB1C doorbell. I researched before I got it, and it worked immediately when bought. Then the company started playing dirty pool. Over the next two firmware updates (WIth nothing in the notes beyond “bugfixes and imrprovements”) they stripped out the ability to use a local RTSP stream then they stripped out the ability to use their Windows-only software to even re-enable any functionality. Then they jerked me around for over a month before they finally copped to what the company had done.
And of course there’s no way back to a working firmware.
I know people have mentioned Reolink and Amcrest before, but those models are no longer available.
Is there anything in the way of wired, mechanical-bell compatible doorbell cameras that work with HomeAssistant?
I’m so sick of companies that sell you one thing, then strip out the functionality that made it useful, shoving you into their cloud/app shit or leaving you stranded on whatever firmware the thing came with.
GRR
That’s kinda what happened to me, except that it was a month of back-and-forth with EZVIZ support until they finally copped to “Our company broke that, use the Android App or go to hell” (paraphrasing). Also mine always rejects the verification code, no matter how hard I hammer it in the app. That’s why I’m ripping it off my house, telling everyone to avoid this company and their customer-hostile unethical behavior, and trying to find a replacement.