New alarm.com doorbell update?

Any update on when alarm.com will release the new video doorbell or what we can expect as far as specs and features? I don’t read good things about the current skybell options and I’m thinking of getting a Ring Pro, but trying to decide whether to hold out to see what alarm.com has to offer.

Current status is Q1 2020. It was originally planned for Q4 2019 but I hear it’s been delayed. Hopefully it’s near the beginning of Q1 2020 though! I’m planning to replace my Skybell as soon as it’s released because the Alarm.com doorbell will have video analytics, a wider vertical field of view (to see more easily packages and little kids), and a replaceable battery.

This is the first I’ve heard of this and would love to see more info. Do you have a link to this BTW. My Skybell has started giving me problems. With the ADC doorbell, will you have to go through the ADC app to use the doorbell?

Nothing really official yet on the new ADC doorbell in terms of info/specs. I believe it is Full HD, with the enhanced field of view as mentioned above.

Presumably the new ADC doorbell will require the ADC app to function.

Once more information is available we will definitely post it.

What problems are you encountering with your current SkyBell?

Lately, on many (most) occasions when the motion sensor is tripped and I try to access the live feed, it just says connecting for a few minutes until it finally says “Stream could not be established”. Often, I will try this 3 or 4 times in succession with the same result until I give up. Other times, the live feed will start with no problem. This has been an occasional problem for a while, but now seems to happens about 80% of the time.

Typically there will be two likely culprits for this kind of issue that are the most common causes: upload speed too low, or wifi signal quality at the doorbell is lower than the doorbell requires.

If this is the Skybell HD, note that it has a bit elevated requirements over the SlimLine ADC version.

Dipping below 90% wifi signal is enough to have an impact.

I’m not seeing this Skybell attached to the accounts that appear to be related to this question. Do you use the Skybell through ADC or just through the native app?

I use it through the native app. The extra delay of logging into the ADC app to respond to someone at the door is a deal killer. My bandwidth is about 200 mps symmetrical at the Skybell. I did clear the cache omn the app, and that seems to have helped. I can most generously rate my experience with Skybell over the last 3 years as “OK”. I am still waiting for them to do any meaningful integration with Alexa.

Ah, do you not keep yourself logged into the Alarm.com app? You can always choose to have the app remember your credentials and either leave it auto-login or set up a four digit security code to enter instead (much quicker than typing credentials).

Bandwidth doesn’t tell the whole story for the wifi connection. The signal quality and signal to noise ratio has an effect that is difficult to anticipate without looking at the numbers. I’m not sure if these are available in the Skybell App, but we can see these diagnostics in Alarm.com dealer tools for Skybells connected through ADC. If you see values for these in the Skybell settings let us know and we could possibly suggest if they would be affecting the stream.