Using any of the buttons starts a countdown. Cleverly, the three numeric buttons to the right of the emergency light up, then extinguish one-by-one, showing that the system is operating and how long you have left until the feature is activated. Conclusion The Ring Alarm (2nd Generation) is still the best DIY alarm system for most people. With its excellent range of sensors and new outdoor siren, you get the coverage that you need, while the new keypad is far smaller and easier to use. The good news for anyone with the original system is that the new components are compatible, so you can upgrade the bits you want to. However, if you’ve opened your front door to let the kids out, or because you were loading the car first, this is just annoying. The only way around the issue, in my example, is to shut the front door, then arm the system, then open the door, go out and then shut the door. If you don’t want to have to recharge batteries, you can either permanently power the siren (you can wire it into a transformer or buy the Plug-In Adapter 2nd Generation), or buy the solar panel for the Spotlight Cam. When installing, you can set a motion detector either in an entryway (there’s a countdown delay before it triggers the alarm) or a room (all motion triggers the alarm instantly).

At its most basic, the Ring Alarm (2nd Generation) works much like any smart (or dumb, for that matter) alarm system. It has three modes: Away, Home and Disarmed. Away arms all of the sensors; Disarmed has them all disabled; Home has your selection of sensors active.It’s much neater, and the new size makes it easier to place this model where you want. It’s also less intrusive, if you want to have multiple keypads around your home for arming and disarming in different locations. Alexa integration is still present, letting you set or disarm your alarm using your voice, although the latter requires you to set a voice PIN. Cleverly, you can use the Ring Alarm to trigger Alexa routines, too, based on the mode set. For example, you can turn off all of your lights when you set the alarm to Away mode. Liquid error (sections/product-template line 350): Could not find asset snippets/pdp_bundles.liquid

At the heart of the system is the base station, which is the same as used on the original alarm. This is a Z-Wave hub, communicating with the wireless sensors and components, an internal siren, and the communications hub with the internet. There’s also a new Geofence feature. When you arrive home, you can choose which cameras to snooze and how long for (the default is 15 minutes), so you don’t receive notifications about yourself turning up. Note that your cameras still record; you just won’t get swamped with alerts that you probably don’t care about. Currently, the Ring Alarm professional monitoring** service is available only within the U.S. (excluding American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Canada (excluding Quebec).If you are registering the Alarm at a new location, you’ll also receive a 30-day trial of Ring Protect subscription so you can try out professional monitoring** now. Modes don’t just control the alarm, they can also be used to control which cameras record. This is brilliant if you have Ring cameras, particularly indoor units, as you get fine control over them and cut down on the number of times you end up recording yourself walking around the house.

That’s a lot of options and shows that Ring has really thought out all the ways you may want to keep the siren going. My only minor complaint is that it would have been nice if Ring could have built in the solar panel, as with the old Y-Cam Alarm’s siren.

In all cases, the app takes you through installing the devices, testing them and making sure that the Z-Wave signal gets through. If you’re having problems with range, then all of the kits ship with plug-in Z-Wave extenders that should help. Features If you've started with a 1st Gen Ring Alarm kit, you can add 2nd Gen devices to your Alarm Base Station. If you buy a new 2nd Gen Alarm Kit, you can add both 1st Gen and 2nd Gen devices to your Alarm Base Station. During installation, you’ll be asked to specify the type of entryway you have the sensor on, which defines how it works. Main door sensors will only trigger the alarm after a delay; secondary door and window sensors trigger the alarm immediately.

You can add shared users to Ring, which will all get the app and access to selected devices, such as the doorbell, plus a unique PIN for the alarm. You can also set Guest users, which are just given a unique PIN. It would be nice to have timed access – say, for letting a cleaner only use their PIN on a set day between set times. For the Home and Away modes, you can set the entry and exit delay. The entry delay is the time in seconds you have to disarm the alarm when the main sensor (as defined in the installation) is triggered – say, you opening the front door. The exit delay is similar but is the time in seconds before the alarm becomes active, giving you enough time to set the alarm and get out. Motion Detector (2nd Gen) which has a smaller profile and is easier to mount on the wall. It also uses patented motion detection technology to detect intruders and ignore pets. With the external siren, you can choose the volume level from silent (a little pointless, although the LEDs flash), up to loudest. Ring doesn’t state the decibels figure for all of the volumes, but says that Loud is 100dB at 1m. That’s loud enough to attract attention, for sure.Yes! The new Ring Alarm (2nd Gen) devices are smaller, providing you with more options for mounting and securing them within your home. If you have the original Ring Alarm, you can buy the sensors individually to expand your home system. Range Extender (2nd Gen) which is designed to be easier to use with a new button and indicator light on the front. Geofence can also be used as a reminder to set your alarm if you go out and forget. That’s actually better than just setting the alarm: if you have house guests, for example, you don’t want to turn the alarm on when you go out. You can also choose to get a prompt when you get home, telling you to turn the alarm off.