Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
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Compatible with: Amazon Alexa, Works with Ring
The Ring Alarm Pro system is the most comprehensive DIY home security system we&#;ve tested. It&#;s easy to set up and use, it allows you to customize it with a large selection of compatible add-ons, and it features an affordable monitoring plan, starting at $20 per month or $200 per year (see below for more details). The Ring Alarm Pro system can&#;t integrate with as many third-party smart-home devices as our other picks can, but it does have a built-in Eero Wi-Fi 6 router (more on that below), which can replace your existing router or create a mesh network to improve your Wi-Fi&#;s speed (see our guide to the best mesh-networking kits for more info). The Eero router also provides backup internet access via a cellular connection (as part of a Ring Home Premium plan), should you have a power or internet outage.
However, if you already have a mesh Wi-Fi network, don&#;t want one, or don&#;t need backup internet, opt for the original Ring Alarm system instead; it performs almost exactly the same way but costs about $50 to $100 less, depending on your starter package.
The Ring Alarm systems have the loudest sirens of our test group, but the original Ring Alarm is the louder of the two. Video: Rachel Cericola
They&#;re always on call. Ring is the only one of our picks to offer both 24/7 monitoring and 24/7 customer service, which is available over the . In contrast, SimpliSafe customer service is available only from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, while Abode has live support from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
It works really well. Measuring a deafening 113 dB on our sound meter, the Ring Alarm system has the loudest siren of any system we tested. The Ring Alarm Pro came close, tying with the Abode system for second at 104 dB. Both Ring systems sent us smartphone alerts within 4 seconds of the alarm being triggered, with alerts as an option, as well. You can configure the siren on the base station to go off from 0 to 180 seconds after a triggering event. If you dismiss an alarm within 30 seconds, the monitoring service will not call you. Ring also has a &#;customizable police response&#; option, which means you have to okay a police response versus the monitoring company just sending them.
The monitoring plan is optional but essential. Ring allows you to self-monitor and not sign up for a subscription. But going that route means that when your alarm is triggered, you&#;ll only get smartphone alerts&#;you won&#;t be able to arm or disarm the system at all using the app. Professional monitoring is available as a $10 monthly add-on to the subscription plans (which also start $10 per month). It&#;s still a bargain compared with our other picks, with both plans including cellular backup and 180 days of video storage for cameras. The top-tier plan, Ring Home Premium ($20 per month), adds in 24/7 video recording for select wired cameras, 24/7 internet backup, Ring Edge, and Eero Secure.
It can get super-fast Wi-Fi. The Ring Alarm Pro has a built-in Eero Wi-Fi 6 router. That means the base station can both serve as the brains of your security system and replace your current Wi-Fi router, depending on your service. If your home is particularly large or has struggled with Wi-Fi coverage in the past, you can also set up the Eero router as a mesh Wi-Fi network, which can extend and improve your Wi-Fi&#;s range and performance with extra Eero 6 Extenders. Eero claims that its network covers 1,500 square feet and can support up to 75 connected devices at a time. Although we didn&#;t test that many devices, we did put an extender by the front door to ensure a strong connection with outdoor cameras. When connected to our home internet, the Eero router actually gave us speeds a little better than promised, up to 900 Mbps.
The new Ring Alarm Pro system.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh
A look at the base station that comes with the new Ring Alarm Pro (left) and the older Ring Alarm (right).
Photo: Michael Murtaugh
You can pair the Eero 6 Extender with the Ring Alarm Pro system for extended Wi-Fi coverage around the house.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh
Ring contact sensors can trigger the alarm or smartphone alerts whenever someone opens a door or window.
Photo: Rachel Cericola
The new Ring Alarm Pro system.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh
There&#;s a backup plan for the backup plan. The base station has a built-in battery that provides 24 hours of backup power (confirmed by our testing), which is comparable to that of SimpliSafe&#;s system. However, with Ring Alarm Pro, you can also add up to three backup power packs for an additional 24 hours of power, depending on usage. The Ring Home Premium plan also includes 24/7 internet backup, which is powered by AT&T, in case your Wi-Fi goes down. Speeds on this backup connection are noticeably slower than normal, though we were able to live-view security cameras and even stream Netflix while connected to the Eero router. The backup connection includes 3 GB of data, which you&#;ll eat through quickly if you&#;re viewing cameras, watching movies, and doing anything else you normally do on the web&#;it&#;s really designed for short-term emergency situations. (Should you need, you can purchase additional data for a reasonable $3 per gigabyte.)
You have a lot of hardware options. Ring&#;s system doesn&#;t integrate with a lot of third-party smart-home systems and devices, but Ring does offer a lot of compatible accessories, including a smoke/CO listener, the First Alert Z-Wave Plus Smoke/CO Alarm (2nd generation), a water-leak sensor, a glass-break sensor, and even a sensor for when you want to monitor doors or windows that are cracked open a little. It also has more indoor, outdoor, and doorbell camera options than any other system we&#;ve tested. The Ring Alarm Pro base station also incorporates the features of the Ring Smart Lighting Bridge, a tiny box that can wirelessly connect Ring lights to your home network.
Ring also offers service add-ons. If you&#;re looking to beef up your security, Ring has two opt-in services (which we have not tested). Alarm Guard Response is a service that will send out an eyewitness to verify an event before sending emergency services. It&#;s available only in areas where your town or municipality requires verification, and it costs $75 per response. The other service, Ring Virtual Security Guard, costs a steep $99 per month but is like having your own personal security team to monitor your camera activity for suspicious activity and intervene as necessary.
Ring has improved its privacy policies. No company we cover has encountered more controversy for its products and service than Ring. There have been reports of hacking and even incidents citing Ring&#;s own employees spying on customers. Ring has worked on cleaning up its practices by adding mandatory two-factor authentication and settings that allow customers to opt out of law enforcement requests and the ability to view and manage all services and users linked to your Ring account from the app (under Device Settings). Ring is also the only one of our picks to offer end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for cameras, which means no one can access your video content except you, even in the case of a subpoena from law enforcement, though complying is a pretty common practice with most video cameras.
Editor Jon Chase has been a Ring customer since May , and he says that he has never had an issue with false alarms&#;except in instances where he forgot to disarm the system. &#;One weekend, I tripped it and then turned it off using the app, but I instantly received an automated call asking me to acknowledge that I had turned off the alarm. It works great, and I haven&#;t had the fear of false alarms and the cops showing up, as I&#;ve had in the past.&#;
You may need a subscription plan. Ring allows all system owners to receive smartphone notifications, but you will need a Ring Home plan to use the Ring app to arm and disarm the system. And professional monitoring is now a $10 add-on to the Ring Home Standard and Ring Home Premium plans, which are from $10 to $20 per month.
You may need an extra app. One of the bonus features of the Ring Alarm Pro system is its built-in Eero Wi-Fi 6 router. That said, to set up and manage the Eero router&#;s features, you need to download the Eero app. So this one product uses two apps&#;plus the Alexa app, if you plan to add a smart speaker to your system. However, once you set up the router, you probably won&#;t consult the Eero app much.
It doesn&#;t always play nice with others. Ring doesn&#;t offer as much integration with third-party smart-home devices, since it supports only Alexa and everything under the Works with Ring umbrella. If you want more integration and the ability to arm, disarm, and check the status of your security system by voice, we recommend the Abode Smart Security Kit.
CNET&#;s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.
/ 10
SCORE
Installation
DIY installation
Contract Required
No
Voice Assistant
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
With competitive price and timely delivery, Langheng sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
Additional Fees
24/7 professional monitoring fee, recording fees
Service Bundles
N/A
Editors' note: You can find all our coverage of Ring in our home security section, including reporting and analysis involving Ring's privacy and security policies and an exploration of how these policies affect our product recommendations.
We originally tested and reviewed the Ring Alarm Security Kit (2nd gen) nearly two years ago. However, not much has changed since. Ring hasn't released a sequel to this Ring alarm system, which means it's still the newest kit you can get. It also remains one of the most user- and budget-friendly alarm systems you can buy in the home security market.
Like features and functionality, the pricing on Ring Alarm kits and accessories has largely stayed the same, except during the occasional sale. Ring's monitoring subscription has also remained unchanged.
All this is to say, if you're considering a Ring Alarm Security Kit for your home, you can get a good gauge of what to expect from our update of a review that was originally published on July 6, . Scroll on.
The newest Alarm Security Kit is Ring's second-gen DIY home security system. It looks very similar to the original, despite some minor hardware design tweaks, and it maintains the same $200 starting price as before. Its similarity to the previous model would annoy me if I hadn't liked the first iteration, but it was the best affordable security system I had tested at the time.
The second-gen Ring Alarm Security Kit is just as good. No, it still isn't flashy, and Ring remains mired in privacy controversies that will give many potential customers pause. But this system benefits from its simplicity. It's a good bet if you want a straightforward, affordable DIY security kit with optional professional monitoring -- even if it's not the most affordable home security option anymore.
The eight-piece kit includes a base station, a keypad, a range extender, a motion detector and four door/window sensors.
The Ring Alarm Security Kits range from a $200 five-piece kit on up to a $330 14-piece kit. I tested the $250 eight-piece kit, which includes a base station (with a built-in siren), a keypad, a range extender, a motion detector and four door/window sensors.
Ring offers an optional professional monitoring service called Ring Protect Plus for $10 per month or $100 per year. In general, if your system is armed and a potential security incident takes place, Ring's call center team will reach out to you and ask if everything's OK. If it isn't, they'll contact law enforcement for you.
You can add additional range extenders ($25), motion detectors ($30) and door/window sensors ($10) to your system, as needed. Ring also sells a few standalone devices that aren't available in this kit -- a flood/freeze sensor, a panic button and a device that "listens" for the audio frequencies of standard smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and sends you an alert if they sound. (Each of those devices costs around $35 apiece.)
Watch this: Ring's solid DIY security system is a lot like the original
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The Alarm Security Kit works with other Ring devices, too, like the Ring Indoor Cam and Ring Video Doorbells. That way, if you have a Ring camera or doorbell and pay for the optional cloud storage plan, your camera-enabled device will record video if your Ring security system is armed and a sensor detects unexpected activity.
You can also use an Alexa speaker or display to arm and disarm your system -- or to ask for the status of the system. Note: If you ask Alexa to disarm the Alarm Security Kit, you'll be asked to say the same secret four-digit PIN you enter on the keypad to arm and disarm the system.
Ring offers select partnerships between this system and third-party devices, including GE dimmer switches, a First Alert smoke and carbon monoxide detector, a Dome siren and Yale and Schlage smart locks. That's a decent start for optional accessories, but it's disappointing that a year on, Ring Alarm still doesn't have even third-party glass-break sensors or key fobs for arming and disarming. That really stops it from competing with more full-fledged systems like SimpliSafe.
Speaking of SimpliSafe, when Ring Alarm originally launched, it represented a more budget-friendly alternative to many DIY competitors. But other budget options have entered the race in recent months -- most notably Wyze Home Monitoring, which costs about half as much, both for its hardware and its monthly subscriptions. Wyze unseated Ring as our favorite budget DIY option -- but that doesn't mean Ring isn't worth considering. The biggest benefit it has over competitors like Wyze, or the equally cheap Kangaroo security, is cellular backup (essentially, if your power or internet goes out, they'll still be able to notify you and emergency service providers of problems).
The Ring system is thankfully simple to install. Download the app and create an account if you don't already have one and follow the prompts to get everything working. In this article I explain the setup for Ring's second-generation Alarm Security Kit. Check it out if you have further questions.
My colleague Julie Snyder also put together this great video explainer of the entire installation process.
Unfortunately I don't have an Alexa speaker or any of the additional accessories that work with Ring here at my home, which made testing those features difficult. I didn't sign up for Ring Protect Plus, either, since I didn't want to create false alarms that involved an actual call center or law enforcement, so I kept things simple here, sticking with the basics: the eight-piece system itself, as it comes out of the box.
It installed quickly, thanks to the straightforward steps in the app and the sticky tape on the back of the sensor devices. It probably took me 15 minutes to set up everything from start to finish. Some of the devices, like the keypad, come with hardware if you want to mount it to the wall for a more permanent install, which could make the overall installation time longer.
To test out the system, I walked in front of the motion sensor and opened the doors and windows with door/window sensors attached. I tested arming and disarming the system, both from the app and from the keypad. I also tested out the siren built into the base station that comes with this system. You can program the siren to sound when the system is armed and unexpected activity is detected -- and also manually from a button on the app, whenever you want.
I can attest to the siren being very loud and scaring my two dogs, as well as my husband (sorry, y'all).
The sensors, keypad and app worked as expected, too, responsively sending alerts to my and arming and disarming the system. The updated keypad offers "one-touch buttons" to contact emergency services, but, again, I didn't test their capabilities.
As far as Ring's privacy and security goes, I've felt conflicted. I go into that at length in this commentary about Ring, but the gist is that privacy and security necessarily factor into how -- and, sometimes, even whether -- we review a product. After learning more about Ring's partnerships with law enforcement through its Neighbors program on the Ring app, as well as some security concerns, we temporarily removed Ring products from consideration a couple years ago.
However, Ring has introduced measures that make it easier for customers to access and adjust their privacy and security settings, including requiring two-factor authentication for its camera-equipped devices. Because of those changes, we're now reviewing Ring products again, but, as always, it's ultimately up to you to decide if you're comfortable with a company's policies. Read Ring's privacy statement for more information -- and check out my former colleague Alfred Ng's extensive reporting on Ring and law enforcement -- along with Ry Crist's in-depth analysis on the most recent policy changes.
I like the Ring Alarm Security Kit. It's cheap, it's simple and it works well. Ring needs to add more accessories into the mix to compete with highly customizable systems from brands like SimpliSafe, but Ring's Alexa integration and small but growing assortment of hardware options make it a solid entry-level DIY home security system. Consider it if you want a basic DIY home security at a great price.
For more information, please visit Ring Lock System.