I have a friend who lives in town and they just had a incident happen. His wife was home alone and heard someone trying to force the front door handle and then seen a shadow figure, and then he was gone. They don't have a peep hole or anything and understandably his wife is shaken. None of us are tech'y and I wanted to ask for them, what kind of security measures can be taken like peep holes or cameras with a phone app or something? I hate to think what might have happened if she didn't lock the door because we just got word it was a guy that was trying doors throughout the street. Any help would be appreciated.

Catch

shot guns work pretty good.

The Google doorbell.

Lol, that's what I said. But they want something else to now. Scared the bajebbers out of all of us.

An ADT sign for the front yard.

Or modify this appropriately

the ring door bell or something like it you can pull out your phone and check the door.

It connects to the house wifi and you have an app on your phone , you can pay for online storage also.

my dad has a small motion and sound sensor camera he leaves on the table that looks out the window it sends him an alert when there is motion outside. many options not a lot of tech needed if you can open an account , load and app and get your phone on wifi you should be able to set these up.

Ring doorbell is what I got the girlfriend from Lowes. It sends a video to her phone via the app. You can talk to whoever is at the door, when I pick up something at her house I leave her a message on her Ring doorbell by just speaking aloud. It was also recommended by the ADT installer when he put her security system in. He uses it himself and showed us his app and videos. Installation is easier than installing a normal doorbell it's all wireless. It's not cheap but it's well worth it.

Ok, but I don't understand. Does this doorbell pick up motion and start recording without someone ringing the bell?

Sorry Catch 22. Yes it works via motion and you can set sensitivity and range for it to work. The girlfriend's bell has a very wide area that it records and the the video is high quality. The sound pick up is good also. You can speak and hear whoever or whatever is at the door. She has a cardinal that comes to her porch and sets off the camera and you can hear it also. Hope this clears it up some.

It does and I thank you lestan. I will start researching this thing and give them the info I find. I sure appreciate it because I know there has always been crime but it sure seems different and more frequent now. They haven't caught this guy yet but a couple people did call the cops.

I've thought about getting one of those fancy doorbells. We are moving out of the city out to the country in a few weeks, and I still think I'll look into it. We had a package taken off our porch last weekend, at least that's what we think happened. The tracking info showed it was delivered when we weren't home and the package wasnt there when we got back. Then just last week there was a drive by shooting just 6 blocks away. I hope that won't be an issue out in the country, but I know that's not a reasonable thought nowadays.

Probably missed out on a deal on it during Amazon Prime Days yesterday and Monday, but it is what it is.

tiguy that was the big reason for the camera we had the neighbors dog tear up some packages. We are also in the country but still have some problems. The doorbells are not cheap but we are well satisfied with ours. I am still impressed with how well it records episodes. As I stated in a previous post our ADT rep/installer uses one at his house. That was a good endorsement for me.

You can get the basic model for around $100, plus $30/year for the 60-day recording storage. I think that's a pretty affordable investment in home security. Plus at the new house my office will face out the front of the house, so if anyone comes up the driveway, I'll see them before they get anywhere near the front door. But I'm not always home. The incident Catch22 is the 2nd I've read about on here in the last week or two, and it would give me peace of mind to know I can see who is at the front door when I not home. The two-way communication is pretty neat. Being able to ask someone what they want and tell them police are on the way if need be is pretty cool. I also read on their site of the doorbell gets stolen, they will replace it for free if you send the police report.

One other thing I have been meaning to buy is fake security cams. Just mount them where they are noticeable. Some move and some have a red LED on them. They be a deterrent to some bad guys. Most are battery operated.

This.

And a good dog, the best deterrent in the world

if it wasn't safe to leave doors unlocked while at home I would move. seriously. you in a federal housing project?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl8sZI5AH4g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foV5NH8ZkCg

Videos of how the doorbell works and actually catching porch pirates.

I like the Magna volt "porch edition" Thanks Pike River

a loud dog and an ADT sign will make em think about about.

the ring doorbells are good too - https://ring.com/

apparently you can get a "ring" sign like the ADT signs

my wife's aunt got one a few years back, and we installed it in place of the old doorbell in about 10 minutes.
it connects to your internet and sends alerts to your phone too, so you can see when someone is at the door.