Place Ring contact sensors on your front door, back/side doors, and accessible ground-floor windows. Mount the sensor on the stationary frame and the magnet on the moving door or window. Ensure they align and sit within 1.25 cm (for 1st Gen) or 2.5 cm (for 2nd Gen) of each other.
Ring contact sensors should be placed on doors or windows with the sensor on the frame and the magnet on the moving part, keeping them within 1 inch (2.5 cm) of each other when closed. For optimal security, prioritize ground-floor windows and all exterior doors, aligning the notches on both pieces to ensure they detect when the magnetic contact is broken.
The distance between a Ring contact sensor and its magnet depends on the generation of your sensor, while the distance to your Base Station depends on your home's layout:
Adding these devices makes your alarm work that much harder for you. For this reason, we always recommend installing sensors at vulnerable second-story locations. Next, let's look at a couple ways you can control your alarm without having to go down to the first floor.
For a closed window or door that is not flush with the frame or moulding: Use an offset mount for the Contact Sensor and magnet if the closed window or door doesn't match up with the frame or moulding.
People are ditching Ring cameras due to mounting privacy controversies, mandatory cloud subscription costs, and the desire for better hardware.
Ring doorbells serve as a highly effective visual deterrent for opportunistic thieves, but they do not physically prevent break-ins. While many burglars will avoid a house with a visible camera, tech-savvy intruders can bypass them using signal jammers or disguises, and some may view them as an indicator of valuable items inside.
Burglars hate anything that makes a break-in noisy, time-consuming, or highly visible. Criminals look for the path of least resistance; if a target requires too much effort or poses a high risk of getting caught, they will simply move on to an easier home.
Whether ADT is "better" depends strictly on your budget, preference for installation, and need for contracts. Generally, ADT is the top choice for hands-off, professional monitoring and installation, whereas Ring is the best for budget-friendly, DIY systems with no long-term contracts.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) lays out a simple rule: install one smoke detector in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of your home, including the basement.
While Ring doorbells offer convenient home security, they come with notable drawbacks. Key disadvantages include mandatory subscription fees for video history, privacy concerns regarding cloud data, ongoing battery maintenance, false motion alerts, and potential reliability issues that can cause delivery workers to bypass the device.
Yes, it is possible for a neighbor's Ring camera to see into your house. Because these cameras feature extremely wide-angle lenses, they can capture a broad field of view from across the street or an adjacent property, especially if your doors or windows are directly in the line of sight.
Ring Alarm Contact Sensor
- Uses a 3V Lithium battery, included with the device, which may last up to 3 years depending on usage. Cold temperatures may drain battery life faster.
No need to hide it, just leave it close to the middle of your house. Once an alarm is triggered, removing the base station won't do anything to stop the countdown before they call you and the police. It will turn off the alarm sound I guess, but that's about it, and you can supplement it with a separate dome alarm now.
Make sure there are no objects blocking your desired field of view: Identify objects that could trigger false motion alerts or block your view, such as swaying trees, flags, bright lights, or buildings.
Yes, as long as there is room to mount one of the sensors on the fixed part of the door frame and the other one on the sliding door itself. It does not matter which sensor goes on the frame and which one goes on the sliding door.
People are removing their Ring doorbells due to rising subscription fees, privacy concerns over how footage is shared, and a desire to avoid cloud reliance in favor of local storage.
SimpliSafe is widely rated as the best overall home security system for 2026. It offers the perfect balance of DIY-friendly installation, robust optional 24/7 professional monitoring, and reliable cellular/Wi-Fi connectivity without requiring long-term contracts.
Google Nest is Ring’s biggest direct competitor in the mass-market smart home space. Nest’s cameras and doorbells integrate with the Google Home ecosystem and are known for superior AI features, though they typically cost more.
A good place to hide valuables could be the entrance area, for example, as it is often overlooked. An unused fireplace can also be used as a hiding place: simply remove the cover, place valuables inside and then close it again. It is unlikely that a thief will look there.
Nighttime Burglaries
Around 21.8% of burglaries happen at night, between midnight and 4 a.m. Some reports say the numbers are closer to 53% during the day and 47% at night, showing that while burglars prefer daytime, the danger is there all the time.
Avoid keeping your items in the prime spots like your master bedroom, bedroom closet, desk drawer in your study room, your jewelry box, or the cabinet in the hallway. These are the most common places where burglars search for these items.
Which homes do burglars target?
Leaving a light on at night can deter burglars by eliminating dark hiding spots, but leaving the same light burning 24/7 can actually signal that you are not home. Security experts recommend specific lighting habits to maximize your home's safety:
The time most robberies occur depends heavily on the type of crime. Commercial and street robberies tend to peak at night, while residential burglaries most commonly happen during the daytime.