Intercom system wanted

Hi everyone,

So, our shell is almost completely finished, and it's slowly time to take care of some things that I have neglected so far.

Doorbell / Intercom!

In our general contractor's standard, there is only a very simple one, which we also have in our current house, and it’s not worth a dime.

So we want to upgrade, but to what?

It's important to us to have an aesthetically pleasing stainless steel front, which already puts us "unfortunately in the no longer cheap segment."

The system must be able to control a motor lock in the door.

Since we already have a Fritzbox and various tablets in the house, it would make sense to get a system that can be connected to the Fritzbox, and instead of one or two indoor stations, just nail tablets to the wall. The tablets will be needed anyway for controlling the blinds (Somfy), heating, and controlled residential ventilation.

Whether it will be an IP system with a camera or a simple a/b system will probably also depend on the price. However, having a camera would be very good since you can simply check who's there beforehand and decide if you want to open the door.

A very nice extra feature would be a keypad to open the door with a code.

I have already searched:

Gira has very stylish products but is extremely expensive, and they do not work with the Fritzbox but require their indoor stations.

Wantec (I found it through a thread here in the forum) has systems that work with the Fritzbox but nothing with a keypad yet. Also quite expensive.

Somfy currently has a video intercom system but it does not work with the new Somfy home technology and the successor will not be out until the end of the year.

Auerswald I have read about, but I have not found anything yet.

Does anyone have a tip for me? I’m a bit clueless right now...

Oh yes, the budget would be max 1000 €, but it must be really fancy and with all the bells and whistles for that. Without a camera and without a keypad, I would set the limit at around 300 €.

Thanks and best regards,

Andreas

I am currently waiting for my Wantec Monolith C with Ekey. It costs around €1350 with the box. Without Ekey, it might just fit with €1000...

Yes, that's right, Wantec 4001, €899 + flush-mounted box (+ ~ €60).

I find them very chic.

If cheap, then Wantec with a/b instead of VoIP and without Cam, then you can also get by with €300. And it looks 1000 times better than the Auerswald. And cheaper than Gira.

One of the electricians I have spoken to so far brought up the "Doorbird."

Stainless steel, video, flush-mounted for 550,- EUR. There also seem to be extensions towards alarm systems.

To what extent that is useful or compatible with Fritzbox, I cannot say, however, since we are unfortunately not yet at the point where this topic would be urgent.

Many greetings!

Thank you, I didn't know about the Door Bird yet.

What I am still not quite clear about with the Fritzbox solutions is: do I also need a separate app on the phone/tablet to open the door via the Fritzbox? Wantec also offers an app on their homepage, but for a more than outrageous price. But do I even need it if everything runs through the Fritzbox?

With the Door Bird, it looks to me very much like the app does not run on the local network but through their server. In other words, if your internet connection is down, your intercom won't work anymore. That is actually an absolute no-go.
Or am I mistaken about that?

Best regards,

Andreas

Only, do I even need them if everything runs through the Fritzbox?

no.

Only if you also want to talk back/open the door on the tablet/smartphone. Allegedly, the apps from elcom and divus (free) also work.

With the Door Bird, it looks to me like the app does not run on the local network but via their server. In other words, if your internet connection is down, your intercom no longer works. That is basically a complete no-go. Or am I mistaken?

Best regards,

Andreas

Yep, unfortunately that’s how it is. Everyone has to decide if they can live with that.

From the Doorbird support page:
'Cloud Service
Our products are cloud-based solutions (cf. NEST, Dropbox, Dropcam, etc.). For reasons of reliability and security, no port forwarding/NAT or DynDNS are used for remote access to our products via the internet. Our products establish an encrypted VPN tunnel connection to our cloud server (location: high-security data center in Germany). Our products use the same encryption technologies as financial institutions do for online banking (SSL). Remote access via our cloud server is free of charge. It is technically not possible to operate our products autonomously without the internet or without our cloud server, as otherwise functionalities such as push notifications (special server security certificates required from Apple and Google), remote access, regular free software updates, etc. would not be possible. The entire solution has been reviewed by the state data protection officer. If you want to operate without the cloud server, autonomous IP systems from providers such as Siedle or Gira are an option, which of course cannot offer the same range of functions. As a provider of intelligent and comfortable smart home solutions, we ourselves do not offer any products without connection to our cloud server.'