Gate Control - DoorBird VS C4 Doorstation

[timelinex]

I want to replace my standard Linear keypad to my front gate to something that has a keypad, camera, and can be controlled through my phone. I have a cat5 running out there so ethernet shouldn't be an issue.

I know Doorbird has been the gold standard and can integrate with my EA5, but now that C4 has come out with their own I don't know which is better. C4 integration is nice but not absolutely paramount (although I think doorbird integrates well into c4 anyways?). 

Opinions?

[Gary Leeds UK]

I would go with C4 - will cost more - But you will have less issues.

[bdo21]

I would go with C4 - will cost more - But you will have less issues.

I realise a little off topic from the original question but why do people want a keypad on their doorstations? I’m not sure what the benefit of it is?

[South Africa C4 user]

1 hour ago, bdo21 said:

 

I realise a little off topic from the original question but why do people want a keypad on their doorstations? I’m not sure what the benefit of it is?

 

You can give people acces via a code I’m certain instances - e.g. a domestic helper anytime between 8 and 5, security if the alarm has gone off in the last half hour etc.

[Crustyloafer]

9 hours ago, timelinex said:

I know Doorbird has been the gold standard

Anything but, I now refer to them as DoorTurd, which is being kind. 

Unreliable product, integration that breaks every time DoorBird push a firmware update and the customer service attitude of the company is appalling, refusing to admit products are faulty and then not offering a refund, only an exchange, for faulty products.

Never again.

[Zuhair]

1 hour ago, Crustyloafer said:

Anything but, I now refer to them as DoorTurd, which is being kind. 

Unreliable product, integration that breaks every time DoorBird push a firmware update and the customer service attitude of the company is appalling, refusing to admit products are faulty and then not offering a refund, only an exchange, for faulty products.

Never again.

I totally agree, the integration with C4 keeps breaking everytime I reboot the driver.

[timelinex]

Wow,

 

I wasn't expecting this one side of a response. 

 

Can you guys explain to me what is better about the C4 intercom than the doorbird? Remember, I said integration into the C4 system isn't absolutely paramount, as they use their own apps anyways.

 

Thank you guys for taking the time to respond

[Crustyloafer]

2 minutes ago, timelinex said:

Can you guys explain to me what is better about the C4 intercom than the doorbird?

It is reliable. We have several DoorBirds installed, some integrated with C4 and some not. All have proven to be intermittently unreliable at best and others just completely failed after only a few months in the field.

[timelinex]

8 hours ago, bdo21 said:

 

I realise a little off topic from the original question but why do people want a keypad on their doorstations? I’m not sure what the benefit of it is?

 

So that people like my pool guy and landscapers can access my property. I understand they can get a custom RFID tag, but I wouldn't want to hassle him with carrying mine (and by extension, everyone elses) tag.

[Zuhair]

DoorBird as a stand-alone works fine and their app is also excellent and reliable .

Doorbird integration with C4 is not reliable, the integration keeps breaking every few weeks for unknown reasons and it breaks every time the controller is rebooted . I reported this bug to Doorbird and they confirmed that version 1007 has a bug and they offered me a beta 1008 driver, which I didn’t want to install.

[timelinex]

1 hour ago, Zuhair said:

DoorBird as a stand-alone works fine and their app is also excellent and reliable .

Doorbird integration with C4 is not reliable, the integration keeps breaking every few weeks for unknown reasons and it breaks every time the controller is rebooted . I reported this bug to Doorbird and they confirmed that version 1007 has a bug and they offered me a beta 1008 driver, which I didn’t want to install.

Are you required to auto update? Can you just stay at a working driver version?

[timelinex]

The doorbird I am looking at is about ~$800 (keypad, call button, and video). Whats the  price of the equivalent C4 doorstation?

I appreciate your guys inputs, but I'm having a hard time deciding considering the vague answers and lack of information online. Hows the functionality of the C4 intercom app vs the doorbird one? Any functions/features one has that the other doesn't? etc.. 

I can't find much about the C4 doorstations other than short clips of people using it or their own promo.  What happens If I decide I don't need to control my home from outside (a.k.a 4sight)? Intercom becomes a glorified keypad?

 

 

[Crustyloafer]

1 minute ago, timelinex said:

I can't find much about the C4 doorstations other than short clips of people using it or their own promo. 

 

 

Find a local C4 dealer that can demonstrate it to you

[timelinex]

1 minute ago, Crustyloafer said:

Find a local C4 dealer that can demonstrate it to you

My local dealer (that I am overall happy with) recommended doorbird. Said the C4 solution is a good alternative but they have been installing doorbird for years and they do it better for a gate solution.

Which is in complete contrast to what you guys are saying.

[lippavisual]

I myself don't have problems with Doorbird and voted that way.

[eggzlot]

I vote native C4 hardware when things are fairly close price wise, feedback wise, etc.  I've learned my lesson.  Lots of people jumped on doorbird because at the time C4 did not have the ability to transfer the call to a cell phone when you were off the wifi network (in a secure and easy to do manner).  Now that C4 has the intercom anywhere app, its hard to suggest another solution in my opinion.

I've heard of the issues with the Doorbird Driver.  I had the holovision driver and Houselogix just stopped support when they got rid of their driver market and no one else picked it up and within 1-2 years my doorstation was dead.  Luckily the people at Holovision were super nice and let me beta test a 2n Helios kit to attach to my unit which now makes it work but again I am at the mercy of a 3rd party device - that said I am fairly sure the driver is a c4 created driver and the c4 doorstation is just a rebranded 2n Helios device so fingers crossed I should be good for a long time.  But sometimes when you go 3rd party route (holovision, sonos, etc) things can change and break when you least expect it.  Therefore I go native Control4 where possible that if its my use case.

[timelinex]

50 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

I vote native C4 hardware when things are fairly close price wise, feedback wise, etc.  I've learned my lesson.  Lots of people jumped on doorbird because at the time C4 did not have the ability to transfer the call to a cell phone when you were off the wifi network (in a secure and easy to do manner).  Now that C4 has the intercom anywhere app, its hard to suggest another solution in my opinion.

I've heard of the issues with the Doorbird Driver.  I had the holovision driver and Houselogix just stopped support when they got rid of their driver market and no one else picked it up and within 1-2 years my doorstation was dead.  Luckily the people at Holovision were super nice and let me beta test a 2n Helios kit to attach to my unit which now makes it work but again I am at the mercy of a 3rd party device - that said I am fairly sure the driver is a c4 created driver and the c4 doorstation is just a rebranded 2n Helios device so fingers crossed I should be good for a long time.  But sometimes when you go 3rd party route (holovision, sonos, etc) things can change and break when you least expect it.  Therefore I go native Control4 where possible that if its my use case.

As far as I understand, I believe it is not fairly close in price at all and the C4 is over twice the price.......

At the current time, integration with c4 is a secondary concern as I don't know what I will actually use the integration for. I won't be taking out my phone to open my gate. What a hassle. It will be opened with my cars convenient rearview mirror button like it always has been. I can't think of anything that I would want 'automated' based on a generic "gate opens". Maybe you guys can point out some cool integrations that I missing though. 

So that is why I'm not so concerned with the c4 driver. Ultimately as long as their app is functional, my gate control will always work. Other than driver integration concerns, I still have not heard one advantage of the C4 doorstation. The clear advantage of doorbird is they have been doing it longer, I can attach it easily to any NVR, price, and I am not nailed to not only c4 systems but even a monthly subscription to 4sight. Whats the C4 station advantages? 

[eggzlot]

25 minutes ago, timelinex said:

As far as I understand, I believe it is not fairly close in price at all and the C4 is over twice the price.......

At the current time, integration with c4 is a secondary concern as I don't know what I will actually use the integration for. I won't be taking out my phone to open my gate. What a hassle. It will be opened with my cars convenient rearview mirror button like it always has been. I can't think of anything that I would want 'automated' based on a generic "gate opens". Maybe you guys can point out some cool integrations that I missing though. 

So that is why I'm not so concerned with the c4 driver. Ultimately as long as their app is functional, my gate control will always work. Other than driver integration concerns, I still have not heard one advantage of the C4 doorstation. The clear advantage of doorbird is they have been doing it longer, I can attach it easily to any NVR, price, and I am not nailed to not only c4 systems but even a monthly subscription to 4sight. Whats the C4 station advantages? 

its integration within C4 as I illustrated with my two examples of Sonos and holovision.  3rd party integrations can die and wither on the vine.  So there is one pro in favor of C4.  you said that wasnt important to you so that's fine, but its still an advantage.  

[Cyknight]

2 hours ago, timelinex said:

As far as I understand, I believe it is not fairly close in price at all and the C4 is over twice the price.......

You're forgetting a paid driver

2 hours ago, timelinex said:

The clear advantage of doorbird is they have been doing it longer, I can attach it easily to any NVR, price, and I am not nailed to not only c4 systems but even a monthly subscription to 4sight. Whats the C4 station advantages? 

Can you attacha  doorbird to an NVR? You most certainly can with the C4 doorstation

4Sight isn't monthly, it's yearly - and it includes a lot of other things. Of course how important those things are to you is another matter.

1 hour ago, eggzlot said:

I still have not heard one advantage of the C4 doorstation

Well for one, sound and image seem superior, so is reliability. Not that Doorbird is BAD - but not as good.

2 hours ago, timelinex said:

I won't be taking out my phone to open my gate. What a hassle. It will be opened with my cars convenient rearview mirror button like it always has been. I can't think of anything that I would want 'automated' based on a generic "gate opens". Maybe you guys can point out some cool integrations that I missing though. 

Uhm. That has nothing to do with the doorstation at all to begin with. But what about if you need to open the gates for someone OTHER than you? Alerts raised when gate is opened at odd times, such as the middle of the night, or during school holidays when the kids should be home. The ability to automatically turn on the driveway lights, porch or any other lights in the house - or turn them off. Again, is that important or of value to you - well that's up to you.

 

 

[Cyknight]

On 10/7/2018 at 9:43 PM, timelinex said:

I know Doorbird has been the gold standard

You can't really call it a gold standard, it was the only easily integratable option.

[Cyknight]

On 10/8/2018 at 5:19 AM, bdo21 said:

I realise a little off topic from the original question but why do people want a keypad on their doorstations? I’m not sure what the benefit of it is?

Use it to open gate/door/garage - possibly with personalized lighting control, setting alerts that it's used and so on.

[Zuhair]

7 hours ago, Cyknight said:

You're forgetting a paid driver

Can you attacha  doorbird to an NVR? You most certainly can with the C4 doorstation

4Sight isn't monthly, it's yearly - and it includes a lot of other things. Of course how important those things are to you is another matter.

Well for one, sound and image seem superior, so is reliability. Not that Doorbird is BAD - but not as good.

Uhm. That has nothing to do with the doorstation at all to begin with. But what about if you need to open the gates for someone OTHER than you? Alerts raised when gate is opened at odd times, such as the middle of the night, or during school holidays when the kids should be home. The ability to automatically turn on the driveway lights, porch or any other lights in the house - or turn them off. Again, is that important or of value to you - well that's up to you.

 

 

8

Being a Doorbird user for more than a year, I totally agree with @Cyknight . Doorbird concept and its form factor are excellent, the reality is not. Being on a high quality wired network, I was expecting better sound and image. In addition to their faulty integration with C4 (especially when you have multiple T3s).

[Zuhair]

deleted

[northernlights]

So I will put a twist to this discussion...

I do not have cat5 to my existing door bell/intercom station, but 2 pair twisted. Since the D2 does not have wifi capabilities, then i'm left with this option...https://www.doorbird.com/downloads/datasheet_a1071_en.pdf as a method to get power and data back and forth. So now I am paying a lot more for the D2 and now this. So given this extra cost, for those D2 believers above, is the product still worth it?

[sturama]

Will add my two cents to this conversation, from the perspective of using a different (high-quality) German solution w/ C4.  Mobotix T25 doorstation- an otherwise excellent product on its own, and offered pretty decent C4 integration, and a world of configuration options, but a PITA to set-up.  And, of course, the integration would break occasionally (and annoyingly).   Switched to the DS2 Mini and couldn't be happier.

I like being a techie and home automation proponent as much as anyone else.  But wife acceptance factor (WAF) matters.  Or just any family-member, or friend, or just anybody else that may want/have to use a product?  The OP stated this is for a front-gate.  Is there a use-case for 'anybody else' to use this product than just the perhaps one tech-loving person in the household ?  Is there even a 51% chance that C4 integration could be contemplated in the near future (for all the use cases that @Cyknight has mentioned)?  Want a seamless user experience w/ one App/interface only?  We are talking non-DIY home automation, so might as well take advantage of the ease-of-use of these custom solutions.     

If the answer to the above is yes, then imho, its not even close... native C4 all the way.  Just my thoughts.