Ring Retrofit Alarm Kit | Convert Wired Security Contact Sensors to Ring Smart System | Compatible with Most Door & Motion Sensors| Pro Install Recommended | Base Station Required

This review is for the Ring Retrofit Kit only. Other components of the Ring Alarm System are reviewed elsewhere. I decided to install the Ring Retrofit kit to replace the legacy alarm system that came with my home. My original system had 20+ alarm circuits. I installed two retrofit kits to transfer 16 of the existing circuits to a new Ring Alarm system. This was a very doable DIY project. It will help if you have a clear understanding of your existing system. Find the wiring diagram for your old system and study it. Take lots of photos and label everything. It helps if you make sure all of your alarm circuits are working BEFORE you do the retrofit. I needed to replace two of the magnetic sensors in my windows before I could attempt the retrofit. You use the Ring app to add circuits one at a time. Disconnect the circuit from the existing system, and then connect the wires into the Ring Retrofit module. I needed to add extra length to most of the circuit wires, so you might need a spool of alarm wire, and some wire connectors to complete the circuit. Once the circuit is connected, the app will ask you to open and close the associated window/door for testing. Repeat the process for each sensor circuit that you add. Traditional alarm systems include a resistor in the circuit in order to detect tampering. My system had the resistors in the alarm box, so I could just reconnect the existing wires to the retrofit kit. A lot of reviewers are concerned about the need for resistors. My reading of the Ring documents seem to indicate that any wiring arrangement will work with the retrofit kit (resistor or not), as long as there is not a short circuit or broken wire. PROS: The retrofit kit allows you to use the existing sensors in your home. This not only saves money, but it also gives a “cleaner” look to your home when you don’t have to have clunky wireless sensors attached to each window and door. This is a project that a homeowner with a reasonable wiring knowledge can do alone. Save the cost of professional installation. Very reliable system. I’ve had zero problems after six months. There really aren’t any other options for retrofitting an older alarm system. Ring is about the only one out there. CONS: You can’t connect wired motion detectors or smoke/fire detectors to this system. Ring sells alternative devices for this, but it would be nice if you could use the devices that are already wired into your house. Each retrofit kit only supports 8 alarm circuits. I installed two retrofit kits for my system, but I really needed three. It would be nice if they was a larger capacity kit with more circuits. The retrofit modules are battery powered only. Ring claims the batteries will last years, and my batteries still show full charge after six months. However, it would be nice if you could power the modules directly, and avoid the cost and hassle of battery replacement. I was able to use the power in my old alarm system to power my new Ring keypads using the existing wiring in the walls. This isn’t an option with the retrofit kit. No Siri/ Homekit integration. Ring devices only work with Alexa. If you’re a HomeKit user, you’re out of luck. However the Ring app is very useable. This hasn’t been a problem for me.

This diminutive gadget (it’s roughly the size of a stack of 4 CD jewel cases) is designed to allow you to integrate legacy sensors from an existing old alarm system into a Ring wireless alarm system. It attaches to the Ring base wirelessly, a very simple process; and then you can connect the sensor wires to its terminals, it supports up to 8 zones. For more zones, you can add more extenders. Door and window sensors do not require any special treatment, but motion and smoke detectors will require a 12V supply with battery backup. I found an inexpensive 12V UPS that is perfect for this, although the problem is when it fails it will trigger the alarm... The huge benefit of this device, though, is that it lets you use all the existing wired sensors: no running wires, no batteries, no problem (well, the batteries in the extender) Setup is super simple thanks to the well designed app. Go to the Devices section, select the extender, and you will see all the ones. Any zone with a sensor connected is configurable, the others are grayed out. To configure a zone, you select it and then open and close the door or window; you can then name and save the zone, and it becomes enabled. Couldn’t be simpler. Very well designed device, great software, if you’re contemplating Ring and your house has an existing wired alarm system don’t hesitate, make sure you buy this extender. It’s a little pricey but worth it. Buy Ring motion detectors and use your existing door and window sensors! Very highly recommended.

The Ring Retrofit Alarm Kit is perfect for our needs and was much easier to install and configure than I expected. You do need to be comfortable with electrical wiring although the connections are all low voltage. We built our home 3 years ago and had a Honeywell system installed with every window and door monitored with hardwire contacts. I did not want to have to routinely replace batteries in battery operated contacts. You will need to remove the Zoned wires attached to your current wired alarm system one by one, test them with a continuity tester and connect them to the Retrofit Kit. I found that we had more than one (sometimes 5) windows and/or doors wired in series before they were connected to our Honeywell alarm circuit board. I had previously labeled all the zones which made it a bit easier but you still need to verify all windows and doors in a zone using the Ring app during installation, which I found very easy. I added 22 gage extension cables to each zone in the Honeywell box so the 15 plus zone cables stayed in the Honeywell alarm box and only 6 cable were routed out to the Retrofit Kit. After installation, which included 3 of the Ring 2nd gen keypads (to replace the Honeywell keypads), a Ring Motion sensor to replace the wired sensor and 1 Ring Contact sensor to replace the battery contact on our patio slider, I discovered there was a lot of flexibility to defining zones, which zones armed when in Stay mode and with armed in Away mode. Very please with the flexibility of the Ring Alarm and Retrofit Kit. Ring monitoring and very reasonable compared to local monitoring companies. Ring alarm can be configured with Alexa which will monitor your smoke detectors and glass breaking (using Alexa Guard). Arming and disarming can be done by key pad, the Ring phone app or Alexa.

This worked exactly as promised, and installation was pretty quick (if you have the least bit of experience working with wiring). The hard part was identifying which wires in my existing system went with what sensors, but after that it was easy. You also have to able to do a continuity test to make sure your sensors are N.C. sensors (not N.O.). That is, the circuit is completed when a door is closed, and broken when it's opened. The reason I chose Ring for my alarm system was that they offered this device. I could not find any other alarm system that would allow me to use my existing door sensors. I paid a lot to get the original system installed, including wiring to each door sensor that is completely hidden. This device allowed me to reuse 7 door sensors without having to mount the conspicuous wireless sensors on the edge of each door.

I purchased this device with my Ring alarm system to replace my Cox Homelife system. My home is pre-wired for 8 zones, so one of these devices worked perfect. The documentation is sparse. However, it's still pretty easy to convert the old system to the new one. It runs solely on battery power, which makes it easy to install wherever the existing wiring is at. I used the Range Extender to ensure there was a close enough ZWave signal. My two gripes are that it's actually a bit too small, which makes it a bit harder to install the wiring for each zone as they are placed very close together. I've also noticed that sometimes after opening a window, it doesn't register that the window is closed, requiring me to open and close it a second time to reset the zone. If you're not looking at the app, you wouldn't know this. The only other complaint is that all of the wired zones share the same "room" in the Ring app. Changing one zone to another room changes them all.

This retrofit system works well and is pretty easy to install. The most work for me was identifying and labelling my security zone cables. I added it to my existing ring system with no issues. Don't get scared by their "professional installation recommended; " it is fairly easy to install. The unit saved me money because the quote I got for a security system for a prewired home was $60/month with a 36-month contract. I only paid $75 for this unit with self-monitor. For incomplete prewired homes, look into using earth magnets with double-sided tape for your door sensor. Pro: -Reasonable price compared to 36 monthly contracts with a $60/month (Will have saved me $2,160 in 36 months) -Fairly easy to install and setup -Compact and look clean Cons: -It would be nice to have a rechargeable battery instead -For the price would be nice to have 10 zones vs 8 zone

I have an existing wired security system that is 15 years old, so the control elements are antiquated, and monitoring is expensive. I wanted to move to a system that would be easy to use, and especially one that would allow management via smart devices. That being said, I have a fair number of doors and windows, so I was not looking to replace all the sensors. And, to be honest, I was not particularly enthusiastic about that many battery changing opportunities if I converted all the sensors to wireless. It took less than an hour to move 6 zones from the existing security system to the Ring retrofit kit. I did have a couple of sensors that had shifted position slightly, so the zone initially wouldn't get to closed, but they were easy to find and fix - and that is more an issue with my existing wired sensors than the retrofit kit. The downside of adding wired zones vs individual wireless sensors is that you can't tell (from the app) which sensor is open, since multiple are wired in series. But that is no different than the situation I had initially, and was outweighed by the cost of a full retrofit. All in all, the Ring retrofit alarm kit did exactly what it said it would and was pretty painless to get working. I also was able to reduce the monitoring cost, while getting a modern interface to my alarm that I can check and manage from anywhere. I love it. Since I also have a Ring doorbell, it made sense from an integration standpoint.

Had a FirstAlert alarm system in the house. Wanted to move to Ring for a remote-arm/disarm solution but didn't want to re-sensor all my doors and windows if I didn't have to. The wiring portion of it was about as simple as it gets and it supported all my door and window contacts, although there was no way to hook in my old alarm's interior and exterior siren, wired glass break sensors. I didn't try my wired motion sensors, although I read some people had luck. Only issue I had was trying to get the retrofit kit to be recognized on the system. I still don't know how I got it to work, I just know the instructions showing which button to press to start the process once you pop the cover back on was too much for my feeble brain to understand. One way Ring could improve this product is by adding a board that supplies voltage enough to power up their Ring alarm keypads. Most old-school alarms have the keypad powered from the panel, so there's already wires running from the panel to the existing keypads; it would've been nice if I could've re-purposed that wire to provide constant charge to the Ring keypads! I'm still mulling over how to get power to my keypads using the existing wire runs I set aside, maybe we'll get lucky and Ring will work that situation out. I prefer not having to remove things and charge em up once or twice a year!

Everything transitioned over with the exception of the motion and glass break detectors. Installation was easy. Keep in mind these two devices were 30 years old.

Very easy install. I did myself in 20 min. You will need ring base as well for this to work.

I was able to connect wired sensors from my old alarm into the ring system. The setup and wiring is easy, and the installation using the ring App was easy and very logical. Wire a channel, test channel, move to next channel. I was able to connect 7 channels from my old alarm in about an hour.

I don't like that it's battery powered, but the setup was very easy. It needs a switch to for NC and NO connections, and it needs a power supply. Otherwise it's exactly what I needed

Product is a great addition for those who have an alarm system already. It has a nice feel and works great. It is a bit expensive provided what it does and it really should have a plug in option not just battery powered. However it does work well.