Back in the 90s, people liked their homes to be maximized for space.
Building costs were lower, and the general idea was to have as much space as possible. These days, new homes tend to be smaller, at least in my area. It’s surprising when a newly built home is larger than about 2,000 square feet.
That’s one reason I’m okay owning a home from a bygone era. There’s just a lot of space — for testing gear, for a TV room, and even extra bedrooms for visitors. My office is in the basement and it feels like a mile from the front door.
Recently, I had the chance to test out the Vivint Chime Extender, a simple $60 smart home addition that does a simple task but in a way that makes perfect sense. The basic idea is to add a small device in your home that plays the doorbell chime so you can hear it from anywhere.
Vivint sent me two of them to try out, and I put one in my basement family room and another in my office. Installation is super easy and doesn’t require that someone comes to your house. (Normally, Vivint sends an installer to get things running.)
I plugged in the device and used the Vivint app to do a quick and easy search over my Wi-Fi network. The app found the chime almost immediately, and then with a tap it was up and running. I installed the second extender in my office and the process was also quick. Part of the reason this works so well is that I have a mesh network in my house, so the Wi-Fi signal is strong even though the house is about 3,000-square feet.
I asked a friend to help me test out the new extender. He went out to the door and I sat in the family room first. Sure enough, when he rang the doorbell, I heard a loud chime from the newly installed gadget. I flipped out my phone and checked the app, which showed this stand-in delivery driver posing at the door like he was in a commercial.
I moved over to my office and we tried the same trick — the results were the same, I liked how simple the device is to connect, and then there’s nothing left to do — no confirmation needed. That said, I did decide to change the chime to something a little more entertaining and chose a melody chime instead of the standard chime I’ve become accustomed to hearing.
A doorbell chime is not exactly fancy or novel, but it certainly helps with security and as a notification that there’s a new delivery. You can set the front doorbell camera to alert you when someone is detected, and if a delivery driver shows up and rings the doorbell, you can hear it from anywhere. I liked the flexibility of adding extenders to any room.
The device just connects to an outlet, so there’s no cords or fuss. The only downside, of course, is that adding a chime means you have used up an outlet. That’s another benefit of a house from the 90s. They installed a lot of outlets back then (more than the number I’ve seen in brand new houses, probably because the square footage is less). I’m a happy camper now and can race to the door whenever UPS or FedEx arrives — for the win.