Smart Video Doorbell — Pre-Installation Information

Thank you for choosing Wilsons Systems to install your new video doorbell. To make sure your installation goes smoothly and your doorbell works reliably from day one, please read the short notes below.

This page is here so you have all the information in one place — you can also share it with anyone else in the household.

Why your router matters

Modern WiFi doorbells connect to your home WiFi to send calls, video, and notifications to your mobile phone.

The doorbell uses the longer-range 2.4GHz WiFi band — this gives it the best signal through walls and from outside the property.

Most home routers handle this without any issue. However, some routers — particularly the standard hubs supplied by EE and BT — combine their two WiFi bands together in a way that can cause smart devices (doorbells, cameras, plugs, bulbs) to drop offline intermittently.

If you have one of these routers, we may need to install a small additional wireless access point, or run a wired connection, to give your doorbell a stable home. We'll identify this during our site survey wherever possible.

What we need from you before we arrive

To make the installation as smooth as possible, please have the following ready:

1. The make and model of your router — it's printed on a label, usually on the back or underside.
2. Your WiFi network name and password.
3. Admin access to your router during the visit — this is usually a separate password printed on the same label as the WiFi password. Without this we may not be able to complete the install in a single visit.
4. The email address and password for the smartphone you want to receive doorbell calls on (so we can set up and sign you into the Hik-Connect app on the day).
5. Decide who else in the household needs the app — we can share the doorbell with multiple family members.

After we install

Call notifications

When someone presses the doorbell, your phone will ring. Tap to answer and you'll see live video and be able to talk through your phone speaker as if you were at the door.

This works whether you're at home, at work, or abroad — as long as your phone has internet.

Notifications must be allowed

For the doorbell to ring your phone, notifications for the Hik-Connect app must be enabled on every phone you've added. If you ever miss a doorbell call, the first thing to check is whether notifications got switched off — this is the single most common cause.

Sharing with family

In the Hik-Connect app you can invite family members so they also receive doorbell calls. We'll set up the primary account during the install and show you how to invite others.

A note on later router changes

If you change your internet provider or upgrade your router after we install the doorbell, the doorbell may need to be reconnected to your new WiFi.

We're happy to come back and do this, but it would be a chargeable visit (typically 30–60 minutes).

The most common cause of unexpected callbacks is a new EE or BT router being installed by your provider — if you have one being delivered, please get in touch before plugging it in so we can advise on the best approach.

Troubleshooting in the first few weeks

Most doorbells work flawlessly from day one. If you do see issues, try these in order:

1. Wait 5 minutes — sometimes the doorbell briefly drops offline as your router shuffles devices around, and it reconnects on its own.
2. Check your phone has notifications enabled for the Hik-Connect app (in iPhone Settings or Android Settings).
3. Reboot your router — unplug for 30 seconds, plug back in, wait 3 minutes.
4. Reboot the doorbell — if accessible (turn off the breaker for the doorbell circuit briefly, or unplug the network cable if PoE).
5. Open the Hik-Connect app and check if the doorbell shows as "Online."

If after these steps the doorbell is still offline or you're missing call notifications, please get in touch.

Contact us

We look forward to your installation.

Ryan Wilson Managing Director, Wilsons Systems