Add-On Sync Module 2

This is a general review of Blink camera system and Sync module itself. After researching the available products, ring, wyze, etc. I selected Blink system for setting up my video perimeter. It had all the right features at a very affordable overall price. When you purchase their cameras they give a month of cloud service so you can try things out. Their cloud pricing is also very affordable and competitive. At the same time, Blink offers this thing called a Sync module in case you don't want to pay for cloud subscription. Initially I couldn't find documentation of how / what this thing does so what I'm writing here is based on experimentation. At a high level, Sync module offers a subset of feature of the cloud and is basically designed to do one thing: Record and store videos when a camera detects motion. Other features such as periodic taking pictures and storing is not not supported. Here's how things work with Blink app. It organizes the various cameras (outdoor, mini, doorbell, etc.) into what they call a "System". A "System" is pretty much a way to group things together. A group of cameras have the same on/off schedule, can be armed/disarmed at the same time, show up on the app on the same page, etc. Most importantly, a group of cameras share a single Sync module. For example, let's say you want to use blink to monitor two separate physical locations. If you are using the cloud, you can create a single group and add all the cameras to it even though they are located apart. But, if you don't want to use the cloud and instead use a sync module, you'll need to create two "Systems", each with its own Sync Module. Once you decide how to group your cameras, adding them to the account / app is easy. First, you add the Sync Module, then each individual camera. The process is very quick. I've done it a dozen times already and it's gone without a problem every time. Once created, you can arm the group for motion detection and recording. Every time motion is detected, the camera saves the video footage to the Sync Module. Once saved, you can look at saved video clips from the app, just like you'd if you had the cloud subscription. I've been very happy with the functionality of the Syn Module. I've recommended it to a bunch of other people and can say that so far, I know about 5 households that bought the Sync Module + a bunch of cameras and been using them with success. I've attached a few pictures of the app to show what you'll see if you setup a group and some of the adjustments available for an individual camera. ------------------------------------------------------- The only problem i've had so far is one of the Sync Modules I purchased had a really strange issue. Everything worked except that it wouldn't actually record video to the USB. Camera would detect motion, send a notification, but no recorded video would show up. I did all the troubleshooting steps, called their support a few times, and unfortunately it wasn't solved. Also, there are no troubleshooting indicators available to figure out what was going on. Things either work or don't. I wish they provided some logs or other indicators to the user. At the end, I returned the thing, bought a new one, and it worked. So my conclusion is that specific Sync Module had an issue (hardware / software / who knows).

The setup is simple, very accurate as it connects to the internet, the box is very small as it looks like a local server hub, it looks compact and portable as it can be placed anywhere as you want. The only way I would use is really time live for the doorbel camera, and other as local cloud storage. I would recommend for anything that works for live view doorbell, or other as cutting subscription cost.

I received a blink 4 outdoor camera for my birthday. I was all excited and realized very quickly that I needed a sync module for it to work. I'm not really all that tech savvy. So for me to get it up and going is saying a lot. It's fairly simple to do. The night vision itself is fantastic. Black and white but that's all good. It doesn't go off with bugs but does pick up the neighborhood cats. I've had no issues with the sync module itself which is what I'm doing the review on. I plug it in and that's all I've done. I have two blink 4 cameras for my front yard and back yard and both are connected to the one sync module. The only negative I can say is that you cannot see both live views at the same time. It's one or the other. I can bring the blink app on my phone and see both cameras but only one can be viewed at a time. There's also a bit of a lag. Maybe 5 to 10 seconds on each camera. I'm sure a psychotic serial killer cannot possibly hack me up in tiny pieces in that time frame so I feel relatively safe. I do like if there's a person or movement it can decipher the difference. The phone will alert me if there's movement and at any time I can see live views. The plans were a bit confusing to me. You do get a trial for each camera which is nice. But after that you have to figure out which plan you want. Otherwise if you don't pay for it you only get very limited service that for me isn't going to work or give me the peace of mind I need which is why I wanted a system in the first place. Overall, I think it's worth it. It's great for what you get and not too expensive. I don't need a professional to install it and don't need to put a bunch of wires and holes in my house. It's easy to use as long as you have wifi. No real issues with it. Definitely recommend.

Purchased this to run with the other sync module that came with my kit. Apparently you can only use one sync module. So either im using this one and loosing capability r im using the other one and loosing local storage. That being said, its good enough. It works as it says, just the system is not perfect. Its also low cost so thats a huge plus.

I have a blink doorbell cam and when I installed it and hooked it up to the blink app it mentioned the Blink sync module 2. So I went on amazon and did some research on it and couldn’t really see what it did. I also read a lot of reviews that mentioned that you didn’t need it and some other reviews that said that they had trouble installing it. But, I ultimately decided to buy it and see what it did even though I planned on keeping the cloud storage here is what I have learned. If you have a blink camera that doesn’t plug in it is a good idea to get this and the cloud storage. The blink sync module 2 takes the video from the blink camera’s that don’t plug in and uploads them to your cloud storage for them. The cloud storage plus plan is about 10.60 a month with taxes and all included as of the writing of this review. And you can use the blink module 2 with just a usb drive but know that if someone breaks into your home and takes the usb drive with them when they leave you will have no photo’s or video of who was in your home. Because the video of the break in was not uploaded to the cloud and stored off site. So what happens with the devices from blink that use batteries (this can apply to solar powered devices as well) is that they try to conserve their energy so the best way that they do that is to only upload to the cloud as needed. Meaning without the module they are only uploading pictures, and (in my experience) no video. So when they do have the module they are communicating with it via wifi and saying "Hey I saw something and it needs to go to the cloud (if you have it) but I dont want to waste my power can you do it for me?” and the sync module responds back and says “sure im plugged in and I have plenty of power give it to me and I will send it”. The camera then send the video to the module (using a lot less power) then sends the video to the cloud storage (that you can pay for yearly or monthly) and it is saved. I think that the sync module 2 is nice, but I also think that they can do a better job on this site. They need to explain exactly what the module does and what will happen if you don’t get the cloud storage and what will happen if you do. I personally believe in redundancy when it comes to things like this and I think that if you are going to have this security system it is best to have the cloud storage, and to use a thumb drive. But if you really want to have just a thumb drive and you need this to do it I would suggest hiding this device somewhere where it will not be seen and where thieves cant get to it. Like one reviewer said it would be nice to be able to use this with an Ethernet cable, but you cant. Which is something that I don’t like other than that I would buy it and my blink doorbell camera again. That’s my two cents sorry about the long review. I hope that this helps you make a good decision about your home security needs. I did the best that I could so if it is a little confusing I am sorry.

Highly recommend I purchased this so I didn't have to pay $15-20 a month for cloud storage and I'm so happy I did...well worth the money... very easy to connect to my Ring cameras along with the USB reader that fits right into my phones charging port so I can see my video recordings for free

Blink sync module works well with my existing blink cameras and supports local storage. Being able to plug in an external storage device to the module helped to remove the need to use and pay for Blink's cloud storage subscription.

It seems like the makers of the Blink Sync Module they don't actually want you to use it! They REALLY want you to put all of your video clips "in the cloud" (and pay them a monthly fee) instead of just storing your clips yourself. And from the way this is designed, it shows. I bought a few blink cameras because I had some stuff stolen out of my yard and wanted a deterrent/monitoring system just in case it ever happens again. Given the choice of paying Amazon a monthly fee to store my video clips in "the cloud" or to just keep them on a USB drive at my house for a one-time fee, I chose the local option. Hence, I bought the Sync Module and a USB thumb drive. My frustration with this product really begins with the way the app tries to hard-sell the cloud storage even though the whole reason I paid extra money for the Sync Module to begin with is to avoid cloud storage, which seems like the main benefit of the Sync Module. When you open the app, even if you have a Sync Module with a USB plugged into it, it defaults to a screen that informs you that there are no video clips saved because you're not paying Amazon for cloud storage. Only when you tap another tab will it allow you to access your locally-saved clips. Now, wouldn't it make sense from a user experience perspective to make the local clips tab pop up by default if you have a Sync Module with a USB inserted and that's where you've chosen to store your clips? Yes, but I guess then you would have one less daily reminder that Amazon wants MORE of your money to operate a product you ALREADY PAID FOR. So, moving along to annoyance #2: when you go to load a video clip that's saved locally, you have to sit there and wait for it to churn and churn before it will not load. Not too long, granted. But just long enough for Amazon to remind you that if you pay a monthly fee for cloud storage it'll work faster! Which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. For those of you who haven't figured this out yet, there is no cloud; you're just storing files on someone else's computer instead of your own. So can someone explain to me how it takes more time to load and transmit a file from the Sync Module that's five feet away from me via my own in-home Wifi, than it does to load and transmit that same file from some data center in Idaho or some other place thousands of miles away from me? The only explanation I've come up with so far is that Amazon needs those extra few seconds to show me a screen reminding me (in case I missed it!) that I can sign up for cloud storage. And as if that wasn't bad enough, here's the worst part: the dang thing doesn't even work half the time. Every month or two, it will just corrupt my USB drive storage and stop saving clips. I'll have to remove the thumb drive, plug it into a PC to repair it, and then plug it back into the Sync Module. As far as I can tell, I'm not doing anything to cause this; the Sync Module sits in its little corner untouched except for when this happens. But, of course, here's yet another problem that could be "solved" by...you guessed it...paying a monthly fee for cloud storage. Amazon markets this product as a way to avoid the extra fees for saving your video clips in the cloud...and then proceeds to make it clunky and unreliable, all the while forcing constant ads for cloud storage upon the user. One star, would not recommend.

The Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 works perfectly and was very easy to set up. It connected quickly to my existing Blink system and keeps everything running smoothly. Performance has been reliable, and it helps manage and store footage efficiently. A great addition for expanding a Blink setup. Highly recommended.

As a jewelry, 3D design, wax carving, lost wax casting, sand casting, smelting and forging, laser engraving, and sublimation company, ensuring the safety and security of our workspace is paramount. That's why we recently integrated the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 into our security system, and it has completely transformed the way we monitor and protect our premises. First and foremost, the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 seamlessly integrates with our existing Blink security cameras, providing us with an additional layer of control and flexibility. With its easy setup process and intuitive interface, we were able to incorporate it into our security network within minutes, without any hassle or complications. One of the standout features of the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 is its ability to enhance the functionality of our Blink cameras. By connecting multiple cameras to the sync module, we can create a comprehensive surveillance system that covers every corner of our workspace. This ensures that we have eyes on all areas, allowing us to detect and respond to any potential security threats effectively. Moreover, the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 offers advanced features that enhance our security capabilities. The ability to remotely arm and disarm our cameras, receive instant alerts on our mobile devices, and access recorded footage from anywhere gives us peace of mind knowing that our workspace is protected 24/7. Another aspect that we appreciate about the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 is its reliability and durability. Designed to withstand the rigors of continuous use, this device operates flawlessly day in and day out, providing us with uninterrupted security surveillance without fail. Overall, the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2 has been a game-changer for our company's security infrastructure. Its seamless integration, advanced features, and robust performance make it an invaluable asset in safeguarding our workspace and ensuring the safety of our valuable assets. If you're looking for a reliable and efficient security solution for your business, look no further than the Blink Add-On Sync Module 2. Highly recommended!

I bought 4 outside cameras, two inside mini and hook them to two Blink sync modules 2 with USB stubs. The whole system was working fine until the last day when both modules got off line without any reason. I have trying to reconnect all kind of way removing one from the server and register again without success so now the system is useless. Not sure if I would recommend it if it does not get solve. Huge disappointment. After contacting tech services i hook them back within a minute. So i'm pretty sure Blink was doing some work on their server but never notified are warned any customers because those paying for the cloud would want a discount and that's too complicate for them to handle. Anyhow and raise my evaluation from one to four star because when it's working it is a fairly good system.

I am giving this product 5 stars because Blink's customer service is unbelievable. I received this new in the package. When I went to add into my system, so I can store locally, the Blink app told me it was already registered with someone else. Confused as the package was brand new. I called Blinks customer service. They gave me the option of having Amazon send me a new one or they would fix it. So to make a long story short with some work at their end they fixed the issue and waited for me to put it online before they left me. When a manufacturer goes that extra mile for such an inexpensive product that says something about the company. 38 years in the commercial security industry I was impressed as they sell consumer products. If you want home security buy from these guys and I can tell you they are a leader in their industry. I have access to "top of the line" gear from all over the world but I will be buying more equipment from them.

Works well