GBFSmart Video Door phone & Doorbell Intercom System (PL963PM-POE),1080P HD, Smart Keypad, work with ONVIF, Built in POE, Control Two Locks remotely, Hold Open Feature

I am very satisfied with this device, although I had a few challenges getting the keypad programmed.This review is based on using the most recent firmware ("Doorbell2") and iPhone app ("ControlCam2") with a hard-wired ethernet connection (not wifi). If you can understand the various settings in a home router, you should be able to get this working. If you have problems, the Canadian gents at GBF Electronics are patient, knowledgeable, and eager to help. The manual is pretty good but there is one significant error that you should be aware of (explained toward the end of this review in the KEYPAD section). The manual suggests doing the initial setup in your home rather than onsite, which is very good advice. I know this system supports wifi, but in my opinion (based on much experience) wifi is never reliable enough for something like this.HOW TO USE THIS WITH A GTO (MIGHTY MULE) GATE OPENERI bought this to replace the keypad for my GTO (Mighty Mule) gate opener (see photo). The gate is about 600 feet from my house. Cell phone service at that location is very poor. I have electrical service at the gate, but did not have internet. We could not leave the gate open unless we removed our animals from the pasture on our side. This required that we share our gate code in advance with guests we knew were coming, and unannounced visitors would either have to honk their vehicle horn to get our attention, or find a place with better cell service to give us a call. Clearly not an optimal setup.In planning, I knew that there was no way I wanted to rely on wifi. I wanted total reliability for this system, and a wired connection for me was mandatory. Since I have an Internet switch in the barn where the power panel is located that feeds the gate, I tried Powerline adapters (where the ethernet signal piggy backs over the electrical line) such as those made by TP-Link, Netgear and others. But the run was too long, and the signal was not reliable.Ultimately, I decided to try a wireless point-to-point system, which I purchased from Amazon (see the photo showing one side of the microwave-based antenna I located on the back side of my bridge/gate). You can read about it here:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002K683V0/The EZ-Bridge system will get its own review, but it works great and gives me a consistent and reliable 300Mbits at 500 feet (and the manufacturer says it can work up to 3 miles!). I also installed a wifi router at this location to provide Internet for my phone to allow me to make calls in wifi mode.Since this GBF "doorbell" system is primarily advertised to be used for remotely opening door locks, and since I had no experience with the protocols for such systems, I was unsure whether this would work with my GTO gate opener, but I did find one review in which the person mentioned they had it working with their GTO control arm, so I decided to give it a try. In studying the control board for my GTO opener (see photo) I found that if I used a test wire to bridge between "COM" and "CYCLE" I could briefly close the circuit (touch wire between COM and CYCLE) once to start the gate open cycle, touch again to pause it, and touch again to start the close cycle. This means the GTO switch is "normally open", which means you will need to use the Blue and Green wires coming from the GBF keypad to control it. Once installed, you can you click the Unlock icon in the ControlCam2 app to initiate the open cycle. (There is a setting to control how long the GBF controller closes the circuit, referred to in the instructions as "unlock duration". In my case I needed it to be a short as possible and set it to 1 second.) If you want you can click again to pause, and then click again to close the gate. If you just click once to open the gate, it will open and then the GTO controller will close the gate based on the interval you set on the GTO board.To try to keep things simple for my installation, I decided to use PoE (power over ethernet) for the GBF keypad instead of using the included 12V power adapter. This required the following items:GBF PoE Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XZSFDS4/PoE Injector Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074SD4D1T/I ran two outdoor-rated Cat5e cables underground to the post where I installed the GBF keypad (see photo). One cable was for the Internet connection, and the other to allow me to connect the GBF Blue and Green wires to the COM and CYCLE terminals on the GTO controller. (I just used two wires in the Cat5e cable and cut off the others.) You will note (see photo) that I used an electrical junction box on the side of the post to hold the rather bulky GBF adapters and to ensure I was keeping my splices and cable connections protected and dry.KEYPAD PROGRAMMING[NOTE: Updated 1/24/19. Once I received a replacement keypad, the issues I was having were resolved.]Before I buttoned everything down, I did a live test using the ControlCam2 app, and was amazed at how rock solid the system is. I worked perfectly. Great video, great sound, and very easy to use. However, I did run into two problems with the keypad. One thing to know is that the part of the GBF controller that works with the ControlCam2 app is completely separate from the part that controls the Keypad. There is unfortunately no way to manage or program the keypad through the app. You do keypad programming using "programming mode" that you initiate by hitting * and then entering the default password for the keypad (again, a password managed through the keypad only, and only for the keypad, not the ControlCam2 app).The first problem I ran into was that I could not get the keypad into programming mode. I followed the simple instructions (hit *, hear chirp, enter password, wait for longer chirp, and then enter further commands to set your open code). I did not get the longer chirp. I used the keypad factory reset hoping it would solve my problem, but that did not work (after multiple tries). I sent a detailed email to GBF explaining my problem, and within a few hours got a response that basically included a video link on how to program the keypad (sigh). So, I made my own video and sent it back to them showing what was going on. After a few hours without a response, and my project stalled, I made a call to GBF. The fellow I talked to watched my video and we both scratched our heads for a bit discussing strategies for solving the problem. He suggested that since doing a factory reset did not seem to work, that I instead use a different sequence to reset and immediately set a new password. Then try getting into programming mode. That worked.Above I mentioned there is a setting called "unlock duration" to control how many seconds the GBF controller will keep the circuit closed (or open depending on your needs and setup). You must set this separately for the keypad using programming mode. The keypad supports up to 40 slots for unique codes. The instructions indicate that slots 01-30 will use whatever unlock duration has been programmed for the keypad, and there is a note that says the following: "Slots 31–40 are not affected by the programmed unlock duration time. These access codes will only trip the relay for about 1 second." So, based on this I programmed my code into slot 31 so that I could take advantage of that 1 second relay trip. But when I tested it, my gate opened but never closed. Fortunately, I still had the fellow from GBF on the phone as he'd been troubleshooting live with me. I explained what was happening and what I had done and he immediately knew the problem, indicating that they needed to update the manual. Turns out that with the latest firmware version, that note about slots 31-40 is incorrect and that those slots now work in the exact opposite way: the do ignore the programmed unlock during time, BUT instead of tripping the relay for 1 second, they keep it open (or closed in my case) permanently. You would set a code in those slots in my case to keep the gate open and then have to enter the code again to close it. So, I used programming mode to set the default unlock duration to 1 second, and programmed my code into slot 01.OBSERVATIONSDespite a couple of problems that created some frustration and wasted a few hours of my time, this is a really excellent solution for me, and has proven to be extremely reliable, which is critical for this application.As mentioned previously, I think you are asking for grief if you try to use wifi, but that is not an issue with the GBF intercom as much as it is the fickle nature of wifi.I find with my wired connection that the ControCam2 app works very reliably, and as it seems to use some hidden protocol to communicate over the public Internet, I did not need to do any port forwarding in order for it to operate outside my home network.[NOTE: Updated 1/24/19. Once I received a replacement keypad, the issues I was having below were resolved.They keypad is the weakest part of this system. I've already noted my issue getting into program mode. They keys are not mechanical (which normally would be good) to eliminate wear and tear (take a close look at the keys on my old GTO keypad in the photo). But since they rely on sensing using an electrical field (I guess) from your finger, they can be a bit touchy, especially if you try to move too fast. I find that, unless I am very deliberate when entering the code, they keypad rejects the entry and I have to do it over again. And, sometimes, a single touch can result in a double entry. It still works better than the GTO keypad, plus I have the remote and intercom, so I can deal with it.]It would be awesome if you could program and manage the keypad through the ControlCam2 app!Note that the lights for the camera are not IR, so there is no night vision if you just want to check if there is anything going on around your gate at night. Not a big issue, but something to consider.And, as others have mentioned, if you want to put the ControlCam2 app on multiple phones, you should setup a different user login for each phone. When a visitor hits the bell (call) button on the keypad, all phones with the app will ring, and the one that answers first takes the call. Any other users trying to answer will get a message that the call has been answered by another user. That works great.

This review is for the 2nd generation WiFi Doorbell (PL960). I examined many different doorbell systems. My system needs were:1) Hard line, IP internet capable as my gate was too far from my home to get reliable WiFi signal2) Magnetic gate lock operation3) Key pad4) Connection for conventional wired doorbellThe Ring and Nest doorbells didn't have the functionality I needed and needed wifi. I looked at Doorbird, Grandstream and Axis systems. Doorbird didn't have a keypad and the Axis system that fit these requirements was over $1K. I tried the Grandstream system 1st as it was compariably priced to the GBF. The problem with the Grandstream was that it required a lot more knowledge regarding host servers to get the system up and running. I wanted something plug and play. I returned the Grandstream and purchased the GBF system.For the $, the GBF system is excellent. It has an app that allows the magnetic lock to be disabled remotely. It does everything I needed.The main negatives are:1) There is a delay (5-10 sec) between when someone presses the bell button and the app notification.2) The camera is not very good and has a very narrow field of viewBut for the price, I could live with the negatives.After a year, the bell signal to my wired interior doorbell stopped working. I contacted the manufacturer and they were willing to either replace the 2nd gen system or put 50% of the cost towards their 3rd gen system (PL963). I chose to upgrade to the 3rd gen.The 3rd gen eliminated the two negatives from the 2nd gen. The camera is much better and they have designed a new app that is much more responsive. The app also allows the PIN programming, whereas the 2nd gen you had to do it through the keypad itself.The one negative about the 3rd gen is that the bell functionality no longer works for a wired doorbell. The 2nd gen had a relay connection with no potential that just acted as a contact switch. The 3rd gen doesn't have this. The manual shows a signal Bell connection with an associated ground. But I found no chimes that work with it other than the indoor monitor that GBF sells. I really just want a simple wired bell.Update (March 28, 2021)Speaking with the manufacturer, they have indicated the next variant of the 3rd gen will get back the bell functionality. They thought it would be within a month and said I could get an exchange.The customer support has been excellent. The GBF wifi doorbell is a great value and when the updated 3rd gen comes out with the bell support this will be a 5 star system. For the price, the only other system comparable is the Grandstream but it was too complicated for a non professional.Update (July 12, 2021) Upgraded to 5 StarsThe manufacturer sent me the newest motherboard that has added back the bell/bell connections for traditional wired doorbell operation. The system now does everything I need. The customer support via email has been excellent. The manufacturer really seems to care that their product works and did everything they could to make sure I was happy with my GBF Wifi doorbell. I have upgraded my rating to 5 stars. I haven't see any other system that has all the functionality this system does at this price. Highly recommend the system.

I hate this device. I did my homework when we ordered it almost two years ago. It was supposed to be able to operate stand-alone on a local network. It can't. It has to phone home to their servers, which are always going down or going slow. So we often could not connect to the device through our network (WiFi) or through our phones (4G), and more often than not, when someone would hit the call button, we would get the doorbell alert minutes, hours or days (yes, days) later. We finally had to disable the doorbell, since we would get doorbell alerts at 2AM all of the time, but of course nobody was there. So I resigned to simply use it as a camera and to open and close our gate remotely. Sadly, after about a year, it locked up and never worked again. Ray (at tech support) was very helpful in getting a replacement unit under our two year warranty. The new device worked for several months with no issues (not using the doorbell at all). Then suddenly it stopped opening and closing our gate remotely on the provided app. Tried to reload the app, now it doesn't get video either. We were able to download a new version of the app that at least opens the gate remotely, but video does not work on that app. Ironically, the video does still work, but we are capturing it through someone else's app. We are still within our two year warranty, but I am simply tired of dealing with this device. I have bought an alternative device to control the gate remotely, and we will replace the device with a standard gate keypad and a Foscam camera when it finally finishes dying. I would NEVER buy one of these devices again. One and a half years in, and it has never been as advertised, never worked without issues and has been a constant source of embarrassment and frustration.