Some Ring doorbells can use AI features to interact with visitors when you’re not home. I ditched my Ring doorbell for a Reolink doorbell that runs fully locally, but I wondered if I could recreate a similar feature using a local LLM. I was partially successful.
What I wanted my doorbell to do
An AI-powered concierge
Credit: Ring
The idea seemed fairly plausible. When someone rings the doorbell and Home Assistant detects that no one is home, the doorbell should speak to the caller explaining that everyone is out and asking for their name and reason for calling. It should then listen for the response, process what they say, and respond accordingly.
With the use of a cloud-based LLM, this would seem to be a realistic goal. Converting text to speech and speech to text are simple enough to do using cloud-based services. An LLM would sit in the middle, taking what the caller said as the input and generating responses to be spoken by the doorbell.
I knew that doing this with a local LLM would be more challenging. My relatively weak hardware can only run smaller models, and these might not be up to the job. I figured it was worth a try to see whether I could get it all running locally.
Resolution
2K
Power Source
Battery
Reolink’s battery-powered Wi-Fi video doorbell is a great way to know who’s outside. With a 2K resolution and a 150°x150° head-to-toe view, this video doorbell can be powered either over battery or wired, depending on your existing setup.
How I set it up
TTS out, Whisper in, Ollama in the middle
There were three main components that I needed to make this work. I needed a way to transform text to speech (TTS) so that my doorbell could speak aloud to the caller. I needed a way to transform speech to text (STT) so that whatever the caller said could be converted into written text to pass to the LLM. And I needed a way to run a local LLM that would be the brains of the whole operation.
Thankfully, Home Assistant has some great options for each of these components. Piper is a local TTS engine that can turn written text into spoken audio that I can play through my doorbell. It runs entirely locally and is lightweight enough that you can run it on a Raspberry Pi 4.
Get AI-generated descriptions of anyone your video doorbell detects.
Whisper provides the equivalent local STT component. It can take the audio recorded by my doorbell when the caller is speaking and convert it into text that I can pass to the local LLM. Once again, it runs entirely locally, which was my aim for this project.
The bottleneck is the capability of the LLM model that you run. Weaker hardware can only run smaller, less capable models, and the larger the model you try to run, the slower the responses are likely to be. I had to use a fairly small model to ensure that it didn’t take too long to generate responses.
Reality didn’t match my hopes
The concept is fine, the execution isn’t
Credit: Reolink
It took me some time to get everything set up. As always with Home Assistant, other people had done most of the hard work; there was a useful GitHub Gist explaining how to play audio and TTS through my Reolink doorbell, which came in very handy.
I had some issues with the audio capture starting while the spoken greeting from the doorbell was still playing, which messed things up, but eventually figured out how to work around it.
The first parts of my idea worked well. When the doorbell was pressed, the LLM would generate a spoken greeting which would play through the doorbell speaker. It would explain that everyone was out and ask the caller for their name and the purpose of their call.
The doorbell would then record their spoken response and STT would turn it into text. So far, so good.
The problem was that trying to have a two-way conversation with the AI-powered doorbell just didn’t work. The small LLM would get confused and start talking nonsense, and the responses would take too long to come through.
It seems likely that the concept would work much better with a powerful enough LLM running the show. Until I win the lottery, however, I’m stuck with what I’ve got.
I built a workable alternative
It’s actually a pretty solid setup
Since the main sticking point was trying to have a conversation with the caller, I simply cut out that part of the process. Instead, when the caller gives their name and reason for calling, the STT turns this into text, and that text is then sent as a notification to my phone. The doorbell then says that it will pass on the message and ends the conversation.
It means that whenever someone rings the doorbell when we’re out, I get a notification telling me who it was and why they were calling. It works reasonably well most of the time, with the occasional slightly hilarious notification appearing when things go wrong. For the most part, however, it’s a genuinely useful feature.
This is the direction the world is going in
The trend now is for AI in all the things, and it doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon. While Ring’s AI-powered concierge is useful, the company doesn’t have the best reputation for privacy. The good news is that it’s possible to recreate at least parts of these features completely locally with a little effort.
I built my first PC in my early teens, and I just never really stopped. A passion for building desktops turned into a career, and two decades later, I still love everything about the process of building a PC, from picking the parts to actually assembling them and benchmarking the final rig.
With all that said, I’m about to buy a prebuilt PC, and it’s not just because of the prices, although they do play a part.
For most people, a prebuilt gets the important stuff right
If you shop smart, it can be a safe way to get a desktop
No, I haven’t somehow abandoned everything I’ve stood by for the last two decades. I still love PC building, and yes, I do normally try to convince my less building-inclined friends to build their own PC rather than buy a dodgy prebuilt. (It usually doesn’t work.)
I’m not exactly throwing in the towel. I’m just opening up my mind to possibilities. And the fact is that the vast majority of people who use desktop PCs don’t need the bleeding-edge performance or top-notch customization that comes with building your own computer. For most people, a prebuilt PC is just fine.
That’s exactly why I’m buying a prebuilt instead of building one myself: the computer is for my mom.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
DIY PC building Trivia Challenge
From socket types to cable chaos — test your knowledge of building computers from scratch.
HistoryHardwareTroubleshootingQuirksTips
What year did Intel release the first consumer processor that popularized the DIY desktop PC market — the Intel 8086?
Correct! The Intel 8086 launched in 1978 and gave birth to the x86 architecture still used in PCs today. It was a 16-bit processor running at 5–10 MHz — a far cry from today’s multi-GHz giants. This chip laid the foundation for decades of DIY computing.
Not quite — the Intel 8086 debuted in 1978. It introduced the x86 instruction set that still underpins virtually every desktop and laptop processor sold today. IBM later used the cheaper 8088 variant for its first PC in 1981, which is sometimes confused as the origin point.
When building a PC, what does ‘POST’ stand for in the context of the boot process?
Correct! POST stands for Power-On Self-Test, a diagnostic routine your motherboard runs every time you boot up. It checks that critical components like RAM, CPU, and GPU are present and functional. If POST fails, you’ll often get beep codes or LED indicators to help diagnose the problem.
The correct answer is Power-On Self-Test. Every time you press the power button, your motherboard runs POST to verify that essential hardware is connected and working. Failed POST is one of the first hurdles new PC builders encounter, often caused by unseated RAM or a forgotten power connector.
Why do experienced PC builders recommend touching a metal part of the case before handling components?
Correct! Static electricity built up on your body can silently destroy sensitive PC components in an instant — a phenomenon called electrostatic discharge (ESD). Touching bare metal grounds you and neutralizes that charge before it can zap your CPU or RAM. Anti-static wrist straps work even better for extended build sessions.
The answer is to discharge static electricity. Your body can carry thousands of volts of static charge without you feeling a thing, but that invisible zap can permanently damage a CPU or RAM stick. It’s one of the oldest and most important safety habits in PC building — cheap insurance for expensive parts.
A newly built PC powers on, fans spin, but there’s no display output. What is the MOST common first thing to check?
Correct! This is arguably the most common rookie mistake in PC building — plugging the monitor into the motherboard’s video output when a dedicated GPU is installed. The motherboard’s HDMI or DisplayPort is disabled by default when a GPU is present. Always connect your display directly to the graphics card.
The most common culprit is having the monitor plugged into the motherboard’s video port instead of the dedicated GPU. When a graphics card is installed, most systems disable the motherboard’s integrated video outputs automatically. It’s such a frequent mistake that it has become a running joke in PC building communities.
What is the purpose of thermal paste when installing a CPU cooler?
Correct! Even finely machined metal surfaces have tiny imperfections and air gaps at the microscopic level. Thermal paste — also called thermal interface material (TIM) — fills those gaps to ensure maximum heat conduction from the CPU to the cooler. Without it, air pockets act as insulation and temperatures can skyrocket dangerously.
Thermal paste fills microscopic gaps between the CPU lid and the cooler’s base plate. Metal surfaces may look flat and smooth, but at a microscopic scale they’re riddled with tiny ridges and valleys that trap air — and air is a terrible heat conductor. A thin, even layer of thermal paste eliminates those gaps and keeps temperatures in check.
The ATX motherboard form factor, which became the standard for DIY desktop PCs, was introduced by which company and in what year?
Correct! Intel introduced the ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) standard in 1995, replacing the older AT form factor. ATX standardized component placement, power supply connectors, and airflow direction — making DIY builds far more practical and interchangeable. Nearly 30 years later, ATX and its derivatives like Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX still dominate the market.
ATX was introduced by Intel in 1995. It was a major leap forward from the previous AT standard, defining a common layout for motherboards, cases, and power supplies that made mixing and matching components from different vendors straightforward. That standardization is a huge reason DIY PC building became so accessible.
When installing RAM into a motherboard with four slots, where should you install two sticks to enable dual-channel mode on most boards?
Correct! Dual-channel mode requires RAM to be installed in matched pairs on alternating slots — typically A2 and B2, or slots 2 and 4. This allows the memory controller to access both sticks simultaneously, effectively doubling memory bandwidth. Your motherboard manual will show the exact recommended slots, usually color-coded for convenience.
To enable dual-channel mode, RAM should go in alternating slots — such as slots 2 and 4, often color-coded on the motherboard. Placing both sticks in adjacent slots (like 1 and 2) forces single-channel operation, which can noticeably reduce performance in memory-intensive tasks. Always check your motherboard manual for the exact recommended configuration.
What is ‘coil whine’ in the context of a newly built gaming PC?
Correct! Coil whine is a high-pitched, sometimes whirring or buzzing noise caused by tiny electromagnetic coils (inductors) on a GPU or PSU vibrating at audible frequencies under heavy electrical load. It’s technically a defect in manufacturing tolerances but is extremely common and not usually harmful to the component. Ironically, it’s often loudest in high-end GPUs under uncapped framerates.
Coil whine is that annoying high-pitched squeal coming from inductors on your GPU or power supply vibrating under electrical load. It tends to be loudest when framerates are uncapped or during heavy computational tasks. While alarming to new builders, it’s usually harmless — though some manufacturers will replace components with severe coil whine under warranty.
Challenge Complete
Your Score
/ 8
Thanks for playing!
My mom does actually play quite a few games every single day, so I initially started off by putting parts together in order to get something good, cost-effective, reliable, and equipped with a discrete GPU. But as I ran into more and more roadblocks, I was once again reminded why my friends often can’t be bothered with building their own PCs.
These days, the evergreen belief that custom PCs are somehow better and more worth it than prebuilts is growing slightly outdated. Now, more than ever, many users can get by with a simple plug-and-play PC instead of going on weeks-long deep dives.
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
CPU
AMD Ryzen 9 8000 Series
The ROG Zephyrus G14 has been redesigned with an all-new premium aluminum chassis for increased durability and elegance. At 0.63 inches thin and weighing in at just 3.31lbs, this gaming powerhouse combines portability with cutting-edge technology.
Building PCs is great fun, but it’s not for everyone
I’ve stopped trying to convince my friends otherwise
Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek
Building your own PC is one of the most satisfying things you can do if you’re a desktop user, but that’s only true if you actually enjoy the whole process. Over the years, I’ve realized that many people just don’t enjoy it, and that’s alright. It can be overwhelming, and it becomes more of a hobbyist thing than a go-to with each passing year.
A lot of people don’t want to spend their evenings watching reviews, comparing chipsets, going through benchmarks, wondering whether there’s enough PSU headroom or whether a motherboard will need a BIOS update, and so on. Those same people might still want to own a desktop PC, and good prebuilts exist to save us all the trouble.
For someone like my mom, who is definitely a casual user, building a PC would make zero sense. I’d put in a lot of effort—I always go way overkill with every single build—and it’d have been wasted. And yes, I’d have fun, but for my mom, the end user, the end result would’ve been one and the same.
For a regular desktop user, a good prebuilt often gets the important things right without demanding that kind of effort. It comes assembled, tested, and ready to go, and it usually bundles the parts that matter most to everyday use: a modern CPU, enough RAM, a decent SSD, built-in connectivity, and some kind of warranty if things go wrong.
Besides, most desktop users aren’t like enthusiasts; they don’t need to optimize every tiny little thing. Looking at various Steam Hardware Surveys tells us that people go for the midrange time and time again, and I find it hard to believe that all those RTX 4060 owners overclock their PCs and spend hundreds of dollars on cooling.
In 2026, the market makes this whole argument a lot easier
Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room
Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek
At a time when we’ve all done our panic buying and given up on the PC market, buying a prebuilt makes even more sense. Here’s how I know: I tried to build a PC first.
As that’s my default, obviously, I started by assembling a list of components my mom could use and going on a price-matching crusade. Some parts are reasonably affordable, such as the CPU, the motherboard, or the cooler, but the overpriced components make up for whatever you might manage to save on the other stuff. Getting RAM, an SSD, and a discrete GPU brand new right now is a challenge, and these pricing obstacles remove one of the best things about custom builds: saving money.
Typically, when you build your own PC, you save on the cost of assembly that’s baked into a prebuilt. You can also score better deals on the components themselves. But when there are very few deals to be had, and you don’t want to buy used, well, you’re kind of left with no upgrades right now. The best way to upgrade your PC in this climate is to spend zero dollars and wait it out.
Prebuilts aren’t perfect, but they can be good enough
Don’t let elitist communities tell you otherwise
Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek
Prebuilts are a good solution right now. Some manufacturers still haven’t carried the increased cost of parts over to the consumer, or at least not entirely, and if you score a good deal, you’ll actually save both time and money. You’ll miss out on the fun, but for many people, it’s more of a chore than entertainment.
With that said, prebuilts aren’t perfect. When you shop, make sure that you keep an eye out for some of the most common prebuilt PC traps.
There are alternatives
If you don’t want to buy a prebuilt PC but still want to save time and/or money and not build your own, you can always consider buying a used PC or a mini PC. I’ve toyed with the idea of a mini PC for my mom, and it’d be cheaper, but I want her to have a discrete GPU, so we’re going with a full-sized prebuilt.
However, if you don’t need a discrete graphics card, buying a mini PC can be a good, affordable way to get yourself a desktop replacement with minimal hassle. (Hint: mini PCs also make good sidekicks for actual desktops.)
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
