Connect Arlington names Ring specifically
Connect Arlington is run by the Arlington Police Department. On the city's page describing it, homeowners with home surveillance systems, including Ring doorbell cameras, can register where their cameras are.
Here is what registering does and does not do:
- It tells police that a camera exists at your address
- It does not give police live access to your camera
- It does not let anyone view your footage without your consent
- Businesses can go further and integrate with the department's Real Time Crime Center, but that is a separate commercial program
Arlington's city council approved a two year, 324,000 dollar contract for the underlying technology back in 2022. Police Chief Al Jones said at the time that the department wanted residents taking part because it would make the city safer.
We will do this part with you
Registering takes a couple of minutes on the Arlington police camera registry site. If you want it done, we will set it up at the end of your install. It is free, it is voluntary, and you can remove yourself later.
Arlington's housing is older and more mixed than the north suburbs
This is the practical difference between an Arlington install and a Frisco install.
- About one in three Arlington homes was built before 1980
- About six in ten were built before 1990
- The single biggest decade is the 1980s, at roughly 26 percent of all housing units
- Only about 8 percent of Arlington's housing went up in 2010 or later
Compare that to Frisco, where the median home dates to 2009. Arlington's median lands in the mid 1980s.
Why that changes the install
Ring publishes power requirements by model. Battery doorbells run on 8 to 24 volts AC and 5 to 40 VA. The Pro line and the wired 2K and 4K models need 16 to 24 volts AC and 10 to 40 VA.
A transformer put in during the 1970s or 80s can clear the range for a battery model and fall short for a Pro. That is not a defect. It was sized for a chime, not a camera.
We test yours on site. If it is low, we either upgrade it or steer you to a model that runs on what you have. Both answers are fine. Guessing is not.
Old Town and the pre-1950 core
Arlington's Old Town Historic District covers roughly 38 acres and about seven blocks, with homes from around 1890 through about 1950. Queen Anne, bungalow, Tudor Revival and Minimal Traditional styles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The South Center Street Historic District is a second pocket, built around early twentieth century Craftsman bungalows.
In these houses we frequently find no usable doorbell circuit at all. A battery model is often the right call, and we say so instead of selling a wire run through a hundred year old wall.
Arlington is a renter city
About 45.7 percent of Arlington households rent. In Frisco it is about 34 percent. In McKinney it is about 36 percent.
A big piece of that is the University of Texas at Arlington. UT Arlington enrolled 41,613 students in fall 2024 on a 420 acre campus at the south edge of downtown. Its residence halls hold at least 5,600 students.
Do the math and roughly 85 percent of UT Arlington students live off campus, concentrated in the neighborhoods and apartment complexes around downtown and the College Park District.
What that means if you rent here
- A battery Ring doorbell mounts without cutting into a door frame
- It comes off in about two minutes at the end of a lease
- You keep the device and the footage, not the landlord
- Check your lease for anything about altering the exterior before you drill
Read can renters install a Ring doorbell without violating their lease before you order anything.
Ring doorbell installation in Arlington: the appointment
- 1We test the transformer, since Arlington's older stock makes this a real question rather than a formality.
- 2We confirm whether a wired install is realistic or a battery model is the better answer.
- 3We mount the doorbell and aim it at your walkway.
- 4We set motion zones. On Arlington's busier streets the default zones catch every passing car.
- 5We test WiFi signal at the door.
- 6We set up the app, and register you with Connect Arlington if you want it.
One flat labor fee. No per-device charges, whether that is one doorbell or a doorbell plus two cameras.
HOAs are less of a factor here
Much of Arlington's housing went up before mandatory HOAs became standard in North Texas subdivisions. Registered associations here are meaningfully thinner on the ground than in a city like Frisco, despite Arlington having nearly twice the population.
Real Arlington associations do exist. Lake Interlochen, Forest Hills, Bay Club, Tuscany Lakes and Arlington Oaks all have them. Viridian, the 2,000 acre master planned community in north Arlington near the Trinity River, has both an HOA and a residents association.
For most Arlington addresses, though, there is no architectural committee to call before putting a doorbell on your own front door.
Areas of Arlington we cover
- Downtown Arlington, Old Town and the College Park District
- The Entertainment District around AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, Choctaw Stadium and Six Flags Over Texas
- The UT Arlington area and the rental corridors around it
- Viridian and north Arlington near the Trinity River
- South Arlington, including the parts served by Mansfield ISD
- Everything along Cooper Street, Division Street, Collins Street, Pioneer Parkway, Abram Street, Interstate 20, Interstate 30 and State Highway 360
Arlington schools are split across Arlington ISD, Mansfield ISD and Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. Mansfield ISD alone has 17 campuses inside Arlington. It has no effect on where we go.
Questions we get from Arlington customers
What is Connect Arlington and should I sign up?
It is the Arlington Police Department's camera registry, and the city's own page names Ring doorbell cameras as eligible. You register your camera's location. Police do not get live access and cannot view your footage without your consent. It just means a detective knows a camera exists near an incident and can ask you for footage. It is free and voluntary, and we will set it up at the end of your install if you want it.
My house is from 1978. Can I use a Ring Pro?
Maybe. Ring's Pro line needs 16 to 24 volts AC and 10 to 40 VA. A transformer from 1978 may deliver less than that, since it was sized for a mechanical chime. Battery models run on a wider 8 to 24 volt range, so they are more forgiving. We measure your actual transformer output on site rather than assuming from the year the house was built.
I rent near UT Arlington. Will this work in my apartment?
Yes, and it is one of the most common jobs we do in Arlington. We use a battery model on a no-drill mount so nothing gets cut into the door frame. It takes about two minutes to remove when your lease ends, and the device and footage stay yours. Read your lease first for anything about exterior changes.
My house is in Old Town. Is there wiring behind the door?
Often there is not. Old Town homes date from roughly 1890 to 1950, and many have no usable doorbell circuit left. A battery model is usually the honest answer there. We will tell you that on site rather than quoting you for a wire run through a century old wall.
Do you charge more because Arlington is further out?
No. Same flat labor fee as our Collin County work. Arlington is a real service area for us, not an occasional trip.
Ready to get yours installed the easy way?
Pick a bundle, choose a time that works, and we handle the rest at your Arlington address. Or call DFW RingPro at (469) 437-5032 and we will talk it through first.
Worth reading before your install
- Ring doorbell rules for HOAs in DFW communitiesTexas law limits what an association can ban. It does not limit everything.
- How to connect Ring to your WiFi without dead zonesYour front door is usually the furthest point in the house from your router. That is not a coincidence.
- Hidden costs of DIY security camera installsNobody budgets for the third trip to the hardware store, but everybody takes it.
More in the DFW RingPro blog.