Guides · Baby monitors · Range
How do I walk-test a baby monitor before the return window closes?
When does the return window actually close?
Do not invent a day-count from a forum. Read the till receipt, the order confirmation, or the retailer's returns page. Those dates win over any number in this article.
Swipe sideways for the full table
| How you bought it | Change-of-mind rule (UK business) | What to read tonight |
|---|---|---|
| Online, phone or mail order (distance sale) | Citizens Advice and GOV.UK: tell the seller within 14 days of the day after you receive it; then you have another 14 days to send it back | Order email and the retailer's cancel/returns page |
| Same retailer, extra goodwill days | 14 days is the legal minimum for most distance sales; many shops add more — Citizens Advice says to check the terms | The longer date on the email or site, if they gave one |
| Bought in a shop, seen in person | No automatic cooling-off. Citizens Advice: it is down to the shop's policy, often 14 or 30 days, often 'unused' | Till receipt and the returns desk rules |
| Private seller (marketplace, social) | No cooling-off. Citizens Advice: private individuals do not have to offer one | The listing — assume you keep it unless it is not as described |
| Faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose | Consumer rights on faults are separate from changing your mind. GOV.UK: refund, repair or replacement rules still apply | Receipt plus a note of the defect (no picture on the landing, constant beep) |
GOV.UK says distance-sale customers may handle an item as they would in a shop — take it out of the box to see what it is. A same-day walk-test is that inspection. A shop can still refuse a change-of-mind return if their receipt says the item must be unused; that is why the walk happens before you throw the packaging.
Which rooms should I walk tonight?
Which? tests range by walking through three rooms until picture and sound deteriorate, then taking the parent unit outdoors until the link dies. Your house is not their lab. Use the rooms you will actually stand in.
- Cot position, not the hallway Stand the baby unit where the cot will go, cable out of reach (Lullaby Trust: control unit out of the baby's reach). Charge the parent unit first so a low battery is not the 'range' fail.
- Stairs and both landings If the nursery is two storeys up, walk both flights. That is the two-floor test, not a pause on the first landing.
- Kitchen The room with the microwave, the router and, often, a chimney breast. Stay there for a full minute with the tap and the extractor on.
- Garden door Open the door and step out. Which? includes this walk because garden range is where many kits drop. If you only ever sit indoors, still do it — it is the cheapest outdoor check you have.
- Loft if you have one A converted loft is a second deck and often a steel or concrete change. Walk it even if the cot is not going there this year; that is the room people add later.
What Which? is scoring when they say 'range'
Which? records when signal, picture and sound start to deteriorate, then when they are lost altogether. They also listen for crackle and look for a fuzzy picture. A parent unit that 'still has lights' in the kitchen is not a pass if you cannot tell a cry from the extractor.
They test outdoors as well as through rooms. A box that claims 250 metres outdoors (BT's own outdoor figure for its video kits, in ideal line of sight) can still die at the back step once brick and a closed door sit in the path.
What should I write down before I decide?
- Pass / fail per room — landing, kitchen, garden door, loft. One word each.
- What failed — picture freeze, no audio, out-of-range beep (BT: the parent unit beeps when units are too far apart or the baby unit is off).
- Time of day — a 10am pass can hide a 7pm terrace load.
- Where you moved the baby unit — doorway versus alcove. If the doorway pass works and the alcove fails, that is placement, not a reason to keep a kit that only works in one corner.
- Receipt date — circle the last day you can tell the seller. For a distance sale that is 14 days from the day after delivery unless the retailer gave longer.
Keep the box and the plugs together. A shop change-of-mind policy often wants unused kit in the original packaging. A distance-sale cancel still needs you to tell the seller in time, then post within the second 14 days.
What if I bought it in a shop rather than online?
Citizens Advice is plain: there is no automatic right to a refund if you change your mind in a shop and nothing is wrong. Lots of shops still offer 14 or 30 days if the item is unused — that offer lives on the till receipt. Sale items sometimes have a shorter desk policy; fault rights stay.
If the walk-test fails (no picture on the landing you will actually use), treat it as not fit for the purpose you bought it for and use the fault route, not a change-of-mind story. GOV.UK sets out repair, replacement and refund when goods do not do what they are supposed to. Keep your room list.
In shortWalk the stairs, kitchen, garden door and loft the day the box arrives. Read the till receipt or order email for the real date. Fourteen days is the usual distance-sale minimum from the day after delivery, not a guess for every till. The room list, not the box metres, is the keep-or-return evidence.
Questions parents ask
- Does opening the box cancel my cooling-off period?
- No, not for a normal distance sale. GOV.UK says you may handle the item as you would in a shop. You still need to tell the seller within 14 days of the day after delivery (unless they gave longer) and then return it. A shop's own unused-goods rule is separate — read the receipt.
- I bought it from a private seller on a marketplace. Do I have 14 days?
- Not for changing your mind. Citizens Advice: there is no cooling-off when you buy from a private individual. You still have rights if the listing was not as described. Do the walk-test before you pay if you can, or the same evening if it is already in the house.
- How long do I have to post it back after I cancel?
- For a distance sale, Citizens Advice and GOV.UK: once you have told the seller, you have another 14 days to send the item back. Get proof of posting. The seller's refund clock is a further 14 days from proof of postage or receipt of the item.
- The picture is fine at noon and dies at 8pm. Is that a fault?
- It is a failed evening walk-test — often terrace Wi-Fi load, a microwave, or a unit sat on the party wall. Repeat the room list after 7pm and move the units a metre from the router before you decide. See the neighbours in a terrace page. If it still dies in the kitchen you will actually use, that is your evidence for a return or a fault claim.
Sources
Official pages first. If this page and the official page disagree, the official page wins.
- GOV.UK — Accepting returns and giving refunds (distance selling, 14 days) — checked 10 September 2026
- Citizens Advice — Changing your mind about something you've bought — checked 10 September 2026
- Which? — How we test baby monitor range — checked 10 September 2026
- The Lullaby Trust — Baby monitors (control unit out of reach) — checked 10 September 2026
- BT Help — Parent unit out-of-range beep — checked 10 September 2026
This is information, not a guarantee of any payment, and not medical, legal or product-safety advice for your home. Prices and rules change; figures carry the date they were checked. Recall status comes from official records only — a product we cannot find is not a safety all-clear. Tell us if we got a fact wrong.