Home security camera recommendations?

[widebody911]

I know this topic has been covered before, but the technology and the players change quite quickly, and I think most of the other threads are outdated.

I bought a Foscam indoor camera from a fellow Pelican a while back, and I've spent some time playing with it - it's basically a kitty cam so I can see who's misbehaving during the day. I now want to implement one outside the front of the house; eventually I'll add more. We've had issues with package thefts a few times now.

I want the camera to be wireless and pan/tilt capable, with IR lighting.

I will be using a cloud service for streaming/storage, but haven't picked one yet. For the time being I'm using my own FTP server to collect the images, and I wrote some simple scripts to manage them.

The first issue will be location. I'm thinking of mounting the camera on this beam, on the "inside" opposite the red box. I have a light fixture with power close by; otherwise I have to go into the attach and run power. I may end up doing that eventually, but I'm in no hurry to get into that. The 2nd picture is an approximation of what the camera would 'see'.

[widebody911]

The second question would be which camera to get. I've been reading review after review of various models which has given me a headache. There's a lot of inexpensiv "entry-level" camera which have great reviews, but I wonder how many of those are plants. Even the Foscam cameras have some questionable reviews.

[SoCal911T]

Originally Posted by widebody911

I know this topic has been covered before, but the technology and the players change quite quickly, and I think most of the other threads are outdated.

This thread goes back to October 2015. Not sure if it's too old.

Home Surveillance

[Holger]

I am looking att those right now: Arlo | Home

[billybek]

Originally Posted by Holger

I am looking att those right now: Arlo | Home

I have been looking for a simplistic all weather system and thought this might work until I saw that the cameras are designed for "severe weather".
14 to 122 deg F. It gets colder than that here...
It looks pretty slick though...

[GH85Carrera]

Every time one of these pops up I check it out. I am interested in a system I still can't find as yet.

There seem to be tons of low end systems but the true HD systems that run with power over the network cable is just hard to find.

I have ZERO interest in recording ANYTHING inside my house. Maybe out in the garage, but that is it. If it is on the internet, it can be hacked. I don't care as much if a hacker sees my driveway or my front porch looking at the street.

I want a full HD 1080 30 frames per second (and IR night vision) powered over the network cable with my own DVR and the ability to access the cameras over the internet.

What I really want is the magic systems like on TV and the movies where I can zoom in and read the car tag on the reflection of the glasses of the person across the street but I know that is just stupid Hollywood writers.

[tyro]

Check into Ubiquiti Unifi video.

While PTZ isn't offered, the system is really nice for the price as with most of their gear.

[dad911]

I've been using a Lorex camera, motion sensor pointed inside at front door of a vacation home. Works great, I get a nice clear pic emailed whenever someone walks through the door.

[stomachmonkey]

My buddy around the corner just put in one of these.

https://ring.com/

He loves it. Thinks it's awesome.

FWIW, he's Secret Service.

[Baz]

I was at a customer's on Saturday doing some work in his backyard and noticed he had a camera in the back window. I asked him about it and he said it sends info to the cloud and he can view it anytime plus spin the camera around 360 degrees remotely.

I didn't ask what brand or cost or anything but this subject has been on my mind lately. I live in a decent area but have had stuff stolen from weekend visitors to our island/beach community....so am essentially exposed and would like some type of surveillance system....other than my four furballs!

[stomachmonkey]

Be creative like this guy.

"I've disconnected my home alarm system and de-registered from the Neighborhood Watch.
I've got two Pakistani flags raised in the front yard, one at each corner, and the black flag of ISIS in the center.


The local police, sheriff, FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, Secret Service and other agencies are all watching the house 24/7. I've never felt safer and I am saving $49.95 a month."

[Jim Richards]

Hahahahaha!

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Be creative like this guy.

"I've disconnected my home alarm system and de-registered from the Neighborhood Watch.
I've got two Pakistani flags raised in the front yard, one at each corner, and the black flag of ISIS in the center.


The local police, sheriff, FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, Secret Service and other agencies are all watching the house 24/7. I've never felt safer and I am saving $49.95 a month."

Nice! And he can save money on cloud storage, since the NSA will archive all of his internet traffic for free.

[jyl]

I've looked into this a bit. Looking for a 4-5 camera system to cover garage entry, front door, back and side doors, and street.

The first problem I ran into is that the systems designed to store video locally are not designed to be easily accessible over the internet. Lots of configuring ports and firewalls and routers. Too complicated for me.

The second problem I ran into is that the systems designed to upload video to the cloud usually charge subscription fees that get significant when you're talking multiple cameras.

The third problem is that wired systems require running cable all over the place. Wireless systems still need wiring to AC power.

The Arlo system is the only one I've found that might, not sure, fit my needs. Free cloud storage for 7 days recording, wireless and battery powered. The remaining problems I see are: cameras are easily removed and stolen (magnetic mount), affected by cold weather (battery life), limited battery life (by all reports, if you set the camera up to selectively record only upon motion detection, battery life might be a couple of months). I do wish there were an option to use a power cable when convenient, and that it used a rechargeable battery. But I'm probably going to try out a 2 or 3 camera set. I'll probably try to mount the cameras indoors facing out, or find some sort of enclosure, so that some tweaker can't casually walk away with a $150 camera.

The area is evolving quickly. New cloud based systems seem to come put every few months. Looks like Arlo has an AC powered indoor camera now.

[enzo1]

I was looking @ this one and liked it for the versatility but Amazon reviews were either love it or hate it... anyone have this one?


Explore FLIR FX | FLIR FX

Amazon.com : FLIR FX Indoor Wi-Fi Wireless 1080P HD Video Monitoring Security Camera : Camera & Photo

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

My buddy around the corner just put in one of these.

https://ring.com/

He loves it. Thinks it's awesome.

FWIW, he's Secret Service.

So the doorbell rings. I have to whip out my cell phone. Unlock it, find the app, load it and connect to the Ring App. I bet that is 30 second on average. I guess if my house was so big it was a hike to the front door it might be useful. I can look through the peep site in a few seconds.

I would like one of the tiny hidden cameras on at the front door just to see was there especially for the kids doing the ring and run. I guess I don't get enough people on my porch to make it worthwhile.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

So the doorbell rings. I have to whip out my cell phone. Unlock it, find the app, load it and connect to the Ring App. I bet that is 30 second on average. I guess if my house was so big it was a hike to the front door it might be useful. I can look through the peep site in a few seconds.

I would like one of the tiny hidden cameras on at the front door just to see was there especially for the kids doing the ring and run. I guess I don't get enough people on my porch to make it worthwhile.

It'll ring your regular bell and you can answer it like normal.

Motion activated and will send you alerts re: activity at your door when you are not home.

Bi directional audio so you can have a conversation with someone even if you are on the other side of the planet.

Scenario, you are expecting a package, you have to run out, delivery shows up and rings bell, you can tell them to leave it.

[Deschodt]

I've had a Lorex system hardwired and wireless at my old home, 6 cams, monitor.. great to see who's at the door, not always great to forward you alarms or pics, the internet portion went down a lot and was a pain to setup and resetup every few months...

Friend at work tried Arlo and told me not to bother, it was pricey and 1/2 his stuff died quickly. Batteries were short lived, mostly he had to exchange 1/2 his 4 cameras within a few months.

Currently I'm on my 3rd D-link cam. They've worked well for 2 years straight, have gone down once only (cured by a reboot). The phone app works, and it is pushing notifications to my iphone when something happens. No web backup, no cloud storage fees (though you can!!)... So yes, I might miss out on a movie of the postman dropping a box, but by and large this works for me... I get a push notification pinging me and showing me what's up (nothing, most of the time). I click the notification and withn 5 seconds or so I see what triggered it (the shadow of a branch)! $100 a pop... Does the job... Probably not what you are looking for but it works and the price is hard to beat !