Suggestions on wireless home security cameras

[ussoldier1984]

Looking for some sort of camera for my house that I can log into while away that will let me view and send me alerts if there is movement in my home.

 

[Davetex]

Amazon has many choices.

 

[ussoldier1984]

Amazon has many choices.

I know amazon has lots but I don't know what is good and what is crap.

 

[outdare]

I know amazon has lots but I don't know what is good and what is crap.

I have used this one. It is easy to setup and the software is straight forward. I can monitor from my phone or pc. Also free software and no cloud. You can record to a remote device if you want. They have memory card slots uo to 32gb continuous recording.

Wireless IP Security Camera,ENKLOV WIFI Home Video Monitoring Surveillance Camera with Night Vision,Pan/Tilt,Two-Way Audio,Motion Detection https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y28JQP2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_NuWgAb3GCH0SM

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[txinvestigator]

Arlo by Netgear. Completely wire free. They are battery powered, so you need to set them up differently than you would with wired cameras that can record all of the time.

You can have up to 5 cameras with free cloud storage for 7 days. You can download any file you like before the 7 days for no charge. The Pro and Pro 2 have even more options. I have a set of four now, and will be adding at least one more.

 

[Byrd666]

Interested in the various options myself.

 

[BigBoss0311]

Minimum 1080p at 30fps. 4MP is preferred. Whatever the night vision/IR distance is, cut that by 1/3 for a more realistic distance. Cut it in 1/2 to 2/3 for facial features to be clear. Personally I do not recommend a wireless system unless your property requires it. Wireless is fine for internal, but external a PoE system is preferred.

Many of the wireless options require you to pay for cloud storage to access recordings. This is not ideal. A dedicated wired setup with built-in storage does not reuqire a monthly fee. You can access on mobile devices easily.

 

[robertc1024]

Damn straight on the storage - definitely look at the costs of that. I've got a Nest camera - works great and the software to set it up, view it on my phone etc. work flawlessly.

 

[rman]

i used foscam, had 4 recently. good picture quality, and the models i used were $100/ea awhile back, $50 now. Just took them down today and gave them to the lady next door.

Wifi cameras... can be very unreliable.. Many times I pulled my hair out missing a clip, or checking the live feed and seeing 1 (or 2 or 3 or all 4) offline.

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[TexasBrandon]

If you know how to set up a NAS or network shared drive you can do some of the offloading of storage yourself. That being said, some of those are probably proprietary and force you to use their cloud storage.

 

[rman]

for software, I use blue iris. Highly configurable and all the guys on ipcamtalk use it, whatever that's worth.
Only $60 and the app is $10 IIRC.

Had it backing up triggered clips to dropbox.

My new setup (8 or 9 POE) will record 24/7 on a 4tb HDD. should probably get about 2 weeks on that.

I just picked up a skybell for integration with my security system and alarm.com. Pretty slick, my wifi signal here is great so it has been reliable.
I wish they made something as user-friendly as skybell/ring, but as configurable as the pro stuff. Proprietary sucks...

Sent from my SIG Sauer

 

[DarkwingDuck]

Minimum 1080p at 30fps. 4MP is preferred. Whatever the night vision/IR distance is, cut that by 1/3 for a more realistic distance. Cut it in 1/2 to 2/3 for facial features to be clear. Personally I do not recommend a wireless system unless your property requires it. Wireless is fine for internal, but external a PoE system is preferred.

QFT

However I'm crusty so I'd tweak your suggestion ...

Personally I do not recommend a wireless system for any reason. Wireless is a fscking nightmare for reliability, so a PoE system is preferred.

Many NVRs now include PoE switches built in, so if you are going for local storage with a NVR you may not even need a separate PoE switch. Look for cameras which support "real" PoE (802.3af or 802.3at) not that passive PoE crap (like Ubiquiti's UniFi -- and others -- cameras use). Passive PoE is NOT a standard so you'd be stuck with a single vendor for camera, switch and NVR. If you are going for a computer based solution (Blue Iris, ZoneMinder, Shinobi, etc), PoE switches can be found for as little as $50. Avoid PoE injectors or midspans, unless you will only need 1 camera ... EVER.

i used foscam, had 4 recently. good picture quality, and the models i used were $100/ea awhile back, $50 now.

Foscam US in no longer affiliated with Shenzhen Foscam; they are now Amcrest (rebadging Dahua cameras). Also take a look at Hikvision ($), Dahua ($), Vivotek ($$) and Axis ($$$). Stay away from the no-brand Chinese clones/imports on Amazon: the firmware is often in Chinese so, um, good luck with the config. Also many of those have security flaws (hardcoded backdoors or even communicate with China servers for ... reasons)

Wifi cameras... can be very unreliable.. Many times I pulled my hair out missing a clip, or checking the live feed and seeing 1 (or 2 or 3 or all 4) offline.

QFT ... because wireless is a fscking nightmare for reliability.

If you know how to set up a NAS or network shared drive you can do some of the offloading of storage yourself.

Along those lines, look for an IP camera with a SD card slot -- you can save directly to the camera (while simultaneously offloading to FTP, WebDAV or third-party cloud storage).

That being said, some of those are probably proprietary and force you to use their cloud storage.

ONVIF. If an IP camera supports ONVIF, you'll be able to connect to third party cloud storage such as Box, DropBox, MangoCam or CamCloud or third party NVRs. That's why Nest/DropCam cameras (currently) can never be connected to anything but Nest storage: no ONVIF support.

DWD

 

[STXdevilsquid]

I have EZVIZ, got them at Amazon. Have a system and then the single cameras. They all run on same app, work great, no issues. I have installed them in friends and families also.


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[sidebite252]

lol this conversation went over my head pretty fast. I too am looking for a system for our house. Now you got me doing my research.
POE’s NVR’s KGB CIA and my all time favorite SRV!

 

[ussoldier1984]

going over everything that has been said and reading more about my options that have been suggested.

 

[ussoldier1984]

Think I am going to go with this and get the cameras for it.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1R26592622&ignorebbr=1

 

[Davetex]

I'd get this....

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Owl-Hi...1-3&keywords=night+owl+security+camera+system

The one you're looking at doesn't have a hard drive.

 

[ussoldier1984]

I'd get this....

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Owl-Hi...1-3&keywords=night+owl+security+camera+system

The one you're looking at doesn't have a hard drive.

I know and I am looking at hard drives too. That is just one thing I am looking at.

 

[Davetex]

Oh, I see. I have a Night Owl system, it has worked well. There are soo many choices that it gets confusing looking at all that.

 

[ussoldier1984]

Oh, I see. I have a Night Owl system, it has worked well. There are soo many choices that it gets confusing looking at all that.

Yea it is confusing lol I want wireless but at the same time sometimes wireless can be a pain in the ass and I really don't want to run cable