OT: Home security & automation

[NJHusky]

looking for a system for our vacation home.

Don’t want to pay monthly for a monitored system as there is not much of significant value in the house

Ideally would like a way to use cameras to record when there is activity in the house, send me an alert and save it to the cloud or a storage device I can acwas via app then turn off recording when no activity. But not be recording all the time.

If I could couple it with door and temperature sensors and maybe auto control lights that would be good too

I know I could buy a camera only system but wondering about the home automation features I mentioned

So if you went camera only what do you recommend? If more home automation system what do you recommend?

Thx in advance!!

 

[tykurez]

There's a bunch of options out there these days to fit various needs.

I recently got the Nest Secure (mostly because I already have their thermostats, smoke detectors) and it's been great. Subscription/monitoring is optional. Will notify you of any movement, open doors. Pairs with the Nest cameras and you can expand the system as needed. Link


Linksys, SimpliSafe, Canary are other options as well. The Nest products are some of the easiest to set up and they play nice with a bunch of other third party products (locks, lights, etc.)

Good luck.

 

[temery]

Do these systems still need to be wired, or are they now WiFi.

 

[tykurez]

Do these systems still need to be wired, or are they now WiFi.

They're all wifi these days. Even the ones from the big security companies. Those, however, are still a cluster-f of a mess. The "build your own" systems are much better as long as you can follow a set of directions.

 

[Kauffmak10]

looking for a system for our vacation home.

Don’t want to pay monthly for a monitored system as there is not much of significant value in the house

Ideally would like a way to use cameras to record when there is activity in the house, send me an alert and save it to the cloud or a storage device I can acwas via app then turn off recording when no activity. But not be recording all the time.

If I could couple it with door and temperature sensors and maybe auto control lights that would be good too

I know I could buy a camera only system but wondering about the home automation features I mentioned

So if you went camera only what do you recommend? If more home automation system what do you recommend?

Thx in advance!!

I do this stuff for a living.. feel free to reach out and we can set up a visit or discuss options..

Thanks!
-Kyle

Kauffman Audio & Video

 

[temery]

as long as you can follow a set of directions.

I'm out

 

[Zionn]

I do this stuff for a living.. feel free to reach out and we can set up a visit or discuss options..

Thanks!
-Kyle

Kauffman Audio & Video

Dude that MantleMount thing on your Twitter page is sick. Any cost for visit/consultations? Moving into a new house and looking for some help with automation.

 

[Fishy]

Dude that MantleMount thing on your Twitter page is sick. Any cost for visit/consultations? Moving into a new house and looking for some help with automation.

Next.

 

[Kauffmak10]

Dude that MantleMount thing on your Twitter page is sick. Any cost for visit/consultations? Moving into a new house and looking for some help with automation.

Thanks man.. I’ve done some pretty cool projects over the years!

In-home consults are free! Give me a shout when you’re ready and we’ll check it out..

 

[MadDogRevival]

So if you went camera only what do you recommend? If more home automation system what do you recommend?

I have AmCrest at the bar. I do not recommend it. Phone app does not work. DVR interface not particularly intuitive when doing things like setting portion of field of view that triggers motion detection. I just needed cheap, high resolution protection on an existing cable system. AmCrest did the trick, but barely.
Good luck, and please post results because we're looking at putting something in our house. Same deal - we're not jewelry or gadget people, so the entire contents of our house aren't worth much, but def. want to know if goldilocks is snooping around.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Do these systems still need to be wired, or are they now WiFi.

Potentially easily accessed hard wire somehow enters your home; then WiFi access as long as your wire isn't clipped by bad guys

 

[temery]

Potentially easily accessed hard wire somehow enters your home; then WiFi access as long as your wire isn't clipped by bad guys

Still waiting for the Google English to Duzy translation app.

 

[temery]

I do this stuff for a living.. feel free to reach out and we can set up a visit or discuss options..

Thanks!
-Kyle

Kauffman Audio & Video

Maybe we can get you to install systems in a dozen or so 'yarders homes, and make the feeds public.

The Boneyard reality show is born.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Still waiting for the Google English to Duzy translation app.

Which part of your internet cable could potentially be easily cut was unclear? If cut, no security protection. Nothing, nada, zip! WiFi won't matter.

 

[temery]

Which part of your internet cable could potentially be easily cut was unclear? If cut, no security protection. Nothing, nada, zip! WiFi won't matter.

Pretty much every part of your reply was fuzzy at best. Yes, I fully understand a cut cable wire is enough to kill a WiFi system. If that's what you meant, that's what you should have said.

The young grasshopper crap is entertaining, but that's about as far as it goes.

For now, any system I install will be more valuable than anything I have in the house. When I have items of value, I'll look into a cell service as a backup.

 

[jleves]

There are pros and cons to just about any system. Wifi cameras are really easy to setup, but unless you get lucky and can easily get power to them, you have to charge the battery from time to time depending on usage. You can get solar chargers for them, but from what I've found, they are usually expensive and not well rated. The biggest problem with wifi cameras is that anyone with strong intent can just get a wifi jammer and you have nothing. Hard wired Ethernet cameras avoid that issue, but they are more expensive and you have to run the wire to them and you have to power them so either electrical with the Ethernet wire, or use POE (power over Ethernet) which means you'd have to get a POE switch to connect to your network. Additionally with your own hardwired cameras, you have to have a recording device which adds complexity and they are typically not nearly as easy to setup as the wifi systems.

As someone else pointed out, if you are recording everything to the cloud, a simple cut of your Internet connection negates the system.

I've been playing with stuff for years and at this point, I have an in house automation system (insteon) and for now, just a handful of Arlo wifi cameras. I figure it's better than nothing while I decide how to do POE cameras. The one nice thing about Arlo over Ring is that you can throw a USB drive on the base station so it also records locally. Costco has a nice 5 pack bundle of Arlo for about $900.

Getting all the different home automation pieces, in my case, Insteon, Eccobee thermostats, zWave door locks and Arlo cameras, working together is definitely a challenge. On the bright side Alexa integrates with all of them.

Home automation is a rabbit hole once you get serious and creative. I'm sure over the next 3 to 5 years there will be much more integration and whole house packages from Google, Amazon and Apple. Perhaps Netgear, Linksys and/or Asus gets in the game too. Hopefully IFTTT makes all these thing work together.

 

[Jaker]

The answer is right in front of you: SimpliSafe

 

[NJHusky]

I've been playing with stuff for years and at this point, I have an in house automation system (insteon) and for now, just a handful of Arlo wifi cameras

thx for the info...how long do the batteries last on the Arlo camera?

 

[jleves]

thx for the info...how long do the batteries last on the Arlo camera?

As with anything, it depends. I have one in the backyard where I get critters during the night and it went through a battery in a couple weeks. I've since set the sensitivity down and I hope it goes longer. I have another over the driveway and after three weeks, it's at 95%. It really depends on activity and particularly how much activity is at night. Night vision really chews through the battery.

 

[temery]

As with anything, it depends. I have one in the backyard where I get critters during the night and it went through a battery in a couple weeks. I've since set the sensitivity down and I hope it goes longer. I have another over the driveway and after three weeks, it's at 95%. It really depends on activity and particularly how much activity is at night. Night vision really chews through the battery.

How is the picture quality?

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

If you're tech savvy try this. At the very least it's a good video watch as to why NOT to get the nest system..

 

[August_West]

t they are more expensive and you have to run the wire to them and you have to power them so either electrical with the Ethernet wire, or use POE (power over Ethernet) which means you'd have to get a POE switch to connect to your network. Additionally with your own hardwired cameras, you have to have a recording device which adds complexity and they are typically not nearly as easy to setup as the wifi systems.

Well there should be an asterisk. If you are only running a few ports you are much better off just running POE injectors out of a cheap non POE switch than springing for a nice POE switch.

Injectors are cheap and you can run them 6 inches from switch feed if you want.

If you are planning on running a bunch of lines and cameras (more than 8? 12? ) POE switches will probably start to make sense. But for most, injectors and nothing fancy switches will do fine.

 

[sledog]

The ROBOTS are coming.