OT: Home security cameras

[temery]

I'm looking for two cameras, wireless, and can be accessed from my iPhone. Motion activated.

Any suggestion?

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Got an old phone? Make it into a home security camera.

 

[Marat]

Nest's dropcam

Meet the Nest Cam security camera

 

[mauconnfan]

Meet the Nest Cam security camera

 

[mauconnfan]

Oops Marat is much faster than I.

This is the system that many who watched CT News a while back saw 2 people in New Britain get arrested for stealing packages off of porches in the CCSU area. That was a sales guy of mine and he was actually in Germany on vacation and saw these 2 people come up and take the packages from his porch, called CT police and they found the car a couple blocks away with all kinds of stuff. They work!

 

[Hoophound]

I have a few Dropcams. They work great but definitely go with HD if they still offer a cheaper version. Without HD details are often too weak to identify faces etc.

 

[Marat]

The dropcam HD Pro is pretty good. In addition to buying the camera, you can pay $10/month for their cloud service which keeps the past 7 recorded days and you can rewind. You can browse/view from the phone as well as viewing on the web browser for better clarity. The dropcam was bought out by Nest about a year or so ago and their products have merged.

 

[Hoophound]

The dropcam HD Pro is pretty good. In addition to buying the camera, you can pay $10/month for their cloud service which keeps the past 7 recorded days and you can rewind. You can browse/view from the phone as well as viewing on the web browser for better clarity. The dropcam was bought out by Nest about a year or so ago and their products have merged.

Definitely, the cloud service is a must otherwise you can only view footage live. It doesn't work as much of a security camera unless you are watching all day without the cloud. It is great for seeing wildlife that has passed through your yard as well.

 

[iri10]

There's a forum dedicated to people talking about these things:

IP Cam Talk

It might be a bit much to scour that entire forum to figure out what's best, but at the least you could probably vet your candidate cams by searching for them in the forum and seeing what people think.

Keep in mind that wireless is a bit of a fickle beast for a webcam; unless your wi-fi is very strong and reliable all the time, there will be hiccups. Ethernet wired is preferred if you are in any sort of "mission critical" security situation.

 

[CTMike]

This got me googling for other alternatives... I thought this was a neat concept since it uses existing power source:

Kuna - Smart Outdoor Home Security

 

[August_West]

There's a forum dedicated to people talking about these things:

IP Cam Talk

It might be a bit much to scour that entire forum to figure out what's best, but at the least you could probably vet your candidate cams by searching for them in the forum and seeing what people think.

Keep in mind that wireless is a bit of a fickle beast for a webcam; unless your wi-fi is very strong and reliable all the time, there will be hiccups. Ethernet wired is preferred if you are in any sort of "mission critical" security situation.

There is also a forum dedicated to sharing all the home security systems the bored hacker nerds log into and watch your life through. Good times.

 

[jleves]

I've done a fair amount of research on security cameras and home automation in general. I don't like the idea of using the cloud for storing information or configuration data. I want my stuff to work if Internet access is not available and I prefer not to have to keep my desktop running to have things work either. Of course, do it yourself non cloud based systems come at a cost - both monetary and time. Buying your own storage for camera or other access costs more than cloud based systems, generally, but it does give you more options like keeping things for longer than 30 days or recording at better quality.

The other problem I have with wireless security cameras is that anyone can spend about $300 to get a wifi jammer that will render the cameras useless. Just about any serious thief is likely to have one.

For recording video and general file storage, a good NAS from Synology (my preference) or QNAP will provide a relatively easy to use solution. You can setup a fantastic 8TB 4 disk Synology NAS for about $860. Make sure you get an intel based solution as any linux module will run on it whereas the Marvell and other solutions need specially compiled versions - plus the Intel ones tend to be faster, although again at a cost premium. This NAS with 4 of these Drives would be my suggestion. If cost is a huge issue, get a two bay NAS and a couple of 3TB ($240) or 4TB ($320) drives for a total cost of $540 or $620. Alternatively, if you have some odds and ends from old computers laying around, you can build your own NAS for almost nothing with freeware readily available to do everything the preconfigured NAS units can do. It's just a bigger DIY project.

The NAS solution, either solution, has the added benefit of being able to back up your data and serve it out to all your devices. They are packed with free applications so they can be web servers, dhcp servers, media streamers and anything else any computer can do.

Then you need wired cameras and possibly a POE (power over ethernet) router or POE injectors. Yes a lot more work, but far more secure and customizable and much more reliable with better image quality.

The wireless cameras with cloud recording just don't seem like a great idea to me. Maybe for a quick solution, but not a long term security implementation. I would suggest using the cloud as a secondary storage space for recordings in case someone breaks in and snatches the NAS. 7 days should suffice. I'd also suggest hiding the NAS in a closet or attic or some place you can get an Ethernet cable and power to. Finally if you really want to make sure you are protected, make sure your NAS, Router(s), Modem and any non POE cameras are protected by a UPS. You want the stuff to work if someone decides to trip your main breaker. This can all be added later, of course.

That's probably more than you were thinking about taking on, but something you can think about doing long term.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Im looking for about 4 cameras, wireless preferred (until I read the last comment posted)... I want the "Aaron Hernandez" deal, his video was clear, seriously!

 

[August_West]

I've done a fair amount of research on security cameras and home automation in general. I don't like the idea of using the cloud for storing information or configuration data. I want my stuff to work if Internet access is not available and I prefer not to have to keep my desktop running to have things work either. Of course, do it yourself non cloud based systems come at a cost - both monetary and time. Buying your own storage for camera or other access costs more than cloud based systems, generally, but it does give you more options like keeping things for longer than 30 days or recording at better quality.

The other problem I have with wireless security cameras is that anyone can spend about $300 to get a wifi jammer that will render the cameras useless. Just about any serious thief is likely to have one.

For recording video and general file storage, a good NAS from Synology (my preference) or QNAP will provide a relatively easy to use solution. You can setup a fantastic 8TB 4 disk Synology NAS for about $860. Make sure you get an intel based solution as any linux module will run on it whereas the Marvell and other solutions need specially compiled versions - plus the Intel ones tend to be faster, although again at a cost premium. This NAS with 4 of these Drives would be my suggestion. If cost is a huge issue, get a two bay NAS and a couple of 3TB ($240) or 4TB ($320) drives for a total cost of $540 or $620. Alternatively, if you have some odds and ends from old computers laying around, you can build your own NAS for almost nothing with freeware readily available to do everything the preconfigured NAS units can do. It's just a bigger DIY project.

The NAS solution, either solution, has the added benefit of being able to back up your data and serve it out to all your devices. They are packed with free applications so they can be web servers, dhcp servers, media streamers and anything else any computer can do.

Then you need wired cameras and possibly a POE (power over ethernet) router or POE injectors. Yes a lot more work, but far more secure and customizable and much more reliable with better image quality.

The wireless cameras with cloud recording just don't seem like a great idea to me. Maybe for a quick solution, but not a long term security implementation. I would suggest using the cloud as a secondary storage space for recordings in case someone breaks in and snatches the NAS. 7 days should suffice. I'd also suggest hiding the NAS in a closet or attic or some place you can get an Ethernet cable and power to. Finally if you really want to make sure you are protected, make sure your NAS, Router(s), Modem and any non POE cameras are protected by a UPS. You want the stuff to work if someone decides to trip your main breaker. This can all be added later, of course.

That's probably more than you were thinking about taking on, but something you can think about doing long term.

This is all excellent information.

However, I chuckle though at the thought of John Q Public setting up a NAS for local storage, and the thing is that most of them want remote access and that thought makes me guffaw instead of chuckle as I picture them trying to open ports in their home routers for access. Nobody is going to be running a closed loop system. Everyone wants to look at their home while they are sitting in line at Disney or on the beach in St. Thomas.

There is one axiom thats true in computing, the smarter technology gets the dumber the public gets.

 

[jleves]

This is all excellent information.

However, I chuckle though at the thought of John Q Public setting up a NAS for local storage, and the thing is that most of them want remote access and that thought makes me guffaw instead of chuckle as I picture them trying to open ports in their home routers for access. Nobody is going to be running a closed loop system. Everyone wants to look at their home while they are sitting in line at Disney or on the beach in St. Thomas.

There is one axiom thats true in computing, the smarter technology gets the dumber the public gets.

I agree that I wouldn't recommend any of that to your average iPhone user but was mostly responding to Tom who made the original post. There's no doubt he could handle a simple NAS and firewall ports. Plus the software is really easy now.

 

[temery]

This is all excellent information.

However, I chuckle though at the thought of John Q Public setting up a NAS for local storage, and the thing is that most of them want remote access and that thought makes me guffaw instead of chuckle as I picture them trying to open ports in their home routers for access. Nobody is going to be running a closed loop system. Everyone wants to look at their home while they are sitting in line at Disney or on the beach in St. Thomas.

There is one axiom thats true in computing, the smarter technology gets the dumber the public gets.

Is there any doubt in your mind that my home videos would make a great bootleg reality show?

I have been considering a run for school committee. Meetings are televised. If I were elected, the district could balance its budget by making the meetings pay per view.

~30 years teaching and coaching, and a dozen years as a good friend of a previous superintendent ... I know where the skeletons are buried, and I plan to drag a couple out at every meeting.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Is there any doubt in your mind that my home videos would make a great bootleg reality show?

I have been considering a run for school committee. Meetings are televised. If I were elected, the district could balance its budget by making the meetings pay per view.

~30 years teaching and coaching, and a dozen years as a good friend of a previous superintendent ... I know where the skeletons are buried, and I plan to drag a couple out at every meeting.

Sounds like you better get the top of the line, super-duper, bestest ever security system in that case, plus throw in a good panic room.