Time to get a security camera

[Jim Oaks]

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While I was on this last trip I started worrying about my home while I was gone. I had a timer on my water spigot with two water hoses attached to it so I could water the yard while I was gone. The timer is plastic. What if it cracked and is leaking water everywhere running up my water bill? I keep seeing stories about squatters. What if I come home and find a squatter in my house? I decided that after I got back, I was going to install a camera so I can see my property while I'm away and have some peace of mind.

When I was visiting my daughter and sons-in-law in Ohio, they had this solar powered Reolink Security Camera that will rotate and tilt so you can check on your property while you're away. They have cameras everywhere at both of their properties. I'm behind the times on home security.

My daughter sent me a link to it on Amazon after I got back. Today I saw it's on sale during Prime Big Deal Days for $90 (44% off), so I ordered one. I can't wait to get this thing and mount it.

 

[mikkelstuff]

I've been through three of these Reolink cameras and like them, for the most part. One died after several years - no reason, just did.

My latest died after only 3 months. Took some hassle with Reolink but they finally agreed to replace it. I did register the camera with Reolink so they could hardly deny it.

If I ever buy another, I will also buy the Amazon warranty and not have to mess with Reolink.

 

[Roert42]

I frequently think about buying a camera for outside my garage. I always come back to the same reason not too.

I would end up with 90% footage of myself peeing on the bush next to the garage, 9% footage of the dogs doing the same, and the rest would be video of bugs setting off the motion detector.

 

[John97]

It's good to be able to keep an eye on things.

I have three outdoor Nest cameras that have been working perfectly in the FL sun/heat for over a decade. I plan on upgrading them when one fails. I also have the doorbell camera. Inside, I have two Amcrest cameras as well for the common areas of the house. These are not cloud based like Nest but record locally. I can view them or retrieve footage remotely, however.

 

[Bill]

I have about six or seven IP PoE cameras I grabbed out of ewaste at work, along with a PoE power supply and a four port switch with PoE. At some point I plan to run open source camera software on one of the spare laptops or a mini PC.

For those that don't know, PoE means power over ethernet. You run power over the ethernet cable to power the camers.

ZoneMinder - Features

A full-featured, open source, state-of-the-art video surveillance software system.

zoneminder.com

Bluecherry

Powerful Video Surveillance Software

www.bluecherrydvr.com

iSpy - Best Video Surveillance and Security Camera Software for Motion Detection and Remote Monitoring

Protect your home or business with iSpy, the leading video surveillance and security camera software. Enjoy motion detection, remote monitoring, online access, and total control over your security system from anywhere.

www.ispyconnect.com

 

[desertdog71]

I have Reolinks around my place, mine are all POE though, I haven't tried the wireless options. I'm happy with it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My buddy got a wired set from Harbor Freight years ago and got 4 extra cameras so he has the full set of 8. He lives in town so his footage is occasionally exciting… like when a dude slashed the tires on his sister’s car, along with at least 6 other tires in the neighborhood (felony). Idiot looked straight at one of the cameras when he slashed the tire too, made it real easy for the cops to find him…

Also got to watch a lady come flying down the alley in reverse in an SUV and smack the garage and his sisters S10 on camera. Then watch the front cameras as she drove her SUV around front and parked in front of a house and went inside… she refused to come out to talk to the cops…

I have a HF set, I need 4 more wired cameras yet though.

Not sure on brand, but my parents got a wired camera set and 8 cameras. Haven’t witnessed anything real exciting, but we have seen wildlife on them. Oh, and there was a truck that flipped the one night, it was out of the camera view really with trees, but I was sitting in the living room with dad when a truck went past and then we heard a bang. Look on the cameras and see bleed light from the headlights when we should have seen red tail light glow, so I went to investigate. Dude that wrecked the truck called his brother to come rescue him and tow the truck away before the cops could be called. Since that seemed suspicious and they had done some property damage, we helped them with alerting the cops to deal with it… messed up the drainage ditch and mowed down 3 trees we planted…

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've used a Wyse camera in my room rental. Great color night vision. Haven't used it outside. There is on camera video storage or up to the cloud. I paid around $C40.00 for one.

And if I have time I'm going to try the following in the link;

How to Turn an Old Android Phone into a Security Camera

Here's how to turn any old Android phone into a security camera---with an app by Edward Snowden.

www.howtogeek.com

 

[MaicoDoug]

Everybody's got the cheapest camera that does everything, I paid ADT to install their hard wired CAT 6 cameras 6 years ago and never have had any issues ever. Records 4 days then dumps it locally. IR & HD. No internet connection. Easy. Pay $50/ month. I own everything, but they support all the hardware if required no charge. Like a free back up battery every 3 years. Never had not a single hiccup. All the door, window mag switches are monitored through a seperate cell connection. Total $73/month but I purchased everything from then initially. It goes with the house when times comes to sell it. Something worth keeping.

 

[Jebadoo]

I have a pair of Reolinks at my house. Wifi to an NVR for contant recording.

The one I have is rock solid, never skips a beat. The other one HATES where it is located and drops wifi sometimes, but I blame this on the house blocking the signal more than anything. Had to drop it down to 2.4G to get a decent connection.

Other than that, they run great and are WELL worth the money (especially if you can get them on sale on Prime day like I did).

The only real complaint I have is that they don't make a solar model that will also connect to my NVR.

 

[sgtsandman]

I went the Ring camera route. I have them spread around the property so I can see most of it and the area around the doors to the house. It has been generally issue free. One camera replaced the spot lights. So, it's powered all the time by the house electrical. Two have batteries and a solar panel to keep them charged. The only one I have to maintain is the one that replace the peep hole on the front door. Since it is a covered porch, there isn't enough sun light for a solar pa el to keep it charged.

The system enables me to monitor the house when I'm away, as long as I have wifi or cell signal.

 

[superj]

12 years ago i bought a nice system from the local computer/electronics place. it came with 4 cameras and i bought 3 others. i have moved it from one house to hte next and the hard drive finally went out last year. i got another hard drive with more space on it.

that thing is so cool. you can watch it on your phone too (my wife has it on hers, i don't) and we also got a ring door bell two or three years back taht lets you watch on your phone. it works good too.

we watched some guy running from the cops in a car one evening. we heard the sirens so we switched to the cameras on the big livingoom tv. the car was going up and down the neighborhood streets and appeared drunk. two cruisers were behind him and he was really going, like probably 80 on our single car street. he would go down to the main street, run up and down evading hte cruisers and then turn into the neighborhood and go up and down our 5 or 6 streets and go back to the main one, and just repeat.

one time, the cruisers must have had his normal route blocked so he made a hard turn onto my street and went into the 4 foot deep drainage ditch and out the other side, airborn. the cruisers must have been turning around or something because they were not in the cameras areas of views anymore, none of them. so he jumps the ditch, pulls into my neighbors driveway and kills the lights. the cruisers come screaming around the turn and fly past him, heading to the fishing pier at the end of our road. the car waits a bit, back out, and takes off. the chase ended right there, he got away

we call the police and gave them the car info and plates but i imagine they probably had it. we told them what we saw and how he got away. i don;t know what happened but that was an interesting "movie" to watch, ha ha ha.

the cameras do help for covering your area though. as soon as the dog starts barking, the wife flips to the cameras screen and i normally have to go out with a bat and stop some trespassers. i haven't had to break any legs but i have had to scare some poeple who thought my yard was short cut.

i have also sent video of people breaking into cars to the police so they could use the video to keep people they picked up who were just going driveway to driveway opening up cars and taking stuff.

and they are good for showing the delivery trucks not doing their jobs. throwing stuff, driving through the grass, or not even showing up when they say they delivered something i never got. fedex fires people for that stuff, one of their driver's found out. we sent the video in to support a claim and they told us that as part of hte process for making us whole on our stuff being not delivered, that guy got let go.

 

[maddyn]

Its a bit up front, but the UniFi network system with their cameras is pretty awesome. The app works well, can view from anywhere you have a good connection, have recording, event notifications. Plus you have great network equipment with remote management, and really good WiFi access points. It's geared a little more towards small/med business applications, but the software side is free and they always seem to be adding some new hardware to keep up with standards

https://ui.com

 

[DeeRanger]

I don't currently have any security cameras at all, but I do have some other hardware in place.

 

[Snoranger]

I have the old school security system… there’s a little old lady down the street that has nothing better to do with her time than to watch EVERYTHING that goes on.