Home security camera stuffs. What say ye?

The wife and I have be discussing putting up some security cameras around the place. We live out with the cows, but there's still been some stuff walk off from some neighbors and with her having a business in the house, we've decided we need some cameras.

My first instinct was the Nest system, as we already use a Nest thermostat. From what I've gathered, everything streams through the Nest app. The video quality is solid, but the price point is a little steep.

My wife had a hair client offer her some unused Ring indoor cameras. I did a little googling and the Ring cameras are much, much cheaper. They even offer some that are battery powered and that you won't have to run power to. And I like that.

And then there's data storage!

Is the simplicity and streamlining of the Nest worth the extra cost?

Anybody have any suggestions? Experience doing this?

I have two systems at the house. One is a hardwired Samsung system with DVR and 6 cameras. It's nice because it provides real time video without an app. 

The other is a Blink system with 10 cameras. It's nice because it's wireless and the app is super easy to use, no monthly service fee, storage is free. You will need decent WiFi for it to work and any camera has to be within range of the router. 

Been using wyze for a year and a half now. Works great, awesome quality, no issues yet. 

Also they are dumb cheap.

I'm using a hardwired Swann camera set. I kind of prefer running wires myself - do it once and don't worry about having to check batteries or lose the signal.

We have the Ring setup and pay the monthly fee to have the footage saved.  Works well and I like the ability to talk through them

MadScientistMatt said:

I'm using a hardwired Swann camera set. I kind of prefer running wires myself - do it once and don't worry about having to check batteries or lose the signal.

I also have a hardwired Swann system. Got it from BestBuy a few years ago. The Android app is clunky, but works fine. I like being able to check around the house without leaving my office chair.

I went with Nest and the service has been rock solid.  I specifically rejected Ring once I learned of their practices (do whatever they want with your data, handing it out to others without telling you, predatory sales in high crime areas, other unseemly stuff.)  Google appears to be the "least evil" and most transparent in this regard.

My wife works for a tech company(biggest in the nation) and is quite the techy and this last week we decided to get cameras and security for the entrances.

She did her research and in the end $ vs return and taking into account the reviews of everything she looked at .. she went with "Ring" set up.

Can't give opinion based on time with it yet but what we've hooked up over the last week(still collecting and hooking up more) its a pretty cool set up and we are happy with it.

Times are getting crazy.

I have the Blink system. I have had it for a year and a half with very little issues. I did just have my first camera die but a replacement was easy to get and install and reasonably priced. The app is nice and no storage fee is great. My system will store over 700 clips before they start to drop the oldest (you can pay to store more). You can also email clips so if there is something you want to keep you can send it to yourself.

NYN

After I had two of my cars scratched up in the driveway this year, I posted a discussion on the forum and ended up buying an Arlo Pro 2 system from Sam's.

It's wireless, so setup was easy. That was a big factor, since my garage is detached. Image quality is good, and it seems pretty reliable after I got past the initial learning curve. I wasn't impressed at first, I named the base station useless at one point.

Batteries last for weeks. 

Downside is that I sometimes don't remember to activate them at night, and I don't really want to leave them going 24 hours since someone's home all day. The vandalism was late at night.

One annoying glitch. The program allows you to preset on and off times, it just doesn't activate the cameras after you set it.

Customer service appears to be non-existent.

Screenshot of wyze app. 

I've used the cheap cameras that look like lightbulbs and screw into a light socket before. They stream, have alerts, act as a light bulb, have sound and you can speak thru them.

The last one I bought was $35

After a little issue with our house last week.......ADT is coming out next week to quote me on a system. 

They are going to give me $2k in free equipment if I decide to sign up, and I probably will. Even though I'll be working from home for another 6 months anyway, the idea of cameras, doors, smoke/C02 detectors being monitored 24/7 gives me the warm fuzzies.

For the love of dog, avoid Ring and Nest like the plague. Their cameras are probably perfectly fine; but Ring has been selling their owner's personal information and video feeds to the police for years without legal justification, and Nest allows Google to view into your home. They're both a massive breach of personal privacy and their parent companies can easily shut down your systems remotely leaving you with a bricked camera system, as what happened to the Nest smart thermostats before google bought them. 1984 was supposed to be fiction.

I'm soon going to be working with a Swann system left behind by the prior owner that's wired, which I really like; added security through physical connections, won't tie up your wifi and it's easier to keep powered (since obviously, its all on one circut). One thing I HAVE learned tho, is there's at least two "generations" of security camera with the 2nd able to differentiate shapes and distance for motion tracking- 1st gens apparently would be set off by clouds.

I put an older version similar to this Reolink kit in our little home town library a couple years ago.  The one I speced and installed for them (somehow I'm the de facto IT guy for my tiny hometown) is only a 1080p version, but with 4 exterior bullet cameras & 2 interior dome cameras.  I donated an old LCD monitor, mouse & keyboard to the cause.  Myself and 2 helpers had the system installed in 1/2 a day, and that's with stringing Ethernet cable through a tight attic.
https://www.amazon.com/Security-8-Channel-Surveillance-Recording-RLK8-800B4/dp/B07K734ZTW

I wouldn't look at anything other than PoE cameras, data and power in one cable.

Reolink's app works good, it's free, and all of your data is stored on the DVR's hard drive so no need to for a cloud service.  If you've got internet access to your DVR, you can view, and scrub through video from any device you set the Reolink app up on.

I'd be interested in something like that which is prehistorically simple--No internet connection, hard wired internally (no wireless), recorded on site with no data storage on anyone else's server...  Any suggestions?

stroker said:

I'd be interested in something like that which is prehistorically simple--No internet connection, hard wired internally (no wireless), recorded on site with no data storage on anyone else's server...  Any suggestions?

You just described the Swann system that MadScientistMatt and I both have. Just run the BNC cables and find a suitable central spot to keep the DVR unit.

In reply to stroker :

That Reolink kit I linked above doesn't require internet, comes with everything you need, might need longer Ethernet cables depending on camera placement in relation to DVR, just add a monitor.  The one I linked is an 8 channel model, so it'll handle up to 8 PoE cameras, they have a 4 and 16 channel model too.

It only requires internet access to allow remote access via their app.  If you don't want to use their app, no need for internet.

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

My wife works from home. And  I'm a light sleeper when I sleep. 
our neighborhood crime rate is either three or 4 digits past zero. 
Average emergency response time is measured in seconds ( millions spent on public safety for a population around 8000) 

New York Nick said:

I have the Blink system. I have had it for a year and a half with very little issues. I did just have my first camera die but a replacement was easy to get and install and reasonably priced. The app is nice and no storage fee is great. My system will store over 700 clips before they start to drop the oldest (you can pay to store more). You can also email clips so if there is something you want to keep you can send it to yourself.

 

NYN

Blink at home and at my wife's store. Simple to set up and use. Less expensive than the others. Happy with it. Now if that spider would stop walking across the lens...

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

I have the wireless version of that Reolink kit and it works very good.  Run power to the camera and that's it.  The system can be standalone or link to my home network so I can access the console from anywhere within range.  Being wireless allows me to put cameras in the house and the detached garage and still be on the same system.  

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C8BZGKW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VWHXF4C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

The spiders are attracted to the IR light. Smear a little Vaseline around the edge of the camera. They probably won't cross it. 

Another plug for Wyze.  Ultimately configurable.  Standalone camera and a phone app.  Connect to wifi and you can watch from anywhere on your phone.  Free cloud storage of short clips of events (motion, sound, etc).  Slot to add an SD card for internal storage which you can loop, record events, etc.  Built-in speakers/mic so you can talk like a Ring doorbell.

I bought mine on a super amazon sale when they were trying to bolster market share.  I got a 2-pack of the little cube ones for $29, then bought a tilt/pan/zoom model for $59?  I think?  The cubes live on the front and back porch to watch the garage, deliveries, thefts of said deliveries (which hasn't happened), and the tilt/pan/zoom is in the living room as a dog nanny cam.

I just bought a NAS for cloud storage and it comes with software for surveillance.  Supposedly it will work with any wifi or wired video/audio source on the network.

I can 100% back not giving my home data over to skynet.. I mean amazon.

But, it says online that Blink is an Amazon company, so do they do the same thing that Ring does?

currently looking into all the options listed above. You guys pulled through like always.

Obviously wireless has come a long way over the last few years, but other than the inconvenience of having to run wires, is there any reason not to use a wired system these days?

I'm going to need to go down the path of setting up surveillance soon ish so figured it was relevant to ask