Remote veiwable security cameras other than Ring or Arlo?

[bwframe]

According to the Ring adds, the perps either see the Ring and run off or you say something snarky to them through the doorbell and they run away?

 

[Sailor]

I have Arlo's Yi cams and Wyze cams. Arlo's I only like for those areas I can not get power to. My favorite and its CHEAP is the Wyze cams from Amazon. I use them outside under the eaves no problem. I 3d printed a cover for one that sits on a lamp post unprotected. Magnetic bases, runs on usb power cord, stick your own sd card in and let it record 24-7 in a loop. The alerts are fast and you can really dial in the detection zone and sensitivity.

 

[ghuns]

Subbed

 

[Sailor]

Buy a cheap water sensor alarm for your basement near your sump pump pit, and set the Wyze camera to alert on sound, and for about $35 you have a wireless high water alarm.

 

[K_W]

Buy a cheap water sensor alarm for your basement near your sump pump pit, and set the Wyze camera to alert on sound, and for about $35 you have a wireless high water alarm.

Good thought but more complex than necessary... All I have to do is wire a float switch in place of the reed switch in an extra one of my alarm's door sensors and I have a sump monitor.

I received two of the $40 cameras meant for my alarm system (same as Wyze but 720p). With it on the UPS I still show 3 hours backup power for the alarm and internet. They also hear smoke/CO/sump alerts.

The quality is less than stellar... but it's main purpose is to verify/dismiss false alarms (cats) and if my wife feels a seizure coming she can lay on the couch and I can watch from anywhere to make sure she comes to.

 

[Sailor]

Yeah 720p is fine for areas that size. My 1080p cams wont pick up a license plate at a very long distance. I like the water alarm with a sump pump alarm. I have a float alarm in the pit but lots of other things can go wrong with the pump still keeping up. I see it every week.

 

[STFU]

According to the Ring adds, the perps either see the Ring and run off or you say something snarky to them through the doorbell and they run away?

Keep in mind that having a Ring Doorbell also makes you a target...
https://fox6now.com/2018/12/11/thie...era-police-report-20-similar-cases-this-year/

“Honestly, the Ring doorbell, it’s phenomenal, but it’s actually like the first layer of security,” said Joel Burrell, the owner of Your Security Man.
I prefer my cameras out of plain view, up high, and out of reach.

 

[K_W]

I prefer my cameras out of plain view, up high, and out of reach.

Nope... visible and obvious. Prevention always beats reaction.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I'm torn on these. Granted you can get better cameras for about the same price (Hikvision) but those are only available via servicing dealers, so no DIY. You can buy them online, but buyer beware there is no support and no warranty from Hik.

https://unifi-protect.ubnt.com/

I run them and they work OK, but are stupid easy to install. Just avoid the "NVR" they have on the website. Its last gen and more expensive than the current model that is bundled into either the Cloudkey2+ or the XG server. (big $$)
The CK2+ supports 15-20 cameras. (20 if its just an NVR, 15 if you also use it as a wireless controller for your network gear too) Or you can use an old windows, mac, or linux box as an NVR; They dont charge for their software.

The biggest downside is they are proprietary. Since they dont charge for the software they dont want you buying other cameras and using their stuff for free. You can turn on RTSP on the cameras to force it to work with 3rd party NVRs, but its not ideal.


And now they have $80 1080p cameras. They are rated for indoor/outdoor but dont seem as sealed as the G3s. Should be ok for under an eave or front porch.

And I highly recommend adding the extra light ring to the G3. It makes a world of difference even at 25'.

EDIT: the CK2+ is currently only available for purchase direct from the UBNT web store. They sell items exclusively for a while when they first release them so they are not yet available out on Amazon, etc.

 

[Alamo]

I have a Ring doorbell cam. Generally I like it. My chief complaint is that when recording is triggered by motion, the length of the recording is not configurable by the user. It's basically about 30 seconds, then there will be a time out so false alarms (e.g. tree branches waving in the breeze) don't generate repeated recordings of non-events. The downside is that if someone drives up in a car and sits in it for a minute before getting out, the recording doesn't catch the person, only that the car came in view. The doorbell-level camera is good for catching faces instead of tops of heads, and it uploads the vid to the cloud, so even if the camera is stolen there is a record of the event. Ring will replace the camera for free if you supply a police report.

A buddy has Blink, and he likes it. From his description sounds very much like Ring, except that he can control the amount of time spent recording after a trigger. The night vision on them doesn't seem too clear, we spend a lot of time discussing whether his video clips are showing the neighbor's cat or a racoon. His wife doesn't like it when I suggest it's a really big rat.

p.s. one of the things that drew me to Ring is that I didn't want to string a bunch of cable, and I wanted to be able to get it in operation with little muss and fuss. Ring was perfect for that. Battery life is not stupendous, I put a solar panel bezel on the doorbell that helps keep the battery from winding down too fast, but it is not enough to keep it indefinitely charged. I have to manually charge it about every two weeks or so.

 

[K_W]

I have a Ring doorbell cam. Generally I like it. My chief complaint is that when recording is triggered by motion, the length of the recording is not configurable by the user. It's basically about 30 seconds, then there will be a time out so false alarms (e.g. tree branches waving in the breeze) don't generate repeated recordings of non-events. The downside is that if someone drives up in a car and sits in it for a minute before getting out, the recording doesn't catch the person, only that the car came in view. The doorbell-level camera is good for catching faces instead of tops of heads, and it uploads the vid to the cloud, so even if the camera is stolen there is a record of the event. Ring will replace the camera for free if you supply a police report.

A buddy has Blink, and he likes it. From his description sounds very much like Ring, except that he can control the amount of time spent recording after a trigger. The night vision on them doesn't seem too clear, we spend a lot of time discussing whether his video clips are showing the neighbor's cat or a racoon. His wife doesn't like it when I suggest it's a really big rat.

p.s. one of the things that drew me to Ring is that I didn't want to string a bunch of cable, and I wanted to be able to get it in operation with little muss and fuss. Ring was perfect for that. Battery life is not stupendous, I put a solar panel bezel on the doorbell that helps keep the battery from winding down too fast, but it is not enough to keep it indefinitely charged. I have to manually charge it about every two weeks or so.

The Pro doesn't have most of the issues you are seeing.

Videos are usually 1:06 as long as it is still seeing motion it will make another video and there is no warm-up delay, but in fact a preview of a few seconds before detection event. Cool off time is very short. The Pro will detect us pulling in to the drive way and by the time we have parked, grabbed our stuff, and got out, it has shut down, reset and is detecting us again.

 

[STFU]

Nope... visible and obvious. Prevention always beats reaction.

I get your point. They are definitely visible...just up high on the second story eaves looking down and out.
A normal passerby would have to look for them, someone casing the house would see them for sure. Not everyone looks up.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I get your point. They are definitely visible...just up high on the second story eaves looking down and out.
A normal passerby would have to look for them, someone casing the house would see them for sure. Not everyone looks up.

At least here in the Camby area, the Meth heads rummaging through cars have no s to give. They dont seem to care/notice that there are cameras.

 

[STFU]

At least here in the Camby area, the Meth heads rummaging through cars have no s to give. They dont seem to care/notice that there are cameras.

True. Criminals are not necessarily known for being smart...

 

[Cameramonkey]

Good thought but more complex than necessary... All I have to do is wire a float switch in place of the reed switch in an extra one of my alarm's door sensors and I have a sump monitor.

I HIGHLY recommend these. They work great. And you can also get multiple types of water sensors depending on where you need them. (e.g. a super thin under carpet/floating floor sensor)

https://www.winland.com/solutions/monitoring-devices/waterbug/wb200/

 

[K_W]

I figured out a way to know if the power goes out... I have two Wi-Fi cameras and two Wi-Fi routers but was only using one... The living room camera, ISP's router, and alarm brain are all on the UPS.... but the garage camera is connected to the more powerful router and neither are on a UPS.

Since the cameras send a "Offline" notification, if I get one for just the garage camera, I can check living room camera and see if the lights are out or not.

 

[bwframe]

According to the Ring adds, the perps either see the Ring and run off or you say something snarky to them through the doorbell and they run away?

Keep in mind that having a Ring Doorbell also makes you a target...
https://fox6now.com/2018/12/11/thie...era-police-report-20-similar-cases-this-year/

“Honestly, the Ring doorbell, it’s phenomenal, but it’s actually like the first layer of security,” said Joel Burrell, the owner of Your Security Man.
I prefer my cameras out of plain view, up high, and out of reach.

I always thought the Ring commercials were almost taunting would be thieves by belittling them.

Can't help but notice the recent Allstate "mayhem guy" commercial has him stealing a car and running over other valuable property as the owner watches helplessly on his phone. Clever.

 

[woowoo2]

I'm torn on these. Granted you can get better cameras for about the same price (Hikvision) but those are only available via servicing dealers, so no DIY. You can buy them online, but buyer beware there is no support and no warranty from Hik.

https://unifi-protect.ubnt.com/

I am still not sold on the camera / optics quality.
Seems like an indoor product?

Still using Hikvision (from our dealer) for work, Dahua at home and CohuHD/Costar for broadcast quality installations.

We recently had one of our 16 channel Hikvision NVR's loose it's marbles.
Had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Several of the cameras would not respond to their passwords, the dealer had to get the manufacturer involved.

 

[Beowulf]

I always thought the Ring commercials were almost taunting would be thieves by belittling them.

Can't help but notice the recent Allstate "mayhem guy" commercial has him stealing a car and running over other valuable property as the owner watches helplessly on his phone. Clever.

This is why I mount a claymore mine on the other side of my Ring doorbell.

Actually though, I've been using Arlo and it's worked out pretty well. I haven't caught any break in attempts on camera, but I have picked up a few traffic accidents, a car being towed, and a whole bunch of stray cats and raccoons running across my front step (apparently, my front yard is on a path way for them, since I typically see multiple animals crossing back and forth each night).

Smarthome.com was just running a sale for new years, where they were clearancing out some of the original Arlo camera packages. I picked up a 3 camera package to add to my set up for $180 (about $60 per camera). Hard to beat that price. They run periodic sales, so it might be worth keeping an eye on that site.

I will add that I'm less than impressed with the improvements in the Arlo Pro. The rechargeable battery is really nice, though I do have to recharge it more frequently than I change the batteries in the regular Arlos. However, the speaker is very weak and quiet. So, when I try to use it to talk to people at the door, they can't hear over any road noise. So if you are buying one to get that capability, it's not worth it in my opinion and maybe a hardwired option would be better.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I am still not sold on the camera / optics quality.
Seems like an indoor product?

Still using Hikvision (from our dealer) for work, Dahua at home and CohuHD/Costar for broadcast quality installations.

We recently had one of our 16 channel Hikvision NVR's loose it's marbles.
Had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Several of the cameras would not respond to their passwords, the dealer had to get the manufacturer involved.

Absolutely! Hikvision is better. But not available as a DIY officially. If you have the cash, by all means contact a distributor and have them professionally installed. You can get crazy resolutions. At my office we had an issue with a guy repeatedly climbing a fence and stealing ladders off our trucks. We deployed a monster Hikvision camera and was able to read his license plate as he drove by, and he got no closer than 100' to the camera. The read was done at about 150' where he got to an angle where we could read it. That's crazy.

But if you are on a budget and need an acceptable solution for up close monitoring (your car in the drive, your front porch, etc), and arent a networking wiz, the Unifi video solution is OK and easy to DIY. The cameras are durable and work well outdoors. (the $80 camera I dont have any history to give a thumbs up/down on)