Do you have any cams at your residence?

I've been thinking about putting them in to record the perimeter around our house due to some recent changes in the neighborhood, and I appreciate your insight. Any other advice others can offer in terms of what's worked well and what hasn't would be appreciated too.

A few things that have held me back:
battery or solar power rather than AC (I like the idea of pairing cameras to floodlights, because AC power is already there where floodlights go--I don't want to have to pull permits and pay an electrician to run new wiring to the house exterior),

network security and privacy (I've avoided Internet-of-things devices up until now for this reason, as they can be exploited to crack into a home network; I also worry about giving more data to Google, Amazon, etc. as facial recognition gets better),

and the fact that everything outdoors in our area (near the ocean, with a lot of wind) wears out twice as fast as it does inland. Just keeping camera lenses clear of salt spray will be an issue here, as our car windshields readily attest.

I installed 6 Google / Nest cameras in and around my place last year. I looked at Blink but chose Nest for it's off site video storage. If a thief steals a camera or burns the place down, the video is not lost. The data storage costs $137/year.

For 1080P video, a high speed internet connection is necessary with an adequate data plan. My 6 cameras average around 200GB per month depending on how I have the alerts set.

Like Blink, the cameras can be set to alert my cell phone and the video can be viewed anywhere there is an internet connection.

I also like the facial recognition feature of the Nest cameras. It can be set not to alert if a familiar face is detected.

In addition, I have a solar powered cellular enabled game camera at the head of my driveway. it records anything coming or going from the house. It also alerts my cell phone when tripped. The data plan for 1080P video cost $16/month but cheaper plans are available for lower resolution.

The annual expense for the cameras is partially offset by a reduction in my home owner insurance premium.

It's a shame that today, security measures like this are necessary.

No cameras. Not even a Ring doorbell.

Overall ok cameras but if I was in a tougher area I would put in a better wired system with better cameras. I pay the $100 a year for storage. Quick and easy installed system with immediate alerts to your phone.

I have one inside my garage, just to make sure garage doors are closed when I leave home, or go to bed.

The 5 Blink cams i have also have 2 way sound. I can be in another city and somebody walks on my porch i can use my phone and the Blink cam and talk back and forth to them. Pretty cool

love ours

Anyone have signs up stating video recording / facial recognication is in use?

What a great idea - a poor man's simple solution especially if it's a lie and you don't have any security at all..

Phil

The thieves we see around here are used to these cameras. They wear masks & hoodies or other disguises, and just ignore them.

Law enforcement is loathe to respond to camera related reports unless weapons or injuries are involved. Thieves know this and usually don't hang around long enough to get caught.

On a side note, PA just enacted a law making it a felony to steal a package off a porch. Somehow, I don't see it being that effective. Porch pirates rarely get caught, even with the proliferation of these cameras out there.

Still, I find the cameras useful for keeping tabs on the place when I'm not around. If I see that a delivery has been made, I'll call a neighbor to get the package.

Occasionally, I'll get an interesting wildlife video. Last summer, I got a shot of a black bear climbing up on our deck to get at the bird feeders. I also have several videos of a red fox curled up and sleeping by our back door.

There's a whole world out there, just outside our doors. These cameras are great for letting us see some of it.

I have two of them and they run on solar. The one in the backyard shows me the raccoons at night digging up my lawn...the buggers. The front shows a lot including my neighbors. I got them originally because my buddies son was causing issues with his Parents. We had to install these cameras for evidence. His are hardwired in and not from blink. He had the pros install them and then they wouldn't give him any support. Luckily the issue with his son is over. I installed mine myself up under the eavesdrop. Had to get the solar attachment because the batteries do not last 2 years like they say. Getting a ladder every time was a pain.

I came across the YouTuber Mark Rober where he setup thieves with sophisticated glitter bombs, fart sprays, etc.

I believe it's San Francisco--he left luggage in plain sight in the back of a setup car and it doesn't take long for someone to break in. 8 cams inside the car and more on the luggage.

I never could have imagined that life would be like this, as I walked through the halls of my high school. My daily commute reminds me of NYC in 1977. Complete lawlessness.

But you bring up an amazing point, that thieves are not dissuaded by cams.

PA has zero enforcement of much. I bring up all the cars with 5% tints driving around, when none is legal at all. Or cars with no plates. I saw a Suburban on Wed. nite where it had a plate that simply said "EXEMPT."

It seems in the end the thief has more rights than you do. Its painstaking to watch the process sometimes to get these thieves behind bars. The homeless for instance don't have anything to lose so inconveniencing you isn't an issue for them. I'm over 70, so taking them out back and teaching them a lesson not to come back isn't going to happen. I know from first hand experience that the law has done just that because in the end they do 2 hrs. of paper work and in 5 minutes they are out in the street again. Frustration in law enforcement is ramped, we see it in the news every day. I'm sure up here in Canada if we were allowed to carry guns, some would not hesitate to use them.

I have one on my front porch (with limited range)but would love to add more to the perimeter of my house.

Eons ago, I worked with a group of mischievous engineers. They were always pulling off a prank on some unsuspecting fool.

One day, these guys came up with the bright idea to put a 60 lb fly wheel into a suitcase.
Of course there was a battery, a motor and some other toys in it.

They spun up the fly wheel to several hundred RPM's so that the flywheel became a really wicked gyroscope.

After they perfected their new toy, they'd take it to an international airport because there was always a fool that would decide to take "free luggage." As long as the unsuspecting thief walked straight with the suitcase, all was well... however when the thief tried to change directions with rhe suitcase, the thief would frequently find themselves on the floor wondering what happened.

Cameras not needed.. it was the suitcases fault!

So maybe it just shows I'm infantile. As mentioned, I put in cams the next morning after Thanksgiving (amazon free overnight delivery). Literally. Because as we backed up after a Thanksgiving meal into our driveway, a blue LED turned on and the neighbor put one in.

This person accused us of backing onto her lawn. Just after I had gotten front/rear dash cams in my car, I so happened to be backing in when she ripped into the driveway, running over her lawn.

I told her you didn't know, so now you do, that I have front/rear dash cams. And you just ran over your own lawn and it's in 2160p. So don't you ever accuse me or my wife again, when in fact you are doing it to yourself.

She actually said, no, you did it. This is to your point--what difference does it make?

And that person works for an Ivy League institution which accepts ~ 5.6% of applicants (39% when I graduated HS), and has acted like the above for over 20 years that we've been neighbors. So I do understand, why bother. But at the same time, I guess, why not?

No. I thought about it a year or so ago, but decided against it. Why you ask? I live in a neighborhood where all of the neighbors know each other and watch out for each other. The city where I live has installed cameras at all entrances to the city and have actually caught some people who burglarized a couple of houses. People in the neighborhood where the burglaries took place noticed a strange vehicle and reported it to the police. The police then checked the recording and observed a vehicle of that color. They ran the tag, got the person’s name and address and after investigating, charged the people with burglary.

I use them to show deliveries and to watch wildlife in my yard (cats, opossum, deer, fox, squirrels, coyotes)

Sounds like she fits right in. My organization used to hire a lot of ivy league graduates. No longer.

Based on experience, we might hire them if they have significant successful experience elsewhere, and that’s it.

I have Ring cameras installed around my house. Ring pro door bell , Ring floodlight camera and ring battery camera in my backyard. This setup pretty much covers my house. I have installed solar panel for battery camera to keep it charged all the time. Ring alerts are enabled to notify us any intrusion. This setup is working well for the lst 5 years or so. I have Ring Echo Show displays as well to check cameras. Our new Samsung fridge also came with Smartthings and Ring integration. You can see Rin camera video on Fridge screen as well...

I don't have any but support those that do. I have physical security but nothing electronic. If I do install them they will be hardwired or I won't have them, to much hassle with battery operated units.

From what I can see and from what I have read, wireless is slow to respond (latency that can be seen). And then, by default, it's set to 720p not 1080p, on Blink systems, to conserve battery life. As mentioned, in a commercial setting they would not be wireless. Some of it I attribute to man's wanting a single number with which to judge goodness (5ghz vs. 2.4 ghz, higher is better, right lol).

I would seriously consider always using an AC powered cam at the garage.

Again, prices are crazy. The $49.99 hard wired floodlight cams that I got at both amazon and Costco, are $99.99 now. We are being trained "it's only $50" instead of "the price has doubled." Happens all the time with many products now...

2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz: Which frequency should you choose? A 2.4 GHz connection travels farther at lower speeds, while 5 GHz frequencies provide faster speeds at shorter range. Your choice of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz will depend on where and how you use your WiFi connection most.

2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz pros and cons

2.4 GHz
PROS

Larger coverage area

Better at penetrating solid objects

CONS
Lower data rate

More prone to interference

Usually more devices using this frequency

5 GHz

PROS
Higher data rate

Less prone to interference

Usually fewer devices using this frequency

CONS

Smaller coverage area (except 802.11 ac)

Worse at penetrating solid objects

more at: https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/wireless/whic...

Wireless cameras are easy to setup. Only problem is replacing the batteries every few days if they are not solar. The response time is slow and does not always pick up movement until after it has moved out of range. I have used Arlo's and found them to drop offline easy.

See https://www.tomsguide.com/news/abodes-new-security-camera-wo.... I also note that someone here mentioned battery life and the device at the link has approximately one year.

I installed a Ring doorbell camera. The Bride likes it because it alerts if it detects any movement near the front door, and makes a different alert if someone presses the doorbell button.

solar-powered exterior cameras by Reolink.

I heard that there are problems with wireless cameras and that wired cameras are the way to go. Does anyone know anything about solar cameras?

They say "It has a 6,000-mAh battery, which Abode says will last for up to one year on a charge"
No Way is that true. I have some blink outdoor cameras which they said would last one year. Lol ya if you set it to the lowest resolution and sensitivity then maybe, but you can't see anything. And it won't pick up a runner either. Up the Ladder and down every 2 months. Finally attached solar to it. They have come down in price i see. Once you buy these battery operated ones your gonna do the exercise up and down the ladder, because the manufacturer will give you a spiel if you tell them it only lasts 6 months.

But, I do things like use a smart plug timer to disconnect power from my garage door opener overnight.

I have wyze cam at home. I have a lot of those. Some might say I love security cameras. I also subscribed to their professional home monitoring.

Forced to work in this space 8 years ago (I didn't mind it meant keeping my salary and having a job). Believe me there's a lot more to it lol

But I think my original point is when people see "faster" or "more" or even 5 > 2.4, they make an immediate judgement. Isn't this the case with monetized YouTube channels? Throw "went wrong!" or "then this happened!" as well as sexually suggestive terms, and clicks go way up.

Sorta like me wanting a GM 6.2 over the 5.3. One fact is the 6.2 uses premium and 5.3 regular, but I'm still opting for the 6.2. But of course I'd rather buy regular over premium. Octane is not a measure of goodness, it's all about predetonation. Since I buy full serve in NJ, I used to have the urge to tell people your car wasn't designed for premium you can save yourself some money (when all our windows are down and the car next to me asks for premium and it's a CR-V, etc.). Usually the response was hey thanks but I care about my car and keeping the fuel system cleaner, and getting better mileage, so I gave up.

And from what I can see online those lithium AA are not cheap at all. I am so glad my garage floodlight cam is hard wired. I've upped the resolution and it's quicker to come to life than the others.

Again not mistaking supermax prison performance for home DIY'er at all. These cams are really toys, but it does seem everyone has them and they suit their purposes especially given the price (Black Friday about $35 each for the Blink 4's and $49.99 for the AC powered floodlight cam--then for $49.99 Costco even threw in a Blink 4 plus a mini cam, nuts, that's giving the devices away, all 3 items for a penny less than $50).

Have had them for over 6 years... I got one off ebay ("Too Complicated")
And discovered it was, but was a good unit.... Excellent HD Video!
One thing led to another, and I discovered there was a software flaw in the camera (HikVision allowing remote access!!), and people started dumping them because of that.... USA Support was less than worthless, but found a user group in U.K. that pointed me at a firmware upgrade to kill flaw... and learned how to upgrade them successfully...
Armed with that..... and now understanding how to use camera...
I started purchasing them for next to nothing on EBAY $225 list, I got them for $30-90...12 of them! Mostly Used, some New in box!! I'd Power them up holding reset button to do factory default, and then immediately load new (good) firmware, Then configure!
1920x1080,12V DC or POE, Day/Night, Water-Proof.... and worked with Synology NAS's Surveillance Station with HiKvision interface Absolutely beautifully....

One died 4 years later, and when I tried to get replacement discovered that no mfg now sells cameras with 16MM Lens anymore!!! I had 2x cameras with 16MM Lens at end of 250' POE cables, so I had to have 16MM Lens.

Eventually found one at AliExpress at reasonable price $56: (ONVIF, 8M, 3840x2160, 16MM, 12V DC/POE, Waterproof, Day/Night).
NO SUPPORT, and it DOES TRY TO PHONE HOME!!! (See last statement yet again!) I isolated cameras from PING and Internet by a firewall, and that stopped that, and eventually learned the settings that worked and it also worked beautifully with Synology NAS's SS via ONVIF interface as well...
have 2 of them... for nearly a year now...

10 Cameras in use With Synology's Surveillance Station: 8x HiKvision 1920x1080, and 2x no name AliExpress, needing isolation!: 3840x2160, and 3x 1920x1080 cameras with: a 4MM, 16MM, 12MM Lenses as spares... SS automatically deletes oldest videos and Folder size over per-determined settings, so no maintenance...

Yes, more involved, but I learned a lot doing it this way... I'd do it again!

It's all paranoia

...until it isn't.

Outside cameras for driveway and front entry