Security Camera

[CompTrex]

We've discussed Dash Cams. How about exterior wifi security cameras to monitor your driveway or front door. Any recommendations?
Do you typically record or just monitor?
Motion activated or always on?
Night vision enhanced or no?

 

[Hotscoots]

VOIP cameras are very inexpensive these days . Monitor from home , PC or Smartphone in real time . IMHO, adding the cost and complexity of recording is overkill .

 

[Coss]

A security system depends on a lot of things; is your property fenced or gated, driveway length, size, proximity to house, is the garage attached or an out building, is there an existing security system in the house; lighting, neighborhood, etc.
I've done systems for a number of clients, and each one can be as involved and complex or as simple as you want.
Recording is worth while if there are times that no one is home; or you do have an incident and you need proof to show to the authorities.
One of the best things I recommend; make sure everything is fully insured; talk to your insurance company and have them explain what things your house insurance covers vs. car insurance. Mostly; what's the budget?

 

[KenK]

I put one over the garage and one watching the front door. They were about $150 each (HikVision DS-2CD2532F-IS). Wiring was simple because they support PoE internally, so just one Cat5 cable. You can add a SD card and store video/images on the camera, or stream it to a DVR. Works quite well and a 32GB SD card stores months worth of data if you only record on motion detection events. They are self-contained if you don't want to use a DVR. You just log into the camera and can go back and watch captures or live feed from your browser. I'm not doing anything fancy with it. I bought a $60 Android tablet and put that next to my front door. HikVision makes an free Android app that will let you monitor up to 16 cameras.

 

[Coss]

If you want a nice "Basic" security system, there is one place that has them at great prices.
2 Channel 2 Cameras and Monitor (but doesn't record internally; you have to connect it to something) here you go
I set one up to watch 2 blind spots around the house $80
http://www.harborfreight.com/color-security-system-with-night-vision-60565.html

Want to step up a little; 4 Channel, 2 weatherproof, color, with night lighting cameras $255.00 and it records to a SD card.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-channel-wireless-surveillance-system-with-2-cameras-62368.html

And even better yet, but still reasonable 8 Channel, 4 weatherproof, color, with night lighting cameras $299.99
Records to a 500GB internal HDD, plus has a remote "connect from internet" feature with control and view.
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-chan...and-mobile-monitoring-capabilities-62463.html

These are in no way considered anything more than just basic systems; but they do the one thing you want; they work.

My main system here is made up of a lot of different items mixed in quality from Pro level to as I mentioned the $80 unit mentioned to watch a couple of blind spots. Common piece among all of it; it does what I want it to, and it does it very well.

 

[Ty]

Drop cams are good.

 

[Norahsbed]

I've had security cameras on my property for 6 years. (fruit loop neighbor) I started with the cheep one from Harbor Freight which was connected to a vcr and recorded 6 hours at a time. I purchased a newer one a few years ago from SAMs Club ( Revo ) that records and saves about 4 months on a DVR. You can hook it up to your computer but we never have. You can down load it onto a flash drive if you need it for evidence. I have 8 cameras up. 3 for viewing in the back yard and 5 recording in the front and side yard. They record when there is movement. Down side: night mode is black and white and not very clear. Any wind with tree or bush movement sets off the recording. On very windy days I stop the recording on most cameras. Audio will start to go bad after a few years. We no longer get audio at night and daytime is iffy. Some cameras record audio, others don't.

They have come in very handy to prove to the police I did not do, what my neighbor claims I did. We have caught her in a lie several times and the police have as well. Once she actually argued with the police that what he saw was not what happened. He just looked at her and said "Lady, the video I saw tells me, someone is not telling the truth and it's not your neighbor!" Nice way of calling her a lying sack of bat guano. If you have fruit loop neighbors or live in a high crime area I would recommend getting a system.

First check with your city or county attorney to find out if they are legal in your area. Also check if you can record audio as well as video. Privacy laws in some areas do not allow audio recording. Don't forget your sign stating your property is under 24 hour video surveillance. It doesn't have to be big and in some cities not even visible. However it will cover you legally if someone wants to give you a hassle about your cameras. Oh and make sure the cameras do not point towards a neighbors bedroom windows. We had to adjust one camera down because it showed an upper floor bedroom window. The neighbor called the police and said we were peeping even though you could not tell if someone was standing in the window or not. ( we were to far away ) The police agreed with us that nothing could be seen but to make the neighbor happy we adjusted the camera.

That same neighbor later came to us and asked if he could check our video, seems someone broke into his car breaking a window. We told him sure, as soon as you show us a search warrant. He never came back. When he moved out of the neighborhood we adjusted the camera back. It gives us a great view of the skyline during storms. The lighting shows are outstanding!

 

[Hog]

I use Foscams because they are cheap and Wifi. Recording is done on the central computer. Then I send the pics by email to my account. I wrote on piece on this awhile back , you can see it here - http://teotwawkinasg.webs.com/EWS.pdf . I have three now and am purchasing another, they work well and the whole system is free except for the camera itself. Note - all the cameras require power, either POE or a power cable. Since mine are wireless, I use a power cable connected to a UPS supply, so that if the power goes out the cameras keep working.

 

[CompTrex]

All great replies. Thanks!
My 16 year old son is doing high school online, so is home alone quite a bit during the day. We have no windows that look out onto the driveway. We do have a driveway alarm.
So now, we know when someone comes in the driveway, we just can't tell who.
So having a camera there that he could check who triggered the alarm would be great.
Sounds like I don't need much and probably don't need to record at this point.
There are no houses around to worry about peeping, and it's a low crime area. It would just be nice to know who is coming-a-calling.
It's typically a delivery person or someone returning a piece of equipment that we lent out.

 

[BilgeRat]

Thanks for bringing this up, and all the good input. We had a break in and sexual assault across the alley from us last summer, and it pretty well freaked my wife out. We did do a pretty comprehensive SimpliSafe system in response to this problem (I also added a good number of motion detector lights to both our house and our rental next door.), but I got a bit overwhelmed by choices on a camera system. I may just go back and start looking at cameras again, armed with what everyone has kicked in. Thanks!