Home security cameras

[kevin nicholls]

My mother in law had a recent home invasion, she's deaf as a post and thank God she slept right through it. Long story short my wife is pretty shook up about this. We're looking into a home security camera set up and have no idea where to start. Anyone have any set ups they're happy with? Looking for something easy to install. Not a monitored system like ADT. Thanks, Kevin

[axisbuck24]

Sorry to hear but glad she is fine. Following for ideas

[Buckley99]

Arlo or Arlo Pro

[TexaRican]

I'm on my second set. Installed 4 swann cameras when we moved into this house nearly 4 years ago. Just recently upgraded that system to Lorex and I'm very happy with it. Swann was ok but the Lorex app and setup was all easier and the resolution is much better.

[ballsie]

You will be replacing batteries all the time if you go with Arlo. Total pain in the butt!

Ring has a pretty good setup. You can get the doorbell for $100. It can notify your phone and show you the live video when it senses motion.

Ring also makes motion activated flood lights with a camera. It can do the same thing as the doorbell. I think it is $249.

Everything is WIFI, so you just hook up the power from your old doorbell or exterior light.

All the Ring stuff is super easy to install and it comes with all the tools you need except the drill.

[Razorback01]

I saw some at Sams today, may look into them.

[Buckley99]

You will be replacing batteries all the time if you go with Arlo. Total pain in the butt!

Ring has a pretty good setup. You can get the doorbell for $100. It can notify your phone and show you the live video when it senses motion.

Ring also makes motion activated flood lights with a camera. It can do the same thing as the doorbell. I think it is $249.

Everything is WIFI, so you just hook up the power from your old doorbell or exterior light.

All the Ring stuff is super easy to install and it comes with all the tools you need except the drill.

The only reason you should be replacing batteries that frequently is if you have a TON of traffic or don’t have your sensitivity set correctly. I have had mine (3 of them) for about a year and a half and have only changed them once.

[kevin nicholls]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to look into this stuff and get something going with it. The dog and a 357 has worked so far but the wife needs to feel safe. It's a heck of a thing, my MIL is 88 years old, they smashed her sliding patio door out with a hammer and she never heard a thing. She doesn't wear her hearing aid at night.

[swanjts]

We have a Samsung system we got from Amazon. 8 channel system with 4 cameras. Plug and play set up. Can add up to 4. More cameras at any time. Great picture day and night. Constant record or off motion only if you want.

[farfel]

If you have a old smart phone, tablet or laptop laying around and want something cheap download Alfred. Its free and works with old phones, tablets etc. It has a motion sensor and will save any recording it makes and you can check it real time.

I've got a old phone and tablet sitting in a corner at home. Better than nothing. You can take it with on vacation and set it up in the motel too. Works anywhere it has Wifi.

[Cratus]

The only reason you should be replacing batteries that frequently is if you have a TON of traffic or don’t have your sensitivity set correctly. I have had mine (3 of them) for about a year and a half and have only changed them once.

Same. I have two and only replaced the battery once last year. Great cameras.

[Whale]

Tagged

[roysmoke]

I bought one of those setups from Costco that has 8 cameras and a terabyte hard drive. I would recommend setting up any cameras that are outdoors about 6 feet up and facing eye level. I've seen lots of videos of people on different neighborhoods trying to catch vandals and they have hats or hoodies on and you can't see their face because the cameras 10 feet up. You also might want to lock that hard drive up somewhere where if they broke in, it would take them awhile to get it out of the house. You could also just pay for some type of subscription where the data is uploaded into a cloud and cannot be stolen by a thief. I would spend the money to get cameras that are the highest resolution available. If you buy cheap cameras you're likely to have an entire event recorded and you cannot identify someone with the footage. It would also be wise to have at least one of the cameras shooting inside of the house. It would help with proof of actual entry of the house when you have video of them inside.

[BowOnly81]

Dang Kevin! Sorry to hear that. Glad she’s ok.

[thegrouse]

I bought one of those setups from Costco that has 8 cameras and a terabyte hard drive. I would recommend setting up any cameras that are outdoors about 6 feet up and facing eye level. I've seen lots of videos of people on different neighborhoods trying to catch vandals and they have hats or hoodies on and you can't see their face because the cameras 10 feet up. You also might want to lock that hard drive up somewhere where if they broke in, it would take them awhile to get it out of the house. You could also just pay for some type of subscription where the data is uploaded into a cloud and cannot be stolen by a thief. I would spend the money to get cameras that are the highest resolution available. If you buy cheap cameras you're likely to have an entire event recorded and you cannot identify someone with the footage. It would also be wise to have at least one of the cameras shooting inside of the house. It would help with proof of actual entry of the house when you have video of them inside.

This right here. Most homeowners video are not much help in an investigation. Eye level cameras, good street view and if you can one that will catch a license plate coming into the area. A good camera should be able to read tattoos and other distinguishing marks.