Home Security Cameras on Amazon

[spader]

There seem to be many types and price ranges of Home Security WiFi Cameras for sale on Amazon, and they seem to be selling a lot recently.
Anyone using them installed around the house outdoor area on the walls or gardens and garden sheds?

Which ones do you find best or worst?
Any tips or ideas on using these WiFi security cams?

 

[JonathanD]

We use Ring ones. They’re great for indoor and outdoor use and they differentiate between a person and other motion, so you don’t get bombarded with alerts. You can also select which area of the image you want the camera to focus on, whilst ignoring the rest. They also start recording 5 seconds before they detect movement, so you don’t miss a single thing. This is a problem with some other cameras that are set off by movement and then are too slow to record what actually set them off.

 

[Chainsaw]

I've got a couple of Tapo cameras. The indoor ones were dirt cheap during the sale and picked up a couple. I have one in my garage looking out over the car through the window above the door and one in my office looking up my front path. The outdoor ones are more expensive and trickier to install due to power. The indoor ones are literally plug in and play. Need an SD card if you don't want to pay for cloud storage. Can view live from anywhere over the www and notifications and alarm zones can be set. Also seem pretty secure.

 

[subzeer0]

eufy here very easy to set up with local storaage

 

[C_Claycomb]

Not something I know about, but it seems like it is important to understand and mitigate the risk of hacking any network enabled device, particularly wireless ones. One does not want to be spied on by one’s own devices.

 

[spader]

Not something I know about, but it seems like it is important to understand and mitigate the risk of hacking any network enabled device, particularly wireless ones. One does not want to be spied on by one’s own devices.

Yes, this is a very valid point. WiFi cams seem to be installed within the home WiFi router which have access to all the computers and Mobile phone and Pads connected in the network. How do we insure the security breach doesn't happen from these devices?

And the other point to think about is, would it be OK to install these cameras without possibility of other neighbors or passersby complaining on their breach of privacy? IOW, woud there be any legal aspects to think about with the installation and running these security devices for and around residential houses and properties?

 

[Wildgoose]

Passersby in a public place aren’t a concern, you could stand there and look at people and the privacy issue is the same.

Residential properties are more of an issue. You can’t have a camera that looks into someone’s address or private residence.

Most camera have zones allowing you to ignore activity in the selected area.

Talk to your neighbours and see if they object. I’m end of terrace, in the row of houses between us we have 360 coverage and will share our footage if required

 

[MrEd]

I use Reolink at home and several other places (battery and solar panel) and they work great. Recording to SD card, motion alert, it records the 10 or so seconds before movement was detected.
Can be cloud based with a subscription (which I don’t do). I either save them direct onto my phone or just pop the SS card out and save them to my laptop.

I run several 4g ones with a smarty £5/month data sim and they are great.

I gave up on ring as it kept getting spurious alerts, non-recording and they kept bumping up the price of the sub and customer services wasn’t great in my experience so sacked them off.

I got 3 Reolink cams for the price of 1 ring

 

[TeeDee]

I use Reolink at home and several other places (battery and solar panel) and they work great. Recording to SD card, motion alert, it records the 10 or so seconds before movement was detected.
Can be cloud based with a subscription (which I don’t do). I either save them direct onto my phone or just pop the SS card out and save them to my laptop.

I run several 4g ones with a smarty £5/month data sim and they are great.

I gave up on ring as it kept getting spurious alerts, non-recording and they kept bumping up the price of the sub and customer services wasn’t great in my experience so sacked them off.

I got 3 Reolink cams for the price of 1 ring

Link please.

 

[rarms]

I use Reolink at home and several other places (battery and solar panel) and they work great. Recording to SD card, motion alert, it records the 10 or so seconds before movement was detected.
Can be cloud based with a subscription (which I don’t do). I either save them direct onto my phone or just pop the SS card out and save them to my laptop.

I run several 4g ones with a smarty £5/month data sim and they are great.

I gave up on ring as it kept getting spurious alerts, non-recording and they kept bumping up the price of the sub and customer services wasn’t great in my experience so sacked them off.

I got 3 Reolink cams for the price of 1 ring

I would also be interested in a link to the sort you use please.

I run a wired system for cameras, ZOSI, no subscriptions etc.., and just use ring for a remote door bell as the gate 70yrds or so away from the house.

 

[Stew]

I would also be interested in a link to the sort you use please.

I run a wired system for cameras, ZOSI, no subscriptions etc.., and just use ring for a remote door bell as the gate 70yrds or so away from the house.

Mine is Zosi too. Largely I just have it fit and forget.

 

[Chris]

Problem with cameras that record to an SD card on the camera itself, is that if some nicks your camera, they take the evidence with them.

Best bet if worried about privacy/security is to get something closed circuit which saves footage on a drive somewhere physically in your house.

Personally I would never have any kind of internal home camera. And as I assume anyone outside can see me anyway, I am not too bothered about privacy concerns for external cameras. Use two factor authentication and strong passwords and that’ll stop most attacks.

Ring cameras are good but they have a tendency to up the subscription price fairly heftily, and you’re stuck in their ecosystem with their hardware.

 

[NotSafeForWork]

6m apart for compliance I use tapo as cheap

 

[Stew]

6m apart for compliance I use tapo as cheap

What’s 6m?

 

[MrEd]

Problem with cameras that record to an SD card on the camera itself, is that if some nicks your camera, they take the evidence with them.

Best bet if worried about privacy/security is to get something closed circuit which saves footage on a drive somewhere physically in your house.

Personally I would never have any kind of internal home camera. And as I assume anyone outside can see me anyway, I am not too bothered about privacy concerns for external cameras. Use two factor authentication and strong passwords and that’ll stop most attacks.

Ring cameras are good but they have a tendency to up the subscription price fairly heftily, and you’re stuck in their ecosystem with their hardware.

The Reolink can also send their images etc to a hub or drive, I don’t know how as I haven’t done it.

Yes a consideration of SD card cameras though so careful mounting is needed

 

[NotSafeForWork]

What’s 6m?

Town and country planning, last I checked

 

[MrEd]

Link please.

I would also be interested in a link to the sort you use please.

I run a wired system for cameras, ZOSI, no subscriptions etc.., and just use ring for a remote door bell as the gate 70yrds or so away from the house.

Here you are - these are the cameras I have at home - you can run them PoE or mains and wifi. You can use an NVR with them (I don’t) if needed or an ftp server. These have been up 3 years and no issues so far (might be worth looking at the more up to date items though)

RLC-510WA | 5MP HD Wireless WiFi Smart Camera | Reolink Official

Meet the smart WiFi security IP camera with 2K 5MP Super HD, advanced person/vehicle detection, smart motion alerts, remote live view and other fantastic features.

m.reolink.com

For the remote 4g battery cameras I use these ones

Reolink Go Ultra - 4K 8MP Smart 4G LTE Battery Powered Solar Camera | Reolink Official

Reolink Go Ultra is a 4K 8MP wireless 4G LTE camera powered by rechargeable battery or solar energy. It comes with features like person/vehicle/animal detection, two-way audio, and quality night vision. Ideal choice for your farm, warehouse, vacation home, etc.

m.reolink.com

They work well, I have had one of them up for over 5 years in a field and it’s been fine. The only thing I would say is once you have the battery and card in wrap along the join of the two halves with some waterproof tape. It’s only a small o ring as a weather seal and after about 3 years one of mine started letting in a minuscule amount of water and fogging the lens - dried it out, stuffed the voids with silicon gel and sealed it up and it’s been good since.
Battery lasts for ages, and I have never had to take the camera home for a proper charge, the solar panel is good all year round, to keep the battery above 80%. I can confirm a smarty data only sim works perfectly in these

 

[Broch]

Town and country planning, last I checked

Sorry, still confused Are you saying that planning requires cameras to be mounted no closer than 6m apart? That makes no sense!

 

[NotSafeForWork]

I try to stick to the mantra of ‘if we all do it imperfectly it’s better than none doing it at all’

Which is why I try to buy ethically and locally (not necessarily mutual!), try to repair and buy secondhand where I can. It isn’t possible 100% of the time but I go on the basis that if I am trying in 60% of the then that’s better than not at all.

Leathercraft for instance, I can get cheaper leather and tools overseas but tend to use UK based (one local) family-owned businesses rather than just ordering from Amazon etc. I have found that the product is the same but the service e is way better in the form of advice, test samples and suggestions so tend to be a repeat customer!

Sorry, still confused Are you saying that planning requires cameras to be mounted no closer than 6m apart? That makes no sense!

It was case years ago
Gov website cctv

 

[Stew]

It was case years ago
Gov website cctv

I can’t see anything there on a quick skim. Which section?