I got 3 Zmoto wireless cameras setup outside the house. I can view live feed on my phone with their app. I'm not compusavy, but it wasn't all that hard to do. You can also download software and view it on your laptop inside the house. One thing I've learned since I "got" into this, a camera generally won't really do you a lot of good after the fact. Yeah, you can get pictures of the crooks, but they aren't all that great. Cameras are a deterrent at best and to just look outside your house if you hear something. The best thing to do, get a dog. Seriously.
Residential security cameras, what to buy?
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Originally Posted By: nthach
The problem with those smart cameras is it will lock you into a smart home ecosystem. If you use Ring, you'll be eventually on Amazon Alexa. Nest is their own platform that plays nice with the Google Assistant, while Arlo is platform-agnostic and looks like besides Google and Alexa, Apple HomeKit is coming to Arlo - Apple is transitioning away from hardware-based authentication to certificates.
Besides networking issues and paying for storage, I'd trust Google/Netgear/Amazon with something like this. Amazon's cloud infrastructure is hard to beat(besides Google).
Stay FAR, FAR, FAR AWAY from Lorex, Q-See or any one of those Chinese-sounding hardwired systems. The UI and quality is disappointing. And in the case of Lorex, Q-See and Swann, there is a known security vulnerability on those - the root password is hard-burned into the DVR firmware and it's been leaked already. I'm trying to get my parents to ditch their Lorex system.
Interesting bit about Lorex, Swann etc. I'm looking into a cat5 wired systems, do you have any recommendations?
The problem with those smart cameras is it will lock you into a smart home ecosystem. If you use Ring, you'll be eventually on Amazon Alexa. Nest is their own platform that plays nice with the Google Assistant, while Arlo is platform-agnostic and looks like besides Google and Alexa, Apple HomeKit is coming to Arlo - Apple is transitioning away from hardware-based authentication to certificates.
Besides networking issues and paying for storage, I'd trust Google/Netgear/Amazon with something like this. Amazon's cloud infrastructure is hard to beat(besides Google).
Stay FAR, FAR, FAR AWAY from Lorex, Q-See or any one of those Chinese-sounding hardwired systems. The UI and quality is disappointing. And in the case of Lorex, Q-See and Swann, there is a known security vulnerability on those - the root password is hard-burned into the DVR firmware and it's been leaked already. I'm trying to get my parents to ditch their Lorex system.
Interesting bit about Lorex, Swann etc. I'm looking into a cat5 wired systems, do you have any recommendations?
From what I've heard, Hikvision seems to have a good reputation. IP cams are the way to go if you have the $.
I agree on the wireless cameras. If they're not that techie, wireless is the way to go. Set up is quick. Ours can be accessed through a smartphone, we get notifs as soon as the camera detects motion or sound. But they're quite expensive, bud. You can check further details here if you want. The only problem I noticed with wireless cams though is the battery. It has the tendency to drain its power sooner than expected.
We have the Arlo Pro Wireless Cameras and have been happy with them. We get about 4-6 months of use out of the rechargeable batteries.
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