Surveillance camera review

[edin508]

I installed the Arlo Pro 2 camera's about 2 weeks ago outside of my home. Let me tell ya, they work great all around and I am very happy I got them. I was on the fence for quite a while with these due to the price, but now that they are up I am quite happy.

 

[JRLB]

1984

 

[boatman]

I sell cameras for a living.

If you want battery, go with the blink. https://www.amazon.com/Blink-Home-S...TF8&qid=1532553539&sr=1-2&keywords=blink&th=1

Most of the cameras are made by only a few chinese companies, then relabeled and resold for various prices. I don't think you need to pay $100 for a camera however.

Here is one that costs $25 and works really well https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076H3SRXG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is one with pan tilt zoom with free cloud storage for little $, $40 and works well https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4BG4K/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amcrest is also very popular.

Most of the camera vendors charge for cloud storage, but pretty much all cameras have local micro SD storage. Problem with local storage is if someone breaks in and steals your camera, then you are potentially losing the storage if you haven't copied that data to cloud or a computer somewhere.

 

[Kevin_NH]

Yeah, not a fan of cloud storage. Would love a wireless, battery-based system with local storage. Not sure that exists.

Sure -- it's called a trail camera. Some even have WiFi.

 

[Osofast]

+1 on Blink,
Have had them for about 2 months, work great they watch driveway and cars and also front door for delivers and stuff.
As with anything there is always room for improvement, but the limitations seem to be all software and the developers seem to listen to its users and make changes accordingly. The cameras them selves are great, you have them up and running in about 5 mins all together. You can use Alexa voice commands to arm/disarm the cameras. Disarming is done with a pin code, it can also be set up through IFTTT and set up to arm/disarm based upon the location of your phone being in home or away (so geo fencing using a third party app is possible).
Biggest plus for me was battery and complete wireless, as I have some mounted to trees on property line facing inward and didn’t want to try and get power out there. Free storage a plus also.

 

[LittleCalm]

Sure -- it's called a trail camera. Some even have WiFi.

Funny you say that. I have had cellular game cams and they have been better than any of the home security cameras that I have tried. Very few false triggers. But expensive. Downside is not really good for real-time monitoring once an event occurs.

 

[ItalianBostonian]

I’ve tried a bunch of different brands and really have yet to figure find something that checks all the boxes:

— wireless
— easy to set up via WiFi
— easy to use smart phone App
— remote monitoring and email/text alerts that are not burdensome
— easy to use software / App that allows simple to set up motion detection

I haven’t found a decent one that works well and isn’t a PITA to either set up or use.

Arlo cameras by NetGear. I have 6 of them and they are awesome!

 

[desertr8der]

Bought the 5 cam blink system with the XT cameras. Outstanding so far. Only complaint is having to log into one account on 2 diff phones but I guess they are working on a remedy. It runs faster on the phone where the original account was created.

 

[daekken]

Interesting thread, I've been thinking about getting a couple cameras. Motion alerts would be pretty nice for one placed in the basement near my safe/reloading/ammo area, but I wouldn't probably want it for the front door or back door as I assume there'd be too many false positives.

My concern without having cloud storage is that a thief steals and/or destroys the camera and now you don't have any video evidence.

Thanks for giving me some options guys.

 

[Kevin_NH]

Axis is great -- engineered and built in Sweden. North American sales and support is mostly in Chelmsford,.

The Flir line is very very good

I've had mixed results with FLIR.

Their less expensive products were always mostly rebadged Dahua, they unloaded their FLIR/Lorex DIY and SMB product lines to Dahua earlier this year. TMK, everthing under the Lorex brand, including their TCX thermal cameras, runs Chinese firmware internally.

 

[stevew20]

I had 12 of the Arlo (1st gen, not the Pro or Pro 2) cameras running in two locations indoors and outdoors for over 2 years. They had some limitations but overall was very happy with them. BUT, in the last 6 months, five of the twelve have died. Contacted Arlo but they only have a 1-year warranty so no help from them. I don't know if it is hardware or software related failures but I'm looking for another brand because they cost two much to have to be replaced every 2 years.

 

[PaulR]

Looking at the Arlo Pro 2, now on sale at BJ's, $290.
Not sure if I should pull the trigger.

 

[enbloc]

Video in a Reloading Room?
Are you guys "sleep-loading" and waking up with a ton of 9mm refills and sore fingers?

Hint: It's the Elves...

 

[E.Stoner]

I have nest cameras all over the place, at home, at work and at properties that I manage. I have instant access/notifications from any where as long as I have cell reception. It's huge peace of mind.

 

[lowbuckbob]

I just installed a blink system. Works great and there's no fee. It's wireless so installation is a snap.

 

[xtry51]

For outdoor I'm using EZVIZ Husky HD PoE. App works great. Local storage with cloud option. Very happy with them. Good inside 75ft at night. If you add a IR flood light on a timer you can see very far on them.

 

[Tallen]

I've had Arlo Pro 2's for about 8 months now and would recommend them to anyone looking for a DIY home security system. Best Buy actually had the lowest price when I bought them.

 

[edin508]

Another here with the Arlo Pro 2, loving it.

 

[LuvDog]

If anyone is interested... I’m going to sell my gen 1 Arlo system. 5 cameras and a base station

 

[sharona]

I have lorex 2 k Poe 2 terabytes nvr. I’ve been happy with it and free cloud storage. Free phone app also.

 

[JayMcB]

I have zmodo external Wifi cameras that need a 110 supply and they go back to a DVR and the cloud. Also a bunch of internal zmodo's that do video and 2 way audio. The complaint is the WiFi I have is mediocre, so they go offline from time to time.

I recently set up an Arlo Gen I unit for a buddy. simple, wireless, better range and pretty good resolution. He did 5 cameras at one site and 3 at his NH property. Hangs USB storage off the NH one to save video for Justin (Case)

 

[Talon3]

I have 2 amcrest indoor wifi 1080p cams. The app is easy to use to arm / disarm motion recording. I do have it set to record to cloud with app push and email notifications. The clips are a full 30 seconds long. They include the 3 seconds prior to motion event. The IR is auto depending on lighting available, and it is accurate as far as the room and hallway for my needs this is 50 feet. Amcrest offers a free plan of up to 6 hours of storage. I pay 6.00 a month per camera for 14 days of storage off each camera. The app is easy to use to pan, tilt, zoom from anyplace wifi or cell network is available. I got them on Amazon for less than 60.00 each.

 

[teaser452]

Blink ++. Wireless means wireless and many say wireless, but require power. Not really wireless. Battery life is up to two years. Indoor and outdoor camera options. Blink has up to a 60 second record and 10 second retrigger time minimum. Blink does audio, but in Ma. you need to turn that off because criminals have rights not to be audio recorded while ransacking your house.

I’m not a lawyer and not giving legal advice.

But, I’ve been told that if you put up signage saying that the premises are under audio and video surveillance, you’re covered under the law.

I’ve got blink. My neighbor has blink and the outdoor blink.

I think they’re great. You get to have a picture of the guys that ripped you off. You can also get to watch them live while they steal all your stuff.

Great memories! Show the grandkids!

 

[teaser452]

I would only go with local storage. If your camera is online or in the cloud or any other network I will absolutely guarantee that people are watching it.

Yes. You have to assume that anyone who wants to watch, is.

You could also argue, given the government’s storage capabilities, and the fact that these cameras are sending things into and through the cloud, that the government has a recording of everything ever recorded.

I’m not saying there is someone watching. But, if the case is big enough, they’ll find the footage. And use it.

So, don’t do anything that even looks illegal in front of one of your cameras.

And don’t write anything on message boards or ever give an opinion on anything. Because they’ve got that too.

Or, you could be like me, be totally out of f***s, and stop giving f***s out. Store is closed. No f***s left to give.

 

[johnnymac101]

For the Blink camera users- does the kit come with mounts or do you suggest and aftermarket part?

 

[babygorilla]

The mounts for blink are meh. Aftermarket is good, but really they aren't that big or heavy so the mounts in the box with the cams worked for me, inside and out. Hell, inside I used some small strips of that 3m removable adhesive tape.

 

[DarkNet]

I was giving a presentation on firmware reverse engineering/analysis, and used surveillance camera firmware (among others) for demo purposes. I showed that many on the market (that came from the same manufacturer), had hard coded credentials in them, that the "user" had no visibility to in the user interface, couldn't change or delete. You could/can use the creds to access the video stream, even if it's "protected". Someone asked me if I modified the firmware to prevent that access. This was essentially my answer.

Or, you could be like me, be totally out of f***s, and stop giving f***s out. Store is closed. No f***s left to give.

 

[Evadd]

View attachment 241246 I like the blink cameras. This is my reloading room in complete darkness.....Great infared.....

Is that the XT? From what I can see the indoor-only Blink cameras don't have IR? Seems pretty dumb to me - if you want them to work at night even inside the house you have to get the outdoor versions?

 

[BTSDOG]

Is that the XT? From what I can see the indoor-only Blink cameras don't have IR? Seems pretty dumb to me - if you want them to work at night even inside the house you have to get the outdoor versions?

yup, its the XT outdoor camera......

 

[teaser452]

Is that the XT? From what I can see the indoor-only Blink cameras don't have IR? Seems pretty dumb to me - if you want them to work at night even inside the house you have to get the outdoor versions?

The Blink indoor ones have a light that flashes on to illuminate the room when it's dark. this is useful as it lets the robbers know where the camera is and stare at it. "What's that funny blue light over there?". So they indoor ones do record at night. My lab loves to walk by the living room one all night, every hour on the hour when we're gone. get great shots of her every time.