Home Security Cameras

[dkryan]

Does anyone have a home security camera they can recommend?

I'd prefer not to go with an ADT system.

I'm looking for something wireless that can be recorded to the "cloud" and viewable via iPad or smartphone.

Mostly for indoor use though I may buy a couple of outdoor ones later.

I've read the reviews online for several models but nothing really stands out.

Thanks.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I'm also in the market for some outdoor cameras for pool, garage, driveway and entrances. From what I've read Power over Ethernet (POE) is the way to go if possible as you only need the cat 5/6 cable to each camera spot. Looking for some brand suggestions as well.

 

[SatinSilver]

How about these:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2475954,00.asp

or:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-home-security-cameras,review-2741.html

 

[stockrex]

I bought a few netgear and they are CURD,

here is what I use now,
I bought a the MOTO sprint prepaid phone for $40,
and then I installed ip camera app.
now I use them for cameras.
I use them to back my truck up to my camper too.

 

[OVERKILL]

The TrendNet ones are actually pretty decent.

 

[JasonC]

I own a retail business and I will tell you the most popular sellers are the POE and Cloud storage. Though the ones that record to a DVR are still very popular.

 

[Bumble_guy]

I highly recommend a wireless camera one ,have them surrounding the house , that's how I nailed one of obomas people shooting at my truck ,was neighbor kid a couple doors down , that nailed him in court

 

[cat843]

Take a look at Axis network cameras. They are high quality and have features that let you detect motion in a masked area and then record. I put a few in a shop for a friend. The indoor ones are not to expensive but the outdoor ones that need to handle a very wide range from night to bright sun are more expensive. Some allow you to vary the iris to reduce the light. Most allow you to swap the lens for a close up or zoom.

 

[Ramblejam]

Read this: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wireless-ip-camera/

Should make your decision an easy one.

 

[Brad_C]

Like anything, if you want quality you are going to have to pay for it.

You can go for a commodity brand like those recommended on the sites linked above. You can be assured that most of them have backdoors or major vulnerabilities and are grossly over priced for what you are getting.

*or*

You can go for actual, real CCTV cameras which are designed by companies that sell security equipment rather than cheap [censored] home networking gear. Better imagers, better lenses and far better security.

Axis is the only recommendation so far in this thread I'd even give a second look. I'd also recommend investigating Panasonic, Bosch, Pelco & Samsung. If you want cheap Chinese then Hikvision is probably worth looking at, but as always you get what you pay for. I have some Hikvision cameras at home alongside my real cameras. They were 25% of the cost of some of my Bosch and Panasonic cameras and still are not worth what I paid for them, but hey if you are going to make recommendations it's best to do it from the perspective of having tested them yourself.

If you plan on exposing anything outside your network and particularly into the "cloud" then after I stop laughing at you I'll steer you away from any product produced by a networking or PC equipment vendor. They have no idea about security.

If you think I'm being condescending, it's because I spend a good proportion of my life trying to explain to people why their footage is of no use to police, why people on the internet can watch their kids playing naked in the back yard and how the imagery of them doing naughty things made it out from the nanny cam into the outside world.

A CCTV camera is a powerful tool and the footage it captures can have serious ramifications. If you want to set up CCTV at home, have a serious think about what it means. Failing that, just know that you are trading any privacy you think you might have for the convenience of being able to access the cameras from your iPad.

(edit) But hey, this is the internet and BITOG where people pretend to be experts about all sorts of stuff they looked up on Google, so you might just ignore me and do it anyway

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Originally Posted By: dkryan
...I'm looking for something wireless that can be recorded to the "cloud" and viewable via iPad or smartphone...

You've been specific as to what you've asked for, a nanny cam rather than what most would understand to be a proper security camera.
Image quality and useability is going to be hit and miss in that segment. Buy one from a retailer that will let you return it and I'm sure you will learn a lot.
But if you actually want advice on deploying an expandable security camera system, than that is a different story.

 

[Schmoe]

I've recently got into this. Went wireless and wanted to watch from my smartphone. Went with Zmodo. About 60-70 dollars. Does HD as well. You can record, use motion sensor, has night capabilities and all that other stuff. All you do is hook it to the router, wait a few minutes, disconnect and mount it and done. One thing about wireless, you still need to run power to it, but it's a really small DC wire.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Like anything, if you want quality you are going to have to pay for it.

You can go for a commodity brand like those recommended on the sites linked above. You can be assured that most of them have backdoors or major vulnerabilities and are grossly over priced for what you are getting.



This is so 100% true...I changed out all of my ADT motion detectors to Honeywell industrial grade detectors. Way better, no false alarms and fully adjustable for kids, pats etc.

Extra cost: $200 for 7 of them

 

[Cujet]

Costco has a Lorex homeowner/light commercial DVR with 8 or 16 (full 1080P) cameras.

The 8 camera version is/was on sale for $399. It's well positioned between the cheap versions and very expensive commercial setups.

The daytime picture is truly superb and the night illuminated performance is also excellent, however, it's not in color at night.

It's not wireless, so it must be hooked to your home router via an ethernet cable. Once hooked up, you can access all the features and video remotely.

However, I don't believe it comes with any form of remote server function. So "cloud" recording may not be simple.

I also have Izon cameras that work with my iPhone. They do send motion/noise and disconnect "events" to the Izon server. Even so, the recordings are only about 30 seconds. And the resolution is lower than the Lorex HD system. The Izon cameras are wireless, have infrared illumination available and can be placed anywhere. They do work as advertised.

 

[pkunk]

I like my Foscam cameras. I get motion detector emails, phone apps, excellent HD video and still snapshots & record to cloud & SD card.