I want to get some cameras for my alley. I have never had any, nor know how to hook them up,etc. I want to get some decent ones with clarity. What specs should I look for? Thanks
Looking for advice on outdoor cameras.
- Thread starter daves66nova
- Start date
Will there be a wifi connection available and what speed can you get where the cameras would be mounted?
This is easy to check if you want wifi cameras simply take your phone to where the cameras would be and do a speed test at https://www.att.com/support/speedtest/
if your looking for a simple cost effective solution.
The other solution is a NVR and cameras connected to it using cat5 cable
Do you have electricity to power the cameras or will you need to go solar? Do you have a window near where you want to mount them? The cameras today are pretty awesome for the money. In my opinion. And you're going to want a way to archive footage so you can watch it later. You can host on the camera with an SD card, on a server in your house with software like Blue Iris, or with the camera's cloud which has a monthly fee.
JHZR2
Staff member
If you have WiFi, Ive been pretty happy with Wyze. They aren’t 100% on se ding alerts, but the image quality is good, they will record endlessly with a micro sd memory card, and they work well overall.
This suggestion also relies on WiFi, but my in-laws have had success with Arlo Pro cameras. They are rechargeable, so if you don't have power readily available at the mounting location, you can just take them down and recharge them every so often.
I prefer my Lorex NVR to the ring and other devices like it since it records all the time vs only if it detects motion. Only downside is you have to run an Ethernet cable for the cameras though they do offer some wireless ones, but I don’t have experience with the wireless ones.
We have Arlo here at the house and have been happy with them.
amcrest cameras are pretty good. I believe some are rebranded dahua cams. For a basic homeowner situation i would probably stick with wifi cameras. They are easy to connect as they just need power and they are pretty reliable. Anything 1080p to 4k will have good clarity. The important thing is deciding how and if you want the cameras to record. some cameras you can setup to only view from an app not record. Others require a monthly service fee for the recordings. Others can have an sd card in the camera for recording. You can also setup the cameras to record only on movement.
OP has been MIA but Im a fan of the full line of EZVIZ Wi-Fi Cameras. I have had a lot of experience setting up customers cameras and for the typical homeowner who doesnt need a constant loop (NVR/DVR) The EZVIZ work quite impressively.
EZVIZ is owned by HikVision which is a world leader in commercial security cameras and EZVIZ consumer WiFi cameras work as they should with a very well designed app to control them. Even better, they send out firmware updates for the cameras and the app is always updated with new features and always up to date.
I have 5 of them now, 4 ext and 1 interior never an issue with any of them. I do this for fun though, Im not in a crime area and I think for the typical person that just wants "something" that will capture a person on their property its perfect.
I have 3- C3WN (now a bit older model) and just installed a 4th new C3W Pro which also has night color vision and human detection.
and one interior I think the C6N series which we never turn on except remotely if for fun we want to check on the dog or if the need ever comes up (it never has yet) where the security system goes off we can remotely activate the camera to see if anyone is actually in the home plus of course the 4 outdoor cameras would already have something on them.
I also have a doorbell camera Skybell.
Ezviz cameras are very inexpensive which is amazingly cheap to do a home. Best part is they always work as long as your home wifi works well.
One thing I would caution with ANY of these cameras, lets face it, marketing, one company starts promoting them as using them for an alarm/alert system and the others have to jump in on the bandwagon if they dont want to lose sales. Its crazy to expect to use an exterior motion type camera as an alert system unless you want to constantly be alerted about nothing.
One exception might be if you can get true PIR motion cameras and have them perfectly set up to reduce false alarms.
Anyway, with the EZVIZ I turn on notifications on the EZVIZ app so it makes a record of all recordings and alerts in the app that I can check at anytime but I turn on my iPhone I turn off allowing the app to notify me, so only when I open the app do I view any motion the cameras have recorded.
EZVIZ is owned by HikVision which is a world leader in commercial security cameras and EZVIZ consumer WiFi cameras work as they should with a very well designed app to control them. Even better, they send out firmware updates for the cameras and the app is always updated with new features and always up to date.
I have 5 of them now, 4 ext and 1 interior never an issue with any of them. I do this for fun though, Im not in a crime area and I think for the typical person that just wants "something" that will capture a person on their property its perfect.
I have 3- C3WN (now a bit older model) and just installed a 4th new C3W Pro which also has night color vision and human detection.
and one interior I think the C6N series which we never turn on except remotely if for fun we want to check on the dog or if the need ever comes up (it never has yet) where the security system goes off we can remotely activate the camera to see if anyone is actually in the home plus of course the 4 outdoor cameras would already have something on them.
I also have a doorbell camera Skybell.
Ezviz cameras are very inexpensive which is amazingly cheap to do a home. Best part is they always work as long as your home wifi works well.
One thing I would caution with ANY of these cameras, lets face it, marketing, one company starts promoting them as using them for an alarm/alert system and the others have to jump in on the bandwagon if they dont want to lose sales. Its crazy to expect to use an exterior motion type camera as an alert system unless you want to constantly be alerted about nothing.
One exception might be if you can get true PIR motion cameras and have them perfectly set up to reduce false alarms.
Anyway, with the EZVIZ I turn on notifications on the EZVIZ app so it makes a record of all recordings and alerts in the app that I can check at anytime but I turn on my iPhone I turn off allowing the app to notify me, so only when I open the app do I view any motion the cameras have recorded.
Still here, I've been reading still about cameras. So many brands....
So is there an app or program that I need, in order to view it on my desktop? Is it free?
Ezviz studio is free.
Yes as Leo posted the app and any applications you use are free from EZVIZ. There is no monthly subscription to view view either unlike some of these other cameras. I could be wrong but I think MAYBE LOREX is still free, not sure, LOREX was recently purchased by another company, so one never knows.
How EZVIZ works is you WILL be prompted for a FREE trial period of "off site" video storage and access. Some people but not all by any means MAY think you need to do this and it can really add up in monthly price, it isnt cheap. I do not and never will pay for off site storage and access.
The nice thing about EZVIZ (more so for such a HUGE company) is you can insert a 64gb or 128gb memory card into each camera and bam, you have your own video storage, everything works exactly the same except your using your own memory card in each camera, instead of remotely uploaded motion activated video to EZVIZ for access. The app instead is just accessing your video cameras memory card and it works exactly the same, actually as long as your wifi network and internet provider upload speed is good it in many cases is faster then if you use the pay service.
When I click to watch video, my wifi in my home is so good, almost at the snap of a finger the video payback is already playing back from the memory card. During the trial period many years ago I didnt not find video payback as fast using EZVIZ pay service.
Anyway, anyone gets a free trail that is truly free if you want it, you can also install a memory card and toggle back and forth in the app from your card to the EZVIZ system to see what you like. I dont bother with anything but the memory card now.
I use 64 gb cards and always seems to be more then I need but certainly nothing wrong with doing 128 cards. the old video is deleted and recorded over so its all very seamless, nothing to delete, nothing to maintain, all VERY seamless. The cards I use, I think the last one was $8 or so
MicroSDXC cards on the front it says 4k UHD , 10 , U3 I could care less of brand, 4 of the cameras have Walmarts onn. brand and the last camera that I just installed was a PNY memory card because it was cheaper than Walmarts and a name brand.
Wyze makes excellent stuff and price of entry is really cheap. Just make sure you have decent Wifi signal where it is located using a smartphone and speed test and connected to the Wifi camera would use.
Lorex is still free (at least with the NVR system I have). They just updated the app too, little bit easier to navigate.
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2021
- Messages
- 1,116
Wyze cams work well.
Yeah, I kind of like their products, though never used them. My neighbor did have an issue with his Lorex Wifi camera in his driveway but I dont really blame Lorex. When it comes to WiFi some much depends on the customers internet. NVRs are more reliable in that sense.
Lorex tried to solve the problem many times with him, nothing worked, they even sent him a new camera but he still had sporadic issues.
Anyway, he knew I was in security and asked me to take a look and like I suspected and seen so MANY times, his equipment from Spectrum was a mess, a tangle of wires ect...ect... First thing he did was buy an inexpensive TPLink router I recommended, I then went over, fixed up his tangle of wires ... (and this is key) I then installed snap on ferrite noise filters to everything around the router and to the camera.
He never had an issue again and was so excited called Lorex to tell them the solution with the snap on ferrite filters.
I've recently installed NightOwl set with a DVR and on demand and internet access. I'm very happy with the quality for the price.
