Wireless home security cameras

[johnnyBv8]

Following two attempts to get the keys for my RS6, I’m having to keep our Blink cameras on all night - which means I currently get woken several times a night by foxes or cats! The Blink system has been fine for what we needed, and did their visual deterrent job once they were spotted, but I’d like to upgrade to something more advanced with AI to avoid false alerts from foxes etc. I want to keep with a wireless/battery system.

Currently looking at Eufy, Ezviz and Tapo. Does anyone have these, or have any recommendations? Reviews seem to vary widely - I find one saying a particular brand is fantastic, then I look on TrustPilot and they’re getting slated…

[bogie]

I've been using Arlo wireless cameras for 8 years now. My outdoor cameras are charged off their solar panels, haven't touched them in since installation.

You do have to pay a monthly subscription for advanced features like AI recognition. Arlo is owned by Verisure in Europe and they also offer integration into wider security systems if required.

https://www.verisure.co.uk/
https://www.arlo.com/en_gb/cameras

[Danm1les]

My brother in law has just installed eufy cameras everywhere and I was very impressed by the quality and the app. We are due to move and I'll be fitting some, we have had hardwired cameras at the current house and they were a pig to run the cables.

[JoshSm]

johnnyBv8 said:

Following two attempts to get the keys for my RS6, I’m having to keep our Blink cameras on all night - which means I currently get woken several times a night by foxes or cats!

Might be worthy adding a cat scarer or two while you're at it? I'd imagine the sprayer type might discourage the scroats too, or at least stop them sneaking around.

[hellorent]

I've got tapo C510W & C520WS cannot fault them, easy to use app and great picture quality both day and night, would replace like for like if they went faulty.

Just noticed you want wireless, mine are hard wired, daughter has a wireless eufy camera and battery life isn't brilliant

Edited by hellorent on Monday 29th July 18:35

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I've got various REOLINK cameras , mostly wireless a few PoE ... I like them ... ONVIF streaming so they work on TinyCam to feed ACTIONTILES as part of my SMART system.
Pan and Zoom is good.. I use Windows and ANDROID platforms.

Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Monday 29th July 18:54

[richatnort]

I’ve got the EZVIZ system and have two cameras and 1 doorbell. I can’t fault it at all tbh. I will admit they are hard wired power units not battery but I chose that as I find battery cameras hibernate then come on when they spot something and miss 2-3s which when someone tried to break into my house it missed their faces.

It can do smart stuff like only detect humans not pets. You can also link it to Alexa so if it detects people it could turn a lamp on or something.

[Cold]

I've got a pair of Eufy 2C Pro cameras looking down over different angles of the driveway. They're both using a Eufy solar panel each to keep their onboard batteries topped up. I've not had to bring the cameras in to recharge since fitting the solar panels a number of months ago, although I will caveat that by saying that they've not done a full winter yet.

Completely wireless in operation and pretty much fit and forget stuff with no ongoing subscriptions required unless I feel the need to upload everything recorded to the Cloud.

The app is simple to use and has all the usual privacy zones, video length choices, motion sensor adjustment and AI gubbins to limit the amount of cat/fox/spider triggers. I can also duplicate the main dashboard onto a pc/laptop so I can view live movements on a larger screen.

I can (but haven't) join the Eufy "community" and upload examples of people/delivery/pet movement to help with the AI aspect for which I'll earn rewards points to redeem at a later date.

[xx99xx]

A Blink Outdoor 4 has 'Person Detection' AI, so can distinguish between animals and people.

Based on recent experience though, cameras are not a great deterrent. A neighbour had their car stolen off their driveway and the tracksuit wearing youths all waved at the camera. Useful for knowing what happened after the event but that's about it. Police generally not interested in camera footage either.

However if you want the notification from the camera so you can catch them in the act and confront them in your pants, then a camera is perfect.

[johnnyBv8]

xx99xx said:

A Blink Outdoor 4 has 'Person Detection' AI, so can distinguish between animals and people.

Based on recent experience though, cameras are not a great deterrent. A neighbour had their car stolen off their driveway and the tracksuit wearing youths all waved at the camera. Useful for knowing what happened after the event but that's about it. Police generally not interested in camera footage either.

However if you want the notification from the camera so you can catch them in the act and confront them in your pants, then a camera is perfect.

I think they’re still a good deterrent… our would-be car thieves saw the cameras (stuck a finger up at them) but then still headed off pretty quickly as they presumably know police would probably be on their way (they were!). Beyond that, I’d rather know there was a potential issue than wake up to find them already in the house.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

The Police in Lancashire (well Preston & Blackpool) have asked the public to register CCTV and doorbell cameras that catch public areas on an online system ... originally only used for business but now residential ..... To save them time going door to door if a crime is committed in your area ... mine are all registered

[eliot]

would of thought wireless cameras are trivial to jam - all mine are hard wired.

[johnnyBv8]

eliot said:

would of thought wireless cameras are trivial to jam - all mine are hard wired.

As in they have a hardwired Ethernet, not just a power supply?

[eliot]

johnnyBv8 said:

eliot said:

would of thought wireless cameras are trivial to jam - all mine are hard wired.

As in they have a hardwired Ethernet, not just a power supply?

yes

[johnnyBv8]

eliot said:

johnnyBv8 said:

eliot said:

would of thought wireless cameras are trivial to jam - all mine are hard wired.

As in they have a hardwired Ethernet, not just a power supply?

yes

What system do you have? My main issue is to get full coverage of the house needs quite a few cameras, so it’s quite a lot of wiring! My plan was to have the 2 easy ones hardwired but the remainder wireless - all the ones I’ve been looking at offer both…but I think it’s just power supply as opposed to Ethernet cabling.

[breamster]

Another vote for Eufy. I've had mine up a year or so now.

I keep meaning to put solar panels up (generic ones) but I don't seem to get around to it. Batteries last well.

Camera quality is good and no issues at all. They just work.

[Nigel_O]

Another vote for Eufy. I have four - two on the front of the house looking at the drive from two angles. Two on the back of the house as the garden backs on to a canal and we’ve had a previous burglary attempt by (incompetent) water-borne crooks.

Batteries last two or three months on a charge. Alerts can be configured to ignore animals and just report humans.

Image quality is excellent, even at night

[eliot]

johnnyBv8 said:

What system do you have? My main issue is to get full coverage of the house needs quite a few cameras, so it’s quite a lot of wiring! My plan was to have the 2 easy ones hardwired but the remainder wireless - all the ones I’ve been looking at offer both…but I think it’s just power supply as opposed to Ethernet cabling.

Most cameras are POE (Power over Ethernet), so you only need to run one cable to each camera essentially and data/power go over that cable. Without knowledge of the property it's difficult to advise, but generally with a bit of thought, planning, trunking you can usually get cables to where you need them. The loft is generally the easiest place, as you can get to the eaves for front/side/rear cameras. I have ducting both internally and underground externally to get to other areas.
Make sure you use good quality (expensive) CAT6 cable which is NOT copper coated aluminium (CCA) any 305M box that's about £50-60 on ebay is cheap CCA rubbish and will cause you no end of problems long term.

This is an example of "CAT6" cable, which in fact isn't CAT anything, because copper coated aluminium isn't in the spec. Use known brands such as excel which will be well over £100 a box.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263661406588?var=562777...

Discussion:
https://serverfault.com/questions/421215/cat6-cca-...

I use CAT6, not for speed - but the fact that the conductors are thick and will last the test of time. Fitting cable is a one-shot deal, do it right first time. (I put several Km of cable into my self build 10 years ago, when everyone was saying Cat5e is plenty...)

Edited by eliot on Wednesday 31st July 09:50

[bogie]

eliot said:

yes

the best jammer for video cameras wired or wireless is very old tech, the intruders just wear a balaclava....

at best they are another deterrent, our cameras get the most use for watching where the dog is and what she is doing

[silentbrown]

eliot said:

would of thought wireless cameras are trivial to jam - all mine are hard wired.

Of course, the risk there is that someone unplugs your camera and connects their device directly into your house LAN. Hopefully you've got all the cameras on a separate VLAN?