Help me keep track of my home when I'm away.

May 24, 2010 6:32 PM

I'd like to set up a couple webcams in my house with a couple stipulations.

I'd like the cameras to be viewable from a website. Preferably live streaming, but pictures every 10-30 seconds would be acceptable.

I also need the cameras to be placed throughout the house, so they won't be able to plug in to the computer via USB, so some sort of wireless webcams, or X10 cameras with PC software.

Ideally, I'd also like the stream/pictures to be viewable on the Motorola Droid (either as an App or a compatible website).

If you have any suggestions, that'd be great. The cheaper the setup, the better.

posted by sepsis to Technology (5 answers total)

Wifi webcams exist, but they're expensive. Is it possible for you to run cable at all? Being able to run ethernet or just plain composite video to each camera location would knock a chunk of cost off of this.

Also, do you have any desire to keep your neighbors or random strangers from looking at these webcams, or are they public? If you want them private, then X10 cameras are probably not a good idea.
posted by hattifattener at 7:35 PM on May 24, 2010

They're not that expensive. Costco frequently has $100 off coupons for surveillance systems in their discount flyers. The particular system I linked to supports 3G streaming on iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, with a note that Android is not yet supported. I'm sure you can find one that does support it if you keep looking. Those cameras have night vision too. How cool.
posted by halogen at 8:24 PM on May 24, 2010

Ah, sorry – these are the wireless cameras.
posted by halogen at 8:26 PM on May 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

You probably want something like Dropcam. my friend is launching a similar service called Camly which will probably support Droid at some point and archives online for 30 days.
posted by ejoey at 7:50 AM on May 25, 2010

This Linksys wireless home internet monitoring camera will likely do what you want. The previous version works great sending live pictures over the web, including live imagery viewable on iPhones (which should also work on Android.)
posted by andrewraff at 10:06 AM on May 25, 2010