The perfect security camera is the enemy of the good
November 13, 2019 5:21 PM   Subscribe

Are there options beyond Ring for a video doorbell that integrates with a few cameras? Or do I just have unrealistic expectations for what I think I want to do with minor home surveillance?

A few weeks ago a drunk person plowed into my wife's parked car in front of our house and totalled it. Fortunately the police got him, but we decided we might want to get our own security cameras to monitor in the future.

I don't really want a full surveillance system or alarm, just 2-3 cameras that can either be battery powered or sit in a window sill pointed outside. I'm not trying to accidentally call the police on the mailman or catch someone in the act really. I just want the option to review footage later if something happens. And to catch the possum in my back yard on film.

But we're also interested in a battery video doorbell to replace our current non-working doorbell and when I started looking at those the main options seemed to be real security systems like Ring or Arlo which seems like overkill to me. I guess I could get a doorbell and then cameras separately but then there are multiple apps and that is annoying too. I thought it would be cool to be able to see who was at my door but maybe it's not worth it?

Stuff I don't need: motion alerts, talking to stranger at the door, actual alarm noise (beyond normal doorbell function), monthly subscription
Stuff I do want: app where I can view live feed, recording without a monthly fee (overwriting old recordings is fine), battery power if it must be outdoors, night vision

The Ring 2 is 200 bucks, I was hoping to spend under 300 for a few cameras and a doorbell. If that is unrealistic then let me know! Or if I'm just missing something that works for you, please tell me about it!
posted by possibilityleft to Home & Garden (9 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
I have a Wyze with a 32gig memory card, pointed out the window. Basically covers the front door and inside. It sends an alert when it detects motion, stores 12 seconds in the cloud. BUT it records for 5 minutes (or continuously), and you can log on to view live, or view the recording. It also allows you to talk. Basic model will be about $30 depending on the tariff situation. Since it takes USB for power, some people have rigged up batteries.
posted by Sophont at 5:46 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Have you looked at DVR home security setups? Zosi has an app with theirs although I've never used it, just the on screen playback. The 1TB, 4 camera is less than $200 on Amazon and holds about a month of footage in my experience. You can buy more cameras or a bigger HD depending on your needs.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 5:47 PM on November 13, 2019


I've been looking into non-internet-based surveillance cameras for my condo building, and find that you basically buy an NVR, which is a DVR that pulls its cameras over a local network, add a hard drive if necessary, and then install your own IP cameras. Supported resolutions and number of cameras vary with the resolution of the camera. After that, you open a web browser to the NVR, pull up your footage, and watch your neighbor fall on his ass, or whatever's interesting outside your window.

I said browser, not App, and here's the reason:

> Stuff I don't need: monthly subscription
> Stuff I do want: app where I can view live feed

These two things are mutually incompatible, full stop. You can probably work out how to configure your firewall to give you remote access, from your phone, to your NVR, but you are not going to get a native app that does what you're talking about without a subscription service. It's not economical to invent an app which talks to individual NVRs, rather than a centralized subscription service like Ring.

However, with a home-built system you can have the following things you don't need: motion alerts, always optional, and maybe talking to stranger at the door -- looks like there are some IP Cameras built into doorbells.
And you have have the stuff you do want: recording without a monthly fee (overwriting old recordings is fine), battery power if it must be outdoors, night vision.

Only battery-powered outdoor cameras are something you'll have to search for specifically; most IP cameras support PoE, Power over Ethernet, when wired, or a local power connection.
The typical NVR records until it fills the drive, then overwrites. Hard drive size and camera resolution/framerate are going to determine how much time you get to keep. IP cameras these days typically start at "1MP" which is 720p resolution, or 2MP which is 1080p, and are sized in some standard resolutions identified by their megapixel count. Big numbers are nice, but an 5-8MP camera is going to eat even a large multi-terabyte hard drive for breakfast. 3-4MP is a good resolution.
posted by Sunburnt at 5:51 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


I have a Wyze also, as well as a Logitech Circle 2. They are much closer in features than their prices would indicate: the Wyze is around $35 (with memory card), the Circle is $180.

Sophont has covered most of the basics of the Wyze. Generally the Circle 2 can only record to the cloud and it requires a monthly subscription for seeing anything beyond two days. The Wyze can record movement longer than 12 seconds to a local memory card, but they are in the middle of adding a cloud storage option. The Wyze can be set up to record continually (even if it detects no motion), but that doesn't seem useful to me. Both have "live" view with no monthly cost, through their app.

The quality of both isn't great especially in low light. Both are optimized for very wide fields of view. Ring/doorbell cameras work because the person has to walk right up to the door, literally feet away. If I pointed either of my cameras outside (from several floors up), I would be able to see people and cars, but not identify license plates or faces. They both have night vision/IR lights, but it's not going to make any difference outside. The IR lights are noticeably worse on the Wyze.

The Wyze is so cheap though that if you decide you don't like it, or go with a more expensive/featured system, you can still use it to do things like watch the stove in another room, or watch your pets, etc.
posted by meowzilla at 6:13 PM on November 13, 2019


We have a couple of YI cameras around the house so we can watch our dogs and check the front door. It does have night vision, no subscription, add a memory card to store video, and you can get a live feed to the app. It also has motion sensing but you can turn off the alerts or set them only for certain times.

They are pretty simple and work well, no complaints from me.
posted by lepus at 6:25 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


I don't know anything about video doorbells but for cameras I've been looking at Lorex, which has a lot of different sub-$300 packages and no subscription fees or anything. Hmm, it looks like they just did one of those smart business things and released a completely new Android app that sucks (right now) compared to the old one, so you (I) might Google "Lorex vs". Regardless, there are unencumbered camera/recorder solutions out there.

One thing about video doorbells that occurred to me is that a company like Lorex, which has a zillion different combinations of like 5 or 6 different cameras and has no doorbell version, tells me that maybe they aren't as useful as they seem and you can get everything from it with a regular camera.
posted by rhizome at 6:45 PM on November 13, 2019


A colleague is into this. He suggests cheaper cameras (I like my Wyze but whatever) indoors or for smaller areas, but high end cameras for wide or long distance shots (like covering the front door and down the driveway).

I will agree that it's hard to avoid a monthly fee if you want motion detection and cloud.

If you're nerdy, you could get a weathertight box, a Raspberry Pi, and a camera, and run the Motion package on the Pi -- but it's not a turnkey solution. Cheap, though!
posted by wenestvedt at 4:08 PM on November 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


The people on the r/homesecurity subreddit are friendly and helpful.
posted by conrad53 at 9:28 AM on November 15, 2019


2-3 cameras that can either be battery powered or sit in a window sill pointed outside
Arlo isn't overkill - the system we have from a few years ago is exactly this. You say you don't need motion capture, but the alternative is filming all the time and then storing all that footage (even on a rotating basis, that is a lot of space) so you can go back and view it. Motion capture reduces the amount of video that has to be stored. Arlo will keep clips for up to 7 days, I believe, with no monthly fee. You can download them to keep forever if you want.

Do you really need a doorbell that connects to the web, or just a new doorbell? If you want to see who is at the door, you can point one of your cameras so it captures the front door. In our experience, this is best mounted outside and not behind a window.

I know Arlo has changed/upgraded equipment recently and there may not be an off-the-shelf product you can buy that meets your needs right now. I would see if you can get some older Arlos used, if that is the case.
posted by soelo at 1:59 PM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


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