We have 7 cameras, if you include the Ring doorbell. 4 “passive” which are pointed at fairly large areas (along walls, front of house, etc.). These transmit RF to a base monitor in the kitchen. They don’t use the wifi. There are 2 “active” which acquire targets and swivel to follow anything they see moving. These use wifi and phone apps (or the office computer if preferred). All have wired power (no batteries or POE). They’re all pretty old and and none require an account to use. Lorex and something else (can’t remember). Other than cleaning webs away they’re maintenance free.
Yes, pretty much daily but for convenience stuff (checking the gate before letting dogs out, did a package arrive?)
No. They all run 24/7. The majority of recordings are false positives and the storage gets overwritten. It seems they will have a week or two stored on the rare occasion I hunt through the files.
Yes. I turned off the notifications to my phone, but my wife still has the notification from the Ring doorbell, only when it’s pressed I think. I occasionally reactivate the notification from the “active” camera on the front porch, when expecting an expensive package. Also, I’ve been using the tracking ability less and less, as they both designate on passing cars and it was probably wearing them out (spinning wildly back and forth as cars go up and down the street). The active cameras are the only ones that can see the street and neighbor’s driveways (they’re aimed “out” while the other 4 are aimed “in” – if that makes any sense).
Not really. I did add a switch on the back deck to shut down that camera, since it was “watching” people in the hot tub (recording guests in their swimsuits isn’t something I want). So tubbers can simply press a button on the wall to shut it off. There are also motion lights out there, and sometimes you want to soak in the darkness or evening without glaring floodlights. These are powered by the same switch, so pressing it gives privacy.
I should note that I turn them off when we have a lot of workmen in the yard. Last summer the city had to dig up some of the back yard for buried utilities. In addition to providing them with daily coolers full of iced down drinks, I assured the foreman all cameras had been shut down. This was for obvious reasons since I couldn’t be there all day to let his crew into the downstairs bathroom.
Following the initial installation, I would idly play the last night’s recording while waiting on the phone, etc. (on the office PC). I was really surprised at how much traffic there is on our out of the way suburban street. Far more than I would’ve thought, and frankly, there were curious goings-on at some neighbors. A few had a LOT of cars going in and out of their driveways. Since it’s not affecting me, I didn’t worry too much but I was a little intrigued.
Another observation: The cameras all have near-IR capability and can “see” quite well in the dark. As the crime rate continued its steep climb in our area (neighbors began losing cars and trailers, and eventually an armed home invasion a few streets over), I noticed several unexplained people at night, just outside the clear range of my cameras. These were in the yard, but not yet at the house. My neighbor a few streets away had similar cameras (away from the house, watching inward) and recorded another home invasion attempt. Two men came to the door and one hid in the bushes to the side while the other tried to convince them to open the door, citing some emergency need. He could see both of them and called the police.
At that point I installed over a dozen motion-activated LED floodlights, covering every wall, nook and corner of the house – including the back yard. Anyone venturing a few feet into the yard is hit with retina-singing light. It’s actually uncomfortable, and I wear long-billed caps outside at night since it’s almost blinding. I mention this because I think it actually provides more security than the cameras. All the lurking stopped and we’ve had no intruders for over a year. This really drives away nighttime ne’er-do-wells. Another result is all the animals disappeared. No cats, possums, raccoons, or any of the nocturnal denizens we used to watch. I assume it makes hunting impossible for them (too).