What is cheap security camera set up? I want 3 cameras and to be able to watch on my phone. any suggestions?
I really like the Wyze cameras. They work well, are super inexpensive, and seem to have the least abusive policy around ongoing subscription costs.
Not a real cheap initial solution. But an ongoing free solution after that.
I bought a QNAP server. They come in many flavors and prices. You can get a QNAP software package called QVR Pro. This comes with a few free licenses for security cameras. I have two Logitech cameras set up for a couple years now. One front door, one in my kitchen that will catch anyone moving about in my small house. Motion detection will trigger a contact to your phone, where you can see what your camera is seeing.
The servers have a choice of number of drive bays. I recommend three. One for the operating system. Two for the camera history recordings.
I hard wired the cameras with power over ethernet cables.
Has worked fine. False alarms were due to bright light reflections, that I cured.
Have not investigated if other alarm devices can be used. Such as water detection, temperature, etc…
The QNAP server is also optimized to be a multimedia server for your home. Movies, music.
You can also manually log into your cameras just to see.
I have a few Wyze cameras and a Wyze doorbell. They are inexpensive, but they are toys, not security devices. If you want something you can put up someplace indoors to see what is happening remotely, and to record motion, then the Wyze will work great. As long as you don’t care if you miss motion sometimes, if it just stops recording to the SD card occasionally (with no alert), if it doesn’t upload an event to the cloud, is slow to alert, and other things.
If what you want is a $30 camera to see what your dog is doing when you’re away, or to remotely see if some door is closed, then the Wyze will work great. If you need real security, that puts a high priority on reliability and security, then you should look elsewhere.
Interesting. You’ve had a substantially different experience than I have. I won’t say that I’ve never had them fail to trigger, upload or notify, but I can say that I can say I’ve never noticed such a failure. At times where I’ve known for sure that people are in front or along the sides of the hours (like when the gardeners are here, when my wife comes home from work, etc) I seem to always get a notification.
What security cameras to get depends on what you want to accomplish.
Deterrence alone could be achieved with inexpensive shells that aren’t real cameras.
A lot of cameras are capable of taking stills or videos on motion detection and sending text alerts to your phone or to email. If you want cloud storage that will likely require a subscription, at least for an extended storage period.
Wyze and similar top-selling cam setups typically offer no more than 1080p resolution, OK for checking to see if a door is open or identifying someone close up, but likely not sufficient for IDing license plates.
Your choices will also depend on quality of your WiFi, availability of power outlets if the cams are not battery-operated, and ease of hooking up ethernet cable if you prefer a POE setup.
I got a moderately cheap light bulb camera that I stuck in the fixture on the outside front of the barn, and I keep it aimed at the propane tanks - since the house got torched, I have been twitchy about he/she coming back to finish the job - so far in a decade something like 8 houses have been torched, with one fire resulting in a human death [we lost a cat … ]
Movement is sort of kludgy, but I can move it from the app on my phone. I seem to remember that one can pay a subscription and run more than 1 or 2 cameras, and get cloud storage [I have the SD card in it, I don’t expect to need to really record anything] If it alerts with motion sensor, it pwangs an announce sound so I can open the app and see. I have a rather curious bird [I think a pigeon? Normally I only see a beak and a beady eye checking out the lens. It likes to sit on the fixture.] and the outside cat [she had been caught and fixed and vaccinated and released. Assholes keep dumping kittens and most of them end up dead before we can catch them.]
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Let’s move this to IMHO (from FQ) so that everyone can give their personal opinions and can share their experiences with different cameras and systems.
No matter what system you use make sure to change the default admin password or set one if it isn’t set. All IoT devices are easily infected with malware and added to botnets. See the Mirai botnet as an example. And unlike a PC or smartphone, security updates can’t be pushed to these devices so if a bad vulnerability is discovered the only recourse is to throw it away and get a newer version.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. This is great! I am not very techie. Basically I own income property and want to put a camera on the oil tanks and utility rooms. I dont live at the property but want to monitor these areas.
Some cameras (including trail cams) operate off the cell towers of standard carriers and can be hooked up to small solar panels to stay charged. They’re designed for monitoring remote sites that don’t have access to power and WiFi.
Add up the cost of three cameras and monthly cell plans (often around $10/month per camera) and it’s not the cheapest option.