# 'Splain to me front door cams **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872 "2022-03-11T04:56:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/1 "2022-03-11T04:56:09Z")
Hi there. I’m trying to google up a “front door camera” and I’ve been shunted into this strange world of doorbell cameras. It’s insane: $250 doorbells that sense motion and have SD card slots for no discernible reason. I’m not trying to replace my doorbell, I just want to sticky a camera to my front door and look at it on my PC when the doorbell rings. It seems like this should cost \<$30 right? Sample doorbell nonsense search link [here](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=front+door+camera&crid=3S0U7N9SIJIMN&sprefix=front+door+camera%2Caps%2C113&ref=nb_sb_noss). Is there a product I can just bungee to my door and replace the battery quarterly that gives me a camera I can see on my PC? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/2 "2022-03-11T05:02:09Z")
I think Wyze does that, and it’s pretty cheap. I don’t know about batteries, though. There are lots of Wyze options on Amazon. (My boss recommended it, but I haven’t gotten anything yet.) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/3 "2022-03-11T05:06:11Z")
Wyze is wired charging ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/4 "2022-03-11T05:06:28Z")
I think you are asking for a lot for under $30. Wi-fi capable outdoor camera that can wake-on wi-fi and a battery that lasts for 3 months? The battery alone will cost more than that. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/5 "2022-03-11T05:08:20Z")
Fine. I’d like a $50 cam that takes batteries and can be flush mounted to my door. No doorbell shit. I just want a camera. 802.11whatever. The door rings and I look at my phone/tablet/PC to see who it is. The camera is ideally a rectangle smaller but as thin as a cellphone. Much like a doorbell cam but with zero capabilities. A camera. Double-sticky-tape it to the door, initialize the app on your device, done. Does this really not exist in some form? Cheap front door cam? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/6 "2022-03-11T05:17:45Z")
If you want to go that cheap, I’d probably do something like this - > **[How to turn an old Android phone into a security camera](https://www.androidcentral.com/how-turn-old-android-phone-security-camera)** > > Forget spending lots of extra money, just use what you've got. In short, if you have an old smartphone sitting in a box, you can repurpose it . . . buuuuuut, you’d need to bungie it up where it has a space to plug in. All of the non-wired versions I’ve seen have used at most a pair of AAs - and I doubt they’d last more than a month. But there are cheaper options than say Amazon’s Ring system, even on Amazon. 🙂 The problem is most of the things you’re looking at need to be big enough to hold the batteries. Which kinda requires bigness or expensive LI batteries. I’d do a search on the various ‘spy’ cameras, which . . . might meet your needs. But make me feel icky searching. If you can live with a non-wired doorbell, this seems the best ‘cheap and cheerful’ option though. > **[Blink Video Doorbell](https://www.amazon.com/Blink-Video-Doorbell/dp/B08SG2MS3V)** > > Two-way audio, HD video, motion and chime app alerts and Alexa enabled — wired or wire-free ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/7 "2022-03-11T05:18:52Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Does this really not exist in some form? Probably not. It’s expensive to get batteries into a cell-phone form factor. And they wouldn’t have the capacity needed for months. My ring camera is pretty bulky, but only because of the battery. The button for the doorbell function and the electronics for some of the other fancy functionality doesn’t take up any space. And probably doesn’t add much to the cost either. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/8 "2022-03-11T05:31:26Z")
FINE: $100. A box I can stick to my door. It’s a camera, it’s not a doorbell. When someone rings the doorbell I can see them on a mobile or desktop device over wifi. Does this really not exist? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/9 "2022-03-11T05:49:21Z")
Maybe, but I think most others who want the functionality you are talking about also want it to be a doorbell. You’re talking about having to open some sort of separate program when you hear the doorbell to see the camera. As opposed to the camera feed automatically popping up on your mobile when the doorbell is rung (or a notification you can click on). Also the battery will last longer because it only has to wake-up when the button is pressed instead of always monitoring the wi-fi. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/10 "2022-03-11T05:56:54Z")
I have a doorbell. It works great. I want to see who is _at_ the doorbell sometimes. This doesn’t seem like a corner case. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/11 "2022-03-11T06:50:56Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Maybe, but I think most others who want the functionality you are talking about also want it to be a doorbell. I thought one of the benefits of many of the door cameras is that they can be powered using the existing doorbell wiring. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/12 "2022-03-11T11:45:04Z")
You want a camera that functions in response to the doorbell ringing. The most obvious way to achieve this is to have a camera integrated with the doorbell. You may say you already have a doorbell and all you want is a camera, but from a manufacturers point of view, it makes most sense to just integrate the two. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/13 "2022-03-11T12:12:29Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I thought one of the benefits of many of the door cameras is that they can be powered using the existing doorbell wiring. There are both versions. Mine has a big battery since I didn’t have the doorbell wiring. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/14 "2022-03-11T12:17:03Z")
Wyze I think makes a motion activated battery powered cam. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/15 "2022-03-11T13:45:34Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > You want a camera that functions in response to the doorbell ringing. The most obvious way to achieve this is to have a camera integrated with the doorbell. Right, how is a camera supposed to know the doorbell was rung if it’s not part of the camera? A motion-activated camera seems like the best option then, because it would pick up someone just knocking on the door, or dropping off a package without otherwise announcing their presence. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/16 "2022-03-11T13:56:13Z")
Look at the Blink Video and Ring systems available on Amazon. They start around $50. I have a Ring I got free, no subscription in use. It works OK, I don’t strongly recommend it but it does what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/17 "2022-03-11T14:07:13Z")
As an alternative, there are inexpensive WiFi security cameras that can be mounted overhead with a view of the door. When the doorbell rings you can check who’s there on the phone app. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/18 "2022-03-11T14:14:22Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > In short, if you have an old smartphone sitting in a box, you can repurpose it . . . buuuuuut, you’d need to bungie it up where it has a space to plug in. I’ve done this. I used my old iPod Touch and a free app called “Manything.” You can connect up to one device for no charge. I was using it indoors to monitor my elderly, sick cats when I was at work. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/19 "2022-03-11T14:15:35Z")
Just curious, but why are you against replacing the doorbell? The Google Ring (what I have, but it’s identical to other options) was super easy to install. Remove doorbell, plug Ring in instead, connect to wifi, done. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872/20 "2022-03-11T16:14:41Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > Right, how is a camera supposed to know the doorbell was rung if it’s not part of the camera? It’s doesn’t know. I want it to work _all the time_, regardless of the doorbell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-to-me-front-door-cams/960872.md?page=2)