Home surveillance systems

I’m looking for a DIY system with 3 or 4 cameras that can record and be viewed from my phone. Anyone have experience or suggestions?  Simple and affordable are high priorities. 

Thanks

WYZE?

In for info, also have been looking. 

I've been putting this off for years.

I think that CWH is our local expert here on GRM. He's been quiet lately though.

slantvaliant said:

WYZE?

I have a couple of these. They are ok. For the price they are great. 

Picture quality is actually pretty decent, even going through windows. (Screens not so much.) All of mine are inside the house looking out windows since they don't have and outdoor model yet. 

If you go cloud only, there are limitations. They do store 2 weeks of video for free which is nice, and of course you can download if you need something for longer, but they only record 14 second clips, and seem to have a 5 minute delay after each one. So there's a good bit of gap there that a person with some foreknowledge of the system could take advantage of. 

That said, they do also have the option to put a micro SD card into each camera as well and can be set to record 24/7 (or on a schedule), and then it will just automatically overwrite the old video as it fills up. As far as I know, all of that video is still available from the app/cloud, so that's pretty nice. I will be putting microSD cards in mine soon. 

So basically, as long as you have decent WiFi, for the price they are hard to beat. 

If you want higher quality, and are willing to run wire and do some stuff yourself, I have some knowledge there too that I'd be happy to walk you through. 

This is a one camera setup, https://sunflower-labs.com/ 

I wonder if I could mount a water tank to keep ferral cats from peeing on my windows.

My purpose will be mostly outdoors if that changes anyone’s suggestions.  I built an outdoor bar in my 2 acre backyard. Throughout the parties, friends have signed and stapled bills to the wall - a few 50s and 20s included. The other day, I noticed the big bills had been stolen. I have a very good idea who did it. One of my longtime friends has struggled with drugs for several years now. He knew I was going autocrossing Saturday and set up his alibi early in the day, “going out to the island with my fam”. Then inquired several times through the day, “where’s the race?  When you getting home?” Etc. 

I’m much more sad about having to cut him off than the missing money, but it’s time to take action for any future problems. 

I just ordered a 4 camera wireless system from Lowes that had decent reviews. It looks easy to install. I'll let you know in a week or 10 days. It was $329.99 with free shipping.

drsmooth said:

This is a one camera setup, https://sunflower-labs.com/ 

I wonder if I could mount a water tank to keep ferral cats from peeing on my windows.

There was a business that was getting tagged by the local gang , 

They set up a sprinkler system and a motion detector ,  sprayed the wall and the taggers :)

Don49 said:

I just ordered a 4 camera wireless system from Lowes that had decent reviews. It looks easy to install. I'll let you know in a week or 10 days. It was $329.99 with free shipping.

Would that be this one?  Appears to be exactly what I’m looking for. Lowes

Another vote for Wyzecams if you don't need 100% coverage and onsite data security. 

Wyze are nice for the ability to monitor the house when away. Typically when I've got a vacation planned I'll repoint the cameras at entryways and turn on notifications for movement and noise. 

When we're home, they act like eyes in the dark. Just gives us more security in knowing what's outside, if the garage door is closed, that kind of thing. 

The wife and I have been using Amazon Cloud Cams for 6 months now, gotta say they are really nice.  Online web interface or phone are both fast, app works great all the time, and so simple a caveman could do it.  I am generally a pretty handy guy with IT, but the Chinesium wifi cams had me pulling my hair out.  As long as you have decent WIFI they are tough to beat.  

That being said I got them for $60 ea on Prime Day, paying the full $120 would have had me looking at other options.

If I ever decide to get really serious I will set up another NAS on a UPS and do it 100% DIY, i dipped my toes into a proper NAS the other week (Synology Diskstation 716+ with two 4tb drives in RAID that I got used off Ebay) and it rocks my socks.  Run a ton of applications from it, super stable, great form factor, etc.  

For about 40 bucks you can get a camera that screws into a light socket from amazon. Itll record all the time and is accessable from your phone in real time.

Plus most have a microphone on it so you can talk thru it, catch the guy in the act and yell at him all at once

So if you see an intruder messing around on your phone, what do you use to call 911 on? Unlike old school landlines, dont many cell phones still by default route your 911 call to the state police? Maybe it depends on the state you live in? If that’s the case, you need to explain everything to that dispatcher then have them transfer your call to the proper jurisdiction and re-explain what’s going on again-eating up valuable time. Meanwhile bad guy has more time to wreck your life.

At one time people were using Drop box to record the video taken when the motion detector kicked off  , 

Shows you what happened while you were away , 

Has anyone actually seen a bad guy on your remote cameras ? 

And were you able to do anything about it ? 

californiamilleghia said:

Has anyone actually seen a bad guy on your remote cameras ? 

And were you able to do anything about it ? 

Yes ., with the Wyze cam in my garage, I was able to see how the perps who was breaking in and pooping on my Exocet were gaining access.  No more gap along side the garage door, no more Mr. / Mrs. Wren making a home in my garage !

In reply to drainoil :

Or you have your local police department’s main number in your contacts list and call them directly instead of calling 911.

californiamilleghia said:

At one time people were using Drop box to record the video taken when the motion detector kicked off  , 

Shows you what happened while you were away , 

Has anyone actually seen a bad guy on your remote cameras ? 

And were you able to do anything about it ? 

 

I had a bike stolen, sent the video to the police and got my bike back promptly

In reply to lof8:

That is the one.