I’m looking to add / upgrade my home cameras and I’m looking for advice. What kinds of systems do you have, and what do you like & hate about it? I’m trying to cut through the advertising on the internet.
I’m especially looking at privacy concerns. For example, Google and Amazon have some fantastic capabilities, but I don’t trust either one of those data-hungry companies with cameras in or around my house. I might be willing to trust a company with limited data access if their privacy safeguards are up to snuff and if upgrades my security.
I have been researching the same. I have a good friend in the Security industry and he said basically if you can view it on your smartphone so can others. I think I am going with a video system that is not linked to anything. It records to DVD. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet but probably what I am going to install.
Only know a little about this. Cellular is probably the one that’s the hardest to disable. DVD is good if you can keep the disk out of the wrong hands. Correct not to trust google & Amazon sidewalk feature is just trouble. Good luck.
That makes sense. Frankly I like being able to see who’s at my house, but there’s no way to keep such a system 100% secure. And if that was my only concern, I’d probably go with Google or Amazon, because God help the hacker who goes head to head with Google. But I also don’t trust Google or Amazon with my privacy. Maybe I shouldn’t trust anyone. But it’s not necessarily that Google or Amazon is going to sell my info, it’s that they’re going to keep a lot of data on my household that I don’t want anyone to have.
Feel free to use a 3rd party for you outdoor cameras. This is Google (Nest), Amazon (Ring), Simplisafe, etc. Will “they” know what time you get home everyday? Probably yes. Does that matter? Only you can decide that. The advantages they give is better tech, sharing with neighbors (Ring has the neighborhood app for example) or LEO. If you use the alarm system that comes with some of those services that can help LEO response to your home.
For indoor cameras, I would not use one of those 3rd party services. Instead, you can use something like BlueIris (link → https://blueirissoftware.com ) which supports up to 64 cameras. YOU control if/when/how those videos get outside your house/network. You can use an app to view remotely with a little bit of setup (be mindful of network security). It supports a ton of cameras from super high-end to really cheap ones off of amazon. I would cover common/likely entry points where unwanted company may walk through. The downside is you need a computer on all the time to handle recording.
Technically, yes, but this is where hidden , custom named, SSIDs, strong passwords, firewalls, and MAC filtering comes into play so that it’s difficult to hack your WiFi network and cameras. Personally, I recommend systems that do not record video to the cloud, a hacker is much more likely to try hacking a large vendor than my personal storage.
I recommend Simply Safe (I have no affiliation with the company). They’re reasonably priced, provide all types of security equipment and you don’t need to pay for installation or monitoring. I’ve been happy with it.
I have a Ring system at my home. What I like: Extremely simple set-up, I can access 24/7 from my cell phone, clear cameras, simple alarms. What I hate: It’s web-based, which means it is susceptible to hacking. I also distrust Amazon to the core of my being. They just recently added a “Sidewalk” feature without informing users. This add-in was opt-out, not opt-in, and in effect creates a micro-wi-fi network with your neighbors, them using yours and you using theirs, without your knowledge.
I have an old set of Amcrest wired 720 cameras that have been running and logging for over 4.5 years with zero issues. Web ap is decent.
Were pleased with Simplisafe v2 after a couple years. The cams have steel shutters that block them when not recording. No problems. Very good battery life on the remote sensors. Web ap is solid.