Outdoor Security Cameras

Trekkan

JFF Administrator
Staff member
I'm having some issues and need to bury someone in my backyard, the problem is, I don't know who it is yet.

In order to figure that out, I need any advice you might have in the area of home security. I'm doing my own research, but if you have any websites or otherwise personal knowledge on home security setup I'd like to hear it!
 

Malsirian

Member
JFF Member
I don't have any first hand experience with security camera's but we had some friends over this weekend and coincidentally the topic came up. He had actually done some research on security cam's for work, got interested in them and bought some for his house as well. He was showing me the app he was using to view and control the cameras while here. Looked pretty good to me. Anyway, this is what he said about them. I dunno if they will work outdoors but it's all I got. :)

I ended up pricing and researching them for a while until I found a good deal on some Lorex 1080P cameras that were powered over Ethernet. I thought about going wireless, but then I would still have to run power close enough to the camera or change batteries which I wasn’t interested in doing. Ethernet was easy enough to run to most of the points where I wanted the cameras so I just did it myself. It wasn’t easy for all of the cameras, nor fun swimming through insulation on a couple, but I knocked it out in a Saturday.



This isn’t the exact system I have, but looks like nearly the same specifications. https://www.lorextechnology.com/hd-ip-security-camera-system/1080p-security-camera-system-with-16-channel-nvr/LNR168-1-p



There are other brands out there that are just as good, but I’ve been very pleased with the Lorex product quality and customer service.
Good luck.
 

Thod

THUNDERLOINS!!!!
JFF Member
I just went through this at the store. You can get cheap cameras like nanny cams and hook them up or go all out. There is a ton of options out there. You really just need to look at the applications. As far as monitoring software, it is also cheap or free. You could prob code some of your own however.
 

Trekkan

JFF Administrator
Staff member
@Malsirian Thanks for the information! I didn't even think about going over Ethernet, as I was also considering how to deal with the power issue. That alone was gold! Thanks much, I'll be checking out that system for sure and see what's up.

Some of the things I know I want:
  • Ethernet (now that I know about it)
  • Android Phone App
  • Non-Cloud based storage (I don't want to pay someone every month)
  • Outdoor
  • Infra-red
  • 720p or higher
  • (Optional) Open Source standards API.
So, that's the criteria I'm going off of so far. I'll update as I figure more out as well!

@Thod While I could probably write my own, I've got about 1000 unfinished coding projects, I'd rather just buy into someone else's work. That being said, I know there are a lot of open source "standards" out there at the moment, all attempting to be THE standard. So something that uses some of those, would be nice. That way I could tinker with things if I wanted to.
 

Trekkan

JFF Administrator
Staff member
So far, at least from the Lorex brand, this is the closest to my price range and functionality: https://www.lorextechnology.com/hd-ip-security-camera-system/hd-1080p-4-channel-4-camera-home-security-system/HDIP84W-1-p

There is one of these on Amazon for 100.00 cheaper, so that's good.

The one thing I haven't figured out from this yet is that do you need to run an Ethernet cable from the main NVR(Network Video Recorder) to your router, or does the NVR have wireless. If it was wireless, then I could just drop it wherever I wanted it. So far, I think it's all Cat5 cables, but it'd be nice if it was all wireless too (other than the cat5 for power). Not sure if something that like exists or not though.

So, now my holy grail of outdoor home security would include a Wi-Fi setup so there were no cables, other than to a main hub for the power.
 

complexmath

JFF Administrator
Staff member
JFF Supporter
You might be able to do powerline networking as well. That would cut WiFi connectivity weirdness out of the picture.

My own experience is with Insteon stuff, but their outdoor cameras have pretty middling reviews. The Lorex ones look a lot nicer.
 

Thod

THUNDERLOINS!!!!
JFF Member
I can find out what the name of the software is tomorrow when I have our meeting with the vendors. I will let you know what ones they recommended.
 

Ronus

Member
JFF Member

Trekkan

JFF Administrator
Staff member
They have a 15% coupon code that works for that "EMAIL15". Brings the price to below Amazon's and you get it right from the manufacturer.
Thanks man, if I go this route, I'll have to do that for sure!
 
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