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After a series of things going missing from our garden and now some lovely person has started letting their dog crap on our front lawn, I am looking for a CCTV system. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a couple of cameras that will alert my mobile and have recording capability. TBH I have no idea quite what other features I should be looking for, so any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Ive got the blink systen,. Pretty cheap and works well enough
Lots & lots of options, why not help us to help you…
Wired?
Wireless?
1080p, 2K, 4K?
Self install or professionally installed?
Budget?
Wireless, I am happy to install myself, not too bothered on super high resolution. Budget? Not really sure what I would need to spend TBH!
Since this morning I have been looking and a couple of Ring outdoor cameras at £160 (+ £8 a month for 'Ring Protect) seems a pretty good solution – I know it should pretty seamlessly connect up to my phone and wifi etc.
We have the ring thing and it works well. Sensors all over the place.
I wouldn’t bother with the subscription as even with crystal clear pictures of shoplifters in our shop the cops aren’t interested.
Wireless not my bag but I’m sure plenty of folk can opine.
Unfortunately plenty of the scrotes know to cover up & even if they don’t plod are unlikely to do anything but I should note there’s increasing evidence of said scrotes going equipped with wireless jammers too these days.
http://www.cleverdog.com.cn/camera/camera-outdoor/
I have an indoor camera which works well so cannot comment on the outdoor version - but might be worth considering?
never heard of them before but a quick google and yeah, I would not be having one of those in my home or even connected to my network 🤪http://www.cleverdog.com.cn/camera/camera-outdoor/
What zilog said.
I have a wired swann system and a wireless ring system. both work well. swann was significantly more of a pain in the ass to fit (crawling around in the loft is not fun) but gives some assurance against wifi jammers or someone just cutting the Internet cable to your house.
I really like the ring flood and I'm thinking of getting a second. it's an expensive option but it does work well. set it up on an apple device though, had problems using my android phone getting ot to connect for the first time
I'll just leave this here for all the Ring-ists 😃
the basic gist is - in the US - judge issued a warrant (despite the homeowner co-operating with police anyway) for footage, which Amazon (Ring) dutifully provided. But not [I]just[/I] doorbell cam footage - everything from all cameras in their system including internal ones. (As you know, from reading thru the ToCs that you've signed, Amazon are allowed to store all footage including stuff you have deleted for yourself for this and many other kinds of uses!)
As is usual Eufy would be the recommendation and some judicious firewall rules to stop the footage going to Eufy as they originally promised.
The battery life can be a bit pants in colder weather and in high traffic areas. Ask if you want their kit and one of us can give you a £50 referral link.
I came to the conclusion that If I'm going to the bother of needing a CCTV
I'll be doing it wired.
Your basic screw fix swanns are a bit shit but they do a better (more expensive) system else where.
Also do a bit of research on cameras. You really want different styles of cameras for your different areas. IE high up approach cameras covering big areas Vs close in cameras covering doors /windows.
Your trying for different details. - close in you want faces and clothes - far our your wanting car details etc.
That said if it's just to capture a dog crapping on your lawn I'd just put a wildlife cam in the window.
Good for info, better systems would use something like Hikvision, also if you wire it’s better to use ‘power over ethernet’ then its just one wire to run to the camera.
(As you know, from reading thru the ToCs that you’ve signed, Amazon are allowed to store all footage including stuff you have deleted for yourself for this and many other kinds of uses!)
Oh what a surprise.
I do not understand the rush, via speakers, cameras, anything smart, to just hand over your life of data to Amazon, Google or various Chinese firms. 🤷
Hikvision
I wouldn't as what do PRC need with my info?
if you block access to their servers how are you able to view/get notifications etc from the doorbell when you're not home?As is usual Eufy would be the recommendation and some judicious firewall rules to stop the footage going to Eufy as they originally promised.
loads of Chinese surveillance manufacturers (including Hikvision & Dahua/Amcrest which would normally be the recommendations quality-wise but others including Huawei) have been blacklisted in the US due to their links with the Chinese government!I wouldn’t as what do PRC need with my info?
if you block access to their servers how are you able to view/get notifications
See I'm conflicted here. I see the benefits of cloud data. But at the same time what good is being notified someone's in my house ? It's not like I can set off the daleks and I'm not going to ask any of my neighbours to confront criminals am I.....
Hidden HDD recorder for getting the data after the fact is probably where I'll head.
I wouldn’t as what do PRC need with my info?
What manufacturer/platform would you recommend if you do not wish to hand data to the PRC or American/U.K. courts and/or security services?
personally, we use the cameras to keep an eye on our pets/chickens when we're out/on holiday which is good for peace-of-mind (so not necessarily security reasons). But the smart doorbell specifically (which will be tied in with the overall CCTV these days with a decent system) is extremely useful especially with the huge increase in parcel deliveries etc since covid, even if it's just sending you a notification when you're at the other end of the garden!See I’m conflicted here. I see the benefits of cloud data. But at the same time what good is being notified someone’s in my house ?
at work we have Unifi Protect which although it uses their cloud service to remotely notify you/stream video etc [I]as far as I know[/I] they don't store or collect any data from you. They don't even offer a cloud storage service for recordings - it's all local at your end (but can be accessed remotely).What manufacturer/platform would you recommend if you do not wish to hand data to the PRC or American/U.K. courts and/or security services?
At home I use an open-source NVR called Frigate (several other free or paid options are available) and store all recordings locally on my own server. The great thing about this is you can generally use any brand of IP camera (and just deny it internet access so it can't "phone home"). Having said that, now I've used it, I will switch over to Unifi Protect eventually probably, it's extremely good (just £££)