What outdoor security camera?

We bought these for £80: https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/cloud-camera/tapo-c400s2/

Reasons for choosing those (from hundreds available!)

-cheap!

-wanted a pack of 2, one for house, one for shed/office

-integrate with Home Assistant / easy to set up on app

-wireless and long battery life

-Decent night vision

-only needed motion detect not full time CCTV

-Does not need to upload to cloud

Only issue - and it is annoying - is the 'wifi' is bespoke to the hub that comes with the cameras. So does not jump on the house wifi. This means they need to be able to 'see' the hub. So ended up with hub in shed not house.

App is very good tho, pet/people/car detection turned off just have it ping on 'motion'. Can do a lot with the app in terms of trimming image (so you don't get neighbours etc). Also lots of settings for sensitivity/saving battery etc. So far been up two weeks and used 3% of battery so 6 months between charges seems about right.

These are 'only' 1080p but images are good and works well at night.

Couple of friends of mine recently had (new, sporty & expensive) cars stolen. Both had security cam footage which has proved to be of no use to anyone, certainly not the police.

thanks Alex. So for the 'hub' does this mean that the cameras need to be positioned so they can actually see it in line of sight?

As per Alex I would really recommend Tapo cameras but (just to be contrary!) not those ones 😂

The regular (wired power) ones are often really cheap on Amazon, plus they have a couple of new models which look like they offer really good full-colour night vision for not crazy money. They connect to your normal WiFi & all function as "regular" IP cameras so can be used with a traditional setup (software/hardware NVR) as well as their cloud-based solution. (This also means they don't suddenly become useless if Tapo ever close down their servers which has happened with a few brands in the past!)

You might think it's a pain powering them externally but it might not be - I tapped power off our existing external floodlights for mine (or you could use external sockets if you have them). Or could re-purpose some existing holes! (we have a few in our walls for TV aerial/sky dish/phone line etc which are now all redundant!)

finbarFree Member
Couple of friends of mine recently had (new, sporty & expensive) cars stolen. Both had security cam footage which has proved to be of no use to anyone, certainly not the police.

but yeah. It can definitely give peace of mind to be able to visually check there's no-one about etc if you hear a noise (without having to physically go outside to check!) so I think cameras are a Good Thing but probably pretty useless from a crime-solving PoV! Still, I think I'd rather know if there are scrotes about rather than live in blissful ignorance, as you can take other (preventative) steps, plus helps keep an eye on other vulnerable neighbours etc.

thanks Zilog. I am veering more to the side of battery operated as don't want to sort out a mains feed (but beoynd my capabilities really!!).

I’ve been impressed with the eufy system. Got lots of options for battery/solar and wired indoor and outdoor cameras. Also has a doorbell camera that can be battery or use existing door bell power.

can be cloud hosted but they make a big deal of the functionality of their home hub and the face recognition this is very good.

perhaps not the cheapest but good kit. Part of the Anker family of products.

I have mutually beneficial referal links if you are interested.

General webpage..  https://uk.eufy.com/

So for the ‘hub’ does this mean that the cameras need to be positioned so they can actually see it in line of sight?

Not line of sight. Our house has really thick walls. One camera was on the outside wall, one about 30 feet away on the Shed. The Hub could only 'see' both of them if it was in the shed which is just an insulated wood wall. But since then they've been rock solid connectivity wise.
I would have prob gone power, it's a pain tho on current location, and I wasn't absolutely sure I wanted to spend any more money so this seemed a good compromise.

I have a standard SD card nicked out of my GoPro. Not sure of size but I don't think we'll be over-writing the start of it for a couple of years 🙂

Another shout for Eufy. I’ve got the basic doorbell camera which is wireless and subscription free, and runs off an SD card that plugs into a wall socket. Think it was about £90 at the time. Other than some mild annoyance with the speed of the app, and the age it takes to charge it up, it’s been ideal.

can be cloud hosted but they make a big deal of the functionality of their home hub and the face recognition this is very good.

as long as you are cool with them uploading/storing all that facial recognition data on their servers for purposes unknown, even if you turn the cloud option off, and even though they promise they don’t do this 😂

Eufy/Anker undeniably make great affordable tech but I wouldn’t trust them at all with data/privacy. YMMV.

I've been pleased with my Eufy indoor camera and it was dirt cheap. Crucially there's an option in the app to tell it to use Apple Homekit, so there's no need to deal with a potentially crappy app or cloud services.

as long as you are cool with them uploading/storing all that facial recognition data on their servers for purposes unknown, even if you turn the cloud option off, and even though they promise they don’t do this

@zilog6128 have you got a source for this?

as I understand it there was some question over the thumbnails that were used to send the text messages to users phones of a triggered event from the home hubs and that was addressed in a firmware update some time ago. No other issue as far as I am aware but very interested to hear if there is.

All the facial recognition and other machine intelligence is performed on the home hub not in the cloud.

personally i wouldnt go for a battery version. The issue is they generally dont record all the time and only start on motion. So if they miss the motion (happens at night) or you want to go back to see how they got into your garden or whatever your scuppered.

ive got nest. Its ok but its expensive for what it is. I wouldn't recommend it as with most things google the support isnt great.

timely thread as my mates selling an Arlo Pro 2.  anyone know anything about them?

weve never really considered security cameras before, we dont have a doorbell, never felt like we're missing out, but if theyre a decent acquisition then id look into taking them off his hands.

can they also record hedgehogs, foxes etc in your garden?

Google Nest battery outdoor cam here. Battery means it doesn't constantly record like the wired version, but it saves and notifies you of movement, people, animals, vehicles, etc. Battery lasts about 3 weeks for us before needing 3 hours charge back to full again. If yours looks at a busy street it might not last as long. Very easy to set up and being Google it integrates very well, but not necessarily the cheapest option + £50 per annum for the stored footage.

thanks for the advice. I think on reflection and andys post,maybe wired might be the way to go in terms of having more time recorded. anyone used a Ring system? theres one at work and the guy who owns the office rates it.

but yeah. It can definitely give peace of mind to be able to visually check there’s no-one about etc if you hear a noise (without having to physically go outside to check!) so I think cameras are a Good Thing but probably pretty useless from a crime-solving PoV! Still, I think I’d rather know if there are scrotes about rather than live in blissful ignorance, as you can take other (preventative) steps, plus helps keep an eye on other vulnerable neighbours etc.

@zilog68 fair point. My previous place had a garage way up at the top of the garden that wasn't visible from the house. I'd have quite liked a cam up there sometimes.

Another Eufy system user (for several years) - have couple older Pro2 cams and a 2k doorbell but have also expanded with door contacts and proximity sensors on stuff like garage, etc. Nice that it all integrates into the hub. What has impressed me with the Pro2 is the battery life - getting 4-6 months between charges which is nice if cameras are not easy to access.

I get good night time detection (usually hedgehogs) as I don't have Human Detection enabled on the garden camera.

anyone used a Ring system? theres one at work and the guy who owns the office rates it.

obviously they are popular but I think that's only because people don't understand there are much better options out there 😂 1) They're a closed-shop so difficult to integrate with other systems, which ties you in to their cameras/app/subscription for ever more. 2) Privacy again - you will sign up to an extremely vague user agreement which allows them to keep your footage as long as they like, for unspecified purposes, and share it with whoever they choose 3) they only record "events" rather than 24/7 so fundamentally useless for security IMO. YMMV.

timely thread as my mates selling an Arlo Pro 2.  anyone know anything about them?

not specifically, you'd have to look into the pros/cons, I'd imagine like the other integrated systems once you go down that route you're locked into them. Why's he selling it??

re. wildlife, this is actually the main use of my camera system 😀 I use an open-source system so can use any brand of compatible camera, most of mine are Tapo though as they are often very cheap on Amazon - the little indoor WiFi ones make great bird box or hedgehog house cams and have been as low as £20!

I'd not use something with Wifi unless the images are recorded locally.

Ring etc can be jammed apparently

My dogs don't have issues with Wifi

I live on a modern housing estate and i must admit i was tempted to install a ring doorbell etc when i first moved in.  Same as 90% of the other houses on the estate.

I'm glad i didnt though because all those houses also tend to be the ones who repeatedly post up videos on our estates facebook pages 'warning' us all of the gang of 10 year old kids who are kicking a ball up the street or commit the awful crime of walking on someones lawn.  Every so often there is a video posted up of a kid playing knock & nash and the whole estate rushes off to check their footage.

Not once have i witnessed anyone putting up a single video of anything crimeworthy and when i have witnessed it elsewhere i have never ever seen it amount to any kind of conviction.  TBH i would rather not know if someone has tried my car door to see if i have left it open.

I work on the premises that i am quite angry when i need to be and there are much easier targets than me, my 6ft son and my two dogs to bother with.   My dogs go very noisy when anyone is near the house even though im not sure what they would do they sound aggressive.

I also note on our estate that most of the houses with these cameras and doorbells also tend to leave their security lights on permanently.  What is that all about?  Burning electricity and light pollution.

^^^ that reads like a comment on a daily mail article 😂

You obviously don't realise that the main function of a doorbell camera is to see (and talk to, if you're not there!) whoever is at your door, and is actually really useful?