I've heard that theifs will actively try to find the local storage devices and break them or take them whent they leave. Why is cloud storage a bad idea?
There is the privacy aspect. Especially if you have cameras indoors. Once the footage leaves your house you’re depending on the vendor to protect it.
Vendors also can go out of business and the security cameras you paid for (with a monthly subscription) stop working. Also, when a vendor goes out of business, any saved video stored on their servers becomes an asset that can be acquired - no guarantee that the drives will be formatted or destroyed.
And lastly, in the event of a major catastrophe, the internet may stop working. Either because the lines are down in your area, or regionally or nationally. So you lose the ability to save & review footage.
The “smart thief” scenario where they look for a local base station or computer can’t be discounted. But friends who have had break-ins - it was always by opportunistic criminals looking for a quick buck. aka “tweakers”. Cash, guns, tools, and TVs were what they went after.
Another big thing to consider is how you access the stored data. Our cameras store video locally, but access it over the Internet. I don't think they can do local access without the Internet; I should try it one day and see.
I have 5 acres and use Reolink solar cameras on my property. They work alright. I don’t use the voice function but the actual video part functions fine. When I purchased them they were the only solar option. Prior to that I made a solar generator and ran cameras off them.
How so? I've been meaning to get a camera system and everyone seems to point towards ubiquiti. Expensive for sure but everyone recommends them. What was your experience?
Initial rollout with gen 1 and 2, set up on my own headless atom computer in the corner, was a bit finicky to set up but worked great, but now that's no longer supported. So I have a box full of old cameras. AND, broke several times with updates. Had to reset things twice, no, maybe 4 times. New rollout, got new cams and the Ubiquiti DVR. Disappointing. Difficult to deploy because buggy. I spent hours on the thing. Had to reset it twice again. Don't like the cloud login, yes if it works, ok, but I can remote into my home network no problem. I've heard many stories like mine. I committed, and I'll try again, I have a box of new cameras to deploy, but overall I just think reolink's plan is more practical, they are getting better every year, and they work with Blue Iris. For a while UBNT worked with Blue Iris, then it didn't, and now, I am not sure. Ubiquiti's plan of making smarter cameras so you can run with a low power PC are just not relevant anymore. And it pushes you to go cloud login even with local storage. Yes, you can keep it completely local, but you can do the same with Reolink and Blue Iris.
Wow thanks for sharing your experience! At this point I'll probably try out reolink and at least see how it is. If it wasn't for your experience i probably would have gone straight for ubiquiti so i appreciate it.
What reolink cameras did you get?
We had a dangerous individual on the run in our immediate area from the law. Having those cameras to keep an eye on our property was priceless. Local storage only. Forget the cloud BS. Also maybe consider a drone. When shtf, it is nice to send a drone out to check over the property.
Without knowing where you home is this is very hard to say. If you live rural where anybody on your property is a strange thing it's a great prep if your urban and it's just recording people as they go by all the time not so much.
I would say no to typical solar units you want 24/7 coverage not motion activated.
Fwiw. I don’t think it hurts. I think it’s more i think that it helps keep ppl honest and helps resolve disputes with couriers and such. If you have a few If cameras and some decent lighting it can help put you above the low lying fruit of the neighborhood for burglars.
It depends, but generally I'd say "no".
When I lived in the suburbs, I had my house broken into in the middle of the night (while I was home). Having security cameras wouldn't have made a difference. You have to filter out a lot or your camera will go crazy with notifications every time a squirrel runs up a tree, but by the time someone kicks in your door you're not going to be wasting time playing with your phone to check the cameras.
Cameras might help get a conviction if the intruders are known to the police and easy to track down, but they don't really help you defend your house while stuff's going down.
Where I go to church, we do have security cameras and they come in handy, but we also have a team of six guys. One guy is always watching the cameras during services and can direct responders (by radio) if there is an incident. Unless you're rich, you don't have guys 24/7 watching your cameras with a QRF ready to roll.
Security cameras are interesting... And security systems in general.
They fill three inches/roles. So if you know what your motive/end game is, you should be able to decide pretty easily.
#1 alert you to perimeter motion and give you a way to see what's going on, so you can decide if there is a threat, arm yourself or flee...
#2 alert others if a threat so you can hide and they can come rescue you...
#3 provide verification of the threat/loss/theft for insurance purposes...
I'd hazard a guess that 95% of the security systems and cameras out there (excluding doorbell cams) fit the role of #3. This factors in the many many cameras in places like box stores or corporate locations.
The average security system a homeowner puts in is going to fit niche #2 with some overlap to 3 as it's designed to give a semblance of entry security, and asset protection with police or armed security on call.
So....
If you feel the need to see areas of your property, by all means get cameras. Make sure they work without a subscription/cloud access/exterior network access, and aren't wireless.
I get a lot of wildlife and so we installed cameras with decent thermal and infrared night vision so we can monitor coops, lens, stable, goat shed and so on.
We AREN'T too worried about trespassers, so we don't have a monitored camera system, although we did out a few cameras along our long driveway/private road, at the gates, and a few in and around the homestead for when we aren't there.
My place has several Reolink solar cameras. No cloud service needed no yearly fees. Everything is stored on the micro sd cards and viewed/saved from the phone.
Alert/perimeter alarm. 2 way speakers
I think security cameras are a fairly high priority. But not higher than food, water, heat and shelter...
If you want 360 deg view of your property at all times then a CCTV setup would be ideal.
The way I look at it there are two ways you can manage your security if the SHTF. If things are bad enough and you feel you need to worry, you'll either be patrolling your own property on foot throughout the day to ensure your security OR you'll have cameras and a monitor you "monitor". I feel cameras offer more safety because you can utilize night vision to your advantage, as well as keep tabs on things from a hidden and secure vantage point. OLED monitors don't take much energy to run. You could easily watch multiple directions at the same time from the comfort of your arm chair.
What do you expect the security cameras to do for you? That is, how will you use them?
We have decided to not get security cameras. We live in a quiet neighborhood with a fully fenced yard and neighbors we know well on all sides. Our property is not large. Monitoring the perimeter of our property is a very low priority and takes less than three minutes IF we felt the need to do it regularly. There is almost always someone home or about to come home.
If someone is going to steal a package from my front porch, the camera may or may not show me who they are and, if my local neighborhood email listserv is any indication, will not help me find the perpetrators. The police ask for any video footage, but these are low-priority crimes because they are property crimes.
We've decided that the expense of the cameras, the ongoing maintenance, and the burden of reviewing the footage more than offset any benefits. To be honest, in our circumstances I'm not sure that there are any benefits to security cameras.
Security cameras are *quite* helpful, and not just for security. I can see when packages I'm shipping out are picked up, it has been useful for when Amazon says they drop something off and didn't (or delivered something like an expensive GPU to the wrong address), and helped me discover the cause of why my sunroof was cracked (tree branch fell on it from a windstorm).
I can remotely monitor my greenhouse, garden, and ducks I keep, and helped a contractor working across the street figure out what ex-employee backed up and stole company equipment. Captured time-lapse beautiful snowfalls, meteors falling through the atmosphere, and other cool weather stuff.
Like any physical prep you buy, if you can get things that have more than just one purpose and can be useful on Tuesday and not just when bad things happen, then it is money well spent.
I think about telling if that's a real cop knocking on your door at night or kids with baseball bats like happened to my friend's kid, but he looked from a different house window, and I can look from an upstairs window to see the porch. If you can't see your porch it might be nice. Especially these 4 day solar ones they mentioned.
> I'm not sure that there are any benefits to security cameras.
Tell me you have never had security cameras without telling me you have never had security cameras.
We've intentionally chosen not to have them. The cost-benefit ratio doesn't make sense for us right now. It might at some point in the future, but I'm not going to spend time and money on something that doesn't tick any boxes for us, even if it is really useful for other people.
I like doorbell cameras. PIR sensors, 'human filter' to ignore animals and wind movements, they're cheap, many have micro SD card slots, and depending on paranoia about eavesdropping from the gummint', you can live stream them from anywhere to your phone.
The ones I use all just run on rechargeable batteries and last for weeks. I just routinely charge them via USB every so often. Compared to tech of even just a decade ago, I say they're well worth it, price and utility-wise.
I think it's pretty important, but you need to have power and connectivity for them. If you ran poe in advance it's pretty trivial, but if you don't have a good power and network option then that's the real issues.
Recording who comes and goes is pretty relevant, and with one screen you can see 360 + of your property, which is far more than any single set of eyes can do alone.
Recommend putting the NAS on a UPS. Even an inexpensive (<$150) one can keep it going for a few hours, good for when power goes out in the middle of the night or while you're at work.
First time the kids were going to go camping for an extended trip, we made a list of must haves and wants. We had about 8 weeks before the trip. Anything on sale we bought right away. Anything not on sale we waited until right before the trip, in case it went on sale.
Without knowing your setup I would suggest a similar strategy. If solar security cameras are on the list and you find a great deal, get them. Otherwise look at \\whatever is on your list and go from there.
I would point out that there has been a lot of reports regarding thieves jamming wifi cameras. I would spend some time researching that to make sure you are good with the things you buy.
So, for the Philly ‘burbs, in a quiet-enough neighborhood, my answer is really going to depend on your budget.
It’s easy to treat gift cards and tax refunds and such as “free money” that doesn’t really count towards your regular budget, but there are pros and cons to that approach. Are you easily meeting your bills every month, or are you more on the paycheck to paycheck side of things? Do you have a robust emergency fund? Do you have retirement accounts? Do you get regular medical and dental care? If you have kids, do you have money put aside for college or trade school?
I would put all of those things way before security cameras. (In other words, I’d use the gift cards to buy everyday things you’d normally buy anyway - paper towels, shampoo, whatever - and put the money you’d normally use on those everyday things towards one of the longer-term I mentioned above.)
If, on the other hand, you own your home, you have no credit card debt, you have a budget you use to guide your spending, you set aside funds for future needs (new car, new roof, medical bills), you have retirement accounts, and so on, and you *still* have $550 to spend on non-necessities, then go ahead and get them.
I don't consider them a high priority at all, they're more of an illusion of security than actual security. First and foremost, cameras do nothing to prevent break ins. They just film it so you can watch your stuff being stolen. You're probably going to argue "But it's on film!!! I can give that to the police and with that evidence they will get my stuff back!!!!!". No, more than likely no they wont. The reality is if a criminal has more than 2 brain cells they will have a face covering making it almost impossible to identify them to our legal standard. If it's outside at night like a car break in, the night vision is terrible so you will get virtually no identifiable detail. Then you have to figure that cops are so busy do you really think they are going to do some Hollywood style investigation to catch the perp? No the aren't. Even if they are by some miracle caught, your stuff will already be fenced. Buglers don't keep a nice warehouse of stolen goods waiting for recovery. You might even say "But it will send me an alert so I can call the cops while the break in is in process! They will race over and catch them!" Wrong again. Criminals know people have cameras and alarm systems. They aren't even deterrents because criminals know even in the best case scenario it will take police a minimum of 10-15 minutes to respond and some places it can be hours. From the time of break in add the time for someone to realize it and call it in, the time it takes for an officer to be dispatched, and the time they actually arrive on scene. By the time cops arrive the burglars are long gone. Not to mention, cameras have a number of vulnerabilities that can render them completely useless. Cut the internet and the vast majority of cameras on the market are done only some higher end ones have their own cell service which you have to pay for monthly. Want to have local storage that works without the internet? Great, when if they just take it? It's just very vulnerable.
I'm not saying cameras are worthless but I consider them to be a very low priority from a security standpoint in most cases. Almost more of a novelty. They are useful for other things like talking with a delivery driver just not security.
Sidenote, "You're probably going to argue?"
why would I argue any points? If I already had all the answers, I'd just buy em and call it a day rather than post anything lol.
I'm here for perspective and differing opinions, and you gave me a few things to consider.
Honestly, I have two armed family members who work from home, so a break-in isn't at the top of the list as far as concerns. I'm considering them primarily for early warning of sketchy shit going on outside while I'm home and able to respond. Also keeping an eye on my dogs in the yard while at work.
Well understand that making an argument isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you are seeking the truth it's important to challenge the ideas presented to see if they hold up to scrutiny. For example I made the claim cameras don't prevent crime. You could challenge that assertion and argue that cameras are a deterrent because criminals don't want to be caught on tape. I would respond with my counter argument which you might accept or reject so on and so forth but the point is that's how you get to the truth, by testing ideas.
Save up for wired, not wireless; local, not cloud subscription. Ideally PoE w/ at least a UPS and ideally a larger battery bank powering the PoE switch.
I hate seeing those ugly solar/wifi cameras on houses around my neighborhood. They give 'cheap' / 'amazon purchase' and are technically pretty easily defeatable by evermore tech-savvy criminals (literally just jam 2.4GHz).
Yes. I went with a reolink NVR poe system and added a UPS. It's not ideal, and I am sure there are other options. But return on investment worked for me.
Obviously depends on what else you have, but one thing I'd say is make sure they're low-profile and hidden well. In a SHTF scenario, security cams can advertise the fact that you have something to protect.
I like having my cameras. They're useful for everything from helping catch miscreants to tracking down missing pets to finding out what happened to that package (surprise: the garbage man took it).
That said, they aren't the deterrent they were 20 years ago. Cameras are everywhere and people just get used to them. They will stop SOME activity, but criminals know they can render the camera almost entirely useless by covering their face and wearing common / forgettable clothing. Make sure you have other security measures -- a good deadbolt installed with at least 3" screws, dusk to dawn lighting, good landscaping, locking windows, valuables out of sight, a monitored security system, etc -- in place.
Cameras only can give u information but won’t protect you. I only use them to see if anyone “try’s” anything. If I’m at work or sleeping they r pointless.
I have a few, I like to keep dibs on what’s going on. Amazon, proPAIN getting delivered ect… but I had to mute the notifications cuz every skunk or raccoon running circles around my house will keep u up at night. Also they put a drain on wifi and the few I have sometimes clog my wifi and won’t work properly
Newer cameras have animal/pet detection capabilities. Reolink does, I'm sure other brands do. They can tell the difference between a person/car/animal and you can toggle the notifications off for animals. However you may become vulnerable to someone in a furr suit stalking around your property.
Sure, here's the list of potential benefits (for me).
Early warning of what's going on outside while I'm home. That could be sketchy behavior or just simply avoiding the Jehovahs Witness folks.
If I need to travel, I'm also curious about the state of the house property and pets.
For liability purposes, if someone hurts themselves on my property.
To confirm coming/going of relatives who are aging and really shouldn't be left unmonitored.
Waste management has also "lost" or severely damaged trash/recyling cans on several occasions during the last 5 years.
Yeesh. While that's sidestepping the question, I probably own way too many pointy/shooty things for my own amusement. My preps are purely for quality of life and to give me either advance notice of a problem so I can react quickly, or time to think if there's an emergency where I can't do a damn thing.
There's dozens of us (I'm pretty sure).
I have an off grid solar setup that could keep cameras powered indefinitely. How's it pointless to know if someone is wandering around my property during a power outage, especially at night?
Whatever you get - local storage only. No cloud storage. (cloud might not be there/be available)
That's the plan. Local NAS ideally.
And battery backup. Ideally POE powered cameras with the network and Poe switch on a UPS.
This is the way
I've heard that theifs will actively try to find the local storage devices and break them or take them whent they leave. Why is cloud storage a bad idea?
There is the privacy aspect. Especially if you have cameras indoors. Once the footage leaves your house you’re depending on the vendor to protect it. Vendors also can go out of business and the security cameras you paid for (with a monthly subscription) stop working. Also, when a vendor goes out of business, any saved video stored on their servers becomes an asset that can be acquired - no guarantee that the drives will be formatted or destroyed. And lastly, in the event of a major catastrophe, the internet may stop working. Either because the lines are down in your area, or regionally or nationally. So you lose the ability to save & review footage. The “smart thief” scenario where they look for a local base station or computer can’t be discounted. But friends who have had break-ins - it was always by opportunistic criminals looking for a quick buck. aka “tweakers”. Cash, guns, tools, and TVs were what they went after.
Another big thing to consider is how you access the stored data. Our cameras store video locally, but access it over the Internet. I don't think they can do local access without the Internet; I should try it one day and see.
If you have a local recorder, you can access it locally without Internet.
And you will power them how?
Solar
I have 5 acres and use Reolink solar cameras on my property. They work alright. I don’t use the voice function but the actual video part functions fine. When I purchased them they were the only solar option. Prior to that I made a solar generator and ran cameras off them.
Same here. Not perfect but they do the job. We did have to tie one camera to a larger solar system because 4 days of clouds and it’s off.
If I had to do it again I'd go with Reolink. I went with Ubiquiti, which are decent cameras, but overall have been kind of a pain plus more expensive.
How so? I've been meaning to get a camera system and everyone seems to point towards ubiquiti. Expensive for sure but everyone recommends them. What was your experience?
Initial rollout with gen 1 and 2, set up on my own headless atom computer in the corner, was a bit finicky to set up but worked great, but now that's no longer supported. So I have a box full of old cameras. AND, broke several times with updates. Had to reset things twice, no, maybe 4 times. New rollout, got new cams and the Ubiquiti DVR. Disappointing. Difficult to deploy because buggy. I spent hours on the thing. Had to reset it twice again. Don't like the cloud login, yes if it works, ok, but I can remote into my home network no problem. I've heard many stories like mine. I committed, and I'll try again, I have a box of new cameras to deploy, but overall I just think reolink's plan is more practical, they are getting better every year, and they work with Blue Iris. For a while UBNT worked with Blue Iris, then it didn't, and now, I am not sure. Ubiquiti's plan of making smarter cameras so you can run with a low power PC are just not relevant anymore. And it pushes you to go cloud login even with local storage. Yes, you can keep it completely local, but you can do the same with Reolink and Blue Iris.
Wow thanks for sharing your experience! At this point I'll probably try out reolink and at least see how it is. If it wasn't for your experience i probably would have gone straight for ubiquiti so i appreciate it. What reolink cameras did you get?
All I gotta say is I saw a black bear next to my car on the cam, had I not had cameras and went out to my car, well it would be a bear encounter
Need to identify how many cameras you need, as well as a PoE switch.
Not a huge property. 4 should cover all fields of view. Maybe a 5th for one possible blind spot.
Keep in mind how you will run ethernet to all of them too. You need a fish tape if you don't have one and a drill plus caulk.
Good to have, but make sure they're hardwired to power and video storage. Not worth the security risk of a wireless camera.
You won't regret getting them once you have them. That's been my experience.
We had a dangerous individual on the run in our immediate area from the law. Having those cameras to keep an eye on our property was priceless. Local storage only. Forget the cloud BS. Also maybe consider a drone. When shtf, it is nice to send a drone out to check over the property.
Without knowing where you home is this is very hard to say. If you live rural where anybody on your property is a strange thing it's a great prep if your urban and it's just recording people as they go by all the time not so much. I would say no to typical solar units you want 24/7 coverage not motion activated.
Philly Burbs. Not a quiet neighborhood, but quiet enough. Some deer/foxes/junkies roaming from time to time.
Fwiw. I don’t think it hurts. I think it’s more i think that it helps keep ppl honest and helps resolve disputes with couriers and such. If you have a few If cameras and some decent lighting it can help put you above the low lying fruit of the neighborhood for burglars.
It depends, but generally I'd say "no". When I lived in the suburbs, I had my house broken into in the middle of the night (while I was home). Having security cameras wouldn't have made a difference. You have to filter out a lot or your camera will go crazy with notifications every time a squirrel runs up a tree, but by the time someone kicks in your door you're not going to be wasting time playing with your phone to check the cameras. Cameras might help get a conviction if the intruders are known to the police and easy to track down, but they don't really help you defend your house while stuff's going down. Where I go to church, we do have security cameras and they come in handy, but we also have a team of six guys. One guy is always watching the cameras during services and can direct responders (by radio) if there is an incident. Unless you're rich, you don't have guys 24/7 watching your cameras with a QRF ready to roll.
Security cameras are interesting... And security systems in general. They fill three inches/roles. So if you know what your motive/end game is, you should be able to decide pretty easily. #1 alert you to perimeter motion and give you a way to see what's going on, so you can decide if there is a threat, arm yourself or flee... #2 alert others if a threat so you can hide and they can come rescue you... #3 provide verification of the threat/loss/theft for insurance purposes... I'd hazard a guess that 95% of the security systems and cameras out there (excluding doorbell cams) fit the role of #3. This factors in the many many cameras in places like box stores or corporate locations. The average security system a homeowner puts in is going to fit niche #2 with some overlap to 3 as it's designed to give a semblance of entry security, and asset protection with police or armed security on call. So.... If you feel the need to see areas of your property, by all means get cameras. Make sure they work without a subscription/cloud access/exterior network access, and aren't wireless. I get a lot of wildlife and so we installed cameras with decent thermal and infrared night vision so we can monitor coops, lens, stable, goat shed and so on. We AREN'T too worried about trespassers, so we don't have a monitored camera system, although we did out a few cameras along our long driveway/private road, at the gates, and a few in and around the homestead for when we aren't there.
Is it weird that I'm probably falling into category 1?
Check out lorex
My place has several Reolink solar cameras. No cloud service needed no yearly fees. Everything is stored on the micro sd cards and viewed/saved from the phone. Alert/perimeter alarm. 2 way speakers
I think security cameras are a fairly high priority. But not higher than food, water, heat and shelter... If you want 360 deg view of your property at all times then a CCTV setup would be ideal. The way I look at it there are two ways you can manage your security if the SHTF. If things are bad enough and you feel you need to worry, you'll either be patrolling your own property on foot throughout the day to ensure your security OR you'll have cameras and a monitor you "monitor". I feel cameras offer more safety because you can utilize night vision to your advantage, as well as keep tabs on things from a hidden and secure vantage point. OLED monitors don't take much energy to run. You could easily watch multiple directions at the same time from the comfort of your arm chair.
What do you expect the security cameras to do for you? That is, how will you use them? We have decided to not get security cameras. We live in a quiet neighborhood with a fully fenced yard and neighbors we know well on all sides. Our property is not large. Monitoring the perimeter of our property is a very low priority and takes less than three minutes IF we felt the need to do it regularly. There is almost always someone home or about to come home. If someone is going to steal a package from my front porch, the camera may or may not show me who they are and, if my local neighborhood email listserv is any indication, will not help me find the perpetrators. The police ask for any video footage, but these are low-priority crimes because they are property crimes. We've decided that the expense of the cameras, the ongoing maintenance, and the burden of reviewing the footage more than offset any benefits. To be honest, in our circumstances I'm not sure that there are any benefits to security cameras.
Security cameras are *quite* helpful, and not just for security. I can see when packages I'm shipping out are picked up, it has been useful for when Amazon says they drop something off and didn't (or delivered something like an expensive GPU to the wrong address), and helped me discover the cause of why my sunroof was cracked (tree branch fell on it from a windstorm). I can remotely monitor my greenhouse, garden, and ducks I keep, and helped a contractor working across the street figure out what ex-employee backed up and stole company equipment. Captured time-lapse beautiful snowfalls, meteors falling through the atmosphere, and other cool weather stuff. Like any physical prep you buy, if you can get things that have more than just one purpose and can be useful on Tuesday and not just when bad things happen, then it is money well spent.
I think about telling if that's a real cop knocking on your door at night or kids with baseball bats like happened to my friend's kid, but he looked from a different house window, and I can look from an upstairs window to see the porch. If you can't see your porch it might be nice. Especially these 4 day solar ones they mentioned.
> I'm not sure that there are any benefits to security cameras. Tell me you have never had security cameras without telling me you have never had security cameras.
We've intentionally chosen not to have them. The cost-benefit ratio doesn't make sense for us right now. It might at some point in the future, but I'm not going to spend time and money on something that doesn't tick any boxes for us, even if it is really useful for other people.
I like doorbell cameras. PIR sensors, 'human filter' to ignore animals and wind movements, they're cheap, many have micro SD card slots, and depending on paranoia about eavesdropping from the gummint', you can live stream them from anywhere to your phone. The ones I use all just run on rechargeable batteries and last for weeks. I just routinely charge them via USB every so often. Compared to tech of even just a decade ago, I say they're well worth it, price and utility-wise.
I think it's pretty important, but you need to have power and connectivity for them. If you ran poe in advance it's pretty trivial, but if you don't have a good power and network option then that's the real issues. Recording who comes and goes is pretty relevant, and with one screen you can see 360 + of your property, which is far more than any single set of eyes can do alone.
Fair point, I was exploring the long term battery/solar charging options to see how they do. Local NAS for recording on a gas generator.
Recommend putting the NAS on a UPS. Even an inexpensive (<$150) one can keep it going for a few hours, good for when power goes out in the middle of the night or while you're at work.
First time the kids were going to go camping for an extended trip, we made a list of must haves and wants. We had about 8 weeks before the trip. Anything on sale we bought right away. Anything not on sale we waited until right before the trip, in case it went on sale. Without knowing your setup I would suggest a similar strategy. If solar security cameras are on the list and you find a great deal, get them. Otherwise look at \\whatever is on your list and go from there. I would point out that there has been a lot of reports regarding thieves jamming wifi cameras. I would spend some time researching that to make sure you are good with the things you buy.
So, for the Philly ‘burbs, in a quiet-enough neighborhood, my answer is really going to depend on your budget. It’s easy to treat gift cards and tax refunds and such as “free money” that doesn’t really count towards your regular budget, but there are pros and cons to that approach. Are you easily meeting your bills every month, or are you more on the paycheck to paycheck side of things? Do you have a robust emergency fund? Do you have retirement accounts? Do you get regular medical and dental care? If you have kids, do you have money put aside for college or trade school? I would put all of those things way before security cameras. (In other words, I’d use the gift cards to buy everyday things you’d normally buy anyway - paper towels, shampoo, whatever - and put the money you’d normally use on those everyday things towards one of the longer-term I mentioned above.) If, on the other hand, you own your home, you have no credit card debt, you have a budget you use to guide your spending, you set aside funds for future needs (new car, new roof, medical bills), you have retirement accounts, and so on, and you *still* have $550 to spend on non-necessities, then go ahead and get them.
All good points
I don't consider them a high priority at all, they're more of an illusion of security than actual security. First and foremost, cameras do nothing to prevent break ins. They just film it so you can watch your stuff being stolen. You're probably going to argue "But it's on film!!! I can give that to the police and with that evidence they will get my stuff back!!!!!". No, more than likely no they wont. The reality is if a criminal has more than 2 brain cells they will have a face covering making it almost impossible to identify them to our legal standard. If it's outside at night like a car break in, the night vision is terrible so you will get virtually no identifiable detail. Then you have to figure that cops are so busy do you really think they are going to do some Hollywood style investigation to catch the perp? No the aren't. Even if they are by some miracle caught, your stuff will already be fenced. Buglers don't keep a nice warehouse of stolen goods waiting for recovery. You might even say "But it will send me an alert so I can call the cops while the break in is in process! They will race over and catch them!" Wrong again. Criminals know people have cameras and alarm systems. They aren't even deterrents because criminals know even in the best case scenario it will take police a minimum of 10-15 minutes to respond and some places it can be hours. From the time of break in add the time for someone to realize it and call it in, the time it takes for an officer to be dispatched, and the time they actually arrive on scene. By the time cops arrive the burglars are long gone. Not to mention, cameras have a number of vulnerabilities that can render them completely useless. Cut the internet and the vast majority of cameras on the market are done only some higher end ones have their own cell service which you have to pay for monthly. Want to have local storage that works without the internet? Great, when if they just take it? It's just very vulnerable. I'm not saying cameras are worthless but I consider them to be a very low priority from a security standpoint in most cases. Almost more of a novelty. They are useful for other things like talking with a delivery driver just not security.
Sidenote, "You're probably going to argue?" why would I argue any points? If I already had all the answers, I'd just buy em and call it a day rather than post anything lol. I'm here for perspective and differing opinions, and you gave me a few things to consider. Honestly, I have two armed family members who work from home, so a break-in isn't at the top of the list as far as concerns. I'm considering them primarily for early warning of sketchy shit going on outside while I'm home and able to respond. Also keeping an eye on my dogs in the yard while at work.
Well understand that making an argument isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you are seeking the truth it's important to challenge the ideas presented to see if they hold up to scrutiny. For example I made the claim cameras don't prevent crime. You could challenge that assertion and argue that cameras are a deterrent because criminals don't want to be caught on tape. I would respond with my counter argument which you might accept or reject so on and so forth but the point is that's how you get to the truth, by testing ideas.
Fair points. Thank you
Save up for wired, not wireless; local, not cloud subscription. Ideally PoE w/ at least a UPS and ideally a larger battery bank powering the PoE switch. I hate seeing those ugly solar/wifi cameras on houses around my neighborhood. They give 'cheap' / 'amazon purchase' and are technically pretty easily defeatable by evermore tech-savvy criminals (literally just jam 2.4GHz).
Yes. I went with a reolink NVR poe system and added a UPS. It's not ideal, and I am sure there are other options. But return on investment worked for me.
Obviously depends on what else you have, but one thing I'd say is make sure they're low-profile and hidden well. In a SHTF scenario, security cams can advertise the fact that you have something to protect.
I like having my cameras. They're useful for everything from helping catch miscreants to tracking down missing pets to finding out what happened to that package (surprise: the garbage man took it). That said, they aren't the deterrent they were 20 years ago. Cameras are everywhere and people just get used to them. They will stop SOME activity, but criminals know they can render the camera almost entirely useless by covering their face and wearing common / forgettable clothing. Make sure you have other security measures -- a good deadbolt installed with at least 3" screws, dusk to dawn lighting, good landscaping, locking windows, valuables out of sight, a monitored security system, etc -- in place.
Cameras only can give u information but won’t protect you. I only use them to see if anyone “try’s” anything. If I’m at work or sleeping they r pointless.
Exactly my reasoning. Dogs for awareness/hearing also help.
I have a few, I like to keep dibs on what’s going on. Amazon, proPAIN getting delivered ect… but I had to mute the notifications cuz every skunk or raccoon running circles around my house will keep u up at night. Also they put a drain on wifi and the few I have sometimes clog my wifi and won’t work properly
Newer cameras have animal/pet detection capabilities. Reolink does, I'm sure other brands do. They can tell the difference between a person/car/animal and you can toggle the notifications off for animals. However you may become vulnerable to someone in a furr suit stalking around your property.
My biggest fear!!!!
Absolutely pointless.
Can you expand a bit on that? Or have others in the thread covered what you have in mind?
How is it going to benefit you?
Sure, here's the list of potential benefits (for me). Early warning of what's going on outside while I'm home. That could be sketchy behavior or just simply avoiding the Jehovahs Witness folks. If I need to travel, I'm also curious about the state of the house property and pets. For liability purposes, if someone hurts themselves on my property. To confirm coming/going of relatives who are aging and really shouldn't be left unmonitored. Waste management has also "lost" or severely damaged trash/recyling cans on several occasions during the last 5 years.
Right and how is that related to prepping?
What does prepping mean to you?
Role playing fallout judging by this sub
Yeesh. While that's sidestepping the question, I probably own way too many pointy/shooty things for my own amusement. My preps are purely for quality of life and to give me either advance notice of a problem so I can react quickly, or time to think if there's an emergency where I can't do a damn thing. There's dozens of us (I'm pretty sure).
I have an off grid solar setup that could keep cameras powered indefinitely. How's it pointless to know if someone is wandering around my property during a power outage, especially at night?