I've had a few small occurrences lately that make me interested in a simple yet effective exterior home survalence system. I'd like the option to view the feed from my phone if possible.

I'm looking for simply 2 cameras that will store a reasonable amount of video footage for a short period of time (a week or less) and then just overwrite.

My wife has been on this Nest kick so if it could interface with our current system, even better.

My father has a system with 6+ cameras and an entire dedicated box and "command station" which took some serious effort to route the cabling and power. I'd rather not get that complex.

Anyone have a survalence system that's simple to use, reliable and a reasonably affordable price that they can suggest?

Thanks in advance!

My daughter has a two-camera Nest system that's she's quite happy with. I have a more complex (see another thread) system that came with my house. Thanks to @striker1, I've gotten a good handle on it; it's a three-camera system with a Network Video Recorder (NVR), which is a DVR for security systems.

If you're a Mac user, or if you just want a small, capable and inexpensive system, you could look at buying a used Mac mini (~$300) and install SecuritySpy (from $29.99). The Mac mini takes up almost no space, doesn't have to be very powerful, and has enough disk space to store a bunch of videos. SecuritySpy works with pretty much every camera on the market, and the support is terrific. A 30-day demo is available.

You just need one or two of those simple wireless cameras.
Or if it is outside maybe a trail-cam.
It won't be great but it will be something.
Try a Nest, nanny-cam or something like that until your needs and commitment to something decent materializes.

I'm considering what to do about a surveillance system, myself. I was going to put a wired system in place, with the entire perimeter covered, but, then decided to add the extra insulation to the attic crawl space, first. Now manoeuvring up there would be a royal PITA. So I'm thinking of compromising on just 4-5 cameras and go wireless.

The most highly-rated wireless surveillance cameras/system appears to be the Netgear Arlo Pro.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I'm considering what to do about a surveillance system, myself. I was going to put a wired system in place, with the entire perimeter covered, but, then decided to add the extra insulation to the attic crawl space, first. Now manoeuvring up there would be a royal PITA. So I'm thinking of compromising on just 4-5 cameras and go wireless.

The most highly-rated wireless surveillance cameras/system appears to be the Netgear Arlo Pro.

I hear ya on the attic thing.
Just throw a grandkid up there and let them run it.
Sure, wlan devices are easier but you will suffer big time hits on performance, features, security and more.
Go over to IPVM.com and read up a bit then make up your mind.

We have a 5 unit Nest system.
3 interior, 2 exterior.

If you sleep nekkid, and have dogs that need to be let out early in a morning, your better half will have fun with the images

quote:

Originally posted by Longbow_06:
We have a 5 unit Nest system.
3 interior, 2 exterior.

If you sleep nekkid, and have dogs that need to be let out early in a morning, your better half will have fun with the images

How are the nest units?? I'm a sucker for an interface that's easy and works well and has reasonable quality and reliability.

Since I already have the Ring video doorbell, I've been looking into a couple of their cameras to go with it. Just waiting for more reviews on it.

For exterior cameras I have an Alibi 8-camera DVR kit that came with everything, including wiring. It took lots of attic time to install but it works perfectly. It also comes with an app that allows me to check the cameras and view recorded footage from anywhere that I have cell service:

https://www.supercircuits.com/...XMj8Us-5IxoCk8nw_wcB


If you want something less permanent/easier to install I would look at the Arlo cameras instead. I have one of these for the interior and it works great. Excellent video quality, easy to configure with lots of scheduling options, great app that works well, Wifi for signal but wired for power so no batteries required. It comes with 1-week of free cloud storage and then auto overwrites old data. Other cameras require you to pay a monthly fee. I will be adding a second one as soon as I get around to it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...ilpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They make 2 exterior versions that are CR123 battery powered and doen't require any wiring. I would get a couple of these before messing with a trail camera. These will work much better and have a more user friendly app.

https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-VM...sr=1-3&keywords=arlo


https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-Pr...ords=arlo%2Bpro&th=1

I have an IP camera system with a NVR. Running the wires was easy, but needed help from the retailer on the software set up. It took more time than you currently want to spend, but the images are very excellent. We have 9 cameras, all are 3mp, and any criminal would be clearly recorded.

For a real simple system, there are video cameras inside exterior light bulbs. To view the images you must remove the light bulb, as there is no wiring. Ultra simple and quite reliable.

https://www.amazon.com/Motion-...llance/dp/B00GH2DZ4S

Para, can we please get a sticky on home surveillance camera systems? We go through this so often.

If a sticky could be made we might want to collect the info from all threads into one. I would be happy to assist if clerical work is needed.

quote:

Originally posted by dEX_RX:

quote:

Originally posted by Longbow_06:
We have a 5 unit Nest system.
3 interior, 2 exterior.

If you sleep nekkid, and have dogs that need to be let out early in a morning, your better half will have fun with the images

How are the nest units?? I'm a sucker for an interface that's easy and works well and has reasonable quality and reliability.

The nest units are very simple to install and set up. They send an email to your server whenever they detect motion. Quality of the video is pretty average, and the night vision is pretty good.
They run off the main electric, through a plug in system, but also have a battery back-up, for a short amount of time, inn case the power fails.
We have had them installed for the last 2 years now, and have not had an issue with them.