Unfortunately we had an incident last night, someone tried to get into to our house though the basement door while we were home. Everything is fine, we responded appropriately and they didn't get in but it was a frightening wake up call.

We contacted our alarm company. We have a hardwired system...all windows, doors and inside motion detectors, glass breakage... all covered, but nothing outside. The alarm company's cameras are hard wired and are $300 each and require a proprietary router and an internet connection. Our alarm monitoring includes a cellular booster/antennae but the cameras cannot use that system.


We'd like to add 3 exterior cameras but we use a hot spot for our only internet access and we take it with us when we travel.

Hughesnet is another option for internet and we would never do business with that company again.

We considered adding a new Verizon hotspot to leave behind but that adds $80 a month to our Verizon bill.


Any suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance.

Wow. Glad it worked out ok. At my new house, I’m having my electrician stub out CAT6 cable in several outdoor locations for cameras, it I’m still interested in the responses here.

Landmines and claymores? Show the pups the map of the items and they will no doubt work with you.

So sorry to hear of yet another miscreant attack out in the boonies.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
We'd like to add 3 exterior cameras but we use a hot spot for our only internet access and we take it with us when we travel.

A self-hosted system will record Internet connection or no, and cameras, alone, can be a deterrent.

There was a recent thread on wired Ethernet cameras.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
We considered adding a new Verizon hotspot to leave behind but that adds $80 a month to our Verizon bill.

Do you have reliable T-Mobile coverage in your area? It's a damn sight more cost-effective than VZW.

Just my guess from going through several wireless systems (Nest, Simplisafe, Ring)....you will have connection issues unless you have a solid and fairly quick signal. I don’t know that a hotspot is capable of the bandwidth WiFi cameras use?? Ring works awesome, it you have good WiFi.

Check Ting. They have dedicated hotspot devices, or you could get an inexpensive phone and use it as a hotspot.

Ting is a reseller for Sprint and T-Mobile.

Take a look at their website. They do not have service "plans" with pre-determined usage levels, you are billed each month for what you actually use.

Thanks all. Verizon is our only option, no other service at our house.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
Thanks all. Verizon is our only option, no other service at our house.

Ok, well, then I suspect you're going to have to roll your own, as it is my understanding the quick-n-easy wireless solutions (Arlo, Ring, etc.) require always-on Internet connectivity. This is in part due to the fact they all use cloud storage.

Costco has some multi-camera systems (all wired, though, I believe) that include an NVR that may suit you. Or you could go the way the OP in the other thread to which I referred is going: An MS-Win PC running Blue Iris (I have zero experience with either) and the cameras of your choice. You can get wireless cameras that will work with Blue Iris and other NVR solutions, but they require power.