Since your requirements seem to follow more what an average consumer vs what is real benefit is provided by actual CCTV or IP Camera system then Arlo seems like the company to look at.
They are the biggest and a consumer offshoot from Netgear and recently went public on their own.
Plenty of flaws for anyone serious but plenty of benefits to average consumer use.
Arlo it is.

I initially had Arlo cameras and was annoyed by them after the first day. They were returned. Very slow to activate upon motion. I also could not get the motion zone settings down. It either activated at everything or nothing.

I have the Ring cameras hard wired on the exterior and they record 3 seconds prior to activation and also take a picture every 30 seconds for a time lapse setting.

Ring has cameras which can be "hardwired" though an ethernet cable which might be a little better option. There are much better settings with the hardwired units. You can set up a defined motion zone such as the driveway and front walkway while blocking off the street and sidewalk to eliminate false alarms.

Do you pay for the cloud service for Ring? I do and also added the home security system. Its $100 a year (prepay) and it covers the cloud plus alarm monitoring and will also include a warranty for the new cameras you add on.

I’m getting ready to install a Lorex PoE system in place of my PoE system i cobbled together. I think mine was about $800.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Since your requirements seem to follow more what an average consumer vs what is real benefit is provided by actual CCTV or IP Camera system then Arlo seems like the company to look at.
They are the biggest and a consumer offshoot from Netgear and recently went public on their own.
Plenty of flaws for anyone serious but plenty of benefits to average consumer use.
Arlo it is.

I know. Difficult thread since the discussion seems to be more along the lines of "Which revolver is better, Taurus, Rossi, or Charter Arms?"

I guess once we acknowledge that there is a wide gap between Arlo and the professional systems, we move on from there

That said, I have never seen a WiFi hi-res security cam that didn't cut at at one time or another. But if wired isn't possible, then it isn't possible.

I've been very happy with my Vivint system. Doorbell cam, other cameras, sensors out the wazoo.

I spent a lot of time looking at self-install options but realized that with the amount of travel I do, a self-install, self-monitored system would be 1000% useless if someone tried to break in while I was in an airplane or on a training exercise somewhere without service or the ability to reliably check on the system.

That, and the idea of trying to call 911 from out of state while watching my home burglarized on my cell phone sounded like a miserable idea.

The system has a very reasonable monthly monitoring fee and they do long-term, zero-percent financing on the equipment. Another nice bonus is they'll come in, uninstall the system, and reinstall it in my new home for free every time the Army moves me.

I have no relationship with them, just been very satisfied with the equipment, customer service, and the alarm service response. They also do fire/EMS detection and response as well as police.

I have five cameras. Two are Nest cam's with one trained on my gun safe area. Three are Blink's that I use for Front door area, driveway and backyard. I don't use a doorbell cam.

I like Nest cams the best but the Blink's get the job done cost effectively.

We have a Ring doorbell and two of the Ring flood lights / camera's. I haven't been overly impressed with the video quality of the doorbell ( a few years old), but the flood lights do a good job.

I love that if motion is triggered on one device, all devices start recording.

I do wish they would distinguish between people and animals. We have squirrels that love to run back and forth all day, so I constantly get notifications on my phone.

Blink at our house. 5 cameras, wifi connections. Images, upon activation recorded to "the cloud"

I have 7 Amcrest WiFi cameras both outside and inside my home. The disadvantage is that power is needed at the site of the camera. Since I have a number of outlets for Christmas lights on my eves, the install has been simple. I have been very happy with them and, since we spend 5 months away each year, I can see the snow level back home. It makes me smile.

Couple them with Blue Iris for a pretty good system.
Mike

We like our Ring hardwired cams. I appreciate the snapshot mode more than the videos. It's nice to glance at all cams as a set of pics anytime I want.

We picked up a package deal at Costco with 2 Arlo Pro 3 cameras, 3 batteries and a solar panel awhile back.


Installation was super easy. We are, for the most part, pretty happy with it, but there are a few things that bug me:

* when it gets below 5F (or so) it's "too cold" for the camera(s) and they won't work (there's even a message in the app that states it's too cold). Had I known that beforehand I might have looked at other alternatives.

* I think it's a little slow to trigger on the motion detection and there's a longer delay that I think there should be for the notification. For example, by the time I get a notification on my phone that someone was at the front door, they're already gone.

* This is more about the bundled package than the actual operation of the cameras - the package we bought came with 3 batteries and a solar charger (that's connected to a camera). There's another charger that connects to a camera magnetically, but no external battery charger for the "extra" battery. In order to charge a battery, it must be in a camera. What use is the extra battery?

I have a Ring doorbell. A few days before Christmas, I was alerted that there was activity at my door. It turns out there was a knucklehead that had made three trips into my yard throughout the night.

I ran outside and came at him pretty aggressively. He gave me a story about how he was just getting his jacket. I questioned him about why his jacket was in my yard and he said he was being chased. I told him that I was calling the police. He asked me not to, but I did. He ran off.

It turns out he was a package thief. He was stealing packages in the area and used my yard to stash his jacket and hat when someone called the police. He was caught and cited and released. He came back to get his jacket and met up with me. Looking back, I think he was about to cry.

Needless to say, this has caused me to get more serious about my security cameras and lighting. I ended up buying a Ring Stickup camera to supplement. I think it’s pretty decent. I also added the solar panel to it and it seems to keep the unit powered.

I think the big this is that you need to have the notifications active. I had my phone in “do not disturb” for a few hours, but now I have removed that.