Indoor/outdoor camera recommendations

[Scrapr]

MIL is 93 and still living on her own. She is frail (tiny) and stubborn. We are trying to keep her in the house (vs a facility) as long as possible. She has a fall alert necklace/bracelet. She is getting better about the Fall alert. She was not answering when the company would call after she knocked the bracelet against the counter. Her sister calls 2x's a day. I check in by phone or stop over a couple times a week as does my wife. We are the last ones left to look after her. She did fall & laid on the floor for several hours before pushing the darn button. The pendant alerts to falls & the bracelet does not. She lives on the main level with the kitchen, LR, 2 BR & DR. There are 2 BR upstairs & a basement.

Her attorney advised cameras to monitor comings & goings during probate. Are there any camera system you like in indoors/outdoors? I live 40 minutes away so would like a remote monitoring. I'm thinking one camera on front & rear patio. One in one bedroom upstairs & 1 in the basement. Ideally I'd like one in the kitchen but she may see that as an invasion of her privacy a bit. Maybe a doorbell camera, 1 outdoor porch camera & 1 cam up & 1 down inside? I'm trying to avoid giving any money to Bezos (Ring) if I can help it. wyze looks decent enough?

 

[street]

Wyze is very good. I got that recommendation from the good folks here when I was looking for cameras.
Mine have been flawless and very user friendly.

 

[Ronstar]

I have 9 Wyze cameras and they have been great.

 

[Doribe]

I use Eufy. I have two outdoor cameras (battery operated) and a base. I've had it for about 2 or 3 years. I monitor the front and back doors of my primary home. I don't pay for a backup service, so there are no recurring fees. I also have door monitors on four exterior doors. I can view all the motion activated videos from a remote location.

I plan to the add a doorbell type of thing and another camera near my garage.

I have read that this system can be hacked but I have not had a problem, as far as I know.

 

[rk911]

Does she have widi? Ring cameras. EZ to aetup and you, your wife, etc. can get notified or simply log in to watch her.

 

[Sunset]

I have both Eufy and Wyze, they sell the low cost cameras for ~$20 -> $30 each. You can buy more expensive ones but the low cost ones are fantastic.

They see in the dark, no subscription needed, both do need connection to the router. I think they need 2.4ghz wavelength. I put an SD card inside each one, and set them to continuously record (that way I don't need subscription).

Both allow real time viewing with sound on the phone.

Wyze can go indoor and outdoor. I have about 7
I only got the indoor eufy, about 4. To look outside, I turn off the IR lights and put it up to the window.

The eufy ones (indoor cam C120 2K) do seem to notify me better and play the event video on my phone really well, as opposed to the wyze one that gives me a snapshot and I have to find the event on the SD card for the V4 camera.

Eufy have a sale on right now, could try out a couple, get more if you like them.

https://www.eufy.com/collections/security-camera?ref=navimenu_2_2_copy

I just like their products (both companies) for different reasons.

I know the yearly subscription for unlimited wyze cameras is only a little over $100 and one can have dozens of cameras on it. Or can subscribe monthly at a higher rate, but this is good for me to go on a trip for a month or two without any commitment.

I don't have a doorbell camera. I also have some other cameras, but they are not nearly as good.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Mine are Eufy for indoor and Ring for outdoors. I prefer the Eufy ones.

 

[Aerides]

Aside from cameras, have you explored local nursing or senior check in services? Someone to physically check on her daily? At 93 after falling enough to get devices, she needs more care than this.

A facility might be something she wants to avoid, but lying on the floor with a broken hip isn't fun either.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Has anyone got any experience with a completely wireless setup? Batteries vs plugin power.

 

[marko]

I have Wyze to keep track of my brother's home. Indoor/outdoor/pan and zoom. Six in total gives me 100% pan-optical views of everything/everywhere. As others have noted, it records and stores motion/video for two weeks if you need to go back. I check on him a few times a day: first thing, noon-ish, dinner and at bed-time to make sure he's in bed safely.

It saved his life a few years ago when he foolishly went out to get the newspaper in his PJs in a blizzard and slipped into a snowbank. I saw him on the outdoor cam, called the ambulance etc etc. Because of where he landed, he would have literally frozen to death had I not seen him.

Obviously, mom will need a WiFi.

 

[frank05]

Bathrooms are the typical fall locations, would you be ok with installing cameras in her bathroom.

 

[folivier]

I have 8 Wyze cameras, 3 at our condo, 1 inside and 2 outside. And 5 at our cabin, 2 inside and 3 outside. They are wired for power but wireless on wifi. They work great and are inexpensive.

 

[Montecfo]

Has anyone got any experience with a completely wireless setup? Batteries vs plugin power.

I use Wyze, plugged in. Don't want to mess with batteries.

 

[spencnor]

Has anyone got any experience with a completely wireless setup? Batteries vs plugin power.

I’m not a fan of wifi cameras, but the cost of hardwiring cameras particularly with Ethernet is costly. But with most wifi cameras you need find a route for a low voltage power connection anyway, unless they’re battery powered.

A friend and I recently helped and installed 6 Ring cameras for an older friend that lives alone. Two were combination floodlight cameras powered by 120v, replacing existing outdoor lights. We installed 3 battery doorbell cameras next to her entry doors and one battery spotlight camera near her side gate. The side gate camera was mounted low enough so she could easily change out the battery without a ladder. The Ring system, although subscription based, was appropriate for her and within her budget. Plus the Ring app was easy enough for her to setup and use.

The battery cameras have removable and rechargeable batteries. Therefore, if you bought spare batteries, you can easily change out the depleted batteries. Supposedly the battery cameras had months of use (depending on settings) before the batteries needed recharging.

 

[Sojourner]

I'm thinking one camera on front & rear patio. One in one bedroom upstairs & 1 in the basement. Ideally I'd like one in the kitchen but she may see that as an invasion of her privacy a bit.

IMHO, a frail 93-year old woman who lives alone and falls with some regularity is past the stage of life where "invasion of privacy" should be a top concern. I would put a camera in every room of the house and explain very patiently but steadfastly why that's necessary. You could take steps to position the cameras located in particular rooms (i.e., the bedroom) in ways that would minimize privacy concerns.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Another vote for Wyze here. They have lots of accessories to make the install easy too, like lamp socket bases to provide power and remotely switch the light. I needed to call once, and was clearly speaking to USA based customer support. It seems they don't spend much on advertising, so we get a low cost reliable product.

 

[RetMD21]

We have Blink cameras, mostly battery. WiFi with USB local back up. No battery replacements since installation a year ago. Online backup is available.

So far I am catching cats and rabbits crossing my driveway during the hours when the cameras are scheduled to record based on motion sensors.

 

[Sojourner]

Another vote for Wyze here.

Wyze cams are good (and cheap) for basic monitoring, but IME their motion detection algorithms aren't very good. I had a Wyze outdoor cam mounted above my backyard patio last summer, and I set it to alert me only when it detected a person moving or talking. I wound up getting multiple alerts during the nighttime hours... all false alarms triggered by a big spider building a web about a foot away from the camera lens! No matter what settings I tweaked in the app, I couldn't make it work correctly, so I ended up turning off all alerts and notifications.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Wyze cams are good (and cheap) for basic monitoring, but IME their motion detection algorithms aren't very good. I had a Wyze outdoor cam mounted above my backyard patio last summer, and I set it to alert me only when it detected a person moving or talking. I wound up getting multiple alerts during the nighttime hours... all false alarms triggered by a big spider building a web about a foot away from the camera lens! No matter what settings I tweaked in the app, I couldn't make it work correctly, so I ended up turning off all alerts and notifications.

Did you find a camera with better detection? Which one?

 

[skyking1]

spiders are usually there because the Infrared Light (IR) attracts insects. I turn off active night vision with IR illumination, and go with the low light B&W images that most cameras will produce. If there is any indicator light on the camera, it has the same effect with bugs and spiders. Most will let you control any indicator lights.
If you really want IR illumination, it takes some doing but you light it from the side with a separate fixture. That will get a spider web shortly but the camera should be OK
One of my remote cams is triggering motion because I have it pointed too much towards the afternoon sun, and it causes events with the light flares as the sun goes in and out of the tree shade. I will go aim it better and put a makeshift visor over it.

 

[marko]

FWIW, Wyze's tag line is "Never Wonder".

 

[dirtbiker]

We have Ring cameras, and their security system, and have been very disappointed. I can't choose to always record, they are slow to pick things up and auto-record, and I get a lot of false alarms, both smoke and burglary, and have missed events completely. For example, my wife slid on ice and her car hit our garage door, damaging it. This happened right in front of our ring camera. When I went back to look at the recording, all it caught was her getting out of the car, after she had already slid into it, then backed up away from it. Very disappointing.

The subscription for what they offer is quite inexpensive, but I don't have real confidence in the system. I will be looking to upgrade at some point. Now, if you're looking to just log in and view cameras real time, they have been fantastic at this.

Whichever way you go, get hard wired cameras, especially if you'll have several. Charging battery powered ones gets to be a real chore. If indoor, most of the time, you won't need to do any electrical work, maybe extension cords though. If you do need to do electrical work, the time (and expense if you can't wire yourself) is worth the long term benefits of not dealing with battery recharging all the time.

 

[levindb]

For security purposes, I have mounted five Ring cameras outside of my house, facing the house so I can get alerts and see BEFORE someone/something gets to a door/window. I also have one Ring doorbell camera. I have mounted some of the cameras in trees. I use battery cameras with solar panels to automatically recharge the battery...has been working fine a few years now. I can adjust sensitivity of movement alerts, and also set movement zones to minimize false alerts. Currently there is $100/year storage charge for all of the cameras at our home.

 

[Badger]

10 years ago I wanted to put a camera in my mother's assisted living room but it was not allowed. They claimed it was illegal but I am not sure if it was just their policy. It seems there was some shenanigans going on and there was a question if she was getting proper monitoring.
If I was living on my own I would want them all over the house with someone reliable to keep tabs on me. I might just do it now anyway so we can check on each other when one of us is away from the house. We already use the Life360 app on our phones when we are driving separately. It sounds like Wyze is a consideration.

 

[Sojourner]

Did you find a camera with better detection? Which one?

Arlo cams have better motion detection, IMHO. But they are far more expensive than Wyze cams. I just purchased some new TP-Link Tapo cams and am very optimistic about their performance, based on several reviews (they won PC Magazine "Editor's Choice" recently). Reasonably priced, too, around $60 for their battery-powered outdoor cams. We shall see...